Speakers: Are You Leaking Profits?
by Maria Marsala
Summary:
Speaking IS a business. And there are ways you can always be paid, even when the organization doesn't value speakers enough to pay them.
Learn how you can make this a win for you and your company, and a win for the organization and their audience, too.
This article comes from all the mistakes I've lived and the money I've lost by not charging for what I should charge. I think of why I have not earned what I deserve in this area, and there is only one reason - lack of knowledge of how things really work!
Speakers as 2nd Class Citizens
Many organizations will not pay speakers to speak; but they do pay for tangible items! Local chapters of organizations, from the Rotary, Kiwanis, Elms, Lions, etc. to maybe an organization you’re a member of wouldn’t think of asking one of their members to give them supplies for free; but the do not pay speakers. So these groups are good for you to practice speaking.
IF you choose to speak to group for free, as I do from time to time, what you want to do is 1) determine what your speaking fee would have been had they paid you and 2) decide what they can give you “in-kind” to make up for the fee you are loosing. I provide them with a list of 5 must provides and then they get to pick from a longer list of “in-kind” items that are important to me. If they don’t do it; I don’t speak. PERIOD. If they are not going to value your services from the start, what makes you think their members will in the long run?
Enough said on in-kind items as I’ll get back to the main part of this article. BUT if you want my list, it’s available at my Marketplace. Just click here and look under Templates http://www.ElevatingYourBusiness.com/a/shop.html
Speakers as 1st Class Citizens
You should consider many things when creating a proposal or talking about your speaker fee. Below is a list of the basic elements of what you deserve to be paid for (one way or another) These are “add-ons” and “value-addeds”.
-- For your experiences on the topic — the good, the bad, and the ugly. In fact use it all when you speak.
-- Number of travel days and hours. Include the time it takes you to travel to the airport, from the airport to the venue, etc.
-- The amount of time and the cost of printing any materials (cost wise it’s better if you get them to print anything you need, but if you want it done perfectly, do it yourself.)
-- The number of people in attendance.
-- Is it a non-profit or for-profit and does that make a difference to you.
-- The length of time you’ll be speaking and the number of times you’ll keynote, do a workshop, be on a panel or moderator of the panel of speakers over a day or days.
-- The marketing you may need to do.
-- Is it 60 days prior to the event (if so you’ll need to add a rush fee for all you have to add to your work).
-- If you pay for the hotel and meals, add these fees.
-- If you pay for airfare, add this.
-- If they are taking photos, add this.
-- The time on calls or emails to: whomever is organizing the event, or other management professionals.
-- The times on calls or emails to survey or talk to at least 3 potential audience members in advance to build your talk around their immediate concerns and priorities.
-- The internal or external distribution of audio or video taping they plan on doing.
-- Your possible 30-day follow-up in mail or via teleconference to the participants.
-- The number of articles they want to produce on your subject in their newsletters or for the participants.
-- How many of your booklets, CDs or books will they be purchasing.
Let’s not forget about one more money making concept – Back of the Room (BOR)sales. BOR sales allow you to sell your products and make even more money than your “basic pay” Some organizations/businesses want a percentage of sales, find out up front what they expect.
Protect Your Important Intellectual Property
When you speak, you’re selling your time, talent, and expertise on a subject. Read the fine print on any contract you sign. Make sure that you keep the copyrights of any materials that are yours. If someone is buying the use of your talk in an audio, know how they’re providing that information to others. Is it behind a password protected area of a website? Are they selling it for a fee (and what is your cut on that fee)? Are they putting a note on the site that the materials are owned by the speakers? OR are they just posting the links somewhere with no notices of any sort?
If your materials are used in a way that has not been previously agreed to and/or paid for, you as a speaker need to speak up!
Recently after seeing how my materials were being used, I wrote to an organization and asked them to include some legalize on a page so that visitors who downloaded my information know 100% that the information was for their personal use and NOT for use professionally without written permission from me. Ask for what you need.
Plug Up Those Leaky Profits
Now that you have the real story about what you should be getting paid when you speak; it’s time to determine how much of your profits you’ve been leaking each and every time you speak.
Learn more about all the ways you’re leaking profits in every area of your business. Click here http://www.corporatesecretsmarketing.com/tele/pricing.htm
© 2012 Elevating Your Business. An unstoppable entrepreneur, Maria Marsala is a business strategist, financial advisor coach, speaker, and author. Her clients are independent accounting, financial, and insurance advisors. She guides them to increase their productivity and profits, growing their businesses to serve their lives — not the other way around. Download her free Business Evaluator to quickly learn which areas of your business are screaming for your immediate attention and which areas deserve a big hurrah! Visit www.ElevatingYourBusiness.com
Did you like this article?
Many people have told me that I "give away too much good information for free" That is my intention. By creating great free resources, we hope that a lot of links would follow. If you'd like to repay me for the information you've just learned, link the article to your blog, retweet it, or send it to your Linkedin groups are all great ways to repay me. Thanks in advance!
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE DURING A BUSINESS ENGAGEMENT?
You cannot use our articles with your clients without a license agreement. Contact Maria
TELL US WHERE TO SEND YOUR KIT
Your privacy is important to us and we will never rent or sell your information.
Testimonial
"Maria isn't known as the Resource Queen for nothing - she knows everything there is to know about running a business successfully and where to go to find the tools and services to do it. Maria's advice and strategy has been invaluable to the clarification and execution of my business goals."
--Nicole Wexler, Decorator & Stager, Turquoise Decor, Seattle, WA, http://www.TurquoiseDecor.com