Recently, I was invited to be part of SCORE's small business panel so I thought I'd address how to use Public Speaking - an easy, affordable marketing technique anyone can do - to grow your small business.
Jerry Seinfeld's joke said it best "According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy."
Huh?!?!?
So, why is that the case in our outspoken, everyone-has-something-to-say society? It seems people are afraid to be judged. But we're all judged all the time in business, so why not use the power of Public Speaking to proactively grow your business?
I interrupt this blog post to announce that I use www.copyscape.com to protect my writing - and you should too!
Speak and Ye Shall Get Clients
Early on when I started this business, I saw that business owners who were on the speaking circuit had a number of things going for them:
• Exposure
• Credibility
• Ongoing Pipeline
I realized that this was a route I had to take and I'm very glad I did. Every time I do a seminar or workshop, I get at least one new client.
Here's how I did it and you can too:
Seek out potential opportunities - reach out to organizations in your local area such as: Chambers of Commerce, Rotary Clubs, leads groups, & any other local business club whose membership fits your target audience. You'll find they're surprisingly open-minded and are always seeking guest speakers.
Be sure to bring some handouts which can include business cards, brochures, a summary or tip sheet of what you discussed, even a promotional give-away.
And, always collect business cards or lead names/emails from the audience so you can follow up.
Build on the opportunities - once you get a few under your belt, the rest just flows.
You might want to create a downloadable Speaker's Press Kit for your website with a call to action so folks can easily access it. Mine is downloadable from my website at http://myaffordablemarketing.com/speaker.html
Hire a videographer to capture one or two of your early talks - this will help you evaluate your speaking style & make it better over time. Also, you can upload the video on your website's home page - choose one of your favorite snippets. This is helpful because home pages with video are up to 54% more likely to appear on page one in searches.
To charge or not to charge? - that's a good question. I know someone who has earned $5 million in speaking fees over his career. He charges a very reasonable fee & has gotten thousands of speaking engagements over the years.
When you get or make a call you should ask if they pay an honorarium. If they do, great. If not, you can look at it as an opportunity to get paying clients & so long as it's not out of town, will likely be worth your time.
For those speakers like myself who are authors, oftentimes a group or association will purchase a block of books from you & have you sign them at the event. Not a direct pay, but still revenue. I recently did a gig at the Mayor's office in my city where a small business group was meeting and this is what they did for me instead of a direct pay.
Get the word out - then watch what happens. Speakers are often responsible for doing their fair share of promoting the event. To do this you can use all of your social media outlets, put a footnote on your email signature block, even (like I did above) putting upcoming events in an email newsletter or on your website. Whatever outlets you have available for your use is appropriate.
Take it to next level - public speakers can branch out in several ways. You can get a booking agent, join a speaker's bureau, even create your own event at a local establishment or library (note: library events must be free to the public). Once you try it & see that it works, the sky is the limit.
Public Speaking for your business is a powerful, affordable technique that any business owner can do. With just a little effort you'll get immediate results that will help you grow your small business.
Now that you know these tips, go get 'em!
Remember...get started marketing TODAY so that TOMORROW your business will still exist.
©2014 Affordable Marketing Solutions LLC
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