It’s true. Speaking is a numbers game. Think of it as a farmers field, you plant seeds, throw on some fertilizer (build the relationship) and after a period of time and enough seeds planted… Voila! You have a harvest.
My client, Kindra Hall, understood this right out of the gate when she entered the speaking profession, Eighteen months ago she set out a goal to send 600 emails to plant those seeds.
She decided she would send 100 emails per week over the course of 6 weeks. At first, she did not know whom to send to, and her emails were not super refined. However, early on someone suggested, “why don’t you reach out to Convention and Visitors Bureaus”? So she found fifty right away and sent her emails.
She did not get one reply! But she was not worried because she was more focused on the number.
So then she thought “marketing conferences” and the AMA popped up on a google search. At that point, she did not even know what the American Marketing Association was. But when she got an email back from AMA Minnesota she thought, “If the AMA in Minnesota is interested, maybe there are other AMA’s who will be interested too.” She reached out to every chapter (helping her hit her 600 goal) and has been booked by many of them.
I should mention that Kindra’s topic is using stories to influence and sell, which is a perfect fit for these marketing associations. Her “we’ll cover travel” engagements for AMA’s has garnered many paid spin off engagements. And many of those engagements have turned into more engagements.
Back to the list of 600, Kindra then googled ‘Leadership Conference’ and sent her info to a prominent women’s leadership event. They liked her work and introduced her to a large speaking bureau who booked the speakers for the conference. Now she is on the radar of a speakers bureau.
Speaking is a numbers game. “When you do that kind of massive outreach, even a blind squirrel can get a nut,” says Kindra. Kindra may have felt blind, but she certainly had vision. She has gone from pushing the boulder up the hill to trying to stay in front of a boulder that’s moving quite fast. I suspect some of you have felt that way at times?
[Tweet “When you do massive #email outreach, even a blind squirrel can get a nut! – @kindramhall”]
So what can we learn from Kindra?
Tip #1: Have your message clear, but don’t wait until everything is perfect to begin. Your initial email should be short and to the point. Ask a strong question like, “Would this topic be of interest to your audience?”
Tip #2: Identify a few different industries and then just start trial and error. Don’t worry if you make one bad first impression, your career will recover.
Tip #3: Have your website and collateral materials somewhat ready. (i.e. Kindra has some very strong direct to camera video in place and a good website).
Tip #4: Once you get the gig, you must implement “Be Awesome Marketing”, which means being good on the platform, in order to turn it into 2-3 more engagements.
By planting seeds consistently, and fertilizing (building the relationship) you will ultimately see the harvest!
Want to share something that has worked for you? Please add your comments below.
See you soon Wealthy Speakers!
