Get booked as a speaker, you may say, me? Yes, you. If you’re talking on video, going live to connect with an audience, hopefully you’ve learned the parts of a good story. And that applies to a podcast, to a presentation that is 5 minutes, 15, or an hour in front of a small or big audience.
Doing a podcast or a training for a company, opening as the keynote for associations, or organizations is an awesome way to establish credibility, and exposure to a large pool of people who need your services.
Why 7 ideas?
The title is designed to get your attention. There are dozens of podcasts or music you could be listening to right now. Just like in our coaching world, when we are up against the famous names, the niche experts, and the masters of the industry, we must find something that gets noticed. My title likely grabbed your attention, and I am hoping for my ideas to do too. Think about how you can grab prospects’ attention.
1 Circle of 100: Start with 25
Create a list of 25 people who know you. Ultimately, a network of 100 is what you want. Family counts, but only if they have a connection with an organization that could benefit from your work. Send a sales letter by mail to each of the people on the list and customize each middle paragraph of the letter specific to the addressee. Let the circle know what you are currently doing in your career and ask them to help you identify organizations that might benefit from your work. For this idea to generate business, it must have several components.
· Middle paragraph specifically written for the addressee, form letters don’t count.
· Be clear about what you offer and don’t have a dozen options. Keep it simple.
· Message should be benefit driven not ego driven. Don’t go on and on about how great you are but rather the solution you provide.
· Call to action on their part – ask for what you want.
· End your letter with a question like “Would you be so kind as to pass on my name?”
· Database everyone, not just the decision‐makers.
2 Make hot leads a priority because they cool off fast
The biggest mistake of my career was not chasing leads soon enough. I still cringe when I think of all the people who approached me after a program, asked for my card, and promised to call to schedule me for their next meeting, and never did. I would leave meetings thinking I had a dozen leads and then realize months later that I had heard from very few that followed through. ASK the interested party for their business card and permission to call the next day so you can hear more about their needs. Then make sure you (or a staff person calls back as promised).
After speeches, I’d be holding 25 evaluation sheets that asked me to contact them or add them to a mailing list. I was sometimes so overwhelmed that I didn’t call them within the week (if I was at a conference when we met) or few days (if it was a local presentation) nor add them to my email list. At the time I started this texting was a BIG deal and I didn’t text to connect but today I would definitely do that. AND say, “I just sent you a quick email message with the info I promised, check your spam or trash just in case.”
3 Plan calls ahead of time. Have notes and all necessary tools in front of you
Before you place a sales call, do your homework! The internet has made sales so much easier than when I started. Now a quick company website check will tell you more than you should need to get it done. Don’t begin the call by telling the client you have done all this research. Just listen and take careful notes. By using some of the same terminology you found on the website, you will connect with the client better. Also, search for signs of previous conventions to know what level of speaker they have hired in the past. If it was a household name and you are not one, it might be a breakout, something for spouses at a convention, or a workout instead of a speech, you are going for instead of the keynote.
To get booked as speaker that gets paid for the presentation is not necessarily your goal. The goal is to get in front of audiences, of 25 or 100 or 1000 who are ideal customers, or who know someone who is. There’s an opportunity with the individuals in the audience, and there’s an opportunity with the business owner or CEO if your services are valuable for supporting metrics they want improved.
4 Research the contact person in addition to the company you are calling
To deepen your homework even farther, take the time to find out what you can about your contact person. Look on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google search and company website for data. Look for any common bond you might share with the person. If you want to be on a podcast, listen to some episodes. Do not pretend that you have by scoping out one single episode and commenting on it verbatim. Chances are you will not fake it til you make it.
5 Joining several organizations that serve your audience
If you spend all of your time networking with fitness professionals or health coaches because that’s who you are, consider going bigger. Consider networks or conferences for functional medicine, or lifestyle medicine. Attend IRHSA instead of a trainers conference, where you might meet owners of bigger fitness corporations who hire specialty training for their staff members. If I had to do it over again, I would budget my time differently allowing some room to be in other settings where my own clients hang. In later years I have been better about this but wish I had learned it sooner.
You’re not going to get booked as a speaker by other fitness professionals. You might though get booked as a speaker by a gym owner or a hospital fitness center director, or women-run health care business. Consider going to meeting planner’s events, too. These are the decision-makers about speakers. They need all kinds of speakers from keynotes to breakout sessions.
6 Hotel marquee board hints
When visiting a hotel, make note of names listed on the convention marquee board. These are groups having meetings and possibly needing speakers for the next year. I’m amazed at the opportunities that we miss right under our noses. Currently, training and group programs at hotels is minimal but you can rent the studios, host a workshop and charge $100-$200 for it, do an upsell and what would that be worth if you filled the room with 20 people then sold 40% of them into something long term? $2000 for a few hours and then the opportunity to upsell for a $1000 long term program to 8 people? That’s a $10k day. When appropriate, visit with the registration staff and learn more about the group which provides me with a slightly warmer call to make the following week.
7 Invitations to sample
When a client is undecided about hiring me, I invite them to attend a group session I am presenting online or in their area if possible dependent of course on how they’ll hire you). We interview potential candidates for personal training this way, and it’s also a nice way to allow your personal training clients to interview you.
Make the effort to make the guest feel special (and of course make this okay or understood in advance with your clients or participants).
Those 7 ways to get booked as a speaker are not all meant to be “ideas” that just sit, or things you want to do all at once! Pick 1. Start!
Other Resources You Might Like:
The Number One Source of New Clients: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/always-never-public-speaking-profit/
Health & Fitness Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard
Resources:
Business Scorecard: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/scorecard