What profit strategies should you employ for your public speaking career? There are way too many variables to offer a one size fits all answer but here are some mental nuggets to ruminate upon. First of all, if you’re famous, you probably won’t have to do any marketing at all to stay busy. Former President Bill Clinton regularly gets a few hundred thousand dollars to show up and speak for an hour. One event paid him over half a million. Charging fees like that, we’re guessing he doesn’t have to do much marketing for his services. Word is already out there that if you’ve got the money, he’s got the time.
But what profit strategies work for the opposite end of the spectrum, for the newbie public speaker trying to get a toe in the door to this potentially lucrative career? To give you an idea of what others have done, you can probably charge $200 for your first few engagements. If you’re good at it, and word of mouth builds, you could be charging $500 to $1,000 per talk by the end of your first year. Some speakers have a sliding fee scale depending upon the organization. Extras like travel and eating expenses are normally paid for. Whether or not you negotiate your fee is up to you. Some speakers do and some don’t.
These days the internet should absolutely be at the center of your profit strategies to get the word out. That you need a website goes without saying but we’ll do it anyway. You need a website! Article marketing is a great low-cost way to not only drum up business but establish yourself further as an expert on the topic. Two great article directory sites are Ezine Articles and Articles Base. Depending upon your motivation to be productive with your writing, these two sites alone could generate a steady stream of traffic to your website within a few months…or sooner.
Remember, provided you have some skill at speaking, the level of economic success you find primarily depends upon your work ethic. Now go for it!
The Speaking of Wealth Team
Flickr / Chris Denbow