Do It! Marketing Blog: Marketing for Smart People™

5 Big Shifts You Need to Make for High-Fee Success

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After working with over 500 consultants, speakers, coaches, authors, and service professionals, I found 5 big shifts for mindset and skillset improvement are vital to the success of folks who are ready to make the leap to a high-fee business model.

We’ll dig into the details behind all of this to get you ready to rock in the world of high-fee programs during this special masterclass but here are some gold nuggets and things for you to think about before then...

1. The first mindset shift is around money.

Here’s the sound bite: What’s expensive to YOU is not expensive to others.

YOU are not your client.

You need to understand that if you’re someone who drives a Toyota, there are people buying Ferraris.

If you live in a $500,000 house, you can have prospects who live in a $5 million house.

You have to get out of your own way when it comes to charging premium dollars for your premium programs.

"I could never charge that much" is a nonsensical statement. What you really mean when you say that is you would never pay that much – and that’s what’s killing your business right now and keeping you stuck in low-fee hell.

You need to charge what will attract the right kinds of prospects and will REPEL the wrong kinds of prospects.

2. The second mindset shift is that making a lot of money in your business is hard, complicated and overwhelming.

I’m here to tell you it can be easy, effortless, and enjoyable.

You don’t need dozens of moving parts and emails and websites and landing pages and technology and a hundred marketing jobs to do every day.

Making crazy money can be crazy simple.

I know this because I’ve done it both ways.

The hard way AND the easy way.

Many of my clients have done it both ways and guess what? The easy way is better.

High-fee simplicity ROCKS and the more you simplify, the more you will boost your focus, momentum, and results.

3. The third mindset shift is around the way you deal with distractions.

Let’s say you join the High Fee Mastery program that we’ll talk about later.

You start to build some momentum – you begin to see the light on how much leverage you can build into your business – and you even start to implement the first few steps of the program and you might even begin to see early results.

Then – BOOM – it happens.

You let yourself get distracted.

Shiny object syndrome.

A new opportunity.

A new offer from some internet guru takes you off track.

You feel you have to buy this new software or spend a lot of time engaged in this new social network that’s going to be the next Facebook.

But here’s the thing: every time you get distracted like that, it diminishes your chances of generating the high-fee success you deserve.

Success comes to those who focus relentlessly on one or two primary high-fee strategies and give them all they’ve got – day in, day out, rain or shine, happy or sad, feel like it or not.

You need to become a high-fee focus ninja and train yourself to immediately deflect and dismiss ALL distractions that keep you from making the kind of money you know you can make with some discipline and focus and depth.

Stop being a guppy skimming the surface and become the shark who swims in deep water and never takes his eye off the prize.

4. The fourth shift is mastering high-fee sales conversations.

Getting much better at them. And being way more comfortable qualifying (and disqualifying) so you focus like a laser beam on the exact prospects who you want to serve, who you can really help, and who will gladly pay for your high-fee programs. 

And learning to reframe a sales conversation as an enrollment conversation.

Not even enrolling people in your programs but enrolling people in the execution and realization of their desired outcomes and results.

And that is much, much easier.

Nobody wants your program – everybody wants their specific outcomes and results. More on that during the masterclass.

5. The fifth and last shift – knowing in your bones that the higher the fees you charge, the more commitment you’ll get from your clients.

This is true in your 1-on-1 programs like coaching and mentoring and it’s also true in your high-fee group coaching programs and it's true for your high-fee consulting services and also for your high-fee mastermind/elite access programs.

The higher the fee, the higher the commitment, the higher the commitment, the greater the level of client execution.

And the great the level of client execution, the better results your clients will experience.

So it actually SERVES your client better to charge premium fees because it leads to greater action and better results.

Unconditionally and across the board, I’ve seen this play out in dozens and dozens of different coaching, consulting, and professional service businesses.

Ready to get serious about your high-fee success?

Join me for this zero-cost advanced training and let's get your high-fee business model up and running and generating serious cash flow for you in the next 60-90 days.

Ka-BOOM!!! 

 

Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing for coaches, business coaching, sell more coaching, marketing for consultants, sales training for coaches, high-fee success, mastermind programs

17 Reasons You’re Not Making Money

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Had a terrific marketing mentor call with a new client who has made MILES of progress in the short time since we started working together.

During our last conversation, I praised his action-orientation, and the great progress he’s made in recent weeks. He acknowledged how much better he felt about his marketing, positioning, and programs.

But then he asked me a powerful question - “David, if I’ve made this much progress, why am I not making more money?”

I gave him my initial responses (it's still early in the game, not enough prospecting activity, no consistent sales process) but since then I’ve developed many more reasons that speakers, authors, coaches, and consultants aren’t making the money that they know they could and SHOULD be making.

Here are the top 17 reasons YOU might not be making the money you want and deserve. Do a quick self-check with the ones that resonate the most with YOU:

  1. You’re great at delivering your product or service but you’re terrible at marketing and sales
  2. You’re not getting the right kind of marketing or sales help in time – or at all!
  3. You’re not delegating or hiring part-time help to take care of the “intelligent gruntwork.”
  4. You don’t have a business plan/goal/vision/destination in mind, including failure to plan for failure!
  5. You have no differentiation – you’re trying to market me too, “Same-o Lame-o” boring stuff
  6. You don’t take yourself seriously (indicated by homemade business cards, freebie website, trying to cut every corner, etc.)
  7. You over-invest in these same things – fancy business cards, $25,000 website, overly expensive and overly broad advertising, and you think that’s enough
  8. You lack obvious expertise and you ignore thought leadership in your marketing mix
  9. You’re a mass generalist not an expert specialist – you try to be all things to all people
  10. You don’t develop alliances – Stop trying to succeed alone. Joint venture, build alliances, or use strategic partners
  11. You’re not connecting with prospects on their most relevant, urgent, and expensive issues
  12. You don’t have a defined sales process and find yourself winging it almost every time
  13. Your proactive outbound prospecting plan consists of sitting by the phone waiting for it to ring. (Not good!)
  14. You’re forgetting that we live in the Attention Economy - first you must earn your prospects’ attention and only THEN will you have a chance to earn their money
  15. You’re relying too much on one marketing channel (email, social media, direct mail, networking) and your prospects are starting to see you as an annoying pest, not a welcome guest
  16. You’re not adding enough tangible sources of excellence to your marketing mix - in other words, you’re failing to create marketing materials that are too good to throw away!
  17. You underestimate the amount of time and/or money it will take to grow your business successfully. Remember, not all things are going to work the first time. Or the tenth. Plan for experimentation, testing, and thousands of small adjustments along the way

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p.s. Want to make sure your business is focused on what matters most to maximize your influence AND income?

Download your copy of the Do It! Marketing Manifesto for free right here.

Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing for coaches, thought leadership marketing, trusted advisor marketing, marketing expert, marketing for trainers, sales prospecting, marketing for consultants, sales and marketing, speaker marketing expert

Beware the marketing coach who does not DO

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OK I have to say it...

I'm getting really REALLY tired of these so-called gurus and coaches who are supposedly teaching people how to "make millions as a [fill in the blank - speaker, author, infomarketer, coach, etc]" yet they have never earned a $5k+ speaking fee, they've never sold more than 1000 books, they've never sold more than a few thousands dollars in infoproducts, and they've never coached more than a few dozen people.

Here's the deal, people - ASK your next coach, guru, teacher, or mentor the following questions based on the subject you're enrolling to learn.

For example...

1. Speaker marketing coach:

  • How many times a year do you speak FOR MONEY? 
  • At what fee? 
  • Who are five of your most recent paid speaking clients?

2. Book marketing coach:

  • Is your book self-published or with a major publisher? 
  • How many books have you sold? 
  • If you claim "bestseller" status - what lists and for how long were you on the list? 
  • Where is your book TODAY in amazon sales rank (less than 25,000 is good)

3. Group coaching/online course creation guru:

  • How many group coaching programs or courses have you run? 
  • Since when have you been filling your own groups? 
  • What's your average enrollment? 
  • At what price point? 
  • Can you show me the sales page for three of your recent programs?

4. Infoproduct coach:

  • How many infoproducts do you currently sell? 
  • What's your monthly sales volume on your top 2-3 products? 
  • Can you show me the sales pages for several of your products?

5. Private Coaching guru:

  • How many private coaching clients do YOU currently work with? 
  • What are your coaching packages and fees? 
  • Do you charge by the hour? (It's a BIG red flag if they say yes!) 
  • What percentage of your coaching business is repeat and referral? 
  • What's the average amount of time and money that clients spend with you?

6. Marketing/business growth coach:

  • How long have you been running your business? 
  • Do you have other sources of income besides this business? 
  • What are they? 
  • What are the typical outcomes clients get from working with you? 
  • Have you DONE what I want to do - or do you just teach it? 
  • How many clients have you worked with? 
  • What separates your successful clients from your not-so-successful ones? 
  • Then check out their recommendations on Linkedin and their client testimonials on their website (how specific are they? how many? how credible? Full attribution with person's name, company, position, etc?)

There are a lot of people out there who LOOK like they have it going on - pitching their "Million Dollar" this and "Million Dollar" that...

Sad to say, a LOT of it is smoke and mirrors. Motivation, inspiration, pretty websites, great photos of smiling, jubilant bootcamp or retreat attendees, a big social media footprint, great looking videos...

But scratch the surface and the gold glitter starts to flake off in big chunks as you realize you've just been taken for a ride by a very pretty or handsome con artist and suddenly, you're out a few thousand dollars (or a lot more) with nothing to show for it except that empty feeling in the pit of your stomach that you're not any closer to achieving your goals for your business, your bank account, or your lifestyle.

Don't follow the herd - you're not a lemming or a sheep.

Find the people who are the REAL DEAL, who only preach what they themselves practice, invest wisely, and choose carefully.

That is all. Rant ends here.

And next time - we'll tackle the rant of the CLIENT who does not do. (That rant might be even juicier than this one, don't you agree?)

 

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Tags: marketing for speakers, consultant marketing, thought leadership marketing, professional services marketing, trusted advisor marketing, marketing expert, marketing professional services firms, marketing coaching, marketing coach, marketing for consultants, do it marketing, small business marketing speaker, small business marketing coach

How to Generate End-of-year Revenue NOW

 

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These don’t need a lot of explanation on my part - especially because you’re getting “copy and paste”-ready emails you can quickly adapt to your specific situation and then hit send!

The first email template is more appropriate for your corporate prospects.

And the second email template is more appropriate for your small business /entrepreneur prospects.

In both cases, the approach and the mantra is “Invest 2018 Dollars for Your 2019 Success” (in fact, that would be a pretty good subject line for a standalone email blast if you wanted to "go big" with this idea).

Here's your template for your personalized 1-on-1 emails to corporate folks:

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Subject: Peter - Invest 2018 dollars for your 2019 success

Peter,

Wow - time flies! Wanted to follow up with you from our meeting back in September. Thank you so much for your kind words about my book and how relevant those ideas are to your team.

AND - here's the crazy idea: I know it's end-of-year crunch time but if you have some "use it or lose it" budget money left over for the US division, would it make sense to order Do It! Marketing books for everyone? Depending on how much I can help you spend that budget (Ha!), we can also talk about presenting customized seminars for your team.

Again - wacky idea. But I didn't want to let November and December slip away without reconnecting and asking you. What do you think?

-- David

[signature block]

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And now for your small business and entrepreneur clients and prospects:

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Subject: Steve - possible icing on the cake?

Steve,

Thank you for connecting with me a few months back about the possibility of doing some work together.

I generally don't give tax advice... scratch that - I NEVER give tax advice... but this is the time of year that my clients, both old and new, tend to start working with me OR renew their marketing program because:

Tax savings - Offset 2018 income OR add business deductions to lower overall taxes due. Let Uncle Sam chip in to help you grow your business.

Credit card or loyalty points - Want to keep that hotel status? Are you just a few thousand points shy of getting bonus airline miles or the next level up on your favorite credit card loyalty program? Invest now and crank up the points so you maximize your benefits.

So if you've been on the fence about our possible collaborations, this is the time to consider one of the following programs:

1. Speaker Profit Formula Mentoring Program

2. Do It! Marketing Platinum Mastermind Program

To see if one of these is a fit for you, please email me -- OR let's set up a time to talk by following this link. (link to your scheduling software - I use ScheduleOnce)

Looking forward to discussing what YOU are up to and how we can make your business more focused, more profitable, and more fun in 2019 and beyond.

-- David

[signature block]

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Send a dozen of these emails starting right now - and then please DO let me know how many thousands of dollars in 2018 revenue you’re able to add to your bottom line over the next 30 days.

p.s. If YOU yourself are in one of the above situations (i.e. considering working with ME either as your marketing speaker or your marketing coach), these reasons are just as valid for YOU to get in touch with me over the next 30 days as they are for YOUR clients and prospects to get in touch with YOU. Click here to book a call with our team.

Just sayin’...

Now get behind that computer and DO IT!!!

Want more big ideas and bold moves to help you grow your business? Grab this now...
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Grab your FREE copy of the Do It! Marketing Manifesto

And then leave a comment below with your questions, thoughts, and advice on the ideas above.

Are you a DO IT freak? Awesome!! Please use the social media buttons at the top of this post to share it with your network. YOU are a rock star!


Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing for coaches, sales prospecting, marketing for consultants, marketing tip

7 Quick Truths of Business Coaching

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1. Most business coaching isn’t really “coaching” - it’s much more 1-on-1 consulting or training or mentoring. The traditional coaching model assumes that the client has the answers  - the coach shows up only with questions. In most business situations in which you as a speaker, author, consultant, or independent professional would be asked for “coaching” - what the prospect is really asking for is 1-on-1 access to you for both questions AND answers

2. Setting up a coaching or 1-on-1 mentoring profit center can be fast, easy and lucrative - When I started adding 1-on-1 marketing coaching services to my offerings back in 2003, I was working hourly (huge mistake). Even then, I would make between $500-$1500 per month per client. And it took me zero prep because clients were paying to tap into knowledge and expertise that I already had! Today I sell three sessions for $2,500 and 90 days for $8,500. Crazy, right?

3. Coaching is a commodity and most coaches are broke - While this is true (sadly), that doesn’t mean that you can’t break the mold. And also remember that this fact is about traditional life coaching or success coaching - NOT business coaching. According to surveys by the International Coach Federation (ICF), the median annual income for coaches is $29,100. That means that HALF of all coaches make even LESS than that! So obviously, this is NOT the private coaching model that I am recommending to you. Instead…   

4. Adding “private coaching” (really 1-on-1 consulting/mentoring) to your business model can vastly increase your earning potential as a speaker, consultant, author, and high-fee expert. Before I started my marketing coaching practice, my sole source of revenue was speaking and training. Clients and audiences would ask me, “What’s next?” and my answer was limited to “What’s the next seminar or training class you need?” Today, the answer is a scalable, high-profit series of private coaching programs. For each of the past 6 years, I’ve generated over $200,000 in private coaching income. That’s over a million dollars during that time - and that’s in addition to my other revenue streams.  

5. You do NOT need to be a certified coach and work through hundreds of hours of training to offer 1-on-1 private coaching programs - All you need is a well-packaged program, a systematic and repeatable process, and some structure for how you want to deliver value in a highly-personalized 1-on-1 relationship with your very best clients who will happily pay premium fees for direct access to you and the expertise you already have.  

6. People WANT to take you home. If you’re a successful speaker, consultant, author, or high-fee expert, buying private coaching from you can be a huge ego-boost for high-achieving executives and entrepreneurs. If your private coaching program is systematized, well-marketed, and well-documented - it will be extremely well-received by clients. Yet so many folks can't quite crack the code of how to add private 1-on-1 coaching to their professional practice…

7. It’s both easier - and harder - than it looks. Read this post for a cautionary tale about a completely unethical and incompetent way to offer private coaching programs. That is NOT the path I recommend. Rather, you need to sit back and strategically decide how to create, promote and profit from private coaching programs you can build around the expertise you ALREADY have. If you want some fast-track help to make the planning, implementation, and monetization way easier, faster, and more profitable, book a free strategy call with one of our coaches.

p.s. Want to apply for your Speaker Strategy Call to see how you can USE some of these ideas right away? Apply for your call here.

 

Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing for coaches, thought leadership marketing, marketing professional services, trusted advisor marketing, marketing for trainers, marketing coaching, selling professional services, professional speaker marketing, marketing coach, marketing for authors, marketing for consultants, doit marketing, do it marketing

These 7 Strategies Will Make Your Marketing WORK

As one of the few experts who only preaches what I practice - and what has worked for hundreds of my students - here's the real deal on the 7 key strategies that need to be firing on all cylinders for your business to grow.

Questions I get from smart cookies like you all the time:

  • David, what does it take to gain pre-eminence in my market?
  • How can I become the go-to person in my topic/niche?
  • Why am I still wrestling with the feast-or-famine revenue roller coaster?
  • How can I set and get premium fees when clients are tight with budgets?
  • How can I expand my reach, grow my list & build my platform?
  • How can I recession-proof my business so that I make money regardless of the economy and industry ups and downs?
  • I'm plenty busy - why aren't I making more money? 

All these questions have their answers hidden in one of 7 key areas of your thought-leadership business as a consultant, speaker, coach, author or independent professional...

Let's explore each one - and see how you can tune, tweak, and improve anything that's missing, not performing, or could use a major overhaul in YOUR business...

1. Speaking - obviously, this is my area of expertise. Having a solid speaker marketing strategy is vital to help you gain visibility in front of audiences who matter (aka buyers and decision-makers); generate leads for your back-end professional services; and generate significant revenue in paid professional speaking fees for your workshops, seminars, keynotes, trainings, workshops, and private events. Speaking is one of the most powerful lead-generators and revenue-generators in your expertise-driven business.

But how do you scale this above and beyond the audiences that you can reach through live speaking? The next pie slice has your answer...

2. Online Courses - The most successful experts, speakers, consultants, and coaches are embracing the power of online courses, e-learning, and digital distribution methods for their expertise. The first benefit here is pure scalability - your business can reach thousands (or tens of thousands) of ideal customers, prospects, and buyers through the power of online courses. As a source of revenue, online courses are hard to beat because you create it once - and get paid over and over and over. This allows you to create a freedom-based business where your value is no longer tied to your personal time, attention, and presence. Jackpot!!

But now how do you reach those thousands of eager prospects, buyers, and decision-makers? Let's look at the next piece of the pie...

3. Webinars - The day I fully embraced webinar marketing back in 2012, my entire business - heck, my entire life - changed dramatically. We are living in an "Attention Economy" - meaning, when it comes to getting clients, you first need to earn their attention and only then do you get the chance to earn their money :o) The #1 best way to deliver massive value to your subscribers, fans, followers, prospects, and buyers is with content-rich webinars that teach actionable strategies, tactics, and tools. You need to be radically helpful and radically generous. This is what converts strangers to friends and friends to prospects and prospects to paying customers who love you, buy, repeat, recommend, and refer like crazy.

But webinars presented here and there sporadically and without a clear strategy are not going to do the trick. So you need...

4. Funnels - A marketing funnel is simply a fancy word for a programmatic sequence of touchpoints - emails, videos, blog posts, webinars, PDFs, and other helpful communications - delivered in a specific sequence to a specific subset of people specifically interested in a certain one of your products, services, or programs. A marketing funnel is your lifeline that keeps you connected to prospects who are at various phases of the buying cycle - from merely interested in the topic (browsers) all the way to committed to investing in your solutions/services (buyers). A well-designed marketing funnel will take a cold lead from initial contact to signed contract in a pre-determined sequence designed to both add value, and extend offers and invitations to your relevant investable opportunities. Without a marketing funnel in place, you will never get off the "feast or famine" revenue roller coaster. And worse, you risk alienating people who are NOT interested in buying today while completely missing out on sales to the hot prospects who are ready to buy right now.

But what about long-term stability and predictable revenue? The best way to share your expertise and gain this benefit is...

5. Consulting/Coaching - Having longer-term engagements on your service menu - such as 90-day coaching packages or year-long consulting programs or monthly facilitated mastermind roundtables - is a great way to increase your impact on client results. Remember, people don't really value transactions - but they VERY much value programs and services that deliver transformation. And delivering results over a sustained period of time is the best way to guarantee your clients' success. Because of the greater depth, breadth, and duration of these engagements, it is much easier to get premium fees from premium clients who are deeply committed to the transformation you offer that will get them the results they truly want. These longer-term engagements also provide the foundation of your financial stability because the income is significant and ongoing.

But then how do you capture "lightning in a bottle" to let all the folks who can't afford your consulting or coaching know you are the real-deal resource who can help them when they're ready to transform?

6. Publishing - One of the best ways to do this is with publishing a nonfiction business book based on the expertise you already have. Writing, publishing, and promoting a business book that captures your methodology, training, and tools is an outstanding way to build your platform, expand your reach, and establish your authority as the "go-to" expert in your specific topic, niche, or industry. After all, you "wrote the book" on it so you must be a highly credible expert. And - some tough love coming up here - your book needs to be excellent. Not just good or very good, but truly great. It does NOT need to be long - in fact, the bestselling business books of all time are less than 120 pages in a small 5x7 trade publishing format. But just writing a book for the sake of having a book (and a crappy one at that) is definitely not going to help promote your expertise. That's why the book needs to be marketed, launched, and sold for the long-term impact it can have on your professional success.

And what makes all of these components really take off? It's about how you articulate and distinguish them with your messaging and packaging, which means you need to master...

7. Copywriting - Copywriting has nothing to do with patents, trademarks and copyright notices ;o) "Copy" is written content conveyed through online media and print materials. Copywriting is one of the most essential elements of effective marketing and successful selling. It is the art and science of strategically delivering words (whether written or spoken) that get people to take some form of action. Good copy resonates with the reader and is relevant, valuable, attractive, and effective in communicating the value, impact, results, outcomes, and emotional payoffs tied to investing in and benefitting from your products, services, or programs. The better you are at copywriting, the more prospects, leads, and sales you will generate because you'll be able to quickly get your prospects to "get it, need it, and want it" when considering buying from you.

 Grab your FREE copy of the Strategic Marketing eBook.

Are you a DO IT freak? Welcome to the club!! Please use the social media buttons at the top of this post to share it with your network. YOU are a rock star!

 

Tags: marketing for speakers, thought leadership marketing, professional services marketing, trusted advisor marketing, product development, professional speaker marketing, marketing for authors, marketing for consultants, thought leadership, doit marketing, doitmarketing, product development for experts, 50 shades of pay

50 Shades of Pay

doit marketing 50ShadesofPay

Strap in and hang on - you are getting the mother lode of product development ideas right here in this post. Yes, that's right - below are 50+ ideas to help you productize, monetize and distribute your expertise.

Why is this important to you? (Yes, MORE important than reading about 50 shades of whips, handcuffs and lingerie...)

Well, here are some questions to help you answer that for yourself...

As a speaker, author, or thought-leading professional, do you...

  • Feel exhausted by long days filled with time-consuming one-on-one client work, running from one meeting to the next, and an endless stream of emails and phone calls... 
  • Find yourself frustrated by chasing the broken business model of trading hours for dollars... 
  • Fear that your business is taking over your life with less and less free time for creative play, family and friends, and proactive planning and business development... 
  • Wish you could LEVERAGE yourself and your knowledge to generate more PASSIVE income... 
  • Want to figure out how to work with better clients while making even MORE money and working LESS? (Yes, really!!) 

Shhh... Here's the SECRET you don't want your friends, clients, spouse, neighbors, or colleagues to know: Although you are very successful, you still want MORE... and you're really not sure how to get to that next level...

Somehow, some way, you want to grow your thought leadership platform so you get:

  • MORE Leads 
  • MORE Clients 
  • MORE Consulting Work 
  • MORE Speaking Engagements 
  • MORE Profits 
  • MORE Passive Income 
  • and 100-300% MORE Revenue... 

Which will in turn, help you generate:

  • MORE Clarity 
  • MORE Confidence 
  • MORE Control 
  • MORE Cashflow 
  • MORE Time Off 
  • MORE Leverage 
  • and dramatically MORE Freedom...

The secret to adding LEVERAGE to your business is to DIVERSIFY the methods and media with which you share your expertise with the world.

You can use the online course methodology to create ANY of the following:

  1. Paid online courses (to generate revenue) 
  2. Free online courses (to generate leads)
  3. Books
  4. Booklets
  5. E-books
  6. Minibuks
  7. Workbooks
  8. Field guides
  9. Study guides
  10. Manager's guides
  11. Survey and research tools
  12. Template packs
  13. Audio programs on CD
  14. Audio programs as mp3 downloads
  15. Audio podcasts
  16. Audio interview series
  17. Audio quick-takes
  18. Video programs on DVD
  19. Video programs on streaming media
  20. Video subscription series
  21. On-demand video mini-lessons
  22. E-learning modules 
  23. 12-36 month consulting packages
  24. 3-12 month coaching programs
  25. Teleseminars
  26. Special reports
  27. >>> Quick station break - article continues below and you'll want to get your hot little hands on this free speaker profit maximizer cheat sheet >>> 
  28. White papers
  29. Webinars
  30. Action Packs
  31. Implementation Kits
  32. Meeting Starters
  33. Email courses
  34. Online forums
  35. Assessments
  36. Toolkits
  37. Card decks
  38. Manuals
  39. Handbooks
  40. Laminated quick reference guides
  41. Personality profiles
  42. Games
  43. Online quizzes
  44. iPhone apps
  45. Android apps
  46. Mentor programs
  47. Self-coaching materials
  48. Membership websites
  49. Audio Powerpoints
  50. Roadmaps
  51. Checklists
  52. Worksheets
  53. Reminder cards
  54. Posters
  55. Flipbooks
  56. Master classes
  57. Bootcamps
  58. Executive mastermind groups
  59. Certification programs
  60. Licensing programs

...the list is limited only by your imagination, your personal preferences, and your revenue-generating goals for your product(s) and your business.

 

Tags: marketing for speakers, thought leadership marketing, professional services marketing, trusted advisor marketing, product development, professional speaker marketing, marketing for authors, marketing for consultants, thought leadership, doit marketing, doitmarketing, product development for experts, 50 shades of pay

How to Become a Motivational Speaker

 

Hey gang, David Newman here from Do It Marketing. Today's question, how to become a motivational speaker?

How to become a motivational speaker? Oh my gosh, it's as if you push the magic button and the suddenly, rainbows, unicorns, chicks, ducks and bunnies just pop out and boom, you're a motivational speaker. Of course it doesn't work that way. You need a business model, a service model and a revenue model. You need to do some thinking. You don't just go to Kinko's and print up some business cards and then set up a simple free website on Wix or Go Daddy, or some of these crazy platforms.

Why would you do that? Why would you do that? That is so crazy. It's like I'm going to run off and join the circus. So listen, couple of steps to get you pointed in the right direction. Number one. Business model. What is it you're building? Are you building a solo practice, are you building a company that's going to have big offices and a physical space, a training center, are you going to have other consultants go out under your name, under your banner, under your brand? You know when you look at these very successful, five, ten, 20 million dollar training companies, consulting firms, those didn't just pop by by accident, right? Someone planned for years that business model, that service model, and that revenue model.

But the first piece of this is, plan out the business model. Is it solo practice, is it partnership, is it a consortium, a confederation of trainers, is it going to involve licensing, is it going to involve subcontractors, so really think through. What's the empire look like, what does success look like from a business model standpoint.

Second question you have to ask yourself if you want to be a successful motivational speaker, have a successful motivational speaking driven business, is service model. So obviously, at some point, you want to speak, but even there, what kind of speaking? Key note, half day, full day, multi-day, retreats, seminars, public programs, in house training for companies. What are going to be the different modes and methods that you're going to deliver that speaking message, what formats, what depth, duration and detail and then plan out accordingly, how do you think those will be priced?

So now we move on to revenue model. So service model is what's on the menu, revenue model is what does it cost, how do you get paid, how does the math work. So what are you going to charge for a key note speech? What are going to charge for a half day or a full day workshop? What are you going to charge for a multi-day program? What are you going to charge for a multi-day CEO retreat or a board retreat or an in house training session. Or a strategic work session or a intensive boot camp experience? So, figure out what you need to charge, figure out how busy you want to be and how much money you want to make, put that math together, it's very simple, it's price times quantity equals total. Let me repeat that for the slow kids watching this, price times quantity equals total. That's my phone ringing right now with complaints about that slow kids comment.

Anyway, think about these three things and your foundational success to start a motivational speaking driven business is going to go way, way up. So listen, I have a lot more than four minutes of information to share with you. There's some web training available to you that is gonna help you tremendously dial in your service model, business model, revenue model, answer a whole bunch of other questions about getting started, getting ahead, staying ahead, as a motivational speaking driven entrepreneur. It's doitmarketing.com/webinar. Pop over there right now, it's doitmarketing.com/webinar. There should be a link somewhere here, in this video, below this video, in the transcript of this video, somewhere that will get you in to doitmarketing.com/webinar. I will see you on the other side. Thanks for watching.

 

Tags: marketing for speakers, motivational speaker video, motivational speaker, motivational speaker marketing, public speaker marketing

The Top Marketing Must Do!

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You should have been here - in my office - 5 minutes ago.

This whiteboard was FULL - and I mean jam-packed - with ideas, notes, bullets, to-dos, action items, brainstorms, and some jottings about the "next big thing" for our professional speaking and inbound marketing firm.

Perhaps you have a similar whiteboard in your office. Or a wall filled with post-it notes. Or plaques and awards on your bookcase. Or other visual reminders of where your company has been and all that you have accomplished.

Tremendously exciting. Truly.

The only problem: it was tremendously exciting in your past. With every day, every week, every month - hell, every hour - that you do not ACT on those ideas, they start to turn on you.

They are no longer motivators - they are pacifiers that remind you how great you WERE. What you imagined would BE. And what - for better or worse - didn't quite turn out the way you envisioned last week, last month or last year.

In my case, my office whiteboard was holding onto ideas and initiatives from 6 months ago. Yikes! Totally useless to me today. EXCEPT it made me feel good about how gosh darn smart I am and what big plans I have/had (NOT!)

When Steve Jobs came back as interim CEO of Apple in 1997, he had every award, plaque, and completed project plan removed from the walls and hallways of Apple. He did not want any visual reminders of the past. All he wanted his teams to see was their future.

NEW plans, CURRENT prototypes, and UPCOMING projects were all over Apple's hallways, offices, and conference rooms. Everything was future-focused and kept rigorously up to date.

What do you need to erase from your whiteboard? Which awards should you put away? Which of your accolades are keeping you stuck in the past?

Put that stuff away.

Look to your CURRENT future. In the words of Steve Jobs - it will help you "Stay hungry. Stay foolish." And it will help you achieve your NEXT level of "insanely great."

Want to apply for your Speaker Strategy Call to see how you can IMPLEMENT some of these concepts right away? Apply for your call here.

 

Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing speaker, marketing strategy, marketing success, marketing for coaches, professional services marketing, small business coach, motivational speaker, leadership, professional speaker marketing, marketing coach, marketing strategist, motivational speaker marketing, speaker marketing, small business marketing, thought leadership, small business marketing speaker

Marketing Coach Tip: 3 Secrets to Smarter Prospecting on LinkedIn

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LinkedIn is the new cold call. Perhaps this sounds familiar to you... 

As a marketing speaker and marketing coach, I continually study the field, read a ton of books, and attend seminars and workshops from my fellow marketing enthusiasts.

And I'd like to respectfully disagree with that analogy.

LinkedIn is way better, smarter, faster, and more effective than a cold call. In fact, I'd slant the analogy a different way altogether:

LinkedIn is the new email with a red velvet rope around it, a priority seal, and a much more attractive return address envelope!

First let's explore those three points and then you'll see an example of LinkedIn in action PLUS here are some sample social media scripts you can use that have gotten awesome results for our clients in our marketing mastermind and private mentoring programs. 

3 Reasons LinkedIn Beats Email

1. Red Velvet Rope - This is a term popularized in the marketing arena by Michael Port. It means there's an exclusive, members-only feel to your marketing. It's not for everyone - and not everyone qualifies. You need to be "in the club." When you reach out to a fellow Group member on LinkedIn, you both are in the club and there's a strong element of peer-to-peer belonging that encourages community, communication, and responsiveness. Can't say that about a cold call or a plain old email!

2. Priority Seal - Most executives and business owners feel overwhelmed by email. When they're not tackling the email monster (click here if you'd like to master your email!), they are wall-to-wall with meetings, phone calls, and their daily dose of dealing with crises. LinkedIn messages DO trigger an email notification but you have the choice of responding via email or via LinkedIn -- and LinkedIn messages (for most of us) are few and far between so they give the impression of being more important, more filtered, and more personally relevant. Think of it as a FedEx envelope arriving in your daily mail. Sure, you can ignore it - you can toss it - you might not get to it for a few days. But chances are greater that you will because of curiosity - a basic trait of human nature.

3. More Attractive Return Address Envelope - LinkedIn messages tend to be shorter than emails - and a shorter note merits a shorter response. You've just given your prospects, clients, and connections a huge "out" because they do NOT need - and probably would not even consider - sending you a long, involved response. If you send a short, succinct note to reconnect with a past client - they'll respond with a short, succinct note and you'll probably use LinkedIn to make plans to connect in a longer format offline (phone call, lunch, coffee, in-person meeting). Yours will be a fast, easy and appealing note to respond to - so your chances of getting a prompt response just went up considerably!

LinkedIn in Action and Results

This story was submitted by my motivational speaker colleague Jim Clemmer to the excellent SpeakerNetNews:

Using LinkedIn to (Re)Connect and Build Business — Jim Clemmer

I have been using LinkedIn to reconnect with old contacts and to connect with anyone signing up for my newsletter. I do this with the LinkedIn for Outlook utility showing if anyone sending me an email (or completing any website form that is emailed to me) has a LinkedIn account. As my connection numbers build, more website visitors, book readers, and subscribers are now asking to connect with me. We’ve also done a few email blasts to our database asking for connections to those who have LinkedIn accounts. Over the last two years we can directly trace a few hundred thousand dollars in speaking/workshop or long term/ongoing consulting fees that started with these (re)connections.

3 LinkedIn Secrets from Jim's Success:

1. As my friend and Speaker Hall of Fame member Dr. Alan Zimmerman likes to say, "your business comes from your business." (He's a guy who enjoys a 92% repeat and referral rate from his client base so he's walking that talk.) Note that Jim Clemmer is also generating his success not ONLY from new connections - but from RE-connections. Try it for yourself and see what conversations you can generate with the folks who already know you, love you, and have given you money in the past.

2. You gotta ask for the connection. Note that Jim's strategy also involved email blasts to his list proactively asking them to connect on LinkedIn. And not just once - but several times over the past 2 years. Remember to make your social media scripts appealing, relevant, and NOT focused on you - but focused on the value you'd like to deliver to your connections.

3. It takes time and there are both direct and indirect benefits. Notice that Jim said, "over the last two years" - not the last 2 weeks or 2 months. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Notice also that he said he could DIRECTLY trace several hundred thousand dollars of new business. That's great - and in addition, Jim has likely generated that much money or more INDIRECTLY, meaning that people didn't hire him FROM LinkedIn but BECAUSE they saw something he contributed, received a connection update, or otherwise "bumped into" Jim's name, content, ideas, website, blog or network - and were prompted to engage with him.

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Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing speaker, marketing strategy, marketing success, marketing for coaches, consultant marketing, social media, linkedin, email marketing, entrepreneurship, motivational speaker, marketing strategist, motivational speaker marketing, speaker marketing, small business marketing, thought leadership, small business marketing speaker, marketing tip, social media marketing, social media scripts, networking, public speaker marketing