Do you have an “exposure magnet” mindset?

by Shawn · 0 comments

When I ask speakers what their #1 challenge is in getting their speaking business to the next level, the answer is often “I need more exposure,” or “I need more people to know that I exist.” No surprise there — that’s the challenge of every business.

So how do you get more exposure? Is it just a matter of getting lucky? Is it about who you know? No. It’s actually about…

Mindset.

Watch this video and you’ll see what I’m talking about:

NOTE: I first shared this video with a small group of speakers in 2010. All the strategies still apply, but the “Oprah” reference is a little dated now. :)

Now that you have the right mindset to generate exposure for your speaking business…

Would you like to learn how to leverage 11 different “channels” to get that exposure? The video above is just the first eight minutes of a 1-hour training in which you’ll learn:

  • 11 ways to get more exposure, including…
    • My strategy for routinely getting to the first page — and often first position — in Google search results
    • Two resources to get you discovered by national media
    • How to connect with the clients you’re looking for — in a place where they’ll be happy to hear from you!
  • Why just writing a book isn’t enough to expand your business
  • How to be someone that the media wants to cover
  • And much more!

Valued at $97, you can get instant access to the video now for just $47. Click the “buy now” button below for instant access:

As always, your purchase is 100% guaranteed. Watch the whole video and if you’re not satisfied, just let me know within 30 days of your purchase date and I’ll give you a full refund. You have nothing to lose… but what could you gain if you finally get the exposure you’ve been looking for?

Use the “Testimonial Formula” to Get [Stronger] Testimonials from Your Clients

by Shawn · 4 comments

We all know how important testimonials are in building your speaking business — especially good testimonials (i.e. the ones that say more than “Bob is such a great guy!”).

The thing is, most clients want to give you a great testimonial after a successful engagement. But you’ve heard of writer’s block, right? Clients get “testimonial block” — they don’t know what to say in 2-3 sentences that will sound good and serve you well, so they think and think and think… and then get sidetracked with other work and… you get no testimonial.

For better results, try this:

Set your client up with the questions that you want to answer in your testimonial — or more accurately, the questions that your prospective clients want to have answered in your testimonial. Direct questions will be much easier for your client to answer, and then they — or you — can assemble the answers into a very powerful testimonial.

Here’s an example:

1. Why, specifically, did you select me as your speaker?

We selected you because of your dynamic speaking style on the video, and because we felt your message was exactly what our people needed to hear in these challenging times.

2. What goals did I help you accomplish at your meeting?

You helped us kick off the conference with a bang and got people excited about our program.

3. What are the 2-3 most frequent comments you’ve heard from attendees related to my presentation?

People keep telling me how they appreciated your authenticity — how they really believed you and your message, and they believed you cared about their success.

4. How do you see my presentation continuing to benefit your organization or your attendees in the year ahead?

There’s no doubt your reminder to “fire it up” will stick in our members’ minds for a long time to come and trigger a boost of energy when they’re feel burned out.

5. What is the #1 thing you’ll remember from our engagement together?

Definitely your “fire it up” catch phrase and also, just how easy you were to work with.

6. What would you say to a prospective client trying to decide if I am right for their event?

If you’re looking for someone who is real, engaging, inspiring, and easy to work with, hire Jane!

Now, mold it all together and what do you get?

“We hired Jane because we knew her presentation style and message would be a perfect fit for our audience, and wow, did she kick our conference off with a bang! Our attendees repeatedly tell me how much they connected with her and believed in her message. There’s no doubt her ‘fire it up’ message will stick in our members’ minds for a long time to come. And to top it all off, she was so easy to work with — hire her!”

That would be a pretty convincing testimonial, wouldn’t it?

Are you going to try this in your business?

Have you ever used this strategy?

Comment below and let me know what you think.

How Gretchen Rubin Uses Social Media to Lead The Happiness Project Movement

by Shawn · 0 comments

When speakers ask me how to get more exposure for their speaking business, I often advise that they think of themselves as the leader of a movement.

Why? Because when you’re leading a movement, then you’re about something bigger than yourself. By its very nature, a movement is about drawing people in and mobilizing them… and a movement is much more likely to generate exposure than an individual speaker.

No matter what you speak about, it has the makings of a movement — a movement of people leading a certain way, a movement of people living a certain way, a movement of people using technology in a certain way, etc.

Gretchen Rubin - The Happiness Project

Gretchen Rubin, Author of The Happiness Project

Gretchen Rubin, author of the #1 international bestseller, The Happiness Project, is a great example of someone who has established herself as the leader of a movement, and that’s one reason I asked her for some advice for my readers…

As you may know, she built a vibrant blog following before The Happiness Project ever released — which certainly helped it land at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list in its first week of release. Now, though, the blog is just one way she engages with her fans and followers. She also uses Facebook, Google+, Twitter, YouTube, and even Instagram. Oh, and she also has daily and monthly e-newsletters.

But can one person keep up with at all? Surely she has a team to help her manage it, right?

“I get help when there are design needs, but as far as posting content, I manage that myself,” Gretchen said when I asked her that question. “Once you get it started, keeping it running is really not so hard. And you don’t have to do it all on day one.”

That’s an important lesson for all of us, isn’t it?

Every time you land on another speaker’s — or another business’ — website, it’s very likely that you’ll see some “shiny new thing” that you could use in your business, but pause for a moment… relax… remember… you don’t have to do it all today. (And you can’t.) Gretchen’s words remind me of a poster that once hung over my desk with this ancient Chinese proverb:

“If you chase two rabbits, both will get away.”

Gretchen went on to say, “Just start with one thing and then you can add more bells and whistles as you go.”

And remember, you can choose the channels you use to connect with your followers:

“There’s this thought that ‘everybody does X, so I have to do X.’ No, just figure out what works for you. I’m a writer and I love to write, so writing the content to post is a natural for me. If something seems too hard to do, find something else.“

Isn’t that freeing?!

Ask yourself: Is what you’re currently doing working for you? If not, is there another communication/engagement channel that would be a better fit for you and your followers?

Start with one thing. Do it well.

When you’ve got that down, add another.

Then another.

But you don’t have to do it all today. (Thank goodness!)

Have you enjoyed Gretchen’s insights? If so, would you send a tweet to let her know? (And it will also let me know that you’d like to hear from more special guests.) Just click here to send a quick message (you can edit/approve it before sending).

Thanks for making Succeed Speaking a part of your day!

Still Waiting for Your Breakthrough Moment? Author of The Happiness Project Says “Enjoy the Process”

by Shawn · 3 comments

Napoleon Hill, in his classic work, Think & Grow Rich, wrote that on the path to success, “Persistence is key. You will have temporary defeats. That’s a given. But don’t give up.”

He went on to say that,

“Most of us are good ‘starters’ but poor ‘finishers’ of everything we begin. The persistent person discovers that ‘Old Man Failure’ finally becomes tired and goes away. Failure cannot cope with persistence.“

Good words.

But how do you persist? How do you overcome — or prevent — the fatigue and frustration that can derail your journey?

I asked Gretchen Rubin, author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller, The Happiness Project, about that on Friday afternoon… with emerging speakers and authors in mind (and even those who are established, but have their sights set on the “next level”).

The Happiness Project BookGretchen has achieved the success that many speakers and authors dream of:

  • her book hit #1 just weeks after its release
  • it remained at #1 for several weeks
  • it’s remained on the list in one form or another for roughly 25 weeks (the paperback version sits at #8 right now)
  • the book is now more than a book — it’s a global movement, with Happiness Project groups springing up around the world, hundreds of book discussion groups forming, and rights for more than 32 foreign editions being sold
  • she has over 55,000 people on her newsletter list, over 44,000 Facebook fans, and over 40,000 Twitter followers

Sounds great, right? Another story of overnight success. Right? Wrong.

You may have heard that it takes 10 years to become an overnight success…

Well, Gretchen’s first book was published in 2001. The Happiness Project, her fourth book, was published in late 2009 and hit #1 on the NYT bestseller list in January 2010. Pretty close.

And even that one book wasn’t born overnight. It was almost six years ago when Gretchen first got the idea to start her own happiness project, and a little bit later when the book idea was born.

So, needless to say, she persisted.

That’s why I wanted to ask her, “What advice would you give to other speakers or authors who are still waiting for their breakthrough moment?”

Here’s what she said:

“You can’t hold out for the big finish. Not all of my books found an audience like The Happiness Project, but all of my books were such a joy to write — for me — that I wouldn’t undo them. Enjoy the process. A lot of things are outside your control and you won’t always get what you want or even deserve. Banking your happiness on hitting the bestseller list or some of these other external goals is very risky.”

I’ll have more from Gretchen next week — about how she keeps up with her blog, newsletter, Facebook page and more — but for this week, I encourage you to persist, and perhaps to ask yourself:

Are you enjoying the process?

Learn more about Gretchen Rubin and The Happiness Project by visiting http://www.happiness-project.com, and if you’d like to bring some extra happiness into your life, I encourage you to buy her book, subscribe to her blog, or sign up for her monthly newsletter by emailing her with “newsletter” in the subject line.

How to Market Yourself Online

by Shawn · 0 comments

Email marketing… Social media marketing… Content marketing… Pay-per-click… Search engine optimization… Oh my!

Do you ever (always) feel overwhelmed by it all?

What do you do?

The fine folks over at Unbounce have put together a great infographic to guide you through the process of marketing yourself more effectively online (click to enlarge):

The Noob Guide to Online Marketing - Infographic
Unbounce – The DIY Landing Page Platform

Are you the steward or the star?

by Shawn · 6 comments

2011 08 Michael Buble 23
Creative Commons License photo credit: marbla123

Just a simple question for you this week, and I’d love to hear your feedback:

Do you see yourself as the steward or the star in your speaking business?

One definition of steward, according to Merriam-Webster, is “one appointed to supervise the provision and distribution of food and drink in an institution.”

I like that, but it’s not food and drink you’re distributing, obviously. It’s your message. So…

What if, for speakers, we change the definition to “one appointed to supervise the provision and distribution of an inspiring, empowering message among the people”?

With this definition, the attention shifts from you to your content, or your message — a message that, while not quite as essential as food and drink :) , you believe people need… right?

Your job, then, is not to position yourself prominently in the marketplace… not to make sure you look good on stage… not to make sure you get all the praise…

Instead, your job is simply to propagate your message and make sure it is consumable by as many people as possible (within your target audience).

You are an essential piece of this puzzle — don’t get me wrong. You are the one who has been inspired with your message and you have unique gifts and talents for delivering the message.

But does this slight shift in thinking change anything?

Now what is your objective when you market to prospective clients? Not just to get a booking and collect a paycheck, but to “distribute provisions” to a hungry, thirsty audience.

What is your objective when you write articles? Not just to add another credit to your list or get exposure, but to help even more people.

What is your objective when you create products to sell? Not just to diversify revenue and create “passive income,” but to make your content consumable for more people, and to make sure there are funds to support the further spread of your content.

Am I being too idealistic? Too dramatic?

Or, is it possible that seeing yourself as a steward could transform your business? (And is it possible that it could, coincidentally, result in you becoming a star?)

Comment below and tell me what you think!

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