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Praise for Jane Atkinson and The Wealthy Speaker… “Speakers are many but truly wealthy speakers are few. If you aspire to be a wealthy speaker—or a wealthier speaker—this book if for you. Jane doesn’t just know what she writes about, she’s done it.” — Mark Sanborn, CSP, CPAE Author, The Fred Factor “I wish I had The Wealthy Speaker as a roadmap when I got into this business 20 years ago … I could have saved a ton of time and money!” — Amanda Gore, CSP Author of You Can Be Happy “Before you open your mouth to speak be sure to open Jane Atkinson’s book to learn how, to whom, about what, and how much you should get paid to speak.” — Larry Thompson, Hollywood Film Producer and Manager Author of SHINE: A Powerful 4-Step Formula for Being a Star at Anything You Do “Jane has written the definitive book on how to speak and get paid, as well as, how to fill your calendar with the right speaking engagements!” — Mark LeBlanc Author of Growing Your Business! “What are you waiting for? Run, don’t walk, to read this book! If you apply even one idea, you’ll take a quantum leap forward in your career! There are gems for both beginner and experienced speakers alike.” — Andrea H. Gold President, Gold Stars Speakers Bureau “Jane is one of the true pros in the speaker marketing business. Her knowledge and experience are invaluable for anyone who strives to be a wealthy speaker.” — Vic Osteen General Manager, WIN Seminars The Wealthy Speaker is the bible of the speaking industry. Make a date with Jane Atkinson to make your business soar. It will be the best investment you have ever made.” — Betska K-Burr, MPC Vice President, Coaching and Leadership International Inc.

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Palestrante rico

Transcript of Palestrante rico

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Praise for Jane Atkinson and The Wealthy Speaker…

“Speakers are many but truly wealthy speakers are few. If you aspire to be awealthy speaker—or a wealthier speaker—this book if for you. Jane doesn’t justknow what she writes about, she’s done it.” — Mark Sanborn, CSP, CPAE

Author, The Fred Factor

“I wish I had The Wealthy Speaker as a roadmap when I got into this business20 years ago … I could have saved a ton of time and money!”

— Amanda Gore, CSPAuthor of You Can Be Happy

“Before you open your mouth to speak be sure to open Jane Atkinson’s bookto learn how, to whom, about what, and how much you should get paid tospeak.” — Larry Thompson, Hollywood Film Producer and Manager

Author of SHINE: A Powerful 4-Step Formula for Being a Star at Anything You Do

“Jane has written the definitive book on how to speak and get paid, as well as,how to fill your calendar with the right speaking engagements!”

— Mark LeBlancAuthor of Growing Your Business!

“What are you waiting for? Run, don’t walk, to read this book! If you apply evenone idea, you’ll take a quantum leap forward in your career! There are gems forboth beginner and experienced speakers alike.” — Andrea H. Gold

President, Gold Stars Speakers Bureau

“Jane is one of the true pros in the speaker marketing business. Her knowledgeand experience are invaluable for anyone who strives to be a wealthy speaker.”

— Vic OsteenGeneral Manager, WIN Seminars

“The Wealthy Speaker is the bible of the speaking industry. Make a date with JaneAtkinson to make your business soar. It will be the best investment you haveever made.” — Betska K-Burr, MPC Vice President,

Coaching and Leadership International Inc.

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“The Wealthy Speaker is an incredibly unique and valuable book for anyonewanting to get into this business or dramatically increase their existingsuccess. Jane’s style is engaging and highly entertaining while providingconcrete, solid advice along with practical exercises. I highly recommendthis book to my current and aspiring colleagues.”

— Jim Clemmer, Speaker, Workshop LeaderAuthor, The Leaders Digest

“Speaking success is up to you. The Wealthy Speaker is certain to improveyour odds.” — Brian Palmer, President

National Speakers Bureau, Chicago

“So you want to be a professional speaker? Buy this book and commit it tomemory. It covers every aspect of speaking from the how tos to the hownot toos! Jane Atkinson is simply the best teacher in the business. Howdo I know? We worked together for two years and my speaking businessexploded. She’s the best.”

—Dr. Peter Legge, CSP, CPAE, HoF, LLD (hon)Speaker/Author/Businessman

“I’ve read Jane’s new book cover to cover and the entire time I found myselfwishing I had a guide like this to use 20 years ago! As the managementcompany for ten “Wealthy Speakers”, I can guarantee that this book is amust read for anyone thinking about getting into the speaking businessand for all of us that are already in the business including staff and bureauprofessionals! Jane’s no-nonsense approach and easy to use coaching exer-cises make this one of the best industry books I’ve read in a long time.”

—Holli Catchpole, PresidentSpeakersOffice, Inc.

“Wow! At last, a step-by-step guide for success in the speaking business —no need to be reinventing the wheel as Jane reveals the secrets to success.This book is a must read if you’re serious about super-charging yourcareer.” — Kit Grant, Former World President

International Federation for Professional Speakers

“I have been in the speaking business for over 22 years and I can honestlysay that The Wealthy Speaker is one of the best resources I have everfound. Follow the advice in this book and it will help you take yourspeaking career to the next level.”

—Dr. Brad McRae, CSP, Platinum Level Presenter MPI

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THEWealthySPEAKER

Jane Atkinson

THEWealthySPEAKERThe Proven Formulafor building your successful speaking business

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© 2006, Jane Atkinson

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted orstored in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of theauthor.

The material in this publication is provided for information purposes only. Proce-dures, laws and regulations are constantly changing and the examples given areintended to be general guidelines only. This book is sold with the understanding thatno one involved in this publication is attempting herein to render professionaladvice.

ISBN 0-9780059-0-2First Printing

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in PublicationAtkinson, Jane, 1964–

The wealthy speaker : the proven formula for building your successful speaking business / Jane Atkinson.

ISBN 0-9780059-0-2

1. Public speaking—Vocational guidance. I. Title.

PN4098.A85 2006 808.5'1'023 C2006-900101-4

Editor: Catherine Leek of Green Onion PublishingBack Cover and Interior Design,

Electronic Page Composition: Heidy Lawrance AssociatesFront Cover Design: Tim HandlemanCartoons: Steve Morris

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CONTENTS

Foreword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiiiA Day in the Life of a Wealthy Speaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv

CHAPTER 1: The Wealthy Speaker PremiseReality Bites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1So What Exactly is a Wealthy Speaker? . . . . . . . . . . . 1But What if I’m Just Starting Out? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Stepping Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Start-Up Speaker’s Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Coaching Exercise 1: Start-Up Speaker’s Quiz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4The Wealthy Speaker Mindset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Recondition Your Thought Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Ask Better Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Coaching Exercise 2: A Day in Your Life Five Years from Now . . . . . . 8Imagine the Possibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9How to Spend Your Time, Energy and Money . . . . . 11About the Book’s Aids and Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Coach’s Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Coaching Exercises. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Flashpoints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Wealthy Speaker Website Reference Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . 13My Promise to You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

CHAPTER 2: Getting Ready to LaunchMy Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Flashpoint: Toni Newman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

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Motivational? Inspirational? Topical? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Speaking Versus Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Business Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Flashpoint: Rick Butts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22The Future of the Speaking Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Crunch the Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Taking Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Ready, Aim, Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Phases of the Wealthy Speaker Process . . . . . . . . . . 26Action Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Ron’s Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Coaching Exercise 3: Action Steps Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 The Basics: Setting Up a Speaker’s Office . . . . . . . 31Speech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Branding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Office Set-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Administration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Coaching Exercise 4: Checklist for Setting Up a Speaker’s Office . . . . . . 34

CHAPTER 3: Phase I: Ready Focus on Positioning and the Speech

The Wealthy Speaker Gets Ready . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Pick a Lane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Changing Lanes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Coaching Exercise 5: Focus Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38The Cosmic 2 × 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Positioning: Expert First, Speaker Second . . . . . . . 43

Flashpoint: Patricia Fripp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Position in the Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Becoming the Legitimate Expert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Coaching Exercise 6: Becoming the Expert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47What if You’re a Celebrity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Getting Clear on What You’re Selling . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Coaching Exercise 7: Presenting Your Expertise to the Marketplace . . . . . 50Components of a Great Speech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

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What Makes a Great Speech? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Flashpoint: Vince Poscente . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Tips from the Masters: Victoria LaBalme—Making Your

Speech Come Alive: Turning a Presentation into a

Memorable Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57How Important is it that the Speech is Good? . . . . . . . . . 61

“Be Good” Marketing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Industry Green Monsters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61So How do I Know if I’m Really Good? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Is Awesome Pretty Good? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Flashpoint: Amanda Gore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63Good Speakers Versus Great Speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Peter Legge Works the Tradeshow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Fees – How Much Should I Charge? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66Tips on Setting and Raising Fees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Fees are a State of Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Attracting Your Perfect Client. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Side Note About Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Negotiating Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Flashpoint: Mark Sanborn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

CHAPTER 4: Phase II: Aim Marketing to Reflect Positioning and Benefits

Components of a Great Marketing Piece. . . . . . . . . . 75Photos that Reflect You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Some of the No-Nos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Short Bio/Credibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Promise Statement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Coaching Exercise 8: Getting to Your Promise Statement . . . . . . . . . . 78Return On Investment (ROI) Bullets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Powerful Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Testimonials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Strategically Place Your Testimonials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Client List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Reflect Your Essence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Delivery Style/Uniqueness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

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Call to Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84Marketing Materials – What Do I Need Exactly? . . 84Your Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Website Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Technology in Phases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86What to Include on Your Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87What Does Not Belong on Your Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Rate Your Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Coaching Exercise 9: Website Rating Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90Managing Your Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Print Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 What Basic Pieces Do I Need? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91One Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92The Full-Blown Packet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Template Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Bureau-Friendly Print Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Demo Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95What Does a Killer Video Look Like? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Flashpoint: Somer McCormick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Tips from the Masters: Robin Creasman—How to Produce a

First-Class Speaker Video that Rocks! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

CHAPTER 5: Phase III: Fire Rolling Out to Your Market

Public Relations: Fire Your Message to the Masses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Approaching the Press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106Press Releases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107Being the Expert in the Press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107Trade Magazines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108Expert Available for Comment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109Hiring an Agency or Publicist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Finding Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110The Attraction Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Coaching Exercise 10: Qualities of Your Perfect Customer . . . . . . . . 112

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Niche Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113Take Your Background into Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Positioning Within Your Niche. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Inner Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114Speak Wherever They Will Listen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115Running Your Own Showcase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115Rolling Out to Your Market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117How to Book the Gig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Call-Send-Call —— The Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117Your Approach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Bringing Value to an Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118Are You Being the Lighthouse? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Flashpoint: Cheryl Cran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119Matching Versus Cold Calling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Coaching Exercise 11: The Value You Offer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121Who to Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Why Start with Associations? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Cold Calls Versus Query Emails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123Cold Calling — Questions to Ask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

The Click – The Good Kind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125The Other End of the Line. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126The Simple Things Get You in the Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Follow Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128Never Assume You Know What’s Happening at

the Client’s End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Ways to Stay Top of Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

The Outcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129Building a Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131Database Building Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

The “Help Me” Speech: Ask for the Business . . . . . . . . . . 133 Feedback Forms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135Business Card Draw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136Help from the Meeting Planner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136All Roads Lead to Your Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

What if I Work Alone? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138Systems in Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

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Consistency is Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139You’re Booked —— Now What? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139Flow of the Booking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140Making the Most of Each Speaking Engagement . . . . . . 141The Minnesota Fats Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

CHAPTER 6: Speakers’ Bureaus and Event PlanningCompanies

Event Planning Companies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145Working the Speakers’ Bureaus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146Building Your Business on Your Own . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147Rules of Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147A Day in the Life of a Bureau Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148Why Give a Percentage Away? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Are You Ready?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Where Do I Find the Bureaus? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151Getting Your Foot in the Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151Getting Listed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Staying Top of Mind. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Getting the Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Coaching Exercise 12: Positioning Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156Flashpoint: Cary Mullen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Building the Relationship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Working the Gig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162Spin Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Post-Gig Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163Getting Paid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163Bottom Line on Bureaus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

CHAPTER 7: GROWING YOUR BUSINESS BEYOND GIGS Developing Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Self-Publisher or Traditional Publisher? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Coaching Exercise 13: Publishing Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

x THE WEALTHY SPEAKER

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Tips from the Masters: Catherine Leek, Green Onion Publishing—

Producing a Book as Professional as You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173Video/DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173Production of Your Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Packaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 Pricing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Selling Your Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175Selling Back of Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Website Sales. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Bundling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177Hiring Staff Who Are Winners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 Are You Ready to Hire? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179What Should this Person Do for You? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Coaching Exercise 14: Developing a Job Description . . . . . . . . . . . 180Flashpoint: Holli Catchpole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

How Much Should I Pay an Assistant? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181Who Is the Right Fit? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Now That’s a Job Interview! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182Possible Traits of Your Marketing Person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Flashpoint: Karen Harris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184Where Do I Find Them? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185Agreements and Contracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186Components of an Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Coaching Exercise 15: Agreement and Contract Checklist . . . . . . . . 191Verbal Agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194Bureau Agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194Bureau Cancellations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195Bureau Deposits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195The High Tech Speaker on the Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 A Day in the Life of a High Tech Speaker . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Tips from the Masters: Joe Heaps and Dave Reed, eSpeakers.com—

Technology You Must Have to Run a Sustainable Speaking

Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

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Being a Beta Tester has Its Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203Making Time for Your Body While on the Road. . . . . . . . 203

Being a Super Hero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

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FOREWORD

There’s an old saying: “We don’t get hurt by what we don’t know. Weget hurt by what we know but don’t do.” After you read this book –you will know. You will know how to begin your speaking career orreenergize your existing one. You will know the importance of keepingyour strategies and tactics in alignment with your true strengths andpersonal motivations. And you will know how to become a “wealthyspeaker” in the broadest sense of the word – not just in the quantity ofmoney you create, but in terms of the quality of the career you create.

The value of this book is found in the quality of its content.Beyond data, facts and information about the speaking profession,Jane delivers that rare commodity of wisdom. There’s no shortcut towisdom. You have to pay your dues, make lots of bad decisions andlearn a lot of painful lessons to get to the point where you finallyknow what you’re doing. Even then, if you are truly wise, you keepgrowing. Jane has been there and done that. She’s seen the speakingbusiness from a number of perspectives and has learned and grownevery step of the way. You will have to travel your own path towisdom, but having this book with you as you make the journey willbe of immeasurable value.

At the National Speakers Association annual convention in 2004,I gave a keynote speech about the power of being willing to let go.After twenty-five years in this business, I believe that the most impor-tant thing I can do to keep my career growing is to always be willingto let go of my assumptions and embrace new ideas. As you read this

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book, I challenge you to let go of any preconceived ideas you mayhave about your speaking career. Be open and willing to learn fromJane and the fabulous speaking professionals who have contributed tothis book.

For many years, when any speaker has asked me for advice on whatthey can do to take their career to the next level, I have replied, “Let mestart with three words: Call Jane Atkinson.” To that advice I will nowadd four more words: Read The Wealthy Speaker.

Joe Calloway, CSP, CPAEAuthor of Indispensable: How to Be the

Company that Your Customers Can’t Live Without

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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A WEALTHY SPEAKER

Imagine that you are at the peak of your speaking career. You’ve justwalked off the stage after speaking to 1,500 executives, who jumpedto their feet in appreciation of your message. The meeting planner isgiddy over the response and hands you a check for $15,000. You thankher and let her know that your office will send the travel expenses –which they gladly agreed to ahead of time, first-class all the way.

You are whisked over to the autograph session where you sign afew hundred pre-purchased books. It’s two hours, but a nice experi-ence that nets an additional $7,500 in product sales. Your handlertakes you to your limo and Charlie, your driver, has your bags in thetrunk ready to go. He knows you from the last four times this clienthas hired you and asks how your day went.

Once in the car, you call your fabulous assistant Markus, who tellsyou that he has secured three more engagements. Yahoo! Markus isexcited about one of the gigs because he will need to travel with youto sell product and … it’s in Hawaii. The client has agreed to two first-class tickets. He also informs you that your publisher called and theyare bumping up the media budget on your next (fourth) book. Theeditor from the Wall Street Journal also left word that they are consid-ering you for their lead story.

When you arrive home, your loving spouse greets you with a long,lingering kiss. You have a special ocean-front get away planned for theupcoming weekend.

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Your home office has run smoothly and efficiently while you wereaway. And when you return, you deal only with high-level decisions,product development and relationships with clients. The rest of yourtime is focused on family and play.

Bzzzzzz.

What’s that annoying sound? Your alarm clock is waking you fromthis wonderful dream. That was a good dream! Is it possible toachieve this dream for yourself? Absolutely. It’s going to take somework and you’ll need to create your own vision, but it is possible.

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THE WEALTHY SPEAKER PREMISE

Reality BitesThe reality of the speaking business is that it’s not nearly as glamorousas the previous scenario. Chances are that one of your flights will bedelayed or canceled. You might be sick to death of traveling and missyour family terribly. You might have a two-year-old with a cold andyou cry all the way to the airport. I’ve seen this happen many times.You could potentially bomb on stage – all speakers have bombed atsome point. And your family – if they are like most – will never trulyunderstand what it is that you do for a living. And they will secretlywish – no matter how successful you become – that you would get areal job. The bottom line is that this business is not all standingovations and juicy paychecks. The 30 minutes that you get to bask inthe limelight after a standing O could easily turn into 30 hours oftravel nightmare. So, let’s be realistic about this decision and get clearon your motivation. (See My Motivation in Chapter 2.)

So What Exactly is a Wealthy Speaker?Success is subjective. One speaker’s successful year might not appeal toanother speaker at all. So it’s up to you to decide what success looks likefor you. You might only want to speak once a month at a fee of $15,000or you might want to speak ten times per month at $1,500. Every

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speaker has his or her own set of goals and no one can dictate your goalsbut you. What I can do, as your coach, is make sure that you are thinkingbig. After living in Texas for six years, I learned how to think bigger.

Will you have to work hard to get to a $15,000 fee? You bet youwill, but it’s not impossible. Sometimes one major speaking engage-ment like the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), Meeting Profes-sionals International (MPI) or the National Speakers Association(NSA) can change the course of a speaker’s career. Or it might be abook that hits the bestseller list or creates a lot of excitement. I’ve seenthings change overnight – but it was years of hard work that led up tothe turning point or what I call Flashpoints (see later in this chapter).

In our industry, based on NSA statistics (2005 survey), only 2.6%of all members earn over $1,000,000 per year. For the purposes ofthis book, we will define The Wealthy Speaker as someone who earnsover $1 million per year in speaking and related revenues. Not all, butmany, of the Flashpoint stories you’ll read are from speakers who fallinto this top 3% category and there are several from speakers who arewell on their way.

But What if I’m Just Starting Out?

You’ll probably look at these numbers and think they are unattain-able, but let me reassure you that every speaker, no matter howsuccessful, started with zero engagements on his or her calendar atone point in time. Allow yourself to dream, to shoot for just a littlemore than you think is possible. Stretch!

Stepping Up

It takes courage to move into this business from any other profes-sion. There is a huge learning curve, not a lot of security, and you

must have a higher than average level of confi-dence. But are you going to let fear get in yourway? Most decisions based on fear are usuallywrong. Think about the kind of person you will need to

2 THE WEALTHY SPEAKER

Most decisionsbased on fear areusually wrong.

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become to fully step into life as a professional speaker. You will needto be a courageous leader. If you know that you have a strong, originalmessage for the world and that you are a great speaker, then step up.Do not let fear come between you and what you want. Do not playsmall. Coaching Exercise 2, A Day in Your Life Five Years from Now,will help you gain some clarity around what youwant in the future. But today, as a speaker and as aleader, you must step boldly into your greatness.

Start a file or an email folder labeled “Genius”.Place copies of your best client testimonials andpositive feedback you have received in the file. Youmight even write a letter to yourself with some posi-tive reinforcements. Then, on the tough days, whenyou wonder what the heck you are doing in thiscareer, pull out your Genius file and go through it.It will remind you why you started this journey inthe first place.

Start-Up Speaker’s QuizStarting up a speaking business is the same as starting any business.So you must do your homework and prepare. Coaching Exercise 1contains some questions that will allow you to assess where you are inthe process. If this quiz scares the pants off you, good ! You need to domore work before you start or perhaps you might re-evaluate.

T H E W E A LT H Y S P E A K E R P R E M I S E 3

The speakingindustry needscommitted peoplewho are in it forthe right reasons.If you are unsureor uncommitted, then you mustreconsider.

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Coaching Exercise 1: Start-Up Speaker’s Quiz

Starting up a speaking business is the same as starting any business. So

you must do your homework and prepare.

Ask yourself the following questions and answer with complete

honesty. After all, if you can’t be honest with yourself, who can you be

honest with?

1. Have I done my research? What do I know about this business? What

do I need to learn?

2. Is there a demand for what I offer? How many speakers are making a

living doing something similar?

3. How much cash do I have set aside to launch my business?

4. Can I support a negative cash flow? For how many months?

5. Is this really what I want? Why? Am I ready now?

6. Is my speech prepared? Do I know the return on investment for the

audience?

7. Is my family willing to support this?

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8. How am I, or how is my message, different from that of my competition?

9. Do I know who my competition is?

10. Am I good enough to go the distance? Have people from within the

industry (and people who could hire me) told me that?

11. Am I an entrepreneur? Do I know how to run a business?

12. Am I confident enough?

13. Do I have a solid business plan?

14. What will my banker and my accountant say?

If you answered negatively or were unsure about the majority of these

questions, you might have some homework to do prior to starting this

process. You might even decide that you don’t want to move ahead. But

if you answered positively to the majority, then we are ready to proceed.

But don’t think the tough questions are over — there are lots more where

these came from.

You can also find all of these exercises in a separate and conveniently boundworkbook: Wealthy Speaker Workbook and Planning Guide.

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The Wealthy Speaker MindsetA huge part of the wealthy speaker equation is being able to acceptwealth into your life. You need to condition for success. If you’ve beensuccessful in other fields, then this isn’t going to be much of a chal-lenge for you, but if you’ve always struggled with building wealth andabundance, then you will continue to struggle unless you changeyour mindset.

Recondition Your Thought Patterns

Vince Poscente shared an analogy many years ago that has stuck withme. Being an Olympic athlete, he studied the power of the mind. Hetold me that our thoughts are like a river that has been traveling thesame route through a valley for many years. The rock and land havebeen worn away creating the path of least resistance. The water willcontinue on this path forever unless diverted. The river representsyour thought patterns. Basically, you think the way you’ve alwaysthought. Perhaps you don’t believe that you deserve to be wealthy oryou can’t possibly buy into the fact that you don’t need to work yourfingers to the bone in order to earn a nice living.

If you were raised like me, the conversations often includedphrases like “money doesn’t grow on trees” along with numerousother sayings that lacked positive enforcement. These sayings andattitudes helped build the river of your thoughts in the first place. Butthen you grow up and attend a seminar by Brian Tracy or AnthonyRobbins. You make a decision. “That’s it, I’m going to be wealthy. Nomore messing around.” You start the process, but your river continuesto take you through the same valley and you find yourself staying inthe same state of struggle. So what do you do?

You need to recondition your mind as though you are training fora marathon. To return to the river analogy, you are building a dam inorder to reroute the water. So how do you do this? There are manydifferent methods you can use and many great books on the subjectof shifting your mindset. Two of my favorite books are Wayne Dyer’sPower of Intention and Eric Butterworth’s Spiritual Economics. You’llfind them listed on The Wealthy Speaker website. One of my favorite

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reconditioning methods is relaxation tapes. Listening to positivestatements about wealth over and over can start to build the dam andreroute your thought patterns toward something more positive.

Ask Better Questions

My personal experience has allowed me to shift my mindset severaltimes over the past decade. But early this year it dawned on me thatI was still playing small. I realized that all the people that I repre-sented were making seven figures and I was not. So I made a decisionto stop limiting myself. Why shouldn’t I go for that $400K house bythe river? I began asking myself the question: “What idea do I have –or I haven’t thought of yet – that will earn me seven figures nextyear?” Several juicy ideas have come to me since then and I believeI’m on my way. I really recommend asking yourself that same ques-tion with the same phrasing. The question “How can I earn a milliondollars?” won’t hold the same power.

In order to start rerouting the river’s path in your mind, you needto be able to identify the new path. You need to know what yourwealth or your success will look like. Try Coaching Exercise 2, A Dayin Your Life Five Years from Now. It is important to know what yourWealthy Speaker day will look like. We’ll refer back to this image manytimes. Remember – think big!

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Coaching Exercise 2: A Day in Your Life Five Years from Now

You may want to type out this exercise and save it. We’ll be referring back

to it a few times. But once you’re finished, you can post it somewhere

prominent and look at it regularly. Olympic athletes swear by visualization

exercises and, since they make it to the Olympics, I guess they must work!

Go back to A Day in the Life of a Wealthy Speaker (page xv) and read

it again. Look at the verbs used … present tense. Now write down what

your perfect day looks like five years from now. Put down all of the

details. Who do you speak for? Or consult with? At what fee? What are

the results? How does that feel? What type of audience is it? What do

your home and office life look like? Do you have a vacation house? Where

is it? How much time do you spend there? Where else do you go for vaca-

tion? Do you have product? What are your passive income streams?

What do your personal relationships look like? What kind of fun are you

and your family having? Are you healthy?

Don’t leave out any detail — this is your perfect day.

Once you have completed the exercise, place it in a prominent place

and review it daily. Make it a part of your morning ritual. Allow the prin-

ciple of “you become what you think about most of the time” to work in

your favor.

You can also find all of these exercises in a separate and conveniently boundworkbook: Wealthy Speaker Workbook and Planning Guide.

8 THE WEALTHY SPEAKER

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Imagine the Possibilities

I went to work for an up-and-coming speaker and former Olympicspeed skier named Vince Poscente in the summer of 1996. It was myfirst day on the job in Dallas, TX, and the thermometer hit 95°F as Ipulled up to our office at 9 A.M. We shared office space with Vince’sgirlfriend, Michelle, who owned International Speakers Bureau. Partof the reason I accepted this job was because I thought I could learna lot working under the roof of a speakers’ bureau. Michelle had fouremployees at the time and her business was growing rapidly. OnVince’s side, it was just the two of us. Vince and I got together for ourfirst strategy meeting and I asked to see the booking board – I wantedto see how many gigs we had for the next few months. We went intohis office to look at the giant 12-month wall calendar and it hit me– we had no business! There were one or two engagements, eachconfirmed at $2,500. “Yikes”, I thought. “What have I gotten myselfinto?” I had left a very successful, multi-millionaire speaker inVancouver to work with Vince. It was a big risk on both of our parts.As I stood there in stunned silence wondering if I’d made a hugemistake, I remembered something that Michelle had said to meduring my five-day job interview (details on this in Chapter 7 underHiring Staff Who are Winners). She said, “Vince will work as hardon his speech as he did to get to the Olympics.”

Vince and I went to lunch that day to do some goal setting. Overburgers and beer, we talked about where we saw this company going.I asked Vince what fee he would like to see us aspire to – I used theterm “us” because Vince and I had agreed that we were partners inthis. He shrugged. So I said, “How about $10,000?” He paused for amoment and said “Okay.” We set two other major goals: we wantedto get him booked into a national Meeting Professionals Interna-tional (MPI) meeting; and we would get him on the main platformat Million Dollar Round Table ( MDRT). We went back to the officeand posted those three items on my bulletin board and went to work.Vince had used the power of his mind to get to the Olympics and weused some of those techniques to reach our goals. More importantly,he worked his butt off making the speech really great. And I workedmy butt off marketing him to meeting planners and speakers’bureaus. It took a long time for the speakers’ bureaus to book Vince

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because they were worried that we would share the clients withMichelle’s company. We went above and beyond to ensure that ourintegrity was never questioned and bureaus ended up being 80% ofour business.

Our hard worked paid off. We went back to the board after threeyears and realized we had met all three goals. Vince’s fee was $10,000,he was speaking 80+ times per year and he had spoken at both MPIand MDRT. We were ecstatic.

Fast forward another two years. It’s the NSA convention in NewOrleans, and Vince has just been awarded both his CSP and CPAE*Awards. He could have had his CSP a lot earlier, but I had alwaysgiven him the choice of my time being spent getting bookings ordoing the (then) huge amount of paperwork to get his CSP. Healways chose the bookings! Anyway, we were out in the hallway afterthe ceremony. Vince’s fee was up to $15,000 at this point and he wasstill doing 80+ bookings per year. He said to me, “You know that day,when we set our goals over beer and burgers?” I said I remembered.He said, “When you suggested $10,000 I really thought you weresmoking something. I really couldn’t imagine my fee going there.” Iwas shocked. He had never told me that he had any doubt at all, buthe had used his own techniques, the power of the mind, to grow intothe idea that it was possible. Once he broke the barrier, there was nostopping him.

So how does this affect you? When you are writing your five-yearvision, make sure that you are not letting your gremlin (the littlegreen man on your shoulder that says “Are you crazy? That’s notpossible! Who are you kidding?”) put limits on your goals. Don’t letthe gremlin drive the bus. Be in charge of setting the goals you wantto create – don’t hold back.

Go back through your five-year vision and make sure that youaren’t playing small.

* CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) and CPAE (Council of PeersAward of Excellence) are NSA designations. A very small group ofspeakers have both.

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The Wealthy Speaker Website Reference Tool

Recommended Reading: TAMING YOUR GREMLIN by Rick Carson

available on Amazon.com

How to Spend Your Time, Energy and MoneyThroughout this book you will find tons of ideas for things youshould be doing – from developing the speech, to building marketingmaterials, to setting and raising fees, to working with bureaus, tohiring staff, to setting up your office with systems, to developingproduct. Yikes! That could be overwhelming no matter what stage ofyour career you are in. Stop and take a good look at Figure A. Nomatter where you are in your career, you’ll get some clarity aroundwhere you should best spend your time and resources. This shouldtake off some pressure to do everything today!

Figure A: Focus Areas

New Speakers: The Speech — make it good!

Years 0–3 Positioning in the market as an expert

Building marketing materials that represent you

(they may not be perfect)

Relationships with clients — getting your name

out there

Seasoned Speakers: The Speech — keep working it!

Years 4–6 Getting your marketing to the next level (now it

needs to be good)

Building on your reputation (which means moving

your fee up the ladder)

Product Development — full steam ahead (some

people may launch into the business with a

book, and that’s great too)

Developing systems in your office — you’ll need

them now

Starting to hire staff and make inroads with

speakers’ bureaus (work the business yourself

for a few years before doing this)

www

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Mature Speakers: The Speech — keep it fresh and fun for you!

Years 7+ Reinvent it!

Marketing — update (don’t get complacent)

Reposition if necessary — new products, new

markets — stay cutting edge

Continue with long-term relationship building —

keep your name out there in fresh ways

By now your office should run like a well oiled

machine

About the Book’s Aids and ToolsThroughout this book, you’ll find special features – highlighted by aspecial icon – to assist you in becoming a Wealthy Speaker. Overallthe goal is an easy, yet thought-provoking, read. These features willprovide additional sources of information and inspiration or chal-lenge your preconceived ideas. Here is the list of features so that youcan watch for them or seek them out specifically.

cCOACH’S QUESTION: The coach’s question will help you focus on someof your main goals. It will pose a question or two and provide somefeedback on what you will need to think about in order to gain the mostfrom the information.

Coaching Exercises

You will find numerous exercises to complete as you move throughthe book – if you haven’t already completed two, go back to thebeginning of this chapter. These are meant for you to use – perhapsseveral times – as your focus or your goals change. For your conven-ience the exercises can also be found in the companion workbook,Wealthy Speaker Workbook and Planning Guide.

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FlashpointsFlashpoints in a Wealthy Speaker’s Career

You are going to see examples of the most significant andpivotal points in a speaker’s career – I call them Flashpoints, a

term I’ve borrowed from Vince Poscente. You’ll see what helpedthem take the leap to the next level. There are usually several years

of hard work prior to Flashpoints, but they are a great learning toolfor speakers who are just starting out or who want to jump a level.

Watch for the rocket symbol which indicates a Flashpoint story. Theyare first-hand accounts from the speaker.

The Wealthy Speaker Website Reference Tool

I’ve set up some special pages for you under the “clients only”

section of my website. There you will find a resource for

speakers and suppliers who are mentioned in the book, along

with some special offers. This website will not only be a wealth

of information for you, but the Wealthy Speaker Community

may become a great place for you to seek advice and share

ideas with people. Additions to the website will be on-going so

check back often.

Go to: www.TheWealthySpeaker.com and click on “Clients Only”

Your temporary user name is: XXXXXXXX

Your temporary password is: XXXXXXX

My Promise to YouI got into the speaking industry as a booking agent for a speaker morethan 15 years ago and I feel lucky to be a part of something so impor-tant. Some of the world’s greatest minds are in our industry and someof the most thought-provoking, inspirational people walk the halls ofour industry events. They are out there making the world a betterplace with their messages. Our business has its ups and downs, butknowledge is power. The more you know, the more you can competewhen the market dips and thrive when the market peaks. I want you

www

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to be armed with the best equipment a speaker can have – informa-tion, ideas and powerful questions. I’ll be your personal coach,walking you through the formula step-by-step. And I won’t be faraway if you need support when you’re finished.

It is probably well documented (somewhere) that the majority ofself-help and business book purchasers buy a book expecting it willchange their lives. They read a small number of pages and then put itinto their bedside table where it sits with the other six books …forgotten.

If Figure B is the only page you read, read this page. The odds ofyou reading the entire book go up 500%* if you know what you willmiss by not reading past this page of the book.

14 THE WEALTHY SPEAKER

* okay, I made that number up.

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Figure B: Overview

What You’ll Find Who It’s Best Suited For

Chapter 1 What is a Wealthy Speaker Speakers at all levels, unless

and what foundation do I you already earn

need to have in place $1,000,000 per year. Then

to become one? you can just use this

book as a doorstop.

Chapter 2 Preparing for launch. Speakers at all levels,

Take the time to design the especially the speaker who

business that you desire has tried lots of things, but

using the Ready, Aim, isn’t quite “making it” yet.

Fire, approach. Don’t

miss this!

Chapter 3 Focus on which topic will Every speaker should be

bring you the most working on improving his

success, position or her speech … always.

yourself as the expert, Good stuff here.

and put together a

great speech.

Chapter 4 Develop marketing All speakers. Many will be

materials that will result tempted to start this book

in bookings. What works, here — don’t do it — respect

what does not. the process!

Chapter 5 Find the business, make Feel free to skip this section

the calls and, build a if you don’t need any more

database. Book the gigs! speaking engagements.

Chapter 6 Speakers’ Bureaus are a You need to build your own

world onto themselves. contacts first, but after a

Get the inside scoop. few years you should be

ready for Speakers’ Bureaus.

Chapter 7 Develop new products, All speakers. Same as

hire staff, set up systems, Chapter 5.

and use technology.

Being a Final thoughts, a little pep Well, you’ve read the rest, Super talk to send you on why stop now?Hero your way.

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