Last week, Sarah Cohen of Life’s Inner Quest Center asked, “I’m seeking places where I can give seminars on the following subject ‘The Secret to Happiness’ and ‘Stress Less for Success.’ Can you offer suggestions?”
Brainy reader A.H. of Up4Contract.com offered these suggestions:
“I would try to reach out to human resource departments of larger corporations: Bank One, Suffolk Construction, county governments, etc. Many larger organizations offer their employees monthly programs on various topics that focus on their overall well being. I worked at Bank One (which may have changed names now), and we had a monthly Lunch & Learn. We brought in speakers on how to be a better communicator, how to balance life with work, and other related topics. I could see your topics fitting in with organizations that have a belief in the well being of their employees. I would start talking to the heads of the human resource departments and see if they offer such programs, and tell them how you can bring value to their employees.
“Another suggestion is to consider college campuses. While this may not be your ideal target, you may find sororities, student councils or governments looking for great programs to bring their students. I would highly suggest talking to the Greek organizations, i.e. Panhel (which is the leading body over the sororities), and tell them about your knowledge and how you would relate to the students. I know Greek organizations are always looking for worthwhile programs to bring to their members. If I can be of any assistance, I have connections at Marquette University.”
From Sandra Sims of Step By Step Fundraising:
“About six months ago, I joined an organization called Business & Professional Women. I found that it’s a great place to network with other business people and meet potential clients. Not only that, but once a month we have a guest speaker give a 20-minute talk. Civic clubs such as Kiwanis, Lions, Optimist, and many others have a similar format. Sarah could give a short talk as a ’sample’ of her seminar material and style, and then book paid seminars from the organization or other people she meets at the meetings.”
Liz Ryan at WorldWit writes, “As we gear up for ‘Camp WorldWIT 2005: Women in the Lead,’ we have some slots available for dynamic, inspiring speakers. If you fit this description and would be interested in speaking to a group of professional, talented and educated women please visit our Camp speaker page and apply to be a speaker.”
And Lois says: While business, civic and nonprofit organizations are not likely to pay you much for your speeches, it’s a great way to get yourself in front of lots of people who ARE in a position to hire you. Make sure they know how to contact you later. If you also have products to sell when you do these free seminars, such as a video, audio training CD or ebook, you can often make good money by selling these after your presentation. I suggest you join Toastmasters and the National Speakers Association, too, because you will not only get practice presenting speeches, but you will meet others who can help you get speaking gigs.
To get hired by business, civic and nonprofit organizations, you’ll need to get in touch with the program director. Research the organization and network your way in to the program director. Consider attending the group a few times before you approach the person in charge of programming. They will be much more likely to hire you if they know you.
Consider putting together half-day and full-day workshops on your topic, and expand your networking by partnering with other speakers who can help you fill out your program. That way, you will have access to their customer list, too. Create a postcard campaign with at least three postcards in the series to promote your programs, and mail them to a targeted list of businesses and organizations. Remember, it’s generally the human resources or training departments that hire speakers.
Write articles about your subject and place them in print and online publications. You didn’t mention if you have a website, but you should have one! A website is a terrific showcase for a speaker because you can easily post articles you have written on your topic, post audio clips of your speeches, and you can even post video clips easily today. So it can eliminate the need to create an elaborate sales package and it can often help you book a seminar without having to sell. Your website sells for you.
My next teleseminar guest, Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound, is a highly sought-after public speaker. And she started out much like you–with a wealth of knowledge on her topic (publicity) and a desire to get paid for public speaking. She used her 22 years of experience as a newspaper editor at four newspapers to launch her career as a publicity expert. That was ten years ago. Since then, her career (and fortunes) have blossomed by applying all of the publicity ideas she has learned over the years. She commands big bucks whenever she speaks now. And you can hear her for peanuts on our recorded teleseminar, “How to Use the Media to Market Your Expertise.” It’s available as a CD or you can download it immediately as an MP3 or written transcript.
