A speaker can only have recurrent bookings and engagements if their topics are appealing and if the publics awareness of the expertise and materials of the speaker is also a crucial factor. Therefore, there are two things to consider if you want to make money in public speaking. One is finding a topic that sells and a niche that pays. Then the other one is implementing marketing and promotional techniques.
Find your Cash Cow Topic
In your speaking career, you should try to find a topic that you can become an expert on. Most speakers have a topic or a set of topics that they can really rely on with their careers. These so called topics are cash cow topics. They have the ability to define the speaker and give the speaker a great deal of appeal to potential customers.
These topics can get you booked over and over again. However, finding them can be quite tricky. Experience and a lot of audience insight will help you hit that jackpot topic. Needless to say, your delivery of the topic and your overall presentation should also be top-notch. Topics presented poorly are wasted opportunities.
Sometimes, finding the right topic will precede niche determination. Many speakers attempt to find the perfect topic first before settling on a niche. Sometimes, it is your created topics that will help you discover your target audience. Your chosen topics will help you determine your probable buyers.
It is easier to manufacture topics if you get inspiration from what you currently know and are passionate about. Creating a topic with an effort to reach a specific audience is rather difficult if the subject matter is not your forte. The ideas will flow easier and more naturally if done intuitively. However, you must figure out if your topics are really worth paying for.
Topics and niches go hand in hand. As you gain lots of exposure and experience you will ultimately, settle on a perfect topic and a niche that is perfectly suited for you. Once you have a niche you will get booked more frequently and establish yourself as an expert which will result in a much more reliable source of income.
Follow-up with great marketing strategies
Once you have found your topic and decided on a niche, the next thing you should do is to follow up with lots of networking and marketing.
Get in contact with your projected buyers. Get in the circle and make them know that you have something to offer. Have enticing marketing materials that should look very professional and spread it all around. You have to make sure to highlight your expertise and experience and make sure that you are sending the right message.
Branding your public speaking persona is one way of marketing that can greatly help you get continuous bookings. You can also create products that you can sell as a supplementary source of income. Products like books, videos, audio tapes, or a website are great credibility builders as well as almost passive sources of income.
