One morning, you open your inbox and find several e-mails that will boost your business. There’s an invitation to speak at a national conference. A leading blogger asks for an interview, exposing your business to thousands of prospects. A trade publication editor lets you know that you’ve been featured in this month’s edition, which resulted from an earlier webinar.
Each of these opportunities came to you (instead of the other way around). Best of all, you enjoy the benefits of marketing without actually selling.
Daniel Moirao is the past president of the National Speakers Association Northern California (NSA/NC). As a professional speaker himself, he’s delivered keynotes to professional associations, public education institutions, as well as international curriculum associations and numerous start-up businesses.
“Nothing trumps the marketing power of face to face speaking engagements,” says Moirao. “Public speaking is the best way to establish a reputation, attract new opportunities and generate that leads that can turn into customers and clients.”
As president of the NSA/NC, he saw first hand that successful speakers understand how to position and market themselves to speaking opportunity gatekeepers. “Although technology has changed how people communicate, there’s still a need for speakers at events, meetings and conferences. New speakers must understand the key is blending traditional and online strategies to stand out and land speaking slots while building a long-term foundation for a successful speaking career.”
Build Your Foundation. “Many early stage speakers don’t recognize how much marketing is involved in getting speaking engagements, especially now that there’s fewer speaking opportunities than a decade ago,” says Moirao. “You can’t just post YouTube videos. As a beginning speaker you need to work hard to establish a reputation that gets people calling you.”
Companies need information from experts. This has led to more opportunities for speakers to present on webinars. “Webinars are a great way to get your foot in the door by delivering value that can lead to live speaking engagements,” says Moirao. “I recently delivered webinars to three organizations about all of which became face-to-face clients. Each time, after the second webinar, all three have said asked, “Can you do a live event for us?”
Thought leadership. Recognition from the outside world matters. “Speakers must project a credible brand. It’s not enough to declare yourself an expert. You need third party validation to get your foot in the door, facilitate conversations with meeting planners and will ultimately make getting speaking gigs easier.”
If you’re just starting out, Moirao recommends creating a one-year plan to position yourself as an industry expert. Generate and include media clippings in your speaking kit. Blog about topics that relate to your talks, publish articles in trade media, and create an overall platform designed to impress meeting planners.
Develop Your Online Presence. Meeting planners use the Internet to discover, evaluate and validate that speakers know their subject matter and that others recognize their expertise. Therefore, your website should clearly display your availability as a speaker, including your speaking topics and a list of past speaking events and recommendations from meeting planners.
Take steps to boost your online presence. Your blog should showcase key speaking topics to help meeting planners quickly grasp your expertise. Approach social media strategically to create a good impression with meeting planners who visit your social media platforms. Respond to influencer blog posts or participate in LinkedIn Group discussions. “I know one speaker who attracts speaking engagements from all over the world by posting articles from other experts in LinkedIn groups, says Moirao”
Connect with well-known thought leaders. Meeting planners judge you by the company you keep. Look for ways to affiliate and connect yourself with thought leaders so that meeting planners see you as a contributor to your industry.
“When you’re connected to reputable experts, your credibility skyrockets,” says Moirao. “I know a speaker who got several business thought leaders to write acknowledgments for her book. Now, she’s shoulder to shoulder with recognized thought leaders, which generates a powerful first impression when a meeting planner checks her out for a speaking opportunity.”
You have to be consultative. “Speakers can’t just entertain or motivate an audience,” says Moirao. “Now, meeting planners choose speakers who deliver practical value tailored to particular audiences. They expect speakers to research audiences beforehand to discover their challenges and concerns and develop presentations with useful information that attendees can implement immediately.”
Moirao advises speakers to help audiences see the big picture, overcome information overload and provide immediate actionable tasks. “Audiences are better informed and don’t want surface knowledge they can easily find online,” says Moirao. Speakers should see their role as helping audiences grow beyond their current capacity. This means staying current in their industries your industry and building a reputation to establish long-term relationships with gatekeepers that lead to more speaking opportunities.
Psychotherapy has experienced tremendous changes over the past decade. According to a paper published by American Psychological Association, titled “Where has all the Psychotherapy Gone?”, health insurance cutbacks combined with shifting consumer preferences have resulted in psychotherapists losing long-term patients who shun therapy in favor of solutions to specific emotional problems.
John Schinnerer, a Danville, California-based mental health professional, noticed this trend a few years ago. He’d founded a general practice around positive psychology (his core speciality) but found it harder to attract clients. He did not stand out from a crowd of therapists in his local market and his practice lacked a specialized value proposition to attract potential clients.
Schinnerer listened to the marketplace. He studied his website analytics and learned that the search term “anger management” attracted visitors from all over the country. Digging deeper, Schinnerer saw that global searches for “anger management” were massive compared to “positive psychology.”
Armed with these insights, Schinnerer transitioned from a general positive psychotherapy practitioner to an anger management expert. “I built a brand, and the brand was me,” says Schinnerer. “I took steps to establish myself as the anger management expert by earning third party credibility.”
Schinnerer offered himself as an expert media resource, leading to articles in Self Magazine and Reader’s Digest. He became a sought-after speaker on anger management issues teaching by teaching courses to psychologists at JFK University, and giving presentations at hospitals including Kaiser Permanente and corporations including United Parcel Service.
Schinnerer hosted a local radio show where he interviewed world class experts. He wrote a book and produced educational videos on anger management, including a 10-week online Anger Management Course. He website, webangermanagement.com generate information product sales and attract 2-3 new clients per month.
Today, Schinnerer enjoys a full practice, coaching roughly 26 clients a week. Thirty percent of his clientele comes from referrals from doctors and psychiatrists. “My thought leadership efforts created an upward spiral,” says Schinnerer, who attributes his reputation for being selected as a consultant and behavior expert on a Pixar Film, Inside Out (due out in 2015). “Pixar found my website while searching for anger management experts. Being included in the making of a major motion picture provides a real boost to my resume!”
