As a speaker, there are many ways to market yourself. And while there may not be hard and fast rules about what you should or should not do with your marketing strategies, below are some things that should be a part of every speaker’s marketing plan, and I highly recommend that you add them to yours.
Irresistible Free Offer (IFO). Your contact list is your pipeline to your target audience. Be sure to offer a free e-book, CD, report, e-course, or checklist on your website in exchange for a prospect giving you their email address. You can then start building your contact list by using an online email marketing tool such as AWeber, MailChimp or Constant Contact to capture the information. By providing a sign-up on your website homepage and Facebook page, building your list becomes automated.
E-Newsletters. Offering a newsletter on your topics of expertise is a great way to market yourself. Not only does this help build your contact list, but it offers the recipients even more insight into your passion and expertise. The key then is to consistently provide value in your newsletter so that your sign-ups not only stay with you, but they promote you to others.
Articles and Videos. These are both excellent ways to promote yourself and easy to create. Articles can begin as blogs on your website and in your newsletters, and then also be repurposed and posted to online article sites. It’s the same with videos. Create them, post them to your website, use them in your blogs and newsletters, and then submit them to online sites that accept videos.
Networking. No matter what your passion, profession or industry, there are likely to be professional organizations that are a good fit for you. If you are a member of any such groups, reach out to them and let them know you are interested in speaking at their next gathering. If you’re not a member, consider joining, but at the very least, contact them anyway and introduce yourself. And then direct them to your speaker’s page so they can learn more about your brilliance!
Teleclasses and Workshops – If you are not ready to hold a live event, start with offering online teleclasses or workshops, either on your own or in connection with others. You can create the event, and then use your contact list, social media sites and networking to promote it. If you’re not comfortable with setting up an online event, you can outsource this to virtual assistants who specialize in this area.
Social media. There’s no way around it. Social media is critical to your marketing strategy. We mention social media in nearly every article because in this world of high technology and instant communication, it is simply the most widely-used form of connection to those you want to reach. If you’re already using it, use it more. If you’re not, start now.
Another key component to successfully marketing yourself as a speaker is to have a speaker’s page on your website. This page is your one-stop-shop where prospects and other visitors can learn about you, your speaking expertise and experience. More detail on how to build your speaker’s page will be the focus of our next article, but for now, know that a complete speaker’s page should include:
- Media kit
- Bio
- One-sheet (a printable one-page snapshot that describes who you are and what you do)
- Headshot (at least one)
- Past speaking engagements/client list
- Webinars or videos
- Testimonials
- Photos of you speaking
- Links to your published books
- Contact information
If you are just beginning to build your speaking business, you likely will not have all of these ready to add to your page just yet. In that case, simply start with the basics—your one-sheet, bio, headshots and contact information. The remaining items should be added as soon as they are available. Remember that the more information you have on your speaker’s page, the more helpful it will be for prospects to determine that you are the right speaker for their upcoming event.
Along with these recommendations, feel free to get creative and find other avenues for spreading the word about who you are and what you have to offer. There are no rules for what you can and cannot do. Remember, effective marketing is all about letting the world know you’re out there and you have an extraordinary message to share.
My challenge to you this week is to select two or three of the tools mentioned above and add them to your marketing plan. Start with the IFO because that’s what grows your list which is key to your marketing strategy. Add a couple of the other items to your plan, and make the commitment to implement them. Set goals and deadlines for incorporating them into your marketing efforts, and once you’ve done that, choose two or three others, and repeat the process. It won’t take long to see positive results for your efforts! Be sure to post your results on our Facebook page.
The IBS team has all the technical skills needed for creating the IFOs, e-newsletters, speaker’s page and the other marketing materials you need to promote yourself and highlight your unique brilliance, and we would love to help you bring all the pieces together! Contact us today and let’s get started!
