Jeff Herring
Public Speaking – Always Have an Offer When You Speak on Stage for Business
Always have a product or service to sell when speaking.
Last week I had the opportunity to speak at a women’s symposium event in beautiful Galena, Illinois. My client, Brian Basilico, author of It’s Not About You, It’s About Bacon, introduced me to the meeting planner because he was going to be speaking at the same event and was booked before I was. In a typical turn of events where another speaker had cancelled (sadly this happens all the time), the meeting planner called me in a panic; would I be willing to fill in at the last minute with less than 2 weeks’ notice? Sure. Of COURSE I would; I was planning to be there anyway!
One of the sponsors of the event, the beautiful and serene Aldrich Guest House Bed & Breakfast, was host to the speakers the night before the event. So there I was, sitting around the dining room table with Brian, an expert in social media, and Traci D. Ellis, an attorney who works with professional women handling their business and personal needs. Smart people.
Yet, as we chatted about our presentations (and they both put finishing touches on their slides), I quickly learned that neither had planned to offer anything for sale to the audience, except for Brian’s book.
Big mistake.
As I explained to them, there will be people in any audience who are ready to buy something from you RIGHT AT THE MOMENT YOU ARE ON STAGE. Unless it was in the speaker’s agreement with the event that you would not be permitted to sell any products or services, then by all means you should. And here’s why:
If you firmly believe in your heart of hearts that what you do for people with your services or the results that using your product can truly enhance the lives of those who invest, then it is wrong to withhold that from people you know you can help and who need it. All that’s left to do is to make sure they know what it is you offer. Plain and simple.
Beyond that, you deserve to make a living. Yes, I know you love speaking. And yes, I know it’s a joy just to be able to share your information with an audience. And yes, of course you get plenty of benefits from speaking even if you don’t make a dime. But as one of my mentors, Jeff Herring has always said, if you go out of business because you’re not making enough money to support yourself, then you’re doing the world a disservice, robbing them of your unique gifts. So get paid when the opportunity presents itself.
There are too many complex steps to “closing” on stage with audiences so you get the maximum results to discuss in a blog post. Even so, with some audiences, you don’t need a bunch of tricks and techniques; and they may not be appropriate for that audience anyway. Even if you never try a single “closing technique,” all you simply have to do is tell your audience members, “You might be wondering about how the details of what we’ve been talking about today can help you. I also do consulting in my business where I talk to my clients on the phone for an hour and we work out the details to [fill in the blank]. Normally I charge $250 for this hour. Today I’m offering a [discount/bonus/wh
Brian Basilico, Author of It’s Not About You, It’s About Bacon
atever] so you’ll get that hour for just $197. If [what you do] is something you’ve been struggling with, let me know today and I can help you.” You’re not hard selling. It might take you all of 30 seconds to say. You’re just sharing in a friendly, helpful way.
Using that simple strategy, Brian was excited when he was approached by a couple people who wanted his offer and one ready to give him a
check on the spot. Had he not offered it, the opportunity could easily have been lost, the moment past, and the cash left on the table. Instead, by simply offering a service, someone in the audience gets to benefit from Brian’s substantial brilliance. And I couldn’t be happier for him or his new client!
Do you always offer something for sale when you speak? How has that worked for you? I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.
Profitable Content Creation – What to Do When You’re Running Out of Content Ideas – 3 Big Tips
Content creation is one of those exciting and gray areas all at once. Sure, you know in order to develop your speeches, books and articles you need ideas. And living in the world of ideas is fun! That is — until you’re sitting down at the keyboard for a deadline and that dang cursor is there, staring at you…
…blinking…
…Blinking… (is this thing getting louder?)
…BLINKING!!!!
Almost mocking you. “I defy you to come up with something good enough for the world to read!”
Know the feeling? Yep, me too. The funny thing is, even with notebooks full of ideas I thought were brilliant at the time, I sometimes can’t think of a thing to write about. I’ll admit it. Even though my clients have called me an “idea-generating machine,” when it comes down to my own work, sometimes I just get plain STUCK.
That’s when our guest post by the fantastic Jeff Herring can help you. Check out what he has to say about creating your content and share your thoughts on his 3 stages in the comments section below!
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Jeff Herring and Felicia Slattery
Guest Post by Jeff Herring
Content creation is a great way to bring in more prospects and profits. And you do want more prospects and profits, right?
The struggle for many content marketers, both new and experienced, is consistently coming up with ideas for creating content. I’ve noticed that many go through a few stages in their struggle to come up with content ideas.
Let’s take a closer look at those three stages and more importantly, what to do about each one.
3 Stages
Stage 1 – Ideas are not flowing – When you sit down to create content you have to repeatedly stop and think about what to write about. The flow has not stopped, it’s just not as easy as it normally is for you.
What to Do – Step back and brainstorm. Make a list of content ideas. Don’t edit – just brainstorm. This is something you need to be doing anyway, so you always have a list of content ideas from which to pull.
Stage 2 – Ideas are a struggle - Even when you look at a list of your ideas, nothing pops out for you. It feels like you are seeing the ideas on a list, but they are not making sense in your head, and not making the trip from your head to your fingers.
What to Do - Take a trip to your supermarket and check out the titles on the covers of the magazines in the checkout line. Thousands of dollars have been spent deciding how to title these articles. Find titles that you can use in your niche and get busy creating great content.
Stage 3 – You are beginning to believe in writer’s block, even though it does not exist. Ideas are not only not flowing, ideas are just plain stuck. Your frustration level is high, and you’re honestly getting a little bit frightened by your lack of ideas.
What to Do – Go to your topic in EzineArticles and look at some of the top articles in your niche. See which ones are getting lots of traffic. Choose an idea that you know will appeal to your community and simply do a better job with it.This is not plagiarism. This is research because you are simply looking for ideas. You are not copying what someone else has said, you are just going to do a better treatment of it because of your skills.
The Next Step – Your next success step is to grab your spot in our upcoming webinar “Your Content Is Their Solution: 7 Powerful & Profitable Reasons to Unleash Your Content Now (Bonus Workshop Included – unleash your own content in 20 minutes or less)” Hosted by Felicia Slattery on Wednesday June 26th at 12 pm EDT – Join us here => http://JeffHerring.com/felicia
[Creating Connections] To Inspire or to Motivate, That is the Question
Creating Connections Ezine, ©Felicia J. Slattery // ISSN 1939-8646 // Volume 10 – Issue 1
Inside this Edition:
- Note from Felicia
- Speakers Spotlight
- Feature Article
- Upcoming Events
- Marketplace
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Personal Note
Hello Dear Reader!
Survey results for how subscribers want to consume content
This is my first official ezine since I’ve been back!
It’s also my first ezine in its new blog post format. Based on last month’s survey I conducted of my readers and community of subscribers, blog posts came out #1 for how people like to consume content. Beyond that, the responses showed that my community members prefer shorter email messages with a link to something longer.
While I seriously considered saying goodbye to my 6-year old ezine, because so many people said they read it regularly – a full 82% said most of the time or always – I just couldn’t let it go. Add that to the fact that at one point I went through the process of registering this ezine in the Library of Congress, it felt “official” and it kind of hurt to let it go entirely. So here it is, in it’s new format and delivery system. I hope you like it!
In personal news, of course I’ve been focused A LOT on my health. You may know I’ve been into cooking for quite some time
Vitamix green smoothie
if we’re connected on any social media. One of my “secret crushes” of food tools has been the Vitamix “blender.” I have to put that into quotation marks because it’s far more than a blender. In fact, I’m so excited about it, I decided to check another item off my bucket list and become a food blogger. I popped it up and added my first post today right here. I’m calling it Speaking of Food: Felicia’s Delicias (so it sort of rhymes). Woo-hoo!
21 Ways to Make Money Speaking Action Group
Yesterday I’m pleased to announce I started my first program after returning back to work. In previous years it’s sold out, but for this group there is ONE SEAT LEFT! If you want to make money with your speaking, over the next 6 weeks, I’ll get you doing exactly that. Grab that last spot today and get caught up listening to the recording right away.
Back to Speaking
Last week I appeared live on local stages twice and my calendar is filling up quickly. I feel so lucky to be able to jump right back in where I left off last fall. Next week I’m being interviewed on Valentine’s Day by the lovely and talented Ms. Sheila Galliagn for her free membership series. I’m also lining up a number of folks I’ll be interviewing for you, as well. Stay tuned to your email for details!
Article: Are You Inspiring or Motivating? Know the Difference to Get Booked on Stage!
In this edition’s fresh new article I address a common mistake I see emerging professional speakers make when they describe their speeches and how they impact their audiences while on stage.
Enjoy and until next time, happy speaking!
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Speakers Spotlight: Too Sexy for this Title? [Free Webinar Replay]
Photo Credit: Nighthawk101Stock
Remember that 1992 song, “Too Sexy For My Shirt?” Right before last week’s free webinar where I hosted Jeff Herring about writing titles, I started thinking, is your content too sexy for your titles?
You know that people do judge books by their covers and how important it is to have what I call a “sexy title” for your speeches, books, articles, blog posts, classes, and even emails. And no, we’re not talking about something lewd that belongs in the “adults only” category. This is about being appealing to your market in a way they are excited by what’s behind that sexy title and can’t wait to rip into your content!
Think about it… What makes you open an email? Pick up a book? Attend a speech?
Is it the great content you anticipate?
What was it that grabbed your attention the first time?
Think about your favorite book, song or movie.
Chances are all 3 of these have titles that grabbed your attention and you almost immediately fell in love with it.
And that’s exactly what a great title does, it immediately draws the attention of any audience you want, no matter the market!
If you missed out on this fabulous webinar, it’s not too late. You can watch and listen (and CREATE!) Jeff Herring’s presentation:
If you haven’t heard of Jeff before he’s been featured on the CBS Morning News, The Miami Herald and Dan Kennedy’s No B.S. Ezine.
Suffice it to say the guy knows a thing or two about coming up with great titles and content.
Here is some of what you’ll discover in this replay…
- How to Create Profit Pulling Titles – you’ll do this right on the webinar
- His Winning Title Formula
- 3 Major Profit Killing Title Mistakes
- The Mindset you Must Have to Create These Titles Every Time
Because if your content is way “hotter” than you title, folks will never get to experience the brilliance that is you.
Go Here for the Webinar Replay ==> http://ProfitableContentSpecial.com/felicia
And you, too will be quickly see how it’s easy to come up with titles better than “Dude, Where’s My Car?”
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Feature Article: Speaking to Inspire or Speaking to Motivate: Know the Difference When Marketing Your Speaking Services
While I was recovering from open lung surgery to remove a lung cancer last fall, something made me even more uncomfortable than all the wires, tubes, and healing scars. Because so many friends and colleagues wanted to know the details of what was going on with me, I started a Facebook group to update people. In that group, and even now, since coming back to work and beginning to speak again, I’ve heard the words over and over: “You’re such an inspiration.”
Really?
I’ll tell you, I don’t feel very inspiring. I just did what I had to do to get past a terrifying and painful experience. Like I do with most things, I laughed my way through a lot, because really, if you’re not laughing, you’re left with crying, fear, or being angry, none of which is very fun or appealing. Then THAT humor also made people tell me more how much I inspired them.
It felt like a lot of pressure to keep “being inspiring.”
Since I don’t know how to do that, I’ll just keep on dealing with the punches that life throws at all of us with humor and decisiveness. I might even write a speech about it. And if I do, I’ll be moving into the world of “inspirational speakers.”
One of the most frequent mistakes I see being made by emerging professional speakers is that because they seek to inspire people with their words and presentations, they begin using the term “inspirational speaker” to define what they do. If that’s you, you might require a slight change in your language usage when describing what kind of speeches you give. Here’s why.
You see, an “inspirational” speech is one of overcoming life’s difficulties and is typically given by a person who has overcome great odds – think about the hiker who cut off his own arm, the wheelchair para-Olympic athlete, the beautiful model who had both legs amputated, a blind musician — and maybe a professional speaker who overcame lung cancer ;-). Less obvious forms of life’s difficulties can be inspirational speeches too, such as a war veteran who overcame post-traumatic stress disorder (I had that too), or a young adult who overcame ADD or a learning disability, or even the Mom of a pair of autistic twins. These people have all had to deal with some of the biggest curve balls life threw their way and as a speaker, may inspire their audiences to do get past their life’s difficulties and challenges.
Right now you might be thinking, but as a speaker I want to inspire people to get past life’s difficulties and challenges. And you can! But unless you’ve got a personal story that goes beyond “I have stress in my life,” you’re not an inspirational speaker. In the world of professional speaking, you’re a motivational speaker. Yay you!
When you’re selling your speaking services, you need to know the difference between inspiration and motivation, because meeting planners are looking for something specific when they see “inspirational.” If you want to help people change their lives for the better, then you’d probably be a better fit in the “motivational speaking” category.
Here’s the difference in a nutshell:
Inspirational Speakers:
- Have overcome a major physical or other out-of-the-ordinary personal hurdle in their lives.
- Tell their story in great detail of what happened, making up the bulk of the speech.
- Don’t usually share any actionable “content” beyond their inspiring message, “you can be a survivor too!”
- Entertain from a dramatic point of view (humor and wit can be present).
Motivational Speakers:
- Share various stories from personal experience that many or most audience members can relate to (having kids, being married, being divorced, losing a job, etc.).
- Keep stories short with the main emphasis of the speech being that they…
- …Share actionable content of some kind, motivating people to do something differently or new in their lives.
- Entertain from a humorous point of view (drama can be present).
When you market your speaking services, be sure to know which type of speech you give so you don’t confuse a meeting planner or waste anyone’s time (including yours) in a conversation about a type of speech you don’t do.
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Upcoming Events:
February 14, 2013: Sheila Galligan’s interview series. Featured interviewee.
March 8 & 9, 2013, Signature Speech for Authors. Intensive Virtual All-Day Workshop.
April 9 & 11, 2013: Sponsorship for Speakers with Shannon Cherry. Mini Course.
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Marketplace
This post could not have been possible today without the personal help of Word Press Genius Paul Taubman of I Need Help With WordPress.com saving my techno-challenged self from total blog destruction. Also special thanks to Marcy Coate, Daniel Brenton, and Dan Nickerson who all jumped in to save my behind and provided personal help when I put out the 911 call on Facebook.
Now accepting sponsors to be featured in this place (a juicy spot just above the comments!) every other Wednesday. Email me for details Felicia {at} FeliciaSlattery {dot} com.
Goodnight It’s Time to Sleep Titles vs I Gotta Read That Titles
Today’s guest blogger is Jeff Herring. Jeff was one of my early mentors and has taught people around the world (including yours truly!) about the keys to content marketing success. Jeff Herring has been featured on the CBS Morning News, The Miami Herald and has over 1.6 MILLION views on his Ezine Articles account alone. Dude knows what he’s doing!! And he’s here today with a guest post about where you start with content marketing- right at the top!
Without further ado, here’s Jeff Herring:
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In 1994 I was privileged to begin writing a weekly relationship column for our local newspaper.
Three other therapists had the weekly column gig before me. What bugged me the most about these authors were the “snooze level” titles that they would put on their articles.
Goodnight, it’s time to sleep titles
Here are a few examples of what I mean:
What is Bipolar Disorder?
What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?
Puts you right to sleep, doesn’t it?
I Gotta Read That Titles
Using the same subject matter, try out these titles:
Tired of Riding an Emotional Roller Coaster? Here are 7 Steps to Getting Off and Living
When 100 Times is Not Enough: How to Stop Destructive Repetitive Behaviors
See and feel the difference?
The Ultimate Goal of Any Title
Your title is your headline. Lose the reader here, and you have lost the reader for good.
When country music star Toby Keith asked country music legend Willie Nelson to sing part of a song on Keith’s new CD, Nelson blew him off with, “Send my people a demo tape and we’ll see.”
As he turned to leave, Willie Nelson asked Toby Keith for the title of the song.
Toby Keith said: “Whiskey for My Men, Beer for My Horses.”
Willie Nelson said: “I’m in.”
That’s the effect you want your titles to have:
I’m in!
Here’s your personal invitation to discover more about creating prospect & profit pulling titles on our upcoming webinar “Content Title Terror – The 3 Biggest & Scariest Content Title Mistakes & What to Do Instead (Follow the Formula) with Jeff Herring, Hosted by Felicia Slattery” on Thursday, January 31st at 2 pm EST. Join us here => http://JeffHerring.com/felicia
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Good stuff, right? Thanks to Jeff Herring and I hope to see you at the webinar this week where Jeff will show us how to create sure fire title winners in 20 minutes or less. One thing I know about Jeff is if he promises it, he delivers it. I can’t wait and I hope you’ll be there with us, too!
Profitable Content Creation – How You Can & Should Create Your Own Content for Prospects & Profits
By Guest Blogger: Jeff Herring
Jeff Herring and Felicia Slattery
Content creation and content marketing are a great method for building your prospects and your profits. But you don’t have to get that news just from me – a recent issue of Entrepreneur Magazine had this to say about content creation and content marketing:
When it comes to marketing strategies, content marketing has just been crowned king, far surpassing search engine marketing, public relations and even print, television and radio advertising as the preferred marketing tool for today’s business-to-business entrepreneur.
Think about that: bigger than print, radio or television. Bigger than SEO marketing or PR. Don’t you want your share of the prospects and profits from content creation and content marketing?
And since you do, here are 3 reasons you need to be able to do it yourself (at least in the beginning):
Reason 1 – Prospects are attracted to your voice. Whether you have a golden voice made for radio or just the opposite, prospects are attracted to your voice. Because what I mean by “your voice” is the unique way you approach problems. Prospects come on the internet searching for
solutions to their problems. When they hear your voice – how you approach and solve problems – they will be drawn to you like magnet.
Reason 2 - No one else can deliver it like you – Here’s the good news and the reality (nice when those two go together): There are more people out there, eager to hear your message, who can only hear it in your voice, than you can ever get to in your lifetime. No one else has your unique perspective, life experience, knowledge and wisdom. No one else. And there are people out there who need to hear your unique message, who can only hear it from you. To not get it out to them is selfish. Create your content and get it out to them.
Reason 3- You must learn to do it yourself. In the beginning of your business, like so many of us when we began, you will have more time than money. Use that time to learn how to quickly and easily, and with impact, create your own content whenever you want or need. In this way, later on, when you have more money than time, you may want to outsource some of your content creation. Then you will know what to look for when you are looking for someone who can “write in your voice” – which is very hard to find.
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Save The Date!
Jeff Herring, has been known as The Internet Article Guy, and has personally taught thousands around the world how to effectively get your
Save the date for Jeff Herring's Content Creation Workshop - Doing It Live - December 1, 2011
written messages out so the world can benefit from them and you can make money from them. He was one of my earliest mentors online and I credit much of how I run my business today because of my early work with Jeff Herring. I am proud to host him on a free webinar next week, Thursday December 1, 2011, at 2 PM Eastern / 1 PM Central / 11 AM Pacific / 7 PM GMT. Register now for free right here and discover Jeff Herring’s Content Creation Workshop – Doing It Live!
What Do a Root Canal and Cosmo Magazine Have in Common?
Well first, let me say — ouch.
I have been in serious dental pain for the past 3 weeks. I’ll save you the long story, but let it suffice to say that I had work done, and as that progressed the doctors determined I needed more. Which turned out to be a root canal.
So yesterday I learned the meaning of the phrase, “About as fun as a root canal.”
It means it sucks. 
But seriously… with as bad a reputation as a “root canal” has, modern dentistry has come a long way and the procedure was virtually painless. Aside from the injection of the anesthetic, I didn’t feel any pain at all. I was scared as all get out, but apparently the term “root canal” is scarier than the actual event itself.
So that was my yesterday morning.
I spent most of the afternoon recovering and resting. Then in the early evening I checked my email.
There was a message with the subject line “Hi from Cosmo.” (!!!!)
Of course I opened THAT one right away. Apparently Cosmopolitan Magazine wants my expertise to help them with a story they are developing and they plan to credit me fully. The message was brief and to the point. Can I have some information to them by Monday morning?
Uuuuummmm, yep.
Begin happy dance of gratitude!
So what do a root canal & Cosmopolitan Magazine have in common? That was my day yesterday. (And boy did it turn out WAAAAAY better than I could have ever imagined!)
How did an editor at Cosmo decide to send ME a request for my expertise? It’s effective communication through online marketing. Because I have been writing for years now about effective communication and communication skills and have many articles, mentions, and links online, it was easy for this editor to find me. Also, by the way the editor asked for the specific information she did, I can tell she saw one of my online articles at Ezine Articles.com. I have to thank my article marketing mentor, Jeff Herring for teaching me what I know about article marketing!
Make it easy for the people looking for you to find you online and you’ll get cool emails and media requests, too! How do you do that? Be clear on your message and make sure your online image is professional, consistent, and cohesive because all that equals credibility.
Stay tuned… as soon as I have more details about the magazine edition I’ll be in I’ll let you know.
If Wile E. Coyote Was an Internet Marketer
I have to thank my friend, Jeff Herring, for the inadvertent inspiration for this post. This morning Jeff Herring asked on Twitter, “What’s your favorite Saturday morning cartoon?”
And that got me to thinking. About this guy:
Yep, that’s right. The one and only Wile E. Coyote.
His antics in trying to catch the Road Runner truly never ended. He tried Acme product after Acme product hoping to reach his ONE goal: catching that darn Road Runner.
But, to the amusement of the audience, he never could catch up with the Road Runner.
Then I got to thinking about how watching Wile E. Coyote can lead to some useful success tips for Internet marketers. The past 3 years I’ve spent learning and implementing the many skills that make folks who do business online successful. And as a result I’ve coached many of my clients to success on the Internet using effective communication skills, public speaking, and my solid business and life coaching/consulting hybrid mix. And to me, true success is helping the people I work with succeed themselves.
If Mr. Wile E Coyote was MY client, here’s what I would suggest to him:
- Don’t put all your effort toward achieving just ONE goal. Have multiple goals by creating various streams of income — er– I mean — food sources(?). Then your world isn’t feast or famine.
- Evaluate spending your time and money with Acme. They may be the biggest brand on the block, but what results do you have to show for investing your money with them? And what support do they give you to help you once you own their products? Mr. Coyote, I dare say a company that allows you to explode in the air, fall flat on your face, go poof at the bottom of a canyon and more doesn’t care about your success– only if you make the next purchase from them.
- Maybe before you put the newest Acme tool or gadget to work, you could test it to make sure you won’t explode in the air, fall flat on your face, or go poof at the bottom of a canyon.
Then I’d tell my client, Mr. Coyote this: you are doing one thing right that many people don’t do. You keep on going, keep on trying, and never never ever give up. Perseverance is truly one of the secrets to success.
If Wile E. Coyote was an Internet marketer, what would YOU suggest to him? Please add your comments now!
