Every day more entrepreneurs are entering the speaking arena. Granted, public speaking isn’t for everyone. It does take a special talent to want to get up in front of a group of strangers and speak. But if you have the talent and you have the expertise, why not share it?
The problem is, once a market starts to get over-saturated you have to work even harder to find people who will pay you for that expertise. These days way too many meeting planners have stopped paying speakers.
If you’ve ever thought about becoming a speaker, you should know how much work goes into it. Writing a speech and giving a great speech are only a fraction of what you’ll spend your time on. Most of your time will be spent on getting the work. And getting free speaking jobs is much easier than getting a paid one. But there is a way to guarantee you’ll get paid every time and that’s through sponsorship.
First of all, if you haven’t heard of Speaker Match, you should check them out. Speaker Match is an online directory for speakers. They aren’t a speaker’s bureau in the traditional sense of a speaker’s bureau. Bryan and his team work hard to get you in front of meeting planners who are looking for experts like you. Some of the jobs are paid and some are free. But even if you get a free speaking job, you can always maximize it through something like Speaker Sponsor.
Speaker Sponsor matches speakers with sponsors who want to get in front of your target audience. For example, if you are hired to speak at a conference on child development, but the meeting planner isn’t going to pay you, you can get a sponsor through Speaker Sponsor to pay to sponsor you for the event. Most any family or child-related product or service would probably like to get in front of that audience. You then work together to maximize and promote the sponsorship as much as possible. It’s a win-win for everyone.
You’ve accumulated a lifetime of expertise in your topic. If you have the talent for speaking, you can also get paid for that expertise. It’s just one more stream of income in your business portfolio. And you know how I love the multiple streams of income.