My entire business trajectory has been a series of trials, errors, pivots (yes, I said it), and adjustments. And, to quote my newest book, Scaling Your Speaking Business, if you’re not ready to fail, you’re not ready to scale. Let me share with you today why trial and error is essential for speaking business success.
Recently, I had the opportunity to try something new that left me making some tough decisions with regard to my business. As you may know, I’ve been pretty active on Clubhouse for the last six months and analyzing the results of my weekly calls. Even though Clubhouse was a new platform, I wanted to give it a try early as it really seemed to be a form of media that my audience liked, but gave me broader exposure.
There are some things on Clubhouse that I love, the biggest of which is access to so many people I have never met. The idea of pulling people up on stage with you is something that I really value, and I love the ability to guest moderate in other peoples’ ‘rooms’. In fact, the opportunity to learn from other experts was a big draw for me right from the start.
Despite loving different aspects of Clubhouse, I have had to make a hard decision if continuing this ‘trial’ is best for my overall business. Ultimately, I’ve decided that for me it’s not, and more value will come if I place my time and energy in LinkedIn and Linkedin Live. While Clubhouse exposed me to more people, it’s a one-and-done type platform – meaning once the session is over, it’s over. There is no recording and no way to share it in an ongoing way.
With LinkedIn Live, however, we have a video platform that we can use to gain deeper interaction with the audience, and the content is recorded so that you can utilize it over and over again. For my audience, I feel it just adds more value.
For public speakers, it can be a great platform if you are looking to gain corporate and association access. And of course, if professional speakers are there, it makes more sense for me to be there since you are my peeps!
Going forward, I’ve committed to be Live on LinkedIn every Thursday @ Noon ET. The beauty of LinkedIn Live is that not only can you ask questions while the stream is live, but I can also still pull you onto the stage with me – only now it’s with video. I hope you’ll join me! Click HERE and you can see what upcoming topics will be and get them added to your calendar!
At different times during your business, you’ll be faced with new technologies, new ways of marketing, and new ways of expanding your business. Trial and error is a good thing. And it’s a necessity for growth. My time spent on Clubhouse wasn’t a waste; in fact, I gained quite a few new followers because of it. But looking at the long-term ROI of my money and time (always consider your time!), LinkedIn Live just feels like it will be the better choice.
As for Clubhouse, I will continue participating in Odelle Bizzell and Stan Pearson’s group, Paid to Speak: Public Speaking Toolbox, on Wednesdays at 9 am ET. Clubhouse is now open to everyone, so if you want to check it out for yourself, sign up and come join us on Wednesdays.
See you soon, Wealthy Speaker!
