Speaking is a fabulous way to increase visibility and create demand in your business.
Start speaking to create demand in your business. When you tap into your purpose and what you are an expert in, you become the authority in your niche and people will be excited to hear your message – from the stage. Speaking increases visibility thus creating demand for your business.
Say yes before you are ready
Laurie Ann said yes before she was ready and learned many tips and strategies to become a renowned speaker. She now helps others craft their signature talk so that they can be in demand. Robyn also said yes before she was ready. She was still terrified, but she said yes and spoke to become more visible and create demand in her business through speaking.
What does it mean to be in demand?
To be in demand means you are front of mind and without question, you are who people recommend or call.
Speaking is a form of visibility. If you aren’t seen, how is anyone going to hire you?
Speak from the heart
Knowing that speaking increases visibility, it’s important to overcome the fear of speaking. To do that, speak from the heart and from the knowledge in your brain with a positive mindset. Then you’ll be able to confidently and effectively speak from any stage. Don’t expect perfection. Speak from a place of passion knowing you are an expert and that the audience needs your expertise.
Speaking is an alternative way to be visible
If you don’t want to be on social media, speaking is an alternative way to become more visible, with a larger audience. Start speaking to increase demand without having to create content for, or spend time scrolling on social media.
Get out of your own way and start speaking to create demand for your business
If you want to become a speaker because speaking increases visibility, get out of your head and into your heart. Stop thinking so much about yourself and think about how you can serve your audience. You will get better with each talk or podcast interview you do.
What’s your story?
Laurie Ann’s methodology is built around story. Discover what your story is. What is your story, your transformation? How do you help people and how did you get to this point? The more every day it is, the better because people will be able to relate to it. Your everyday life and the challenges and growth you’ve experienced become the stories you share to communicate the lesson you want your audience to take away.
Point blank tell the audience what you want them to hear or see through your story. You can have a signature story that you use over and over again, but depending on the group or audience you are speaking to, you can change the lesson you want to convey.
The more you tell the same story the more confidence you will develop and the more people will recognize you. The way you tell your story on that very day is what will resonate with the audience and take a step in the right direction.
If you want to start speaking to create demand in your business, you need to tell a story that resonates with the audience
Take your audience on a journey with you. You want the audience to feel like they are in your story. It is about the pace you tell your story, the pauses, and where you inflect – it’s not a play-by-play.
Don’t let all the details get in the way of a good story. No play-by-play. You want people to experience the story with you while you share it. Stories entertain. Following this strategy builds an emotional connection with your audience. Through your story, you can communicate your expertise.
Grab attention.
You have to give people a reason to put their phone down, to lean in and listen.
Once you capture their attention, explain why they should listen to you. Tell them why you are an authority – why they should listen.
Then teach and give value.
Next is your close and your CTA.
The goal of speaking
Now you know that speaking increases visibility and will help you create demand in your business. So what will your goals of speaking be?
As you create your talk, start with the end in mind. What do you want your audience to think, to do, or to feel differently? This is your goal. Start with your goal first. Ask yourself what needs to be in the presentation in order for this to happen. What does the audience need to learn, know, and understand?
The 3 C’s of speaking
Laurie’s 3 C’s of speaking are: be captivating, compelling, and converting.
There are three things that will hold your talk together. A story, a statistic, a case study, a metaphor, or an analogy. All of these support the tip that you are sharing with your audience.
There are over 7500 speaking opportunities a day. And each person that’s in the audience is someone who said yes to spending time with you. They are interested in the value you are going to provide.
How to find speaking engagements to become visible in the speaking arena
Is the title speaker in your bio? If you want to start speaking to create demand in your business, you need to have the title of speaker in your bio.
Have a speaking tab on your website. This will help with credibility as well as help with backlinks for SEO.
Ask yourself what organizations you are already a member of. Make a list of them as they are your warm market. Speak to the person in charge of recruiting speakers and ask about the process for booking speakers. You’ll learn a lot of information doing so. Oftentimes, people book speakers 18 months ahead of time.
Do you look like a speaker? Where can people hear you speaking – live streams, podcast interviews, etc.? These are a great way for even coordinators to see you speaking.
Ask anyone you speak for to refer you to two other opportunities.
Additional resources on storytelling and speaking:
Laurie Ann is an award-winning speaker, best-selling Amazon author, Business Mentor, and Speaking Strategist.
She helps entrepreneurs like you get speaking opportunities for their business — and turn every presentation into more clients, more cash, and more clout.
Social media is not free marketing. In fact, it may be costing you more than you can afford.
Nothing good is ever free. And social media is not free marketing despite what you may have heard others say. In fact, relying on social media to grow your business is one of the top mistakes I see entrepreneurs make online. Instead, grow your business without social media, grow your business your way, the way that feels good and is aligned with your values. You don’t have to do what the experts say to do.
What are the costs of social media?
Many entrepreneurs fall into the trap of believing that social media is free marketing and therefore the end all be all of growing a business.
Here’s what you need to know instead.
Social media platforms are owned by businessmen who want to make big money and they do so through paid ads. They are not interested in your business or your success. Algorithms have been created not for you to beat, but for them to drive traffic to the businesses paying the most in ad spend. Because of this, only 2% of the people who follow you on social media will ever see your content. Even fewer will engage with it. Unless, of course, you are paying for ads. And even then, you are at risk of who the ads are bringing into your community. Are they soulmate clients or people looking for something free?
If you put all of your efforts into growing your business on social media, you are missing out on lucrative opportunities for long-term growth and a consistent stream of clients.
Build the foundation first if you want long-term success
Entrepreneurship is not one size fits all. Someone may have a lot of money to invest upfront in software programs, funnels, teams, etc. while others do not. No matter your budget, the best thing you can do is build the foundation first before spending countless hours and resources on social media. Start with a strategy for optimizing your website. Google is much more powerful than Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok. Raving fans do not equate to people investing in your business.
When people search for you or your product or service on Google, they are ready to buy. Unlike when people go to social media, they are browsing without the intent to buy. They are simply collecting information. Kind of like getting their toes wet on the beach versus going all in and diving into the waves.
When you grow your business without social media and build a solid foundation first, you are more likely to succeed.
Social media is not free marketing because time is not free
Time is one of your most valuable commodities.
How does social media influence your time? In multiple ways.
Content and graphic creation, even when repurposing evergreen content, takes time. Even if you have someone managing your social media accounts, you have to evaluate their work and take time to pay them. In addition, you have to be present and engage to build meaningful relationships.
Scrolling to consume content takes time and you can lose track of time and therefore lose productivity.
It takes time to engage if you want to use social media to grow your audience. Again, you can get sucked into the scroll and lose more time than intended.
Distractions are time-consuming. When you consume content on social media, namely Instagram, you are apt to follow what someone else is doing. If you don’t discern whether it’s right for you and jump right in, it can cost you time, energy, and money. And, doing so will take you away from the tasks you’ve already initiated that were on target to create demand and increase revenue. Distractions result in time lost, not initiatives or growth gained.
Social media is not free marketing because energy is not free
Like time, energy is one of your most valuable commodities.
How does social media influence your energy?
Social media can increase your level of stress when you feel you have to create content and show up to engage. It becomes an added item on your already long to-do list.
Comparison and imposter syndrome are frequently reported by social media users. Both stimulate doubt which will decrease your energy level – negative thoughts produce negative emotions which in turn produce negative decisions and behaviors, therefore decreasing energy.
A decrease in energy will influence how you show up for your audience and clients, your family and friends, and for yourself. If not showing up with positive energy, you don’t effectively create demand in your business. In addition, you won’t show up as effectively for your current clients, which will influence client retention and referral rates.
Low and negative energy affects relationships, personal and professional. When relationships are struggling, you are going to be emotionally exhausted.
Grow your business without social media and get a bigger ROI
Over 20% of businesses fail in the first two years. That percentage rises the longer you are in business, 45% fail in the first 5 years, and 65% fail in the first 10 years. One of the reasons so many businesses fail is because they have listened to others instead of doing what feels good to them. If you are listening to everyone else and investing in social media, you may want to re-think your marketing strategy. Social media is not free, but building a solid foundation with an optimized website and a strong marketing strategy has a significant ROI because it creates a steady stream of incoming clients.
Growing a business without social media may not feel sexy, but when you have a big ROI and feel confident that you have a solid foundation for a lifetime of limitless earning potential, you’ll feel confident that your marketing strategy is more powerful and will get you to your goals.
If you want to effectively market your business, create a unique personal brand.
The truth is, every effective marketing strategy begins with a unique personal brand. The reason is, you must control the perception others have of you. And that means you must differentiate yourself to build trust and stand out.
Do I need a personal brand to create an effective marketing strategy?
A question I often hear from both service and product-based business owners is, do I need a personal brand to market my business? If you’ve asked this question, you can be assured that the answer is a resounding yes.
What is your personal brand?
Your personal brand is what other people think, say, and feel about you. It’s the perception they have of you when you walk in a room, when they see you online, or when they consume your content.
Branding encompasses your personal brand and how you communicate what differentiates you from all others in your area of expertise (niche). Your brand identity; color palette, typography, and visual presence, help you become recognizable and memorable. But your personal brand is what makes you recognizable, memorable, and shareable.
The answer to the question, “Do I need a personal brand” is, therefore, not related to creating brand assets. Brand assets will not solely differentiate you from all others in your niche. They may help you stand out when your soulmate clients are scrolling. However, they will not build the emotional connection that differentiating yourself as a personal brand will. Throw your personality into it!
Additional resources for creating your unique personal brand
Since every effective marketing strategy begins with a unique personal brand, it’s important to know as much as possible about creating your unique personal brand. Go back to episode 248 of The Robyn Graham Show for more on content creation to differentiate yourself. In addition, episode 205 for more details on creating a unique personal brand.
Now you’re ready to create an effective marketing strategy
Once you establish your personal brand, you’re ready to begin marketing your business. Marketing is communicating what differentiates you from all others in your area of expertise. When you create your personal brand, you are identifying all of the things that differentiate you. If you doubt you are unique, make a list of all of your experiences, good and not-so-good, and how they’ve led you right to where you are today. Doing so will help you market yourself as an expert.
Every effective marketing strategy begins with your who, what, when, where, and how
To create an effective marketing strategy map out your who, what, when, where, and how. Let’s break them down.
Who is your soulmate client? In addition, who are you? Both are significant when creating an effective marketing strategy. If you don’t know what differentiates you you can’t effectively communicate with your soulmate clients to tell them about why they should hire you. Likewise, if you don’t know your soulmate client, you won’t be speaking to those people who need your expertise and will want to hire you.
What are your soulmate clients’ major pain points that you can help resolve? Can you define what keeps them up at night? What are they thinking about when doing the dishes or getting dressed that they cannot solve themselves? But you can and in a unique way. In addition, what platforms are they using to search for the information they need to get the results they want? What platforms are you creating content for? Is there an overlap? What changes do you need to make to reach your soulmate clients? Lastly, what is your price point for your offer or program?
When are you available to serve your clients? Elaborate on when they need you most and when you learned how to provide the solution they need. Likewise, when have you experienced their pain points yourself? Even more importantly, when and how did you overcome them?
Where in your journey have you experienced what your soulmate clients are experiencing now – the beginning of your journey or more recently? Where do you serve your clients, in person, online, locally, or internationally? In addition, where will you market to your soulmate clients? Where are they researching to find the solution to their problem(s)? For example, if you are an entrepreneur who doesn’t want to be on social media, where will you share information, on your blog, via email marketing? This is where SEO will become a key component of your effective marketing strategy.
Why do you do what you do? Is there a reason you help whom you help? Simon Sinek explains using his golden circle that why is more important than how and what. That people resonate more with why you do what you do than what you do or how you do it.
How do you help your soulmate clients get the results they crave? Do you have a proven method or system? Likewise, how do you do what you do? Elaborate on your background, skill sets, education, certifications, awards, life experiences, and mistakes you’ve learned from, etc. that help you help others. In addition, testimonials help elaborate on how you’ve helped others get their desired results.
Yes, you need a personal brand and an effective marketing strategy.
So, if you are still asking if you need a personal brand, the answer is yes. And even if you are a product-based business, you need a personal brand that will be the foundation of an effective marketing strategy, including your who, what, when, where, why, and how.
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