BEGINING A MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKING CAREER

I believe anyone who has the desire can start a motivational speaking career especially when they have the right tools and knowledge right in their hands. Here are six things you can do to get those public speaking jobs and experience professional speaking success!

1) Know who you want to target as a market and determine your affinity within this market. Will their audience like what you have to say? Who do you relate to and what’s your message? Research your target market and see what kinds of products they purchase, what kinds of information sells in these niches, and lastly, review whether or not your materials match what you niche buys.

2) You would also want to know your competition in your niche. What are they selling and how are they doing it? (Motivational speaking tip: Never be afraid to learn from someone else.) Research is really important. As you discover how to get bookings for motivational speaking gigs, you’ll find that you’ll have a much easier time selling yourself when you know what your niche wants.

3) Create your marketing materials. When starting a motivational speaking business, get this part out the way first so you can have time to focus on marketing yourself. The easiest thing to start with is to write a book on something that you want to speak on. Pull from things that you have experience with. If you have a speech, write it down. Solve a niche problem and then create a workbook program or an audio / video training program that solves that problem. Sometimes, the market may choose you. Conference planners may tell you what they need and if you can meet those needs with your materials. Research your niche and see if there are any speakers that target what you’re targeting.

4) Decide if you are going to promote yourself over a topic as you go after public speaking jobs. If you’re wondering why you would want to promote a topic over yourself, the main reason is so that you can train other motivational speakers to do your talk. Your speakers can speak for a lower fee or you can collect a booking fee from them. Sometimes thought, a company will want only you.

5) Develop a unique selling point (USP) for yourself. Why should conference organizers hire you? You have to have a hook as you develop your motivational speaking career. Your hook may not necessarily be a physical characteristic but it is a personal branding that will help people to remember who you are.

6) Develop a marketing plan and market heavily to your niche. Consider putting together a marketing package that lets people know who you are. Include your biography, a photo, a demo clip (audio or video), price sheet of your product for sale, testimonials and possibly even a sample client list. Get all of your marketing materials finished and then market, market, market! If nobody knows about you, they can’t book you!