You’ve got a great talk and you finally get a chance to try out your speaking chops, there’s only one hitch, you are told you will not be allowed to sell anything. Ugg, such a bummer.

What to do, what to do…

You always want to weigh your opportunities. Your time and resources are limited, so you want to be choosy about where you spend your energy. There are lots of fish in the speaking sea, so don’t feel like you have to jump at every chance. However, if you are just starting out or if it’s a great opportunity to get in front of ideal clients or industry players, you may still want to move forward.

Remember, any time you are speaking to a captive audience, whether live or online, YOU are positioned as the authority. You have an extended amount of time to tell your story, share your expertise, give valuable insights and talk about your business. If you do a good job with your presentation, your audience is going to want to know more. Even if you can’t make an offer, you are still selling.

However, the best way to get your audience to take action is to structure your talk to sell. You want to guide your audience through a specific process that showcases the transformation that is possible if someone takes the next step to work with you without actually making an offer. And if you do this with authenticity and authority, you will create an atmosphere where people will want to know more.

Finally, if you can, offer a free strategy call. It is a phenomenal selling tool if you know what you are you doing. Any time you get a potential client on the phone with you from a talk, you have a very warm lead which makes closing that much easier.

If you would like to know more about how you can use signature talks to sell from the stage or online, I invite you to join me for my upcoming FREE webinar: “Close Any Room: How To Add Thousands Of Dollars To Your Monthly Income Using Signature Talks.” CLICK HERE to register!

You may have heard speaking is a great way to grow your business and it’s true! Speaking positions you as the expert in front of a group of potentially ideal clients. However, a LOT of entrepreneurs have caught the speaking bug and are vying for the attention and credit cards of the same audience.

So how do you stand out and make the audience see YOU as the person to meet their needs?

First, have a clear point of view that is unique to you. This will show up as your story, your beliefs and how you communicate what you value. The more you can lean into your authenticity, the more you will separate from the crowd. No matter how many coaches, consultants, CPA’s, lawyers or dog walkers there are out there, there is only one YOU. The more you clearly you can communicate your point of view, the more memorable and impactful you will be.

Next, own your place in the market. You need to be bold and find specific ways to differentiate yourself. Highlight what makes you special. Find a way to zig when others are zagging. For example, if everyone in your industry is talking about how you have to constantly hustle to succeed, maybe your stance could be about the need for space and peace in your business. Try to find your unique pocket and make some noise about it.

Finally, be good. No, be great. There are a LOT of mediocre speakers out there, a l-o-t. Make a decision right now to become great at presenting yourself and your material. Show up looking and acting the part of a polished expert. Give great content, dress well, have killer marketing materials and command the stage. Leave no doubt in the mind of your audience that you are a rock star at what you do and they would be crazy not to hire you!

If can you claim a unique and authentic space and show up as a high-value expert, you will be ahead of 99% of the people out there and dramatically increase your chances of closing the room!

To watch my FREE webinar on how to close any room, CLICK HERE!

One of the biggest reasons entrepreneurs fail to make big profits from their speaking gigs is they don’t know how to sell in a way that feels good to them. As a result, they back away from presenting their offers or even make a clear offer at all which leaves them empty-handed and disappointed.

It doesn’t have to be that way. It’s absolutely possible to feel excited about selling your products and services which makes you more attractive to potential clients. The result is more money, more money, more money for you and more intense transformation for your audience.

The very best way to sell without sounding salesy is to keep the needs of your audience front and center. If you craft a talk that focuses on solving their problems and delivering high-value content, the sale becomes much, much easier. The key is maintaining a mindset of service with a clear understanding of the greater transformation you can deliver if your audience takes the next step with you.

The job of selling starts from the minute you open your mouth. You can’t ambush your audience with a big ask at the end and expect a great result. You must prepare them for the sale by laying the groundwork and expectation for a juicy offer all throughout your presentation. This demonstrates transparency and builds trust both of which are essential for closing happy clients.

The other way to compel your audience to buy is by telling powerful stories. When you share your own journey of transformation, you suddenly go from being a pushy sales dog to an empathetic character. When you show you genuinely care and want to help people change their lives, the word salesy goes right out the window. Of course, you need to know which stories to tell and how to tell them to be effective.

There is definitely an art and science to structuring your talk with the right elements at the right time, but when you understand the formula for authentic selling, you can relax and do your job which is to deliver value to your audience and make money from your expertise.

If you’d like to know more about how to create a signature talk that sells, click the link to get access to my FREE webinar “Close Any Room.” It’s full of information to help you create a profitable presentation=>bit.ly/CloseAnyRoomTraining.

You may have heard that speaking is a great way to increase your profits, but you may also be wondering how the heck do you get people to actually buy from you. Whether you are just starting out speaking or you’ve been speaking for a while, but haven’t been converting from your talks the way you’d like to, I want you to know something…

There IS a way to get people to open up their wallets to work with you!

The first thing you need to do if you want your audience to buy your products and services is start with a clear objection to sell. You are in business to make money and any time you put your own time, energy and resources into something, you need to be thinking about the ROI. You are not speaking to stand there and look pretty, you are investing in this opportunity to grow your business.

However, having the mindset of sales is not about being pushy, it is about transformation. The biggest transformation your audience will get is by using your products or going through your process. They can only get so much transformation for free. If you believe in what you do and why you do it, instead of feeling gross about selling, you should see yourself as providing a valuable opportunity for your audience to get what they really want. If you can make your audience see that value, they will buy.

Next, you have to engage people on an emotional level. People buy with their hearts. They buy because of deeply rooted desire and needs. Their desire may be to alleviate emotional pain, feel sexier, attract a mate, buy a home or improve their health. Whatever their desire is, your job as a selling speaker is to wake up and intensify those emotions.

A great way to do this is with stories, your story, other people’s stories, examples or case studies. In sharing your own story, you create an emotional bond with the audience and build likeability and trust. The audience starts to see you as an ally instead of just a hard-nosed selling robot. Most importantly though, when you share a story of transformation, you start to paint a picture of what’s possible for the audience and that picture is the turning point to your profits.

So you can see, it is possible to inspire your audience to buy, but you need to be intentional about how you craft your talk to sell and by using emotional triggers to share the transformation that is possible. Once those pieces are in place, your conversion rates will soar.

If you’d like to know more about creating a signature talk that SELLS, I invite you to join me for my FREE upcoming webinar “Close Any Room: How To Add Thousands Of Dollars To Your Monthly Income Using Signature Talks.” CLICK HERE to register.

“Why Add A Signature Talk To Your Business?”

If you’ve ever thought about adding speaking to your business model, the answer should be a big, fat YES, but not just any speaking. The most potent presentation you can make is a signature talk that sells.  Adding signature talks to your business model can potentially add thousands of dollars to your income every month!

Here’s why it works so well…

First of all, any time you speak you are using leverage to reach your audience. Instead of just speaking one-on-one like you might do at a networking event or even on a sales calls, you are speaking one-to-many every time you present. It may be to a small room of 20 people OR it could be to an audience of literally thousands online. That means for 30-45 minutes of effort you are exponentially impacting your audience.

Think about how much time, money and energy this saves you. Every time you go to a networking event you have to get dressed, find a sitter, make sure you have your business cards, drive to the event and hope you will connect with some really great people once you’re there. Even if you are really, really good at networking, you might connect with ten maybe 20 people max and speaker to them for a few minutes in a noisy, crowded room.

Now imagine putting the same effort into a talk where YOU are the headliner, everyone is there just to hear you and you can give the same talk over and over again. You can even sit home in your jammies and do it on the phone or on a webinar where hundreds of people have opted-in, no need for lipstick OR a sitter. That is leverage.

Another great benefit of using signature talks to sells is that whole opt-in piece. Your audience has raised their hands and shown they are interested in what you have to say. They have chosen to be there which means they are already warm and interested in the information you are going to share. This makes selling so much easier.

With a signature talk, you are also going to be in front of a captive audience in a more intimate atmosphere. Having their undivided attention gives you the chance to do some serious relationship building. You can share more of your story and expose them to more of your brilliant expertise. The audience gets to know you on a deeper level which helps establish the oh-so-important know, like and trust factor needed to turn potential clients into buyers.

The other great asset at your disposal giving signature talks is TIME. You will have more time in front of your audience which helps to build brand stickiness. And if you know what you are doing, you can use this time to not only deliver great value and information to your audience, but also guide them a structured process to prepare them for the sale. That way you feel in control and your audience doesn’t feel hit over the head at the end with your offer.

So you can see there are many fantastic reasons to incorporate signature talks into your business model. It’s leveraged, it deepens your relationship with your audience and it prepares the room to buy. I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t want to add signature talks to their business!

If you would like to know more about creating a signature talk to increase your profits, I want to invite you to my upcoming FREE webinar “Close Any Room: How to Add Thousands Of Dollars To Your Monthly Income Using Signature Talks” CLICK HERE to register

One thing entrepreneurs struggle with when putting together their signature talks is knowing what to use as their offer, but having a clear offer is absolutely critical to leveraging your profits from speaking. The last thing you want to do is hem and haw at the end of your talk when you are trying to persuade your audience to buy!

Here are a few things to consider when putting together your offer.

First, please HAVE an offer. Unless you are working for a charity, you need to see your talk as a sales vehicle which means you have to have something to sell! Your time and expertise is too valuable to give away for free. There needs to be call to action at the end of your talk, even if it is requesting contact information in return for your newsletter or free report. You must be in the habit of asking.

If you are newer to business or perhaps newer to speaking and unsure of what to offer, it is totally cool to offer a free strategy call. This is still an ask, you still have to “sell” it. However, do not underestimate the value of offering a strategy call as your offer. Any time you get a potential client on the phone with you from a presentation, they are a warm lead.

Finally, if you do want to make a paid offer at the end of the talk, your decision should be based on how advanced you are in your business, what you already have in your business model and the topic of your talk. When you look at those three pieces, what to offer becomes a lot clearer.

Once you decide what to offer, keep it consistent. The last thing you want to do is change your offer for each speaking opportunity. That creates a level of complexity you don’t want on your plate. You want something that is rinse and repeat so you get more comfortable and confident making the offer each time you present it.

If you would like to know more about how to use signature talks to quantum leap your profits, I invite you to my upcoming FREE webinar: “Close Any Room: How To Add Thousands Of Dollars To Your Monthly Income Using Signature Talks.” CLICK HERE to register!

There are a lot of entrepreneurs out there right now who are speaking for their businesses, unfortunately however, many of them are not making money from their talks. They’re great at what they do and they give valuable information when they speak, but they struggle to close the room.

Can you relate?

It can be so frustrating to get up in front of a large audience either live on stage or online in a webinar or teleseminar and pour your heart and soul into a presentation only to come home empty handed. You spend so much time and energy preparing, you give great content and still end up with really disappointing sales.

You have to remember, your job in business is to make money and when you are giving a presentation for your business, your talk should be making you money. If you are a person of integrity, of course you want to give your audience real, transformative content, but you also want them to work with you so you need to guide them through a process to take that next step forward. You don’t make sales by banging people over the head with an offer.

The problem is many entrepreneurs don’t understand there needs to be a selling structure in place to convert potential clients into paying customers.

You can have the best programs, the most heart-felt presentation and the most impressive training, but if you don’t know how to set up your talk to prepare the audience for your offer, you will be fighting an uphill battle.

Passion alone does not equal profits. You have to have a PLAN. Once you understand how to structure your talk to sell, you can layer in all your great content and create something that is truly dynamic AND profitable.

If you’d like to know more about how signature talks can dramatically increase your profits, I invite you to join me for my upcoming FREE webinar: “Close Any Room: How To Add Thousands Of Dollars To Your Monthly Income With Signature Talks” CLICK HERE to register

Yesterday, the world got way less cool…

I was so saddened by the news of the death of rock legend, Prince. It was a huge loss to the music industry and artistic world. However, I also took it as a personal loss as did many others.

When I was growing up, I had two posters on my bedroom door. One was a picture of a basket of fluffy kittens and the other was of Prince splayed out on a bed covered with purple satin sheets. I can only imagine what my mother must have thought!

To say I was obsessed is a massive understatement. I saw the movie Purple Rain 20 times and could recite every line of the movie as I watched repeatedly. I bought the cassette sound track to the movie and listened to it well over 200 times. Prince was one of three rock concerts I’ve seen in my entire life and the ONLY one I ever actually bought tickets to for myself. And let me tell you, that band was TIGHT!

Why was I so obsessed?

As I teenager, I really didn’t grasp Prince’s talent or mastery. An artist manager friend recently told me how Prince played all the instruments and would often finish sound tracks overnight while the rest of the band went home. But as kid, that wasn’t my focus. No Sir!

I was focused on the man.

Strangely enough, I felt very identified with Prince, me a tall, awkward, pious white girl and this little, eccentric, gender-bending, black pop star. How could that be? How could I see myself in him? Yet I did.

Even though at the time what I felt was infatuation, I understand now what I really wanted was to be like Prince. Not for the fame or money (or cross-dressing!), but for his unapologetic, in-your-face, wildly sexy self-expression. If you could have bottled that up to sell, I would have been first in line to buy.

Prince rose to fame as I came of age. His artistry, pain, bravado and rebellion awakened the possibility in me of a richer, more sensual life. If it was possible for him, it was possible for me, especially since he was from the Midwest.

I still remember the thrill I got driving past the Chanhassen water tower outside of Minneapolis every time we would go visit my dad in Minnesota over the summer. I would be thinking, “I can’t believe it, Prince has a house here. HE lives HERE!”

Prince no longer lives THERE or anywhere on God’s green earth, however, his VOICE lives on in all those who were touched by his hot grooves and outrageous moves.

His talent is a beacon for excellence, drive and discipline. And his memory is a call to action for anyone who wants to live a free life and challenge perceptions about how one should express their authenticity.

My challenge to you is to find your voice and share the art that lives within you while you still can.

Rock on.
Love,

“How To Know What Content To Include In A Signature Talk”

Whether it’s the first time or the tenth time you’re creating a signature talk, the question of what to include for content always comes up. How do you know what to include and what to leave out?

The first thing you want to remember about giving a talk to sell is your audience is there to get a taste of what it would be like to work with you. This means you want to give something delicious and enticing, but you don’t want to lay out an entire feast. Think of your talk as a sexy cocktail party where you are the charming host not a rich Thanksgiving Dinner where everyone leaves feeling bloated.

Most entrepreneurs, especially women, want to give, give, give. It usually comes from a place of wanting to prove ourselves, but what happens when you over-give is you shoot your profits in the foot. When you give too much of your juicy content, you don’t give people a reason to move forward. They’ve already gotten enough to take the next step…without YOU.

Another reason over-giving is so detrimental to your sales is it overwhelms your audience. They can’t process all the information so they are either frantically taking notes or tuning you out. In either case, they are not present or emotionally engaged in your talk where they need to be to buy.

Your content also needs to be clear and the points well-defined. Please, I beg of you, DON’T WING IT.  You want to be thoughtful about the most important pieces of information your audience needs right now and deliver that content in a step-by-step manner.

Finally, if you are smart, you will choose content that aligns with your offer. Your signature talk should be a well-oiled, pre-meditated selling machine that seamlessly guides your audience to buy. When you backwards engineer your copy from your offer, you will have a much better sense of what to include and a much better chance of closing the room!

If you’d like to know how YOU can create a killer signature talk that sells, I invite you to my upcoming FREE webinar “Close Any Room: How To Add Thousands Of Dollars To Your Monthly Income Using Signature Talks.” CLICK HERE to register

If you are an entrepreneur, you know how important it is to be in steady contact with your audience. One of the best ways to keep in contact with your tribe is to write a newsletter or blog. It gives you a chance to show your audience who you are and the value you can bring them . The more consistent you can be, the better. The problem is, coming up with interesting, value-packed copy on a regular basis can be both challenging and time consuming.

Here are a few of tips to make it easier for you: [Read more…]

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During this busy holiday season it is easy to start feeling stressed and tired. We are running around here and there shopping, going to parties, wrapping presents and sending out cards to our friends and family. Although it is a joyous season, it is easy to get overwhelmed. There are just so many things to do and places to go. Inspite of the hustle and bustle though, I don’t actually find the activity to be the thing that wears me out the most. Instead it is all the decision making that goes into the preparation for the season that really feels taxing. If someone just handed me a pre-made list of everything I need to buy and do before Christmas I could go on autopilot and get it done, but that’s not how things work.

If you want to have a satisfying experience, you need to put some thought into what you are doing. You need to think about the people you are shopping for, what they would like and what you can afford. You need to plan the outfits for the parties you will attend. Will they be formal and require a gown or will they be hip, casual affairs where you can wear a sparkly tank top? And what about the big Christmas feast? What should you serve? Do you go with a traditional turkey or try something new? Should you serve trifle or pie for dessert? It’s enough to drive a girl crazy all this decision making. The longer you sit with these questions, the heavier the load feels. The only antidote is to simply make some decisions. Once you do, you immediately start to feel lighter. The question is how do you decide?

[Read more…]

Happy Father's Day to all you great dads!

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