Whenever I bring this up to new clients, I’m usually faced with, “but I’m a speaker (or author), I don’t do marketing campaigns.” The fact is that booking a speaking opportunity or a book tour is essentially marketing your most valuable commodity – YOU!
Funnily enough, it really doesn’t matter what industry you are in – the three basic tenets of a successful marketing strategy involve the same three foundations being clearly delineated before launching your campaign.
1. Goal: Set a very specific goal for results and have the tools in place to measure your ROI.
2. List: Clearly define your target market and work to solve a key problem or obstacle.
3. Offer: You must have a killer offer that is unique and compelling.
Yes, those are very basic definitions and steps, but I’ve discovered over the years that simple is usually the best route. Now let’s relate those fundamentals to a speaker looking to book meetings or conferences.
1. Goal: How many booked opportunities will it take for you to consider it a success? How many contacts made that may constitute future opportunities (they’re not booking now but will be in the next 6 months, for example)?
2. List: Who is your perfect target audience? Where do they typically gather? What will your topic mean to them? Does it solve a problem? Overcome an obstacle? Enable them to create success for themselves in their personal or business life (or both)? What will they gain from listening to your presentation?
3. Offer: This is where most of my clients get a bit overwhelmed or confused. Consider this, when the event is over, what do you want to happen? Do you want people to buy your book? Sign up on your website for something – a report, newsletter, product? Take whatever your desired end result is and craft a compelling offer that the event attendees will have a difficult time saying no to. Make it appealing and appropriate for both your audience and the product.
And there you have it, the three basic foundations needed for any successful marketing strategy. Our philosophy here at Create 2 Sell is that even the most complicated of projects can be broken down into smaller, more manageable steps. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, or uncertain how to proceed, we’re more than happy to sit down and speak with you, show you how to break it down and timeline it out. Let us know how we can help you.
Do you have any stories on booking events that went well (or perhaps not so well)? We’d love to hear them. Experience is a good teacher (for both what and what not to do)!
Until next time … to your success!
Paige Jackson
Create 2 Sell