Out of sight, out of mind is the kiss of death in many businesses and speaking for a living is no different. The most dynamic and captivating speaker on the face of the planet will almost certainly still be doomed to obscurity unless he has vibrant marketing toolkit that consists of a smokin’ hot website, printed materials and product lines, and a public relations and publicity machine. For a more in-depth discussion of this topic, check out the book, Speak for a Living, by Anne Bruce. For now, we’ll hit the high points.
1. A website on fire: We’ve discussed the importance of a great website in past blogs but the point bears repeating. If you don’t have a website that leaps out and grabs visitors by the throat, you don’t have a website. And you better make it easy to navigate and chock full of informative and entertaining content. Think of it this way. How do you expect to convince anyone that you are The Man (or Woman) that they need for their presentation if your website is boring? Sorry. No can do. Fix the website or change careers.
2. Printed Materials: The reality is that every contact you make in this world is not going to come via your website, and printed promotional materials (professional please) are essential to hand out at those random meetings which have the potential to become paying gigs. We’re not saying you must carry an entire marketing toolkit with you at all times but you should at least have a promo kit in your car or a desk drawer where you can get to it quickly. And please don’t use Vista Print or comparable companies for your business cards. Everybody knows those things are free – it says so right on the back. Don’t shill for someone else on your card and expect to be taken seriously.
3. Publicity Machine: Many pro speakers don’t yet have the bucks to put a high-priced publicity firm to work for them. Don’t worry. Be your own publicity machine. You can do the same thing they do. Spend at least a few minutes every single day completing a few tasks specifically intended to build your brand and speaking business.
For the obsessive-compulsive speaker, we’re sure you can create a much more complicated marketing toolkit if you put your mind to it. Just remember that it’s not necessary. The above-mentioned tools will work just fine.
The Speaking of Wealth Team
Flickr / dan taylor