There it is – you just made the decision to add speaking to your marketing mix so you get in front of your ideal prospects. You work hard at securing your first gig and are thrilled because you have your first real shot at getting in front of a room filled with your ideal prospects.
So, you work for hours getting your speech down cold. You spend a lot of effort working out the slides and you think you’re ready. You deliver your speech and are quite pleased with your presentation. You’re relieved to finish your presentation, people clap, and some people take your card.
Then you wait. And wait. And wait. You even check your phone to make sure it’s working. Confusion turns into frustration. You simply don’t understand why you’re not getting calls because so many people came up to you and loved your message. All of that time, effort, money, travel and nothing.
If you added speaking to your marketing mix and wondered why you’re not getting leads, you’re not alone. Many experts add speaking to their marketing mix so they can get in front of their clients. Unfortunately, they are missing out on some important parts on keeping the flow of the moment going.
Use these tips to get more leads when you speak:
Be Crystal Clear – Start with getting clear on what you uniquely offer because that’s really the key to everything. You need to be crystal clear on who you work with, the transformation that you provide, and the outcome that your clients get when they work with you.
When you are clear on exactly who your ideal clients are, it makes it easier to develop your presentation, demonstrate the outcome they get when they work with you, and target organizations whose members are interested in your topics. It’s not efficient or strategic to call organizations and then customize your talk. Organizations are looking for speakers with topics already developed that will serve their membership. When you present your topic over and over, you’ll refine it, and position yourself as a subject matter expert. You will reverse the speaker selection process, too. They will choose you because of your topics rather than you chasing them!
Create Topic Titles that Sizzle – After attending my Entrepreneurial Edge System 3-Day Intensive, Chiropractor Kinesiologist, Stacey Francis, Owner of Specific Wellness, added speaking to her marketing mix. First, she asked her clients some of the health topics they wanted to hear more about. Then, she delivered on what they asked for. One of her first talks, “The Sexy Side of Cholesterol: Revealing the Dirty Little Secrets” became a huge success with her patients. Now, she can use the same topic when speaking to other organizations whose members are interested in lowering their cholesterol and preventing heart disease.
Inspire Follow-Up Action. It’s simply not enough to present your information without giving audience members who are inspired to step up. With a steady stream of messages filling up their day, your words simply will not last in the minds of your audience members. Think about how you can continuously connect and engage your audience. At the end of your speech, give them a way to keep in touch. If you don’t give them a way to keep in touch and give continuous value, you’ve missed out on a key outcome of serving your audience as a speaker – to inspire positive action.
When you make the decision to add speaking to your marketing mix, be sure to include these elements into your speaking process. When you do, you’ll approach your speaking more strategically, create excitement about the transformation they’ll receive by attending your talk, and engage your new prospects ultimately turning them into invested clients.
Lisa Mininni is a best-selling author and President of Excellerate Associates, home of the sought-after Entrepreneurial Edge System, showing business owners how to automatically bring in pre-qualified prospects and turn them into invested clients. Read her blog for additional tips on keep-in-touch systems or pick up her free ebook Get Ready, Get Set, Go! at www.freebusinessplanformat.com.
Great article Lisa. Tips all speakers can use!
Thanks, Kathy!