Some Speakers ought to mind their own business!
The most critical thing any speaker can do after getting booked, is to get organized.
Speaking is a Speakers strength, but it’s the organized Speakers that last the distance in the speaking industry. Professionals understand a sound business model needs to support their platform, that the actual speaking is only ten percent of their business.
So what are the basics of a Professional Speaking business, how can I get organized without feeling overwhelmed?
A good start is to create a few templates:
* booking form,
* rates card
* service agreement,
* speaker requirement check list,
* client information record,
* feedback form, and
* referral form.
Keep your templates consistent with your PR materials, and preferably in a classic format. This is your administration not your PR, but you can use color coding as a means of tracking specific documents in crowded folders.
File your templates in a very basic filing system similar to mine, which is a Speaking folder on my desk top, with a sub folder called ‘templates’.
Being a publicist, I created my PR materials first, and then burned the midnight oil to create follow up materials when my PR paid off. I didn’t say there was any order, just that you make a start TODAY!
I’m not sure what’s more rewarding, developing my craft as a Speaker, or developing a business model that supports my craft. Either way, it's fun, rewarding and after I became organized began to pay off.
Drop me a line if you want more information about business building templates
Posted by: Catherine White
Catherine White Creates Worth
Tags: business, catherine, creates, divine, model, professional, speaking, templates, white, worth
Comment
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Comment by Patti Pokorchak on August 4, 2009 at 10:17am -
Great points Catherine!
- are there any of your templates that you would like to share with this group? Or does anyone want to share theirs?
Not that I'd ever use it unedited, but it's good to know what questions you ask in your feedback forms for example. I"m just getting started in the speaking business so there's so much to do.
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Comment by Catherine White on July 26, 2009 at 2:04am -
HI Bob
Like yourself I've naively believed my talent and personality was enough, however hard lessons have taught me otherwise.
This weekend I had the privilege of participating on a panel alongside one of Australian's leading speakers, Keith Abrahams CSP.
In Australian terms, he is one of the blokes, a really nice family guy with a million dollar speaking business.
There's no question he is a capable and disarming speaker, however his business model has withstood the current economic crisis because it's been founded upon systems, systems, systems.
This is not my strength, however I learned it wasn't Keith's either. He just kept picking up the phone, worked on his systems and as his business grew delegated administrative tasks.
Thank you Bob, your comment serves as a reminder of what I need to focus on this week.
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Comment by Bob VandePol on July 25, 2009 at 8:03pm -
On a similar track, when I started out in business I naively assumed that all that was required for success was a superior product. Yikes! I now have tremendous envy and respect for those who took all the business courses I ducked. It's a science unto itself, "tuition" is costly, and significant sophistication is necessary.
When I began in business, I naively assumed that a superior product guaranteed success. I now have envy and respect for the MBAs who aced the classes I ducked.
A superior product IS necessary and in professional speaking that product is US. We must do it well. But as the brilliant Catherine pointed out, we need elements of secretarial science, IT support, marketing, travel, and an MBA to maximize ROI on that product.
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Comment by Catherine White on July 19, 2009 at 2:24pm
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Excellent Lenny. A checklist is an essential item in a Speakers tool box, without which I couldn't function.
Thank you for your contribution.
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Comment by Lenny Laskowski on July 19, 2009 at 7:11am -
As many years as I have been speaking professionally (over 17), I cannot agree more. I would also like to add making a checklist to Catherine's list. I make a checklist for every speaking engagement I have. A checklist of what to ship prior to the program, what is ACTUALLY packed to bring to the program. It is very easy to forget the little things we use all the time and I leave nothing to chance. I make a checklist and use it for every program. For anyone interested in a copy of the actual checklist I use, please send me an email and I will gladly share it with you.
Lenny Laskowski's website
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Comment by Valerie Howard on July 17, 2009 at 6:19am - Cath... I'm still working on my introduction :-)
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Comment by Bart Gragg on July 16, 2009 at 1:34am
- Of course I want more info! One can never have enough info, especially from such as yourself, Catherine. BTW, love your WordPress blog! http://catherinewhite.wordpress.com
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Comment by Doug Litteral on July 15, 2009 at 3:03pm - Thanks Cathy, will take the infor to heart,
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