A is for Advertising

I’m going to help you with starting your own motivational speaking business and train you on making more and more money in your public speaking career. “James, how do I get paid public speaking jobs?” is one question I am constantly getting. Paid speaking jobs are out there but you just need to know where to look in order to find them. Here are just a couple of ideas for you.

1) Look for organizations that work with your specific area of expertise. Taking a look at DECA marketing organizations like FCCLA would be an example for the niche I’m in. Another example: if I was in the real estate industry I’d take a look at the national board of realtors, investor associations or even the local community associations.

2) Research public speaking opportunities in related associations within your area of expertise. Get the contact information of the conference coordinator even if you weren’t hired as their keynote speaker, don’t be afraid.

3) Increase your professional speaking success by creating a database of potential clients who may be hiring conference speakers in the future. Contact universities, colleges and professors. You can also try contacting your local speaker bureaus, non-profit organizations, corporations and even libraries.

4) Before starting a public speaking business, you should check the speaker forums for jobs. To help build your credibility as an expert in your niche you may have to take some unpaid jobs. Always remember that the goal is to go higher and higher and not settle on working for free.

5) As you start getting the hang of getting books for public speaking, you’ll begin to develop a system to keep track of all the places you’ll market yourself to. A helpful tool in providing contact information for organizations and conferences that are hiring motivational speakers is the internet. Search for “speakers wanted” or “calls for speakers” and you’ll have a hefty listing to work through.

6) In order to find all the paying markets in your particular area of expertise you can use directories. Do try to remember however that no directory is complete, but it will help provide enough contact to keep your business up and running. The three main directories that are helpful when trying to do research: The National Trade and Professional Associations Directory, The Directory of Association Meeting Planners and the Directory of Corporate Meeting Planners. They’ll make researching your niche easier than ever however these directories do cost a bit to acquire.

7) The last key source of potential paid professional speaking jobs comes in the form of the referrals. Referrals will help bring your name to the forefront when event planners are looking to hire. You’ll gain referrals as you build up a network of peers and clients in your niche market. One thing is for sure: the person who markets to event planner first is the one they will hire when they are getting ready for a job. You need to be the first one there!

And one last thing. Remember that you will always be able to find people who are willing to pay you to speak. With this number of resources you’ll be able to start researching your niche market much easier. Don’t be afraid to go after the big money, once you’ve got a few gigs under your belt that is!