Episode 262
Speaker Coaching: From £1K School Talks to £10K Corporate Keynotes (Plus The System for Booking Corporate Speaking Gigs)
Episode Summary
In this coaching session, John Ball works with speaker Jackson Ogunyemi, who has spent 25 years speaking in the education sector and now wants to transition into higher-paying corporate speaking opportunities.
Jackson has the experience, the message, and the stage presence. What he’s missing is the business engine that consistently generates bookings.
Together they unpack some uncomfortable realities about the speaking industry: why conferences rarely pay new speakers well, why speaker bureaus don’t create demand, and why many talented speakers stay stuck at low fees.
From there, they build a practical strategy: identify a hunting niche, use LinkedIn to find prospects, send simple outreach messages, and create a consistent follow-up system.
If you want to turn speaking into a real business rather than hoping to be discovered, this episode will show you where to start.
Want to join John's 'Serious About Speaking' newsletter? Subscribe on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=6882642444815519744
In This Episode
- Why many speakers rely on the wrong growth strategies
- The reality of speaker bureaus and conferences
- Why visibility alone doesn’t generate bookings
- How to identify a profitable speaking niche
- Why sales teams could be a powerful market for speakers
- How LinkedIn can become a speaker prospecting tool
- The outreach message that gets responses
- Why persistence matters more than perfection
- How to build a simple speaking sales engine
Key Insight
Most speakers try to build an audience before they build a business.
The real order is:
- Build a sales engine
- Get booked and paid
- Then grow your visibility on top of that momentum
Practical Steps From This Episode
If you want to start building your speaking pipeline:
- Choose a clear hunting niche
- Build a list of companies in that niche
- Contact them on LinkedIn with a simple question
- Track your outreach in a CRM
- Follow up consistently
Even 30–60 minutes a day of prospecting can start generating conversations and opportunities.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Offended But Hooked
01:29 Meet Jackson's Pivot
02:34 Education Fees Reality
06:16 Corporate Audience Fit
08:34 Why Bureaus Wont Help
10:05 Pick A Hunting Niche
12:59 Outreach That Gets Replies
15:14 CRM And Follow Up Rhythm
16:23 Daily Prospecting Engine
19:29 Persistence Mindset Shift
22:24 Add Workshops And Examples
24:49 Wrap Up And Next Steps
25:40 Final Takeaways And CTA
Visit https://strategic-speaker.scoreapp.com to take the 2-minute Strategic Speaking Business Audit and find out what's blocking you from getting more bookings, re-bookings, referrals and bigger fees. There's a special surprise gift for everyone who completes the quiz.
Want to get coached for free on the show? Fill in the form https://forms.gle/mo4xYkEiCjqtz9yP6, and if we think your challenge could help others, we'll invite you on.
For speaking enquiries or to connect with me, you can email john@presentinfluence.com or find me on LinkedIn
You can find all our clips, episodes and more on the Present Influence YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PresentInfluence
Thanks for listening. Rating the show 5* on Spotify helps their algo recommend the show, so please take a moment to follow the show and leave a rating.
Mentioned in this episode:
SPGFS - Hiro.fm
Becoming known will always make it easier to get booked and podcast guesting is one of the easiest ways to make that happen, when you have the right strategy. This program will teach you everything you need to know about podcast guesting, from the tech stack to making an impact. You'll get all the tools to stand out as an amazing podcast guest and get booked on great shows.
The Strategic Speaking Business Audit
Take this quick quiz to find out where and why your speaking business is leaking opportunities.
Transcript
John (2): In this episode, you're gonna
hear a speaker with 25 years of experience
2
:tell me that an article I wrote actually
annoyed and offended him and that moment
3
:leads to a conversation about something
he really didn't want to hear, that
4
:speaker bureaus and conferences are not
going to build his speaking business.
5
:If you are a brilliant speaker who
isn't being paid like one, this episode
6
:is gonna give you a practical way to
start building a speaking pipeline
7
:that actually turns into bookings.
8
:Most speakers try to get known first
by throwing everything they can at
9
:social media, usually LinkedIn, right?
10
:They chase conferences, bureaus,
and visibility and wonder why
11
:nothing's really converting.
12
:The harsh truth is those channels mostly
reward people who are already in demand.
13
:In this coaching session, I work with
Jackson Ogunyemi, a motivational speaker
14
:with 25 years of experience, strong
results in education, and we talk
15
:about a big pivot into corporate now.
16
:He's got the talent, he's got the message.
17
:What he really needs is the engine.
18
:You hear us talk about helping him land
on a hunting niche, building a simple
19
:outreach system, and mapping out a
realistic daily prospecting routine.
20
:So there's no fluff here.
21
:No manifest your keynote woowoo.
22
:Just what to do this week to start
getting responses and paid conversions.
23
:Let's get into it,
24
:but today we are back with another
coaching session for you and
25
:we're gonna discuss a particular
issue, one that he actually first
26
:got in touch with me for Jackson.
27
:Tell me, take it away.
28
:Tell me what's going on for you
with your speaking business right
29
:now, and how am I able to help?
30
:Jackson: Excellent.
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:Great.
32
:So, I've been speaking for over 25 years.
33
:Love what I do, great at what I do
and for me is you're great at what
34
:you do, but you're not getting paid
to the level of impact that you make
35
:and the influence that you have.
36
:So I was just scrolling randomly as
you do on LinkedIn, came across one
37
:of your articles that annoyed me
and offended me at the same time.
38
:And it was just the idea behind, you
are broke because not because you're
39
:not good, you are broke because you're
not really thinking as a business.
40
:So it's that whole phrase in of it's
not the best speakers that get paid
41
:the best is the best marketed speakers.
42
:get paid.
43
:And it just flipped things for me.
44
:So for me, that visibility
piece is very important.
45
:John: Absolutely.
46
:Many of the world's most talented
artists have died in poverty.
47
:that's certainly not what we want
for, for speakers and when there's
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:no real reason for it as well.
49
:So tell, tell me a little bit about what
you speak about and who you speak to.
50
:Jackson: Yeah, so for the last 25 years,
I've specialized in going into education
51
:spaces and doing motivational talks
within schools and and, and teachers.
52
:So I do a lot of that.
53
:And then I started pivoting
into corporate spaces as well.
54
:The challenge I have is that visibility.
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:Do I stay in education and go all in,
or do I go into corporate space, a
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:new world with the same visibility?
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:And so what I'd speak about
is happiness and success.
58
:Those are my two key.
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:topics, so I'm known as the motivational
speaker that really brings the energy
60
:and the inspiration into that room to
help somebody to unlock their potential
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:to be happier and more successful.
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:John: Okay, those are important things and
that's definitely fulfilling a need that
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:many people don't have in their lives.
64
:Weirdly, I probably know more about
educational speaking in the US
65
:than I do in, in the UK and Europe
because of work that I've done
66
:with The Speaker Lab organization.
67
:But just from you, probably do have
a better insight on this than me.
68
:What would you say is
the speaking potential?
69
:In the education industry in the uk,
what sort of fees do you have seen
70
:people be able to command there?
71
:Jackson: The ceiling, now
I say ceiling, but 5K for
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:keynotes to to an academy trust.
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:That's probably the most I've
actually been able to get from
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:education where I got to speak in
front of 1,200 people for an hour.
75
:So I think that 5K mark is
that, and that's sort of the
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:unicorn of it, I believe.
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:On a regular basis, you're probably
looking at:
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:keynote to a group of teachers.
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:The same amount for students
as well for the day.
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:So where you get paid for an hour
for teachers, you probably charge
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:the same for a day for students.
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:So that's what we're looking at.
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:John: Okay.
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:now from my perspective, one 2000 and it's
still getting paid, but it's a pretty low.
85
:Speaker fee and 5K, if
that's sort of top range.
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:That's more, it's very
mid range for my speakers.
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:Jackson: Hmm.
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:John: Are you, are you happy to keep
going in the industry knowing that
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:that's sort of the top range for you?
90
:Or do you need to explore areas
where the range is more open?
91
:Jackson: I think I, I would love to
explore more where the range is open.
92
:The vision is to be able to get paid
handsomely enough to not have to
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:milk from education and force them so
when they go through their picks and
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:troughs, it doesn't affect my income.
95
:So definitely would love to
explore more opportunities.
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:John: I think, I think this may have come
up a little bit when we talked before, but
97
:for for our audience sake who didn't get
to hear that conversation, are you open to
98
:speaking outside of the UK and traveling
maybe to US, Canada and other places where
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:speaking fees might actually be higher?
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:Jackson: Yeah, definitely.
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:I think, that if the message is right
and the opportunity is definitely
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:would be a great opportunity.
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:John: So my imagination is this, and
you can tell me if this is not the case,
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:that you probably wanna keep talking
on the same things and stay in the same
105
:area, but maybe it's time to at least
look at where you take that message
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:and who, who you go to with that.
107
:what are some of the possibilities that
you are happy to explore in that way?
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:Jackson: I think just being
able to say, okay, this same
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:message, that's good over here.
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:I can take it over here and get paid more.
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:and I'm pretty much ready to,
the time is there, the energy
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:is there, the message is there.
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:The frustrating thing is to know that
right now I can deliver to, to a group
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:of CEOs or an organization and it
would hit, but they don't know I exist.
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:John: Who needs this message,
do you think then in the, in the
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:companies and corporate world?
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:Jackson: I think companies
focus a lot on performance.
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:They've gotta perform well, but if
the person that you want to perform
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:isn't happy with themselves, it's
hard for them to perform well.
120
:And so for me, I have a big message on
happiness first because happiness is the
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:foundation to success and performance.
122
:And so an individual who wants
to perform well, but they're not
123
:feeling themselves, and because they
haven't put their happiness first.
124
:That's the kind of person they're,
they're burning out, they're frustrated.
125
:They're just, there's that life and
they're expected to perform at their best.
126
:That's the kind of person.
127
:John: Okay, so let's maybe think of some
specific examples of people in corporate
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:life who are in that position of they need
to be or want to be and need to be high
129
:performers, and sometimes struggling to
show up or keep showing up consistently
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:at that kind of level and need a bit of
your magic to help them along the way.
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:Who, who would fit?
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:Jackson: The kind of
person that would fit.
133
:We're probably talking about
a middle leader actually, who
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:has to sort of govern a team.
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:And if I'm not at my best, there's no way
I can lead my team to be at their best.
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:So leaders of teams would be definitely
a good space to really serve.
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:John: Okay, perfect.
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:So that is essentially already starts
to narrow things down and, and there is
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:potential to narrow down even further.
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:And we can talk about that
as, as we go maybe in this
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:session or maybe another time.
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:But, you said that people
don't really know who you are.
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:So let me ask you this, what do
you do currently, in terms of
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:marketing yourself as a speaker?
145
:as I would say, other than what I see
on LinkedIn, you seem pretty active
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:on LinkedIn now that we've been
connected and I've seen you there.
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:But other than that, what are you
doing to promote yourself as a speaker?
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:Jackson: I think it's trying to sort
of get a list of bureaus and speaking
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:to sort of see if I can get on because
that makes things leveraged that way.
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:Putting out content is one that I
do, but aside from that, those are
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:the two things I try to sort of put
together, reaching out to conferences
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:to really pitch myself to them directly.
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:But yeah, that a lot of work yeah.
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:John: Yeah.
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:No, that's great.
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:That's great.
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:I think that a lot of people
find themselves in that position.
158
:so, so this isn't gonna be nice to
hear, but it is gonna be the reality
159
:of what's going on with all of that.
160
:that conferences are really only
interested in booking speakers.
161
:so if you get invited into a conference,
if you're not already a big name, they
162
:haven't sought you out, they may offer
you, they may offer you a breakout.
163
:They may offer you, a workshop.
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:they may offer you an honorarium for
doing that, but they're not gonna
165
:offer you a big fee for doing it.
166
:They may even ask you to pay for
being there because they're putting
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:you in front of people who might be
helpful for you to be in front of.
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:Jackson: Hmm.
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:John: The social media
stuff is always good.
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:I mean, being active on
LinkedIn is really helpful.
171
:the reality about bureaus
and these sorts of services.
172
:they really want speakers who
are established and are known.
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:You need to have already done
the work and have the profile
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:for that to be valuable for you.
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:Because bureaus are not actively
pushing you as a speaker.
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:They will just have you on their books.
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:They want people to be calling
and saying, Hey, we've seen this
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:guy Jackson, and he's great.
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:Can you book him for us?
180
:Does, does that make sense?
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:Jackson: Yeah, it hurts,
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:But it makes sense.
183
:John: It hurts, but this is just
like ripping off the bandaid.
184
:you don't know what you don't know,
but that's how bureaus operate.
185
:And just an unfortunate reality.
186
:But a lot of speakers think, if I get
myself on a bureau, I'll be fixed.
187
:But what you actually
need is you need an engine
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:For your business.
189
:And that's what's missing at the moment.
190
:And so I think for me a few options here.
191
:But for me, one of the best ones
usually, especially if you're going
192
:to corporates and businesses, is
gonna be LinkedIn where you are
193
:already active and to start looking
for searching for leads in the areas.
194
:And so this is where you may need to
narrow things down even more and start
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:finding what we call a hunting niche.
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:And this is the sort of company area where
you are going to look for opportunity.
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:So, if, if education were
actually a better paying option
198
:And it's sad that we have to it should
be, and the, the education system
199
:should be better funded than it is,
but this is the world we live in.
200
:but if it were, you could say right?
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:No, let's focus in on education and
find the people to connect with there.
202
:If you have other corporate or business
experience that might be relevant here
203
:or there's places where you've spoken
where you really connected well and
204
:people were received well, and so I think,
alright, we could go for more of that.
205
:It could be tech, it could be, banks,
it could be, pretty much anything.
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:It could be salespeople, but it's really
picking those right, the right sort of
207
:groups for you to at least be starting to
explore and find search for opportunity.
208
:LinkedIn probably is going to be one of
your best sales engines for doing that.
209
:So what do, what are your thoughts?
210
:I mean, based on your own knowledge
and experience, where might you start
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:with as, what could be some of the
options for you as a hunting niche here?
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:Jackson: Yeah, I think you, you are
right in sort of finding that platform
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:and going all in with that platform.
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:I've been on it for quite a while and
people are sort of seeing what I've done
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:and just booked in one or two calls.
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:So, yeah, I think LinkedIn and diving
in to look for maybe, I don't know
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:whether it's conference organizers
or going direct to HR departments,
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:John: Yeah, I, I would say, look, if
you want, if you're new corporate, I
219
:would probably forget about conferences
just at the moment, unless you,
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:unless you want that experience.
221
:But ultimately, we want to get you paid
and want to get paid decent amount and
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:really with your level of experience.
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:Anything below 5K is almost offensive
to pay you to be honest for what
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:you know you can deliver on a stage.
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:for the, for the
experience that you are at.
226
:It should be an easy jump for you to be
getting to 10,000 or more per booking.
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:I don't think it will take you
long to figure that out with the
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:right, with the right places.
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:But let's, let's pick, let's kind
of pick an industry that could
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:be good for you to, to focus on.
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:Jackson: Yeah.
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:I think sales kind of popped into
mind because I, I'm both happiness
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:and energy at the same time.
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:Really.
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:So those two, is that right?
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:Sales?
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:Go, go, go, Mr.
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:Action Jackson.
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:Let's make it happen.
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:definitely.
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:Look, if I was going to pivot,
that would be an interesting.
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:John: Sales teams love high energy, and I
think you would be perfect for that kind
243
:of environment, with LinkedIn search, you
can start finding companies with sales
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:teams and start reaching out to them.
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:You do need to start finding the
right people to connect with there.
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:But here's what I'll say.
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:Don't worry too much about that.
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:Um.
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:Sometimes it'll be obvious.
250
:You, you could go to hr, but
it's not always HR who do events.
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:You could try and see if they have an
events person, but really all you need
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:to do is try and get a contact wherever
possible at that place, because then
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:you can send an an email to them.
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:Like if they seem like the kind
of person who might actually be
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:booking their speakers, you can
ask, Hey, um, just reach out to see
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:if you are responsible for booking
speakers for your company's events.
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:If they come back and say,
yes, great, then you follow up.
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:In fact, if they give, if you
have a phone number, then I
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:would jump straight on the phone.
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:I'm all all about action, right?
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:Jump straight on the
phone, get them on a call.
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:Um, if they say no, you respond
back, could you tell me who
263
:is responsible for that?
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:I would love to speak to them.
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:They may come back again
and say, I don't know.
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:Again, I would always try and
jump on the phone if you can,
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:but go back and say, oh look.
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:Hey look.
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:I'd really like to connect with them.
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:Could you help me find out who that is?
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:The main thing you are looking for
here is also gonna be a response.
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:One of the challenges that people
sometimes have in this particular area
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:is you may not get responses in the
timeframe you would like to get them.
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:'cause sometimes people are overwhelmed
or, or not looking for a speaker right
275
:now, or that email doesn't seem relevant
to me, whatever, and they may not respond.
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:This is where persistence is
gonna be your best friends.
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:How do you feel about being
persistent with reaching out to them?
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:Jackson: Well, I love that.
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:Definitely for me, it's just finding
different ways to knock on the same door.
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:John: Sure.
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:I mean, at this stage, if you haven't
had an initial reply, I would pretty
282
:much be sending the same message and
certainly you could say, Hey, I did
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:send you an email the other week.
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:Maybe you haven't had a
chance to respond to it.
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:and you probably want to leave at least
a week with the first message, and
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:then maybe go maybe a couple of weeks
if you haven't heard back, and then
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:maybe a month later to reach out again.
288
:This is where a C.R.M.
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:system, client resource management
tool is gonna be essential for you
290
:if you don't already have that.
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:Something like Pipedrive.
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:which does, I think you can
do initially for free trial.
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:there's a bunch of these
services around and, and if you
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:don't, do you have one already?
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:Lemme just ask.
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:I think I'm using Zoho.
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:Zoho.
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:Okay.
299
:I haven't tried that.
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:But if that, if that works for you
and that's good for individual CRM and
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:Jackson: yeah,
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:John: follow up reminders and
that kind of thing, great.
303
:That's really what you want at this stage.
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:Yeah.
305
:And, and keep following up with them.
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:But, but the point of the
first email is all you want.
307
:Is a response.
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:And so you just want a simple
question that's a yes or no
309
:answer and easy to reply to.
310
:Not overwhelming them.
311
:You don't need to tell
them what you speak about.
312
:You don't need to send
your, your one sheet or your
313
:abstracts or anything like that.
314
:Just a simple question
that they can respond to.
315
:And you want that yes no answer
and then follow it up and you can
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:figure out the follow up a bit after.
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:But I mean, does that sound like
something that is doable for you?
318
:Jackson: Yes, definitely.
319
:It's quite practical and something that
you can do straight away, so, yeah.
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:Sounds good.
321
:John: Prospecting, now we, we talked
about the article you read, big part
322
:of that was about this, this is the
sales engine for a speaker business.
323
:Even if you have bureaus knocking
at your door, you still need this.
324
:Jackson: Mm-hmm.
325
:John: You still need this because they
may not still be able to fill your books.
326
:They'll, they'll get you bookings.
327
:They're gonna take a
commission, of course.
328
:And usually that's not huge, but
they are gonna be taking a cut.
329
:And you may, some speakers may get
to a point where you don't need that.
330
:But nearly always speakers with
bureaus, they're hot when the hot
331
:and when they're not, they're not.
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:So you still need an engine
to keep the business running.
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:And this is it.
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:Daily prospecting, Monday to Friday.
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:30 to 60 minutes a day.
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:It's not all reach out all that time.
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:Sometimes it's just finding
the people to prospect to.
338
:Sometimes it's following up with
people you've already reached out to.
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:If there are places you've spoken
before where you might like to go
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:and speak again, reach out to them.
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:They're part of your CRM.
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:Put them into the system if they're not
already there, and follow up with them.
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:but really all about this is your
system for finding the places to reach
344
:out, to, reaching out to them and
following up with them, and following
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:up with anybody who has responded to
you or you've spoken before that you
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:would like to go and speak again.
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:Jackson: Makes sense sounds, sounds
really straightforward in terms of
348
:just literally knocking on those
doors and just keep chipping away.
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:Yeah.
350
:John: So once you know the kinds of places
you want to speak, the sort of sizes of
351
:companies, the sort of minimum profit or
turnover sort of things you want to get
352
:to as well, the people who will be able
to afford the kinds of fees that you want.
353
:That's gonna make it a lot easier,
but this is gonna be the process
354
:to, to put in place and to start
getting consistent daily with.
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:Jackson: Sounds amazing.
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:John: Let me ask you this.
357
:How many speaking gigs would
you like to be having each month
358
:and at what sort of price range?
359
:Jackson: If we are getting the, the seven
to 10 K gigs in a month, if we can get
360
:five of those, that would be very good.
361
:John: That would be a pretty nice month.
362
:So if you were getting somewhere
between 35 and 50,000 for all the,
363
:for a bunch of gigs in one month,
364
:Jackson: yeah.
365
:John: That would look like
a pretty nice month, right?
366
:Jackson: Very good month.
367
:John: Yeah.
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:Okay, great.
369
:And, and, and I do think it's doable.
370
:It will take time to build up to that.
371
:But this, this is gonna be
the engine that does that.
372
:There are things that might
put you off about it in terms
373
:of, it can be a bit slow.
374
:One of the questions I got before, and
I also pre-answered this for you, is if
375
:you're not getting much response from
people in that, in that industry or if
376
:you've a particular industry, you're not
getting much response from them, you may
377
:need to start trying other hunting niches.
378
:sometimes some areas just are not
very responsive and, and sometimes
379
:they may not be responsive because
they're not booking a lot of speakers.
380
:So, sometimes they might, they
might be checking you out.
381
:It might just be you're getting
hold of the wrong people.
382
:There are so many things that could
slow down the progress for you.
383
:But one of the things that stops
a lot of speakers from doing this
384
:consistently and that persistence
thing we talked about is feeling like
385
:you're gonna be a pain in their butt
386
:Jackson: doing
387
:John: Yeah.
388
:Like they're gonna get
fed up of hearing from me.
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:And so here's, here's what I say to that.
390
:Good.
391
:Good if they do, because what are they?
392
:What are they gonna do about it?
393
:If they respond to you and say,
Hey, could you stop emailing me?
394
:they probably won't, to be honest.
395
:But if they respond to you and say,
Hey, could you stop emailing me?
396
:You say, Hey, look, I'll stop
emailing you if you tell me who
397
:books, your speaking gigs, you
don't have to be a dick about it.
398
:You just need to be, all right.
399
:Yeah, I'm just gonna stay persistent,
but I'm gonna stay professional and
400
:I'm gonna stay friendly with it.
401
:the chances are.
402
:If they do get fed up of seeing your
emails, and let's face it, how many
403
:emails do we all get all the time?
404
:if you see, if you see someone keeps
popping up your email, chances are more
405
:like, I've never responded to this guy.
406
:He keeps sending me emails,
I should respond to him.
407
:And that's probably the level of fed
up they're gonna get about your emails.
408
:Generally people won't get
more pissed off than that.
409
:And if they do, so what your
goal is, a response from them?
410
:we are always gonna feel worse about the
amount I'm sending them so many emails.
411
:What are they gonna think of me?
412
:It's us, us who feel worse
about it than they ever will.
413
:Jackson: Hmm.
414
:Very true.
415
:That makes a lot of sense.
416
:There's shifting that mindset to say
it's okay to be a pain in a butt.
417
:John: It, it is and, and you probably
won't be, the reality is you probably
418
:won't be, won't really get to
that stage because it's very easy.
419
:kind of anything, anything that you just
leave and don't respond to for a while.
420
:You just know at some point if
they keep coming back you can say,
421
:I'm gonna have to respond to this.
422
:It's just too much.
423
:They, they just too persistent.
424
:I'm gonna have to respond.
425
:And that's not a terrible
position to get to, but that is.
426
:Potentially the level of
persistence that you may need
427
:to have in a lot of cases here.
428
:Jackson: very true.
429
:John: the amount of prospecting
you do with, with one place
430
:is entirely up to you.
431
:Jackson: Mm-hmm.
432
:John: Some people will hardly ever
take a place off their CRM and will
433
:be I will keep going with them until
I get a response, and then until I
434
:get maybe even until I get a booking.
435
:which sometimes could
take years of follow up.
436
:Some in some situations,
not in most thankfully.
437
:that's up to you.
438
:Some people will be maybe they can
stay on my for a few months, but
439
:if I don't hear back from them in
that time, let's cross them off.
440
:Jackson: Good.
441
:Makes sense.
442
:I think that persistence and
just keep chipping away at it
443
:until you get the response.
444
:Yeah, and interesting.
445
:It's a different headspace, as a speaker
once you cross over to speaking business
446
:Your, your keynote is the product.
447
:You've gotta push that product.
448
:And I think that shift, it
makes a lot of sense for that.
449
:John: I'm also not gonna say
here that this is the only thing
450
:that will get you bookings.
451
:This is the engine that will
drive your speaking business.
452
:But things like networking at the events
you do speak, getting there early and
453
:mixing with people sometimes even, Lemme,
lemme ask you this have a few minutes and
454
:and I wanna make sure you get value this.
455
:Is speaking the only thing that
you are looking to offer here or
456
:are you maybe thinking about other
things like workshops, consulting,
457
:any other sort of offerings?
458
:Jackson: Yeah, so there's the speaking
and, I do the speaking, I also do
459
:public speaking training as well,
so there's other pieces that I have.
460
:So there's the speech and then there's
workshop that I do, that I do conduct.
461
:Yeah.
462
:John: Okay, great.
463
:communication skills could go over very
well in sales environments as well.
464
:Jackson: Okay.
465
:John: If you haven't already come across.
466
:This guy is a friend of mine.
467
:we've worked together before as
well, and he speaks in this area too.
468
:a speaker called Ravi Rajani.
469
:Jackson: Okay.
470
:John: And, he's great like yourself,
very energized, does very well in
471
:sales environments and he does do
those sort of workshops with sales
472
:teams on communication skills,
on speaking and communication,
473
:and does very well with that.
474
:He, back to, you'll tell you
someone that's very well worth you
475
:checking out and, and, he might
be listening to this as well.
476
:in fact, he's gonna be coming on.
477
:We're trying to arrange coming
onto, onto my show soon to have chat
478
:about what he's doing at the moment.
479
:But, he's a really great example
of someone who manages that,
480
:that engine of his business
481
:Has picked picked, a nice
specific area to go and speak at.
482
:Has matched that with his
energy and style, which somewhat
483
:similar to yours and, and really
knows what he's doing there.
484
:He is getting the big fees.
485
:He is getting seen and recognized, but
486
:What he hasn't done is tried to build all
the profile on LinkedIn and everywhere
487
:else, social media stuff first.
488
:He's built his speaking business
first and now he's building his
489
:online profile built on that.
490
:And I think that is the
better way to do it.
491
:you need to, you need to fix
where the leak is first before you
492
:start adding more, more things on.
493
:solve the foundational parts
before you build on top of it.
494
:That's a great way to think about this.
495
:It doesn't mean you shouldn't
do any of those other things.
496
:It just means they shouldn't be a
primary focus potentially at this stage.
497
:won't necessarily hurt you, but
it's not gonna get you the results.
498
:It's probably gonna leave you feeling
a little more frustrated than you
499
:like to be, that it's not getting you
as far as it seems to get some other
500
:Jackson: Yes, of course.
501
:Makes sense.
502
:John: Perfect.
503
:So let me, let me, let's wrap things up.
504
:What are you, what are you most taking
away from our conversation today?
505
:Jackson: That hunting niche and
going after that and creating that
506
:pipe drive, sort of, system and just
keep knocking until you get some
507
:kind of Yes, and love this call.
508
:It's been very practical, not
sort of like idea woo woo.
509
:Is that right?
510
:I can come off this call now.
511
:Go and apply it and actually
start looking for results.
512
:Watch out for me coming back
to you to say, John, guess what
513
:John: I want to hear that.
514
:I, I definitely want to hear that
when it starts, when it starts working
515
:and it starts coming into play, all
the results start coming through.
516
:I definitely wanna hear it and
I wanna celebrate that with you.
517
:Jackson: Yes.
518
:John: and maybe bring you back tell us
all about it at some point in the future.
519
:Jackson: No, that sounds good.
520
:It's been very, very practical.
521
:Thank you so much, John.
522
:And to all our listeners.
523
:John: Thanks Jackson.
524
:Excellent.
525
:Here's what I hope you'll
take from the session.
526
:Bureaus aren't going to
build your business for you.
527
:Conferences aren't going to discover you.
528
:What they can do is amplify momentum
that you've already created.
529
:If you want consistent fees and
consistent bookings, you need an
530
:engine, a hunting niche, a list, a
follow-up system, resilience, and the
531
:emotional maturity to stay politely,
persistent when people don't reply.
532
:Jackson's next move was pretty simple.
533
:Pick sales teams as the
initial hunting niche.
534
:Use LinkedIn as the lead source
and keep the first message friction
535
:free and track follow ups properly.
536
:So nothing leaks.
537
:John (2): If you could use some help
figuring out your niche, building up your
538
:list, Working on your outreach messages
or getting your prospecting moving.
539
:That's the work I do with professional
speakers inside my coaching program.
540
:Visit present influence.com
541
:to find out more.
542
:If you'd like to be coached on the show
for free, like Jackson, you'll find the
543
:link in the show notes, or you can email
me directly, john@presentinfluence.com
544
:and I'll send you the
application form link.
545
:And if you do all the work and
it starts landing, let me know.
546
:tell me.
547
:I love a good guess what happened
after I took action, John?
548
:Kind of message.
549
:And one last thing before you go.
550
:Jackson mentioned earlier that he
first reached out to me after reading
551
:an article I had written that annoyed
and offended him, but in a useful way.
552
:If you enjoy ideas that challenge
how speakers think about their
553
:business, I share articles like that
regularly in my LinkedIn newsletter.
554
:it's free to sign up to, and My articles
are not written to make you comfortable.
555
:They're written to be useful.
556
:Sometimes the ideas land gently and
sometimes they're gonna poke you in
557
:the eye, but if they help you think
differently about your speaking
558
:business, they've done their job.
559
:It's free to sign up to.
560
:There's no email list to join.
561
:Just come and find me on LinkedIn
through the link in the show notes
562
:if you would like to read them maybe
you can even find the article that
563
:offended and upset Jackson so much.
564
:So wherever you're going, whatever you're
doing, have an amazing rest of your day.
565
:We'll see you next time
on professional speaking.
