Some of the BEST speaker-marketing ideas for making BIG MONEY as a public speaker come from outside of the speaking industry. This is a lesson many speakers miss.
I’ve never listened to one KISS song, wouldn’t have a clue of any KISS song titles and couldn’t name one band member other than Gene Simmons. Here’s why I know Gene Simmons and study him.
As I was channel surfing on the television late one evening several years ago, I came across KISS band leader Gene Simmons being interviewed on a business show. That intrigued me as I thought why is band-guy on this business show? This ought to be humorous. So I thought I’d watch for a few minutes and get a good laugh. As I listened, I quickly realized Gene Simmons was nothing short of brilliant.
The host asked Gene why KISS sold so many albums and continues to earn mega-millions each year while many other talented artists never seem to make it?
Gene’s answer was profound and made me an instant fan. He said, ‘That’s easy. Most artists just don’t get it. While they’re all out spending an enormous amount of time and money trying to craft their songs, vocals and lyrics, I was crafting a business by creating uniqueness, brand and other revenue streams!’
WOW! Talk about a person who gets it!
If you didn’t catch-the-message then you’re missing one of the most important speaker marketing lessons that can sky-rocket your speaking business and income to incredible levels. What Gene was talking about was that he didn’t focus the majority of his time on the craft of being a musician. He focused the majority of his time on the marketing and business side.
So what does this have to do with you as a public speaker? It has everything to do with you and your public speaking business. I’m always preaching to new and experienced speakers that I teach in my boot camps and in my coaching programs that…
You’re NOT in the speaking business.
You’re in the business of marketing your public speaking services!
I don’t care what your message is about or how good of a speaker you are, if you’re not focusing 90% of your time and energy on positioning and marketing yourself and your uniqueness while creating multiple streams of speaking income, then you will make mediocre money.
My friend Alexandria Brown (aka, The E-Zine Queen) always says, ‘The marketing is more important than the mastery!’ How true that is. It doesn’t matter how great you are at the craft, in this case delivering a presentation. If you can’t effectively market yourself to close bookings and get event coordinators to give you money, then you will experience frustration as a public speaker.
From this moment forward, always focus the majority of your time and energy on the marketing, not the craft and watch your public speaking business soar to new heights you dreamed of reaching!
