Are You Earning Top Dollar for Your
Speeches?
By Bryan Caplovitz, Founder and CEO of
SpeakerMatch
 Last
week I attended an event where every speaker earned a
minimum of $50,000. A couple even earned over $250,000!
And there were LOTS of speakers. But the meeting
organizer didn’t pay a single dime for any of them.
How’d they do it?
The easy answer is that they were great pitchmen — and
that’s somewhat true. They all sold products at the back
of the room. But that’s not really a fair assessment.
All of them are also great speakers. Every one of them
had a well-developed speech that was packed with great
information. They were captivating, motivational,
entertaining, and most importantly — they provided great
content. Interestingly, not all of them had great stage
presence, and a couple of them really needed a little
work on their delivery.
What they had to
offer was the one thing that separates the top earners
in the speaking profession apart from everyone else —
product! Whether you sell products at the back of the
room or not, your total sales of products and services
each year should far surpass your actual speaking fees.
Don’t have a book yet? Consider having someone
transcribe an audio recording of your speeches to get
you started.
Smart Strategies for Creating a
Product Line
A book is a great
start, but people won’t pay much for a book. Consider
taking the material in your book and creating a product
line. Here are a few tips to help you get the maximum
value out of material you already have:
-
Take small snippets of your content and create a
weekly or monthly newsletter. Offer the newsletter
for a membership fee. Monthly membership fees for
newsletter or e-zine subscriptions generally range
from $29.95 to $49.95 per month.
-
Record some of your content and offer CD or DVD
versions of the materials for sale. If someone likes
you, they may want to see how you cover other
topics. Training DVDs typically sell for anywhere
from $197 to $497. People love the ability to jump
through topics on a DVD with just a click.
-
Create a workbook or manual from your book and other
materials. It’s amazing how much more people will
pay for the same information in a 3-ring binder
format over a book. A companion resource CD with
websites, templates, and sample forms can greatly
enhance the value. This form of content generally
sells for $997 to $1,297.
-
Offer an inner circle membership program. This type
of elite group generally meets twice a month by
phone and 2-3 times a year in person, and membership
is limited to a small number of people. The
opportunity to network and brainstorm with other top
minds in a particular area of expertise can easily
justify annual fees of $10,000 and up for a member.
Great Content Is Key
The one item that’s
absolutely essential to success as a speaker is great
content. Your content should incorporate your unique
perspective, and your materials should offer an easy way
for your clients to use the information and ideas you
have. And you should pack every speech you give with
tons of great, useful information. There’s no way you
could ever cover all the content you have in a 75 minute
speech.
What you want to do
is “sell” yourself as a true expert who has great
information to share. Make it easy for your audience to
understand that you’ve only scratched the surface. And
most importantly, that any investment in your materials
is a bargain.
The highest
compensated speakers are those whose materials
have the highest perceived value.
Are your fees in
line with other speakers? Take our simple survey at
http://www.speakermatch.com/feesurvey to find
out where you stand. Bryan Caplovitz is the founder and
CEO of
SpeakerMatch, an online
lead service for professional and emerging professional
speakers. |
