Someone sent me a private note saying, "I am very new to motivational speaking, however I have been doing it for years without even realizing it. I am trying to get a read on how to begin a marketing plan. Can you suggest any books that could start me on the road to success?"
What book would most help an emerging speaker in building a marketing plan specifically for a speaking career?
I thought about my favorite books for marketing and advertising, especially Made To Stick, Cialdini's Influence, and Selling The Invisible. They are good books for developing the marketing message. However, while heavy on useful insight, they don't provide a step-by-step process for building a tactical marketing plan.
Another very good book is called The Six Figure Speaker it does a great job of giving solid tips on marketing yourself as a speaker and on systematically increasing your fees.
I'm with Jeff on this one....'The Wealthy Speaker" is one of the best A-Z (basics) of getting started and positioning yourself. I highly recommend it. It's a steal for the price.
I agree with Jeff and recommend Jane Atkinson's "The Weathy Speaker". You all might be interested to know that Jane is a member of SpeakerSite as well.
I would purchase and read everything by Alan Weiss, a professional colleague of mine. Start with the Million Dollar Speaker or better yet visit Alan's website at: Alan's website.
Alan says it like it is and gives you sage advice on setting your fees.
Do not read it out of a book. Hire a coach to assist you. Each market and each niche is somewhat different and hiring a coach to assist you in creating marketing acceleration in your market will get you to your goals faster and less expensively.