Tweet

Get Ready for Speaking to Generate New Leads Fast

Guest post by: Jenny Stilwell

Article Overview: Referrals and public speaking are the fastest and most direct ways to generate new leads, because it fast-tracks the time it takes for people to know you, like you and trust you.

Get Ready for Speaking to Generate New Leads Fast

Don't panic! If you would rather stick pins in your eyes (I know - a horrible visual) than get up in front of people to speak, you can still use this same approach to generate leads from referrals and writing articles. What you need to do to get public speaking opportunities can be used for other marketing activities as well. Referrals and public speaking are the fastest and most direct ways to generate new leads, because it fast-tracks the time it takes for people to know you, like you and trust you.

Here's the list:

Put together your Speaker's Kit

This information needs to promote you as a great speaker who has something of interest and benefit to say to the targetted audience. It is of course a marketing document.

It needs to contain, in either physical or digital format:

- Your professional bio

It's worth having someone with a skill for copywriting look this over for you. We often ‘ease back' if we have to write our own bio, but let the accoldaes fly if someone else writes it for us. Don't be shy - powerful bios beat boring bios any time!

- Your photo - professional shots - two different ones will do.

- Contact details (make it easy for people to contact you)

- Examples of audiences you've addressed before, associations or groups you've spoken to, and make sure they are of a similar caliber to the types of audiences or groups you want to target with your speaker kit. If you've only ever spoken at a low key, small network group you need to work up to very large groups.

- Testimonials from people who enjoyed your talk - full names, titles and organization are best if possible

- If you've written any books on the same topics as you plan to speak, include the details

- An overview of your top/most popular signature talks (refer below)

Signature Talks

- These are the talks that present your core messages.

- For example, my signature talks are around growing service businesses, creating the right structure for growth, and marketing strategies.

- If you were facing a room full of people, what could you tell them that they would find helpful and useful, and that would add value to their business or life in some way?

- What are the key messages/objectives of your talk for the audience

- In what subject matter are you strongest?

- Do some research into what other speakers talk about, what titles they give their signature talks, and how they position themselves.

- Now, for those of you who hate public speaking, your core messages can be used in everything you do (except speaking engagements!). Core messages can be crafted to:

o Present a keynote talk

o Present a 30-60 minute talk

o Run a workshop

o Write a feature article

o Use on your blog

o Run an introductory seminar

o Use on your website

o Turn into a teleclass

- It can also be useful to specify where you would be available to speak - eg: Regional areas, interstate, your city only

Find Your Audiences

Again, you'll need to do some research, but there are many organizations and groups that are always looking and in need of speakers. Think of:

- Professional associations

- Local business groups

- Networking groups

- Special interest groups

- Alumni groups

- Schools

- Informal groups - ask around

Make Your Approach

- Use referrals where possible to get you to the decision makers - usually a committee or group head

- Be aware of the group you are targeting, the type of members they have (eg: young female marketers in their twenties; retired male lawyers in their sixties) and the sort of information that would be of interest and relevance to that group.

- If you are already a member of the group it may help you to be invited as a guest speaker

- Ideally, it is preferable to have attended some of the target audience's events so you have first-hand experience of how they work

- Depending on the group you're approaching, and the referrals and contacts you have, you may elect to call first and speak to the appropriate person, and then send through your Speaker's Kit. Many organizations have guidelines for submitting your credentials and your approach.

At the Event - Give Away Something of Value

Congratulations! You got the gig!

Make sure you have plenty of business cards, but also have something of value and relevance to give to your audience. You can request their business cards if they wish to be sent your giveaway, or take you up on your special offer, which enables you to collect their details.

Get them on your list, make time to talk to interested audience members after your talk (and try not to let people hijack you), and follow through on the special offer.

Related Articles
  Kick your upline's butt by getting fast MLM leads
  Get Paid For Finding Leads
  Use Marketing to Build Your Business for Less
  Market Yourself & Skyrocket Your Lead Generation
  Top Tip On How You Generate Leads For Your Network Marketing Business
  How Effective is Your Sales Cycle?
  This Years Must Use MLM Lead Generation Tactic, If You Wanna Win...
  Do You Want Personalized Tax Debt Relief Leads?
  Lead Generating
  Increase Sales Jumpstart Your Lead Generation
  Multiply Your Speaking and Consulting Income with Content
  What to do with a "cold" lead
  Increase Your MLM Leads
  How to Connect With Your Leads
  10 Minutes of Work and 164 Leads For My Online Home Based Business?
  Ramp Up Your MLM Lead Generation Fast With This Tactic Today...
  Presenting on the Fly - Discover a New World When You're Not Afraid to Present
  How to Create an Abundant Flow of Perfect Customers
  How to Generate Leads For Your Internet Business
  Who Cares More-Sales or Marketing?

Article Tags: public speaking



Related Forum Posts
Re: Helping a Grade 5/6 student make money fast - 1,Let him create a blog using wordpress. 2.Post topics that student like him are happy about 3.Put adsense on it 4. Generate advert from his school business If he did it well in few months , he will be earning money to take care of his need
Re: 3 Ways to Grow Your Business in 2011 - Hi David, I've had a lot of success by building my own media list and then emailing out the reporters when I have a story. I've also used PR Leads (paid program) which got me into the New York Times and Forbes. I haven't done much with online press releases - from what I hear they can help you with your SEO but they don't get much mainstream media attention. Let me know if you have any specific questions and I'd be happy to help!
How can I best help you? - I'm looking forward to sharing my ideas and insights here about taking your business to the next level. Before I jump in, I'd love to find out what would be most helpful to you. So, I'd appreciate hearing your responses to: How can I best help you to take your business to the next level? What are you struggling with at the moment? What would you most like to learn? and I'll do my best in responding to you Ready, get set, go . . . Wendy
Re: Facebook Fan Pages - What will always draw me to something valuable in Facebook Fan Pages is how they are giving information on a regular basis so that's what I could recommend. Generate more interesting contents on a regular basis and yes, giving freebies to those active followers could even motivate the others more. Good luck!
Business magazines - Fast Company is pretty good if you're into technology although it can be very on the edge. Entrepreneur has become one giant advertisement and I cancelled my subscription. Selling Power also has some useful content if you're looking at improving your sales skills / presentations.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

The Death of the Sales Magazine

What is an Adaptive Organization

How To Become A Member of the Paparazzi

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.