How I Book & Prepare for Public Speaking Gigs
Some of my fondest memories from high school and college are of being on stage with the jazz band performing.
I love taking an audience for a ride with rhythm, melody, dynamics.
When you get it right, you can feel the energy in the room shift with the music.
Needless to say, performing music in school got me hooked on performing period.
Once my business started humming, I knew that performing–in the form of public speaking–would be a big part of my goal. Over the last few years, I’ve worked hard to become known as a speaker, learn the craft, and hone my skills.
Now, I have the privilege of getting paid well for it and getting to do it often.
Whether speaking on stage is a part of your goal or whether you realize public speaking (webinars, presentations, meetings…) is a key part of any business owner’s success, you’ll want to invest your time and energy in getting it right.
One of the best things I’ve ever invested in when it comes to speaking (other than working with this week’s Profit. Power. Pursuit. guest, Michelle Mazur) has been seeking out pro speakers and finding out about their process.
So I thought I’d take you behind the scenes of my own process, from booking gigs, to negotiating fees, to planning my talks. Ready? Let’s go.
The Inquiry
I have a speaking page on my site that highlights that I’m available. There’s a form on that page for meeting or event planners to submit an inquiry.
However, most of my gigs don’t come because of that page, even if they come through that page. Instead, my speaking gigs generally come from personal contacts (even if a few degrees removed) or because an event organizer has seen or heard me speak elsewhere.
When we receive an inquiry, the first thing I do is investigate the event as best I can and start considering the audience. The audience determines pretty much every other step of the process—including negotiating my fee.
The Negotiation
Once an inquiry comes in, I normally need to share my speaking fee. While this used to cause me tons of stress, now it’s pretty matter-of-fact. I share my fee and if it’s an audience that I’d really like to get in front of, I might even suggest some alternatives to matching my fee.
The conversation about my fee is often mixed with the conversation about what I’ll present, and I consider this a part of the negotiation too.
It’s in my best interest to both use one of my core presentations and to present a talk that has the most potential for piquing the interest of audience members to purchase from my business. Of course, the event organizer often has something else in mind entirely!
I negotiate the topic balancing what they want with what is in my best interests. Sometimes that might mean designing something new but often it means tweaking what I have to best meet their needs.
I’ve accumulated about 200 hours of potential talks (thanks for 6 classes with CreativeLive and plenty of webinars) over the last 3 years.
The Research
Once I’ve spoken with the event organizer and negotiated both my fee and the topic, I’ll do some more research. I try to gauge the tone and format of the event, as well as look for key audience questions or problems.
My goal isn’t to say what I want to say. My goal is to say what I want to say such that it answers a specific question or problem for the audience—just as I would with a product or service package.
I’ll try to find folks who have been to the event before, engage with an event community, or just poke around the website for the event or event founder to see conversations with real people in the audience.
The Introduction
Over the last year, my goal has been to nail the introduction of any talk I give. That means not getting up on stage and introducing myself, telling people what I do, or asking how everyone’s doing.
You can tell a pro from an amateur by the way they start their talk.
I like to get the audience engaged & laughing in the first 2-3 sentences. So I spend a good bit of time finding that one punchy line I can land to set myself up.
For the talk that I’m giving in Denver this week, the second sentence of my talk is, “We were shocked to learn that Sean…[insert dramatic pause] is an extrovert.” Trust me, that’ll get some laughs.
I’ll actually write out the full introduction so that I feel good about the narrative flow, since storytelling is not a strong suit of mine but writing is.
The Slide Deck
Once I’ve outlined the rest of the talk, citing an example and an action item for each point I’m making, I’ll start the slide deck.
I keep my slides simple with lots of big text and interesting images. While bullet points can help a sales page or blog post become more readable, they’re often messy, messy, messy in a slide deck. I avoid them except when I’m actually listing things out.
The Transitions
One of the reasons I never finished my music degree (I’m 1 class and a few private trombone lessons shy) is that I’m terrible at practicing. So, I don’t spend hours in front of the mirror running through my presentation.
I start by running through the presentation once for timing.
Then, I carefully rehearse the introduction. If I nail that, I know the rest will go smoothly.
Then, I focus on rehearsing transitions. Again, if I can nail each transition, I know I can easily get through the minutes in between.
I isolate the 2-3 slides around each place in the presentation where I change points. I’ll run through how to make the pivot from point to point several times.
The Conclusion
The conclusion has often been a sticking point for me. Many of my talks in the past have ended with, “Well, that’s it. Thanks!” as I sheepishly walk off stage. Even if I gave an outstanding talk, that ending damages the overall effect.
I’ll practice the last thought of the talk… and practice stopping there even more.
Day Of
I’m writing to you on the way to my next gig and, already, I’m thinking about my routine for tomorrow morning. I always wake up early and use that quiet time to settle my mind and do a final run through of the introduction, transitions, and conclusions.
Once I’m at the venue, I’ll find the green room as quickly as possible and get settled. I need “introvert time” without surprise interruptions or personal introductions for at least 30 minutes before a talk or I don’t feel ready.
Then I get miked and head to the stage.
Once it’s over, I love talking with people. In fact, it’s one of the easiest times for me to connect with new people because it’s like we’ve been chatting for the last hour (my presentation!). I feel in my element and completely comfortable continuing the conversation.
I’ve honed much of this process thanks to working with Dr. Michelle Mazur, my guest this week on Profit. Power. Pursuit. Her Speak for Impact methodology has made it so much easier to prepare for talks, find stories and examples to use, and feel confident that I’m going to hit a home run every time.
To hear how Michelle uses public speaking in her own business, from negotiation to preparation to getting paid, make sure you listen to our interview:
[smart_track_player url=”http://media.blubrry.com/creativelive/content.blubrry.com/creativelive/PPP-053-MICHELL_MAZUR-2016_1_.mp3″ title=”Use Public Speaking to Grow Your Business with Michelle Mazur” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ]
Photo above by Jessica Hill Photography
Use Public Speaking to Grow Your Business with Dr. Michelle Mazur
At some point, you have to make the decision to assume the identity of speaker, instead of just playing at it.
— Dr. Michelle Mazur
[smart_track_player url=”http://media.blubrry.com/creativelive/content.blubrry.com/creativelive/PPP-053-MICHELL_MAZUR-2016_1_.mp3″ title=”Grow Your Business with Public Speaking with Dr. Michelle Mazur” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ]
Tara: Welcome to Profit. Power. Pursuit. I’m your host, Tara Gentile, and together with my friends at CreativeLive, we talk to powerhouse small business owners about the nitty gritty details of running their business, making money, and pursuing what’s most important to them. Each week, I deep dive with a thriving entrepreneur on topics like time management, team building, marketing, business models, and mindset. Our goal each week is to expose you to something new that you can immediately apply to growing your own business.
This week, my guest is Dr. Michelle Mazur. Michelle is the founder of Communication Rebel, and a coach for entrepreneurs, speakers, authors, and thought leaders who want to speak with impact. She’s also the author of the bestselling book, Speak for Impact, the creator of the Rebel Speaker Boot Camp, and the host of the Rebel Speaker Podcast, plus I actually worked with Michelle on one of my own signature talks, You Really, Really Must: How to Make Bold Choices in an Overwhelming World.
I wanted to find out how Michelle is using public speaking to grow her own business. We talked about negotiating a new engagement, preparing for a talk, getting paid, and all the ways you can speak without ever stepping on stage.
Dr. Michelle Mazur, welcome to Profit. Power. Pursuit. Thank you so much for joining me.
Michelle: I’m so excited to be here, Tara.
Tara: All right. So you have just released a book called Speak for Impact, and it catapulted itself to the top of the Amazon rankings right away. I think that is so exciting.
Michelle: It was. It was very exciting.
Tara: Awesome. So just as your book has been a hot topic, I think public speaking in general is a really hot topic for my audience, but instead of kind of asking you for advice, I want to find out more about how you’ve used public speaking in your own business. So this is going to be a little meta, but I think it’s going to be super fun. So first, can you tell us how you got started with coaching and consulting public speakers in the first place?
Michelle: I’ve been coaching or consulting in some form for 25 years.
Tara: Wow.
Michelle: I did the math this morning. I was like, oh, I’m old. And I started on the speech and debate team in college, and so when I went to graduate school, I became the assistant director of the speech and debate team, and I went to Oklahoma and started the Parliamentary Debate Team there, and so I was always coaching and helping people write speeches and get better at it, and then as I evolved through being a professor and then into corporate, what was interesting is I was doing market research in corporate, which was so not my jam, but that’s a story for another day, but the leadership knew I was great at speaking and messaging.
So they would always come to me and be like, “We have this big sales pitch. Can you come and watch it and give us feedback?” So I spent a lot of my time not necessarily doing research, but coaching and consulting on their message and how it was going to be received and how they were presenting themselves. And eventually, I got to this point where I was having a conversation with one of my good friends, and he’s like, “Michelle, you have all of this great knowledge about communication and speaking and you’re so talented at it. Why are you not doing something with it? Like, why are you in market research? I don’t get this.” And he encouraged me to start a blog, and that blog turned into my business. That’s … I’ve been at it now for about four years.
Tara: Yeah. And it has grown immensely over that time. All right.
Michelle: Yes.
Tara: So speaking of which, what are some of the ways that you’re using public speaking in your own business right now?
Michelle: The first thing is I don’t look at speaking as something that just happens on the stage. As business owners, as creatives, we are always speaking. So I use it, like today, I’m on my way to Portland to speak at an event, but I also use it for webinars and workshops and Facebook Live and podcast interviews like this one, media interviews. I mean, even blog posts, because once you have your message, and you know what you stand for, then you can just use that all over the place, and so I incorporate it into every aspect of my business, and so speaking for me doesn’t happen just on a stage. It happens in so many different venues.
Tara: Yeah. I completely agree with that, and I think it’s one of the reasons that public speaking is a hot topic, and I think it’s also one of the reasons that if you have any kind of resistance to public speaking, it really is time to get over it, right?
Michelle: Yeah, because you’re hiding in your business or your creative work otherwise, because if we can’t know about you, if you can’t articulate what it is that you do in a compelling way that makes people want to listen to you, you’re never going to be found, and you’re just going to die in obscurity, which is really sad.
Tara: Yeah, yeah. Okay, so I want to come back … I want to come back to that, for sure, but I also want to tie how you’re making money, the profit piece of the puzzle …
Michelle: Mmhmm, yeah.
Tara: To the ways that you’re using public speaking right now. So can you just talk about how … how you’re generating revenue in relation to at least a few of the different ways you talked about also using public speaking?
Michelle: Yeah. So in the book – this is a great segue to the book – I talk about two different paths to revenue. So I talk about paid speaking, which is the gold standard, which everybody wants, and then I talk about client-attracting speeches. And so for me, I’m using paid speaking right now mostly in workshops, because I am a natural born teacher, so I love to teach my Speak for Impact process, or I teach the How to Fascinate assessment, and so I get paid that way, but then I also do gigs that either are very low-paying or fee-waived, and I have a whole system around how I give a speech, I make an offer from the stage that’s completely free, and people opt-in, so using some of my email marketing mojo, and then I nurture them into clients and customers. So that’s how I’m using that aspect to really fuel my one-on-one work, my small, you know, my small group work.
Tara: Okay. Let’s talk about exactly how you work that process.
Michelle: Okay.
Tara: Because I hosted an event earlier this year where you were a speaker, and you were one of our top speakers at that event. Everyone loves hearing you talk. I love hearing you talk. Anyhow, and I did not pay you for that talk. You know, it was our first event, we didn’t have a big budget. In fact, we were, you know, finished the event in the red, as a lot of event organizers, I’m sure, can … can empathize with that. So how do you make an event like that profitable for you? What does that process, can you walk us through step-by-step?
Michelle: Oh, yeah. Yes. So the first thing you have to ask yourself is, “How do I get paid?” And for me, I run the Rebel Speaker Bootcamp, and I aligned the launch of the Bootcamp with your event, because I know your people are my people. So I gave a speech called Speak for Impact, and within that speech, it led to my free five-day challenge that I was getting ready to run right after the event called Get the Speech, Get the Gig. And so people joined the challenge, and then they took part of it, and there was a Facebook group, and I got to give a lot of feedback, and so they got to know me really well, and then I launched the Bootcamp, and from that, I earned about $4000 of revenue, which was great.
Tara: That is great.
Michelle: It’s awesome.
Tara: And that’s just in that one iteration. We don’t know how much revenue you might earn from that later on because of the beginning ties that you’ve created to potential customers, right?
Michelle: Yeah, because I’ve had speaking gigs pay off two years later.
Tara: Yes.
Michelle: I mean, it’s not an instant, like, make $10,000 in 60 minutes kind of thing, but it is very much, like, okay, if I’m strategic about this and I have a way to nurture people, they will become my clients. And this time, it was like within three weeks they became clients, but sometimes, it’s a month, two months, or even two years.
Tara: Yeah, absolutely. I totally agree. I mean, Pioneer Nation is an event that I’ve done twice and have gotten really great … those same results for. Didn’t get paid, but probably from the first one, made at least $50,000-$60,000 over the course of two years. That’s nothing to sneeze at, and so I think that’s really something to think about when you’re approached with a free speaking gig.
Michelle: Yeah, and I think it’s all about the strategy, because if you don’t have a speech that’s really aligned with your business and leads them to the next natural step, that whole client attraction speech will not work for you.
Tara: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So the other piece of this that I really like, too, is that, you know, I encourage people to create events towards the end of their launches to get people really, or like right before they make their pitch, to get people really on the edge of their seats, ready to buy, and what you’ve done here is not create an event, but leverage an existing event, so you had to do less work to get those customers excited and ready to buy from you, and I think that that’s something, I hope everyone takes that away. Is that something that you’ve done in the past? Was this the first time that you’ve done something like that before?
Michelle: I was never so strategic about it before.
Tara: Okay.
Michelle: Because I was looking, because I knew I had the Quiet Power Strategy Summit coming up, and then I was like, okay, well, when am I going to launch the Bootcamp next? Why don’t I launch it right after that event? It just made a ton of sense to me to do it that way, so I was able to be very, very strategic, but even with this event in Portland, I’m not launching anything after it, but I’m giving a speech called Your Unfair Speaking Advantage. My opt-in is called Your Unfair Speaking Advantage. And then I’m able to nurture people, and have them get to know me, and tell them, like, what I do, and make my offer to them.
Tara: Okay, all right. So let’s talk about that for a little bit, because clearly, consistency is key when it comes to your message. What else are you thinking about when you’re considering what is the message, what’s the takeaway, what’s the big idea that I want to leave with in a particular talk?
Michelle: Yeah. I’m very audience focused and audience-centered. So I like to give the audience a bite-sized result that they can walk away with. So for example, when I’m speaking in Portland, it’s all about how do you stand out, and I really want them to identify an idea that they’re either passionate about or it makes them go on a rant, and they’re like, oh, that makes me so mad and I want to do something different. And for me, that’s a great result, because then they can take that, and whether they’re a speaker or not a speaker, they can write a blog post around it, they can do a Facebook Live, they can incorporate it into their speech, and they get one step clearer to really understanding what makes them different from all the other businesses and all the other speakers. So I love to give them that bite-size result, because I know that audience struggles with what’s my message and how am I different from every other business coach or social media strategist out there.
Tara: Got ya. Okay. And so that brings us to another kind of important takeaway for people, too, which is that your goal when you’re on stage or I’m sure on a webinar or you know, wherever you’re doing speaking, especially when you’re trying to attract and nurture new clients is not how can I be inspiring, or even what can I teach them, it’s what can they do because of this talk, right?
Michelle: Absolutely. I am all about action and change, and I feel like I have done my job if they do something differently after they hear me speak. So I’m not … I always say inspiration is cheap, action is priceless. So if we can get the audience taking action, if you can get them a result in a 20-minute talk, they are going to be like, “I love you so much.”
Tara: Yeah.
Michelle: Tell me more. Like, tell me more about what you do. So that’s what I’m always aiming for is that action piece.
Tara: Beautiful. Love it. All right, let’s shift gears a little bit. How do you go about looking for or booking speaking gigs?
Michelle: So for me, a lot of them come through referral at this point in time, and I always tell people your speech is your best marketing tool, because if you can go to a speaking gig and knock it out of the park, other gigs will come from that. So I get a lot of mine from referrals. Yeah, probably the vast majority of even my workshops come through referrals, because somebody talked to somebody else, and I think that’s the best way to get speaking gigs, and I do do some pitching. So if there’s an event that I’m really interested in that I want to be on their stage, I first, I don’t pitch right away. I work on cultivating that relationship, first, and getting to know them, or maybe, I don’t know, going to the event. Hmmm.
Tara: Mmhmm.
Michelle: Because once you have that personal connection, it’s easier to pitch yourself as a speaker, so I’m not one of those people who will be like, you know, cold call ten people today to find your next speaking gig, because yeah, it’s a numbers game, and eventually, you’ll book one or two gigs after you make 100 calls, but ugh, that is not the way I want to run my business or do speaking.
Tara: Yeah, I’m really glad that you pointed out actually going to events before you try pitching an event organization or pitching, you know, an event committee, because one misstep I think I see people make is for those people who want to get into public speaking, they will only go to conferences, you know, that they have successfully pitched, or they will only go to a conference when they’ve pitched it, and it’s like, well, but you’re missing out on all of those relationships that you could be building with people who could be booking you, and so your impact, even though, sure, okay, great, now, you’re getting to speak, your impact is so much smaller than if you just make that kind of short-term investment in actually going to an event and making those relationships happen.
Michelle: Yeah, absolutely. I think that’s the key thing. Like get out of your house and go to the event where you most want to be speaking at, and meet people and be insanely helpful to them.
Tara: Yeah.
Michelle: And that’s the way you’re going to develop a relationship with them, and that makes booking speaking gigs so much easier.
Tara: Yeah, okay, so this makes me think about, sort of like how public speaking is a long game.
Michelle: Mmhmm.
Tara: Can you talk about that a little bit? I don’t know that I have a fully-formed question, but I feel like you probably have some really good inside on playing that long game of public speaking.
Michelle: Yes, it is a long game, and I hate all of the marketing that’s like, “Make 6 figures from speaking in 6 weeks,” or, “I made a million dollars and so can you,” because I think that gives the wrong idea about what speaking is about, because the first step of it is you have to have something to say. You have to have a speech that you can market and sell into an organization, and then once you have something that’s good and remarkable and people really want. Then it’s about okay, how can I book this? How can I sell this into different organizations? And who do I know? And going to those events. And I think about one of my clients, and she and I have been working on and off for like two years, and she’s finally getting a ton of momentum. Like, she spoke at Google a couple of weeks ago, and she, every time she goes out and speaks, she’s booking more gigs, but it’s been two years in order for that to happen. So if you need to make money fast in your business, speaking is not the way to go. But if it is a way that you know you want to get your message out there, start with writing that speech and giving it to anyone who listens at first, and then really focus on the selling and the marketing of that.
Tara: Yeah. It’s just like so many things in business. If you know you want to do it eventually, like, start now, because it’s going to take time.
Michelle: I know. Every once in a while, somebody will say, “Well, you know, public, I’m going to hit it out of the park next year with my speaking.”
I’m like, “Great, so how’s your speech?”
“Oh, well, I’ll do that next year.”
And I’m like, “No.”
Tara: No.
Michelle: I’m so sorry, it’s not going to work for you like that.
Tara: I might be a professional educator and expert, but that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped learning. When I’m ready to learn a new skill, the first place I go is CreativeLive. Check out this great class.
Debbie: Are you feeling stuck? I’m Debbie Millman, the host of the podcast, Design Matters. I’m teaching a class on CreativeLive called A Brand Called You. In my class, I cover everything you need to know about how to position yourself to get the job that you love, the job of your dreams. I’ll help you understand how to position yourself in the marketplace, how to create a mission with sincerity and stature, how to write a resume and a cover letter, and even how to track your progress. This class is for anyone looking to improve their career and their life. Join me now, and get the job you were meant to have.
Tara: All right, let’s go back to booking gigs. So what’s the first thing that you do or the first thing you think about when you get an inquiry for a speaking gig?
Michelle: Yeah, the first thing that I do, especially if I don’t know the person or the organization, is I Google them. I find out who their audience is. I find out all about their event. I find out if they’re charging for their event, how much they’re charging for their event, because then I kind of get an idea of like do they have a budget or is this something that I’m going to have to negotiate, like, will you buy my books in order for me to speak. So it just gives me a good idea about what they’re about. I also look at like … like their Board of Directors and see if I know anyone or someone I know knows them. So I just really do my research before I respond back, because it also tells me if these people are the people that I want to be talking to. Especially if they can’t pay me, I need to be in front of my ideal audience for my speech to work. So research is always first.
Tara: Totally agree with that. I’m so glad you brought up research. Because yeah, I will still speak for free, too, if I’m talking to exactly the right people. If I’m not talking to exactly the right people, I need to get paid, because I’m not going to make that money on the backend, right? And that is so important. It’s so important to know that and think about that, because when that email comes into your inbox, and you’re like, “Can you come speak in,” I don’t know, a great city, “San Diego?” Yes, I would love to speak in San Diego. What do you want me to talk about? Science fiction? Sure. You know, whatever it might be, but you know, as exciting as a new inquiry can be, I totally agree that research has to be the first step.
So what does that response then kind of look like from you? Because I think immediately you get into that negotiation piece, where it feels like both parties are kind of a little, like, I don’t want to give you too much information. I don’t want to give you too much information. How do you handle that? What does that first email back look like if you’re wanting to move forward?
Michelle: I try to get them on the phone.
Tara: Okay.
Michelle: Because it’s so much easier to talk about the money thing. I honestly feel like negotiating your speaking fee is like negotiating for a used car. Because yeah, you’re right, nobody wants to give too much information. Like, they won’t tell you your fee, they won’t tell you the budget. It’s like trying to buy a car, and you’re like how much is that car? They’re like, “I don’t know. How much do you think it’s worth?”
Tara: That is exactly what negotiating speaking fees feels like.
Michelle: And it causes a lot of stress, and I just did a workshop for my tribe around I don’t care if you’re speaking for free or not, you have to have a price in your head. So whether they have the budget or not, you can decide whether to work with them, but if you don’t have a price, and you’re like, “Oh, yay, someone wants to pay me to speak, but I don’t know how much I charge,” that’s kind of a problem. So having that price in your head is key, but I much would rather hop on the phone with someone for 15 minutes, and say, “Hey, yeah, so what is your budget? And what are you looking for? And what are you able to pay?” And just have more of a dialog, because then it’s just, it’s easier that way.
Tara: Yeah. Can you talk a little bit about how you personally determine your speaking fee?
Michelle: Yes. So what … so in this webinar that I just did, I talked about coming up with like an hourly rate that represents your value, at least. Because there’s a lot of intangible value in your speaking fee. Because it’s not the hour you’re on stage. It is your years of experience, your education, everything you’ve done to become the speaker you are today, and that needs to be considered. And then there are other things that you can actually measure. Like how long is it going to take me to prep and practice? How long will it take me to travel? How long am I on stage? How much recovery time do I need? So I consider all of those things for each, well, and I have a pretty standard fee right now, which I’ll just say it’s $4000. It’s like …
Tara: Thank you for sharing that.
Michelle: I’ve done … I’ve done the math, it’s $4000, and that covers my costs, it covers my time away from business to do the speaking, it covers my practice time, and I feel like it represents my value really well.
Tara: And just to stop you right there for a second, you’re expecting the organization to cover travel and other expenses on top of that?
Michelle: Yes.
Tara: That’s not included in the $4000.
Michelle: Yes. And I know there’s other models where people do say okay, I charge $10,000, but it’s all included. Like travel is included, and my hotel, you don’t have to worry about any of that.
Tara: Yeah, I need to switch to that model, because I’m very picky. Just so we’re all clear on that, I’m a little bit of a diva when it comes to travel. Okay, I feel like I have … oh, I know what my follow-up question to that was. You mentioned earlier kind of negotiating fees maybe around something like are they going to also buy your books. Can you talk about maybe some of the creative negotiations that you’ve done over the years? You don’t need to need names.
Michelle: Yeah.
Tara: Just, I think people don’t think about all of the options that they have for getting compensated for a speaking engagement that is not financial.
Michelle: Yes. So sometimes, they don’t have a budget for speakers, but they have a budget for swag. So they’ll say, “Okay, well, can you buy a book for every single person who comes to this event,” and if they have 200 people and you charge $20 per book, that is a pretty great fee for you. So thinking about your books and having them buy those and give them out as swag. Thinking about sponsorships. Like either having someone sponsor you to speak at the event, or negotiating with one of the event sponsors to speak at the event. There’s also things like video, which is so valuable for speaking, and photos. So if they have a professional videographer and a photographer, you can use that for all your speaker marketing materials, and that has value, because that means you’re not paying, you know, two grand out of your own pocket to get video of you on stage in your element.
Tara: Yes, amen. I’ve also negotiated around promotional consideration before, too. So like are you willing to feature me in your newsletter a couple of times? Can I do a webinar with your audience outside of the … like with your whole audience, instead of just the conference attendees.
Michelle: Mmhmm.
Tara: And doing things like that can be really beneficial to me.
Michelle: Yep.
Tara: But it goes the other way, too, where you may want to negotiate a higher fee based on how much promotional consideration they’re looking for from you.
Michelle: Mmhmm.
Tara: Yes. So good. So good. So good. Okay. So how do you go about preparing for a talk once you’ve booked the gig.
Michelle: Yes. So at this point, I have two signature talks that I give all the time.
Tara: Okay.
Michelle: Which is great. So that means I don’t have to write it. But if I ever do have to write a new talk, I use my Speak for Impact methodology, because it’s a great way, it’s the way I use with my clients to write a speech that gets results for the audience. So I use that method, and then as I prepare, I kind of revisit the method, and I decide things like which stories should I tell for the audience. At this point in time, I have like three openers for my speech, and I have one that’s a Rocky Horror Picture Show opening, and for edgy audiences, that’s awesome. Like, they love it, they eat it up. For more conservative audiences, it’s like, no, I’m going to do like the what do you want to be when you grow up, or the visualization one. So I have these three openers that work really well, they’re tested, so I kind of figure out which one is best, and then I go through. And my main content never really changes. It’s typically the stories and the examples that will change based on the audience and what they need.
Tara: Ah, I love that. So it’s almost like building with different puzzle pieces, or from building blocks, or like Breanne would say, Lego.
Michelle: Yeah, it’s exactly like that, and once you get to the point, it’s like, okay, this is my core message, now, I can just plug and play different stories that I know that work, different introductions, different conclusions, and customize it for that audience.
Tara: Nice. Okay, so you mentioned you have two core talks that you give. And I know how this goes. I mean, like, I have two or three core ones that I give as well, but an event organizer comes to you and they say, “We’d really like you to talk about X,” and X is not actually one of your core talks. What do you do then?
Michelle: I try to negotiate.
Tara: Okay.
Michelle: Because I feel it’s very important, in order for you to get known as a speaker, you have to have a consistent message.
Tara: Mmhmm.
Michelle: You know, I think about like Sally Hogshead or Brene Brown, they’re not going to be talking about topics outside of their area because an organizer wants them to. And sometimes, I think you get to a point, and you’re like, nope, sorry, I don’t talk on that, I just can’t, it’s not my area of expertise, I’m not comfortable, I can talk to you on this, but you know, trying to negotiate and I’m always super creative. Like I am good at making the link between whatever they want to talk about and whatever I want to talk about.
Tara: Yeah, I’m really glad you brought that up, because I think there’s … there’s sort of an objection to that, or an immediate objection to that, which is, well, but I want to book the gig, so I want to do what they want me to do, right?
Michelle: Mmhmm.
Tara: But I think there’s a way to balance that against what you also need to be talking about that’s best for your own personal business strategy.
Michelle: Yes. Like, for example, I was working with a client, and she wanted to pitch this CEO group, and she talks about people problems, and how to solve people problems through leadership, and she’s like, “Oh, but they want strategy and technology,” and I was like, “Weren’t you just telling me the other day that in order to have successful strategy, that you have to have your team on board before you do the strategy? And that’s the people part?” I was like, “So actually, your talk fits into the strategy pocket,” and she’s like, “You’re brilliant. Thank you.” But for me, it was just like, oh, well, there’s a very clear connection between what you talk about and what they need.
Tara: Yes. Absolutely. Absolutely. So that’s brilliant. Just what is … what’s the thread that ties these things together so that you can stay on message, but also give the event what they need as well. Perfect. Okay, so what do you do after a gig is over?
Michelle: I rest.
Tara: And what do you, Dr. Michelle Mazur, do to rest after a gig?
Michelle: Mostly, it’s Netflix, going out to breweries, and going out to dinner with the hubby, because I am spent. Now, I’m an ambivert, but I even hear from my extroverted clients that they need that recovery time, and I remember once I did three speaking gigs in one day, and literally, my friend watched my brain shut down. So I spend some time recovering, and then after I’ve had my recovery day, I will definitely follow up with the organizer, I will follow up with people who chatted with me at the event, and start building those relationships.
Tara: Yeah.
Michelle: So, but that recovery is so important. You just can’t go right back into business right after speaking.
Tara: No. You can’t. And just to kind of remind everybody that you mentioned that when you were talking about your speaking fee, too, because it’s not … it’s not just something that you have to … to block off in your calendar, and you do absolutely need to block it off in your calendar when you’re putting that speaking gig on, you know, in your schedule, but you also have to include that time in your fee, as well.
Michelle: Yes.
Tara: Very, very important. All right. Can you tell us more about the book?
Michelle: Sure. Well, I’ll give a shout out to CreativeLive, because I did your publishing course on CreativeLive.
Tara: How to Write and Publish an EBook.
Michelle: In five days, or I did mine in a month, and it was so incredibly easy. Like, it was actually a very joyful process for me, because I took an existing blog post that I had that was all about writing your speech as your next bestselling product, because I believe that your speech is a product that you’re going to sell in your business.
Tara: Which we also talked about in a CreativeLive class.
Michelle: Yes, which we also talked about in a CreativeLive class. And so I wrote this, like, 4000-word blog post around that topic, and I was like, oh my gosh, this is awesome. I have this blog post, and then I just wrote some bridge content. I pulled in some other blog posts, because I felt like there were some missing links, and sent it off for copy editing. I got it out within four weeks, and I had a fabulous launch. Like, I was able … it was kind of insane. I decided to put a street team together, and I emailed my list, and I was like, “Hey guys, I’m releasing this book, if you want a free copy, I would love to have you on the launch team. Here’s what’s involved with that,” and I walked away from my computer to work with a client, and an hour later, I had 40 applications, and had to shut the launch team down.
Tara: Wow.
Michelle: Because I’m like too much, too much, okay. And I think the launch team made it a success. I also reached out to influencers. I was telling you about the book. People like Tonya Geissler, and just letting everyone know, and people really rallied around it, and that’s what I felt, like, the book is definitely what I want to be known for. Like, building your speech as a product and here’s a strategy to do it, and I felt the positioning was good, because all public speaking is about skills, and this is like, okay, let’s think about this strategically, people, and then the marketing was just so easy. It was so much fun and effortless and it was just a joy to do.
Tara: That’s awesome. And tell us how well it sold.
Michelle: Oh, yeah, like it climbed to number one in all of its categories within hours after it launched.
Tara: Yeah.
Michelle: And it’s staying in the top ten. Like, I’m like three weeks out from launch, and every once in a while, I’ll log into Amazon to like spy on the book, and I’m like, “Oh, look, it’s number one again.”
Tara: Yeah.
Michelle: And there’s … and I know Amazon’s been promoting it, so I’ll see like a spike in sales.
Tara: Mmhmm.
Michelle: But it’s doing really well. I’m curious to see what’s going to become of it in like six months, because it’s just kind of that little engine that could, and the feedback I’ve gotten from people, they’re like, “I love this book.” They’re like, “It’s so strategic.” And they’re like, “Yet, you write in such a way that’s approachable, and it’s not stuffy at all, it’s really fun.” So it’s been such a great experience.
Tara: That’s awesome. And just to kind of bring it full circle then, is the book one of … is the topic of the book one of the core topics that you speak on then?
Michelle: Yes, that is my other signature talk is Speak for Impact, and talking about how to build your speech like a product, how to make money from speaking, and how to really get known for your idea. So that is in a speech of itself, so the book lines super well with my speaking, it aligns well with my one-on-one service, and I just feel like … in some ways, it was like marking my territory on this idea, writing that book, because no one else is talking about it this way, and I felt like okay, it is my time to mark my territory, and now, I … this is my viewpoint, and if people want to know how I’m different from other speaking coaches and consultants, they can read that book and figure it out in an hour.
Tara: Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. Okay, two more questions. The first one, for people who have been speaking kind of casually, maybe they get those inquiries about a free gig here or there, or they’ve been doing webinars and they really want to get on stage, what would be one or two things that they should do next to really start accelerating their speaking career?
Michelle: I think the first thing is really deciding on what your signature talk is going to be and building that and writing that, and I have to say, I know for some people, that’s like the struggle part. It’s much more fun to get a gig, and then write a speech, but it’s so necessary for you to be known for what you want to do. So if you’re doing it casually, and especially if you’re reinventing the wheel every single time you’re speaking, you’re wasting your time and you’re blowing any momentum you’re getting from that speaking gig. So having that one, like, one or two go-to talks, and just knocking it out of the park would be the first step, and then I think at some point in time, you’ve got to get serious, and make the business decisions. How am I going to get paid? Like how am I going to make money from this? Am I okay? Like, and how many times do I want to speak a year? Like, for me, I have … I want to speak six to eight times a year, because in a past life, I was on the road a lot speaking, and I’m over it.
Tara: Mmhmm.
Michelle: Like I want to be at home with my cats and my husband, and making some of those business decisions, like how am I going to make money, how often do I want to be speaking? What kinds of events do I want to be speaking at? Because at some point, you have to make the decision to assume the identity of speaker, instead of just playing at it.
Tara: Oh, brilliant. Okay, last question. What’s next for you and your business?
Michelle: Yeah, right now, I am working on getting my Speak for Impact process out as like a DIY just in time learning course, because it’s a great way to write a speech, and I know most people don’t know how to write a speech and they waste a lot of time and put a lot of effort into something that audiences don’t want. And then the other thing that I’m thinking late 2017, early 2018 is I want to do my own live event that’s an alternative to TED.
Tara: Ooh.
Michelle: Which … so this is new.
Tara: No kidding.
Michelle: I mean, this is like breaking news.
Tara: You heard it here first, folks.
Michelle: I know. Because I love TED, I love what they do. The, you know, Ideas Worth Spreading, but I also think ideas aren’t enough, it’s change and action are where it’s at. So I want to have speakers who are more for social justice, more for change, sustainability, having some of those conversations. So I’m really scared telling you this, but I’m really … I know that that’s the next step for me.
Tara: That is so awesome. I’m so excited for you. Well, Dr. Michelle Mazur, thank you so much for joining me.
Michelle: Thank you, Tara, I’m so pleased to be here.
Tara: Find Dr. Michelle Mazur online at DrMichelleMazur.com or at The Rebel Speaker Podcast on iTunes.
Next week, I talk with Debbie Millman, host of the first and longest running podcast about design, Design Matters. Debbie and I talk about the 10 to 12 hours she puts into interview prep, how she started with just a phone line back in 2005, and the opportunities that have come her way thanks to the podcast.
CreativeLive is highly-curated classes from the world’s top experts. Watch free, live video classes every day from acclaimed instructors in photography, design, audio, craft, business, and personal development. Stream it now at CreativeLive.com.
This has been Tara Gentile. Discover how to accelerate your earning as a small business owner with my free class, Revenue Catalyst, at QuietPowerStrategy.com/PPP.
That’s a wrap for this week’s episode of Profit. Power. Pursuit., a CreativeLive podcast. Download more episodes of this podcast and subscribe on iTunes. If you appreciate this kind of in-depth content, please leave us a review or share this podcast with a friend. It means the world to us.
Our theme song was written by Daniel Peterson, who also edited this episode. Our audio engineer was Kellen Shimizu. This episode was produced by Michael Karsh. We add a new episode of Profit. Power. Pursuit. every week. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you love to listen to podcasts so you never miss an episode.
The Next Big Thing in Social Media Is Small
The next big thing in social media is small.
As my friend and mastermind buddy Sarah Bray puts it, it’s the difference between big box stores and small shops:
When I was growing up, Wal-Mart was inevitable. It was just this place you had to go to get basic stuff. You needed it, and you didn’t think twice about how horrible it was. It was cheap and it was there.
But now, we have all these other options. We can shop locally. We can shop online. We can shop at Target. We don’t have to go to Wal-Mart anymore.
I hope this is what is happening with the web right now. That more of us are deciding that the Wal-Marts of the Internet aren’t really what we need, and that we can do better.
Wal-Mart, of course, is Facebook. Or maybe it’s Twitter. Really, it’s wherever you don’t want to be but feel like you have to for the sake of “getting the word out” about your business.
Social media–as a behemoth ready to send you tons of free traffic if only you can crack the code–is all but dead.
And yet…
Long live social media!
Social media is getting smaller, more organized and less algorithmic, more people-focused and less startup-focused.
What this means for you is that you have a lot of control. Now, you no longer only have control over your content, you have control over the platform because the platform is yours.
You create the space, invite the people, and play in it together as you see fit.
You don’t “go on” social, you are social.
Sarah is doing this with her own community and virtual co-working space, Gathered. I do this with The Lab.
But you don’t have to go rogue to make this new wave of social work for you and your community.
Live video is also working to create these spaces–within big boxes like Facebook or in small, private spaces like on Crowdcast (my new favorite thing).
With live video, each post becomes a gathering spot.
It’s fleeting, yes. But it’s also incredibly powerful. When you make an eyeball-to-eyeball connection with 5, 100, or 10,000 people for 5 minutes, you’re doing more good for your business in that time than a lifetime on Twitter.
Live video isn’t the next big thing because it’s new technology or a new tactic for connecting with your audience. Live video is big because of how small it makes our world for a few powerful moments.
I suspect that more technology will come along and mimic this small world environment soon.
I spoke with one of the pioneers of online business and social media marketing, Joel Comm, for this week’s episode of Profit. Power. Pursuit.
Joel told me that he sees live video as the thing we’ll be talking about with social for quite some time to come.
If you want to hear more about how live video creates small gathering spots for your community–and how Joel approaches new technology, platforms, and trends in social media, check out this week’s episode.
Click here to read the transcript or listen in to our conversation.
[smart_track_player url=”http://media.blubrry.com/creativelive/content.blubrry.com/creativelive/PPP-052-JOEL_COMM-2016_2_.mp3″ title=”Navigating Social Media & Beyond with Joel Comm” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ]
Strategic Social Media Without the Hustle with Joel Comm
It’s always about relationship, first. You know, any time we approach social as selling, we’re likely going to fail, because even if you are selling, a solid 90-95% of your time should be content and relationship-building, and the selling is, you know, always, “Oh, also, we have this, if this interests you.”
— Joel Comm
[smart_track_player url=”http://media.blubrry.com/creativelive/content.blubrry.com/creativelive/PPP-052-JOEL_COMM-2016_2_.mp3″ title=”Navigating Social Media & Beyond with Joel Comm” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ]
Tara: Welcome to Profit. Power. Pursuit. I’m your host, Tara Gentile, and together with my friends at CreativeLive, we talk to powerhouse small business owners about the nitty gritty details of running their businesses, making money, and pursuing what’s most important to them. Each week, I deep dive with a thriving entrepreneur on topics like time management, team building, marketing, business models, and mindset. Our goal each week is to expose you to something new that you can immediately apply to growing your own business.
This week, I’m joined by Joel Comm, whose been building businesses online for more than twenty years. He’s the New York Times bestselling author of twelve books, including The AdSense Code, How to Run an Online Business That Pays, and Twitter Power. He consults with businesses large and small, and speaks on social media and marketing. I asked Joel about how he puts social media to use in his own business. We talk about how he chooses new platforms, why he’s betting big on live video, and how his businesses have been impacted by social media.
Joel Comm, welcome to Profit. Power. Pursuit. Thank you so much for joining me.
Joel: It is my pleasure. Thanks for having me.
Tara: Absolutely. So you have been using the internet to grow business for over twenty years now. At what point did you start incorporating social media into your marketing strategy?
Joel: Oh, gosh, it’s pretty early in the whole social media era. You know, what we call social media now. Because before social media, we had message boards with members. We had chat rooms where people had to log in and be social, so you know, that was social media, and we’re talking as far back as 1995, but you know, what we’re talking about now when we say social media is kind of everything from Myspace forward, and it was really 2007 when I signed up for Twitter and Facebook, and that was the year that I started using the power of social media to attract people to my business.
Tara: Awesome. Actually, that’s a later date than I would have expected from you, so that’s really interesting, but I’m really glad that you brought up, like, message boards and the things that were social on the internet before this current era of social media, if you will. Were you using message boards and that kind of technology or that kind of media on the internet to grow your business then as well?
Joel: Yeah, you know, I’ve had different kinds of businesses online, and back before I became an author and speaker with, you know, a public face, my company built websites, content-oriented sites, such as a bargain side called DealofDay.com that I launched back in 1999, and one of the reasons Deal of Day was popular was because of the message forums, where people would share the various deals and coupons that they found from online and offline merchants, and we would have, you know, 100,000 or so people each month come through the member site there, and so I was using that form of social media back in 1999.
Tara: Love that. That’s awesome. So speaking of which, social media has really changed a lot over, you know, the past 10-15 years or so. At least in the time that you and I have been using social media for our businesses or this present wave. Can you talk about how your social strategy in particular has changed over the last 9 or 10 years?
Joel: Well, there’s a lot more sites and tools to choose from now. Especially in the last couple years as I’ve moved strongly into live video and Snapchat and these types of applications. They’re more of a rich medium that allow us to do more than just share words and pictures. You know, there’s something about video that adds a whole new dimension and really, the live video sites are the new media. Facebook Live and Periscope are the new television, and that’s the direction things are going, so that change has meant a lot to me, personally, because as an old-school broadcaster – I’m a former radio DJ, before I ever was online, I was doing radio, and before there was ever, you know, podcasts, I was doing shows, you know, audio shows on the internet – and so for me, just an opportunity to be able to leverage all the technologies we have now is giving me an opportunity to share my message to more people in real time.
Tara: Got you. Okay, so I want to come back to Facebook Live in a minute, because I’d love to find out how you’re using that, but before we get to that, I’d love to know how you decide whether you’ll jump on a new platform or not, because this is something that my clients are asking me about constantly. “Well, should I try this or should I try that?” How do you personally make that decision?
Joel: Well, there’s too many choices to try them all, and so with me, the way it always begins is with curiosity. If I’m curious about something, I want to go try it out and see, hey, what is this all about? It looks interesting, it looks fun, would I enjoy using it? If I would enjoy using it, and I discover that I do, then the next question is, “Will people engage with me on this platform?” And that’s kind of how I end up wherever it is I end up. It’s not because all the cool kids are doing it or because anybody else tells me I need to be, because I am not active on all the social platforms.
Tara: Okay, so let’s talk about Facebook Live, because this is something that I am falling in love with, slowly but surely, and I’d love to hear how you’re using it specifically.
Joel: Yeah, so all the live platforms, I use in different ways, and really, I’m involved in three of them on a regular basis, and then I dabble with some of the others. Facebook Live is really about sharing very specific content. It’s less about the conversation and more about broadcasting for me, and I usually use desktop software such as OBS Studio, which is a free tool that you can use, and then we also have Wirecast, which is a paid, more professional version, that allows me to do more than just use the native app. It allows me to use desktop tools to put in lower thirds or picture-in-picture or show screenshares of what I’m talking about. So typically, what you’ll see me doing on Facebook Live is demonstrating a new technology. For example, I know people will hear this later, but today, Google came out with their new Duo Video Calling App, which competes with Facetime. Of course, Facetime doesn’t work on Android devices, it’s an Apple product, and Google Duo works on both iOS and Android, and so I did a Facebook Live where I demonstrated how this worked. It allowed me to do … show the screen of the application as I was demonstrating, and you really can’t do that with the native Facebook app. You’ve just got the front and rear-facing cameras to play with.
Tara: Got ya. Okay, perfect. So what’s … what kind of systems do you use to track social media? How do you know whether what you’re doing is quote/unquote working or not?
Joel: You know, I’m really basic. You might be surprised to find that I’m not highly analytical. I do use Buffer and Hootsuite for some of what I do online, but really, the best measurement for me is whether or not people are engaging. On Facebook, it’s, you know, views of my videos. It’s likes. It’s comments. It’s shares. On Twitter, it’s, you know, hearts and retweets and replies. On Periscopes, it’s the number, it’s looking at the graph when the broadcast is over and seeing did people stick around? Did they engage with me? You know, did they drop off? Or did my audience grow over time? Same thing with Snapchat. If I’m watching and I see my stories, people are watching the first Snap and then dropping off, then I can see okay, what I’m doing here isn’t necessarily working.
Tara: Okay, I’m really glad that you shared that, because that makes me feel better about how I run things as well. You know, I know there’s lots of people out there that have, you know, big complicated spreadsheets for keeping track of that stuff, but I think what you talked about is …
Joel: And maybe they like that.
Tara: Yeah.
Joel: Maybe that’s their thing. You know, I’m not going to do what I don’t want to do, because then my, what I’m loving to do, starts to feel like work, and I think the moment we start separating our work and our play, right? That which we love to do and enjoy from that which we have to do, that … that’s a chasm that then becomes real difficult to breach, and I just don’t want to live like that. I would rather have a lifestyle of doing what I want to do, when I want to do, who I want to do it with, for whatever my reasons are, then amass more money. I just … there’s not an end-game to that, whereas I feel like life is to be lived.
Tara: Awesome. So I’m wondering, then if that kind of bleeds over into how much you plan or don’t plan the content that you share as well, because it sounds like you’re probably pretty spontaneous with your social media usage.
Joel: Well, I can be. I’m very specific with the methods that I’ve fallen into of how I use them. For example, Twitter is, you know, I don’t want to belittle Twitter, because I’m a fan. I have a lot of followers, I think Twitter’s very powerful, obviously, I’ve written several books on the topic, but Tweets are kind of throwaways, right? You put it out there, and then it goes out to the great Twitter ether, and some people engage and react, and then it goes away, and it’s gone. There’s something about the Facebook timeline that feels more permanent. It’s more … I take more care in what I post on Facebook, and this is just me personally. Some people treat Facebook like Twitter, and if that works for them, then that’s fine, but you know, when it comes to Facebook Live, for example, I saw the Google app came out late last night, and I thought this morning, “Oh, I’m going to go Live with it,” so it was spontaneous. My Periscopes, I do almost one a day, and depending upon where I am and what I’m doing, who I’m with, or what I’m thinking about, that time of day can change dramatically. I go, oh, I’ll want to talk about this. Whereas the shows that I produce, I do a show called the Joel Comm Show, that is an interview with business, social leaders, and the like, I do on Crowdcast, and it allows me to have that interview format where I can have up to four people, including myself, on screen at a time, and for those, I plan ahead. I create a graphic banner to go with it, I schedule the show, I promote the show so that people can sign up, and know this is when to be there to enjoy this broadcast live.
Tara: Mm. So it sounds like it’s a real balance, then, between, you know, maybe the content itself being spontaneous, but the … the intention that you have behind each platform being really set depending on how you … how you feel about the platform, how people engage with you there. Is that … would you say that’s accurate?
Joel: Yeah, I think so. The platforms are definitely different. I don’t see Facebook Live, Periscope, Crowdcast, or you know, any of the others in the same way. They all have their place, and I think for anybody learning to use them, the more they dabble with them and play with them and understand the features and functionality and find themselves using each of those platforms in a way that feels natural and authentic and organic to them, then you’ll find that it kind of ends up at a certain pocket there in your, you know, your multi-pocketed outfit.
Tara: Love it. And I’m so glad you brought up Crowdcast, too, because it is my new favorite thing. Everyone in my community is loving it, and loving that I’m on it, and so I’m really glad that you gave them a shout out, too.
Joel: Yeah, I’ve looked at all of the other platforms. Of course, I was really, heavily into Blab.im. They started just a little over a year ago, and they shut their doors just the other day without much fanfare. They didn’t really give us a chance to say … tell our followers where to find us, and I was the most followed person on Blab with something like 85,000 people, so I’ve been looking at some of the other platforms, Firetalk, Huzzah, and Crowdcast, and I really feel like, for myself, Crowdcast provides the best solution at the moment.
Tara: Yeah.
Joel: Not to say that I’m getting married and sticking with it forever, but for right now, it’s a good place to my weekly shows.
Tara: Yeah, exactly. Things change so fast. Do you have a team that’s involved at all in your social media strategy or the implementation of your social media?
Joel: You know, very little of it is actually outside of myself. I do have one person that checks in on my Twitter and lets me know if I have any DMs that need … I get so many of them.
Tara: Yeah.
Joel: And I just, I can’t look at them myself. You know, the basic tweets that people tweet me, hi, nice to meet you, that type of thing, I have an approved list of things that she can, you know, say to those people, but nobody ever, other than that, I handle it all myself. I feel like it needs to be really personal. I post what I want, when I want, how I want, and I probably could benefit from having some more structure, but you know, I’ve made it to 52 years old, and 20, you know, almost 22 years in business doing this without having too much of that, and so I’m probably not going to change, now.
Tara: I might be a professional educator and expert, but that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped learning. When I’m ready to learn a new skill, the first place I go is CreativeLive. Check out this great class.
Debbie: Are you feeling stuck? I’m Debbie Millman, the host of the podcast, Design Matters. I’m teaching a class on CreativeLive called A Brand Called You. In my class, I cover everything you need to know about how to position yourself to get the job that you love, the job of your dreams. I’ll help you understand how to position yourself in the marketplace, how to create a mission with sincerity and stature, how to write a resume and a cover letter, and even how to track your progress. This class is for anyone looking to improve their career and their life. Join me now, and get the job you were meant to have.
Tara: Your audience is pretty diverse. I mean, I know there are small business owners that follow you. There are entrepreneurs, people kind of in the startup scene that follow you, and there’s marketers at big corporations that follow you. How has social media allowed you, or how has it helped you kind of build an audience that is that diverse? How do you see those things kind of going together?
Joel: Well, part of it is that I’ve danced in a lot of different arenas to begin with. I’ve not been stuck in one vertical in building my businesses. I’ve done everything from building sites and selling sites to affiliate marketing, internet marketing, information products, software, applications, speaking, authoring books, you know, and then the various social media tools, YouTube and then live video, so entrepreneurship, because I, you know, play in so many of these different sandboxes, it opens me up to be able to reach out to a lot of different audiences. Which is one reason that when I write physical books, and I’ve just released my thirteenth book, I tend to pick different topics, unless it’s an updated edition of a previous book, like Twitter Power and Twitter Power 2 and Twitter Power 3, because they reach whole new audiences with whatever it is that I’m talking about at that time, and when you do that, it just gives you more opportunities to reach different, diverse groups of people.
Tara: Mm. Love that. Okay, so that makes me then think about sales and selling, and I know one question that I get asked often is how social media affects your sales strategy, plays into your sales strategy. So how do you approach that? Do you … are you ever selling through social? Or are you using social more to nurture relationships?
Joel: It’s always about relationship, first. You know, any time we approach social as selling, we’re likely going to fail, because even if you are selling, a solid 90-95% of your time should be content and relationship-building, and the selling is, you know, always, “Oh, also, we have this, if this interests you.” But I do find myself offering my products and service very incidentally. For example, I told you my thirteenth book just came out, and it’s based on my brand, Do Good Stuff, which I have the hashtag for, the website, I’ve got a t-shirt brand, and we just came out with some journals, blank books, with the Do Good Stuff logo on the front that are on Amazon, and so when I did a broadcast this morning on Busker, which is another live video application, I shared that with people, and you know, it’s fun to watch and see your numbers, because you can tell after you’ve done a broadcast and you’ve shared it with somebody, when the sales start going through, you watch your ranking on Amazon. So I don’t really push anything hard, but I do offer opportunities for people to purchase products. I have sometimes as an affiliate for other people’s products, and often, just to invite people to sign up for my list or my text notification system.
Tara: Okay, perfect. So then are you advertising on social at all? Or have you kind of stuck with the more native use of social?
Joel: Yeah, pretty native. I don’t do much advertising on social. I just share what I have, and I kind of trust the process that if I’m putting good content out there, that people will be drawn to me, and so far, it seems to be working.
Tara: Yeah, I’d say so. Okay, so for you personally, which platform has had the greatest impact on your success over the years? And you know, feel free to kind of spread that out and really look at, you know, maybe it was in the past that you had a big platform perform well for you.
Joel: Well, I think my blog has probably been the most important platform that I’ve been on, because you know, it’s my home, and it’s the only place that I control completely that can’t be taken from me, and it’s where I build my email list. You know, as far as the social platforms go, I think I’m going to give credit to both Facebook and Twitter for playing an important role. Facebook has a very engaged audience of people for me, more through my personal page than my fan page. I’ve got about 40,000 people who like my fan page, but I’m not paying Facebook to, you know, to engage with people. I want people to engage because they want to. Because it’s organic. So I get more on my personal page. But career-wise, because I got involved in Twitter so early, I got asked to write a book, which John Wiley and Sons put out in 2009, Twitter Power, and we’ve done two editions since then, and the Twitter Power series has given me all kinds of open doors into corporate training, speaking, joint ventures, and partnerships, and so indirectly, I think that Twitter’s been just as powerful for me as Facebook.
Tara: Okay. You mentioned your blog, and I think, can you … You mentioned your blog, can you talk about the relationship between your blog and your social media usage? How … are you promoting your blog? Are you sharing complimentary content? What does that relationship look like?
Joel: Yeah, I publish a lot of content on my blog. I write for Inc. and Entrepreneur, as well, and after a certain period of time, I can take that same content and repurpose it to my blog. Other times, I’ll put original content on my blog, and when I put videos on my YouTube channel, I will write a blog entry and embed them on my site as well. I always post those on to my Buffer account so that they get tweeted out on a regular basis, and that drives traffic to that site. Depending upon the nature of the article I’ve posted, I may post it to Facebook, to LinkedIn, occasionally to Google+, because it probably does get a few clicks, and so, you know, I try to leverage the exposure I have in these other platforms to drive traffic back to my home.
Tara: Got you. You’re really known for kind of always being on the wave of the next big thing, or you know, always being someone who is an authority on what’s new. Like you mentioned the Google app that you did the Facebook Live on this morning. Have you ever felt yourself on, like, behind that wave? Has there ever been something that you wish you would have gotten on sooner?
Joel: Oh, gosh, yeah. You know, Snapchat was one. I … so I was kind of on the early wave of the entrepreneurs and business people. I was on last November, which was before everybody was talking about Snapchat. But I had heard some of my friends talk about it a year before then, and you know, I kind of poo-pooed it. Snapchat, it’s for, you know, kids and perverts, and maybe at that time, it was more true, but I do wish that I’d gotten an earlier start on it.
Tara: Yeah, does your strategy change when you’re coming at something a little later than when you’re at the bleeding edge of it?
Joel: No. I just use it, you know, in a way that feels right to me. I think one of the reasons that people follow me is because what they see is what they get. There’s … there’s no pretense, or at least there still might be some there, you know, we’re all so flawed and imperfect, but I just try to use it in a way that is interesting to me. If it doesn’t intrigue me, if I don’t think it’s going to be fun or productive to do something with the platform, then I’m bored and I don’t want to do it. I will go do something else that doesn’t make money, if need be, because I would rather enjoy my day, you know. I’m not going to … whenever my deathbed happens, you know, hopefully many, many decades from now, I doubt that I’m going to look back and go, “Gee, I wish I spent more time working at (fill in the blank).”
Tara: Yeah.
Joel: I just … I don’t see that happening, and so I want to make sure that lifestyle is the most important. That’s why I’m a … I am not a fan of the current messaging that is out there about hustling and grinding. I just … I feel … and sorry for commandeering the conversation, but it kind of opened up that door if we can talk about that for a moment.
Tara: I would love for you to talk about it, because we are totally on the same page, I think, on this.
Joel: I just … I think that it can be dangerous. Now, there’s certain audiences, and you know, let’s talk about some of the millennials, okay? Not all of them, but there is a segment of millennials, there is … there’s some truth to the stereotype of entitlement and having everything handed to you, and I think for that group, sharing that message that says, hey, get off your butt and go work, and if you want it, go work hard, there’s nothing wrong with that. But you know, when I see people saying, “Hey, you want a big house? You want a fast car? You know, you want a boat and never work again, then you’ve got to get up at 5:00 in the morning and you’ve got to work until 11:00 at night, and you’ve got to do it 7 days a week,” and I am just exhausted hearing them even say that, let alone thinking about what that looks like. You know, you got to … you have to have a life. You have to be doing what you like. If your pursuit is just to build up and stockpile money and material goods, then when you get to the other side of that, you’re going to be like, “Oh, now what do I do?” And meanwhile, you know, your kids are grown, your relationships are left untended to, and what have you got to show for it? A cache of … you know, a stack of cash? I’ve … listen, I’ve made millions, I’ve lost millions, I know how to make money, I know how to lose it, and it’s no longer my focus. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like having money. It’s, you know, but once I’m at a place where I have enough to enjoy my lifestyle and be able to do the things I want to do and hang out with the people I want to hang out with and travel when I want to travel, I don’t need to sock away this … you know, I don’t the big house and the fast car. And if that’s, you know, if somebody’s passionate about fast cars, that’s fine, I’m not knocking that. I’m just saying that chasing those things, at the altar of, losing out on what life is really about, and it’s about the people in our lives, then I think, you know, you’re going to wake up with a … it’s going to be a rude awakening when it hits you. I want to have fun.
Tara: Absolutely.
Joel: You know, maybe it’s not very businessy to say that, but it is my attitude. I see myself as a kid with a pail and a shovel looking for a sandbox to play in and to build something, and when you think about what that’s like when you were a child and you hit the beach and you were building castles in the sand, you were having fun, but here we are, doing it in the adult, grown-up world. Well, I don’t know what this whole grown up thing is. I’m adulting well, but I’m not doing the grown-up thing. Whatever that is. There’s somehow we’re supposed to lost that curiosity and wonder and playfulness. Whoever sold us that, sold us a load of hooey, and I’m not going to subscribe to it now or ever.
Tara: Yeah, well, you know, I think the … one of the other issues with this whole grind and hustle kind of messaging is that it actually forces people into really bad business decisions, because they’re not being smart about how they can make money and still have space, how they can make money and still have fun, and so it … what it sounds like is you’ve really identified these constraints of having time, enjoying your life, having a lot of fun, that actually lead you to making smarter business decisions, and that’s how, ultimately, you’ve gotten to the place that you are. Would you agree?
Joel: I would agree with that, and I think it pays to recognize there’s a huge difference between working hard and working smart.
Tara: Mmhmm.
Joel: And I’ve reverse engineered my successes throughout the past couple decades or so, and it’s really interesting, I can point to the one phone call, that simple connection, going to that one event, meeting this one person. You know, taking the small risk that really led to all of the big successes, that much of what I did, and I learned about this the hard way, because I did, you know, I didn’t spend as much time with my kids when they were growing up as I wanted to. I’m not saying I wasn’t a good dad, I did spend a lot of time, and you know, never missed birthdays or recitals or any of that stuff, but you could always spend more time, and I look at how much time I spent spinning my wheels, doing busywork that didn’t serve anything other than just to keep me busy, and so I choose to … to … rather than push a little mound of snow up the mountain to turn it into a big snowball, I look for the snowballs that are already at the top of the mountain, which ones do I just need to give a gentle push to, you know, to take off. That’s kind of my philosophy.
Tara: Yeah. So I can hear our listeners in my head thinking, well, Joel, that’s great for you, because you’re Joel Comm, and you have these huge followings already, and you have made millions, and you know, you’ve got all of this reputation behind you, but it also sounds like you’re pretty much spending all day on social media. How do you balance that? Or how … what does that actually look like in your life? How much time are you really spending? How does that relate to results? And how does that kind of allow you to live this life that you’re talking about?
Joel: I’m not spending nearly as much time as it looks like I am, I’ll tell you that. In fact, before we got on this interview today, I was playing a new game on Steam called No Man’s Sky. I’m an old school computer gamer, and it is not unusual to walk into my office here and see me blowing things up and shooting, you know, other people online in a very non-threatening kind of way. You know, and going out for my daily walks and making that as productive for me. Staying up late or sleeping in, which is pretty much it’s a lifestyle for me. Going with friends to a concert. I’m going to Red Rocks tomorrow night for a show with, you know, one of my friends. There is a lot of play in my life, and there’s a lot of projects, and there’s things that are sitting here undone that need to be done. For example, I have a contract with my agent, he’s ready to pitch my next book to the big publishing houses, and for two months, I’ve been sitting on putting this together, and I don’t pressure myself to say, “Well, he’s waiting on this. You have to do it.” I trust that when it’s time, and when I’m all in on it, I will sit down and I will bang out a quality piece that he will then be able to take and sell and that will open up the next chapter for me. But I don’t need to get it all done today. That’s way too much pressure, way too much stress. I want to have all the other good things that life has to offer.
Tara: You don’t have to get it all done today. I think that is a huge takeaway for people.
Joel: No, because first of all, assuming you wake up tomorrow, there’s a tomorrow. And if you don’t, you don’t have to worry about whether you got it done today or not, right? Unless we’re talking about your will, you know.
Tara: Yeah.
Joel: Have that in place. But other than that, it doesn’t really matter. And you know what, the people listening that say, “Well, you’re Joel Comm, and you’ve got your following.” I didn’t always. In 1995, I was a guy working for a nationally syndicated radio ministry that was really, I brought home a little money from that. You know, it was a … wasn’t getting paid a lot, and I was supplementing it with my first business, entrepreneurial venture, which I was a mobile DJ. I started out in radio as a disc jockey, and started my own business, and I went out there, and I got gigs to do weddings and pool parties and class reunions and bar mitzvahs, and in 1995, when the web was a new thing, that’s what I was doing. And I remember a year into it, just about being out of money. You know, I asked my former wife the other day, I said, “In 1996, exactly how much do you recall that we had?” She says it was less than $1 in the checking account, and I honestly can’t take credit for what happened next, and you know, not to over-spiritualize stuff, but I remember in that moment feeling very helpless, and I … I’m not a religious person, but I am a … I do have a faith, and at that moment, I prayed, and I said, “All right, God, if you want this thing to happen, and I thought that’s what you were leading me to do, you’re going to need to drop money out of the sky.”
And I got to tell ya, within a week, I got an email from a guy I didn’t know in another state representing a Japanese multimedia conglomerate that I had never heard of, let alone couldn’t pronounce, and they wanted to license some of the content that I had created on one of my websites. And from that moment on, everything changed. And that’s why I talk about the small things that can move mountains, and it was simply following through on that call that came to me that opened the door for me to support my family and go onto the next venture. And so, you know, I wasn’t always this guy, and I’m not the guy I was then, and I’m not the guy that I’ll be, you know, a few years from now. It’s just a journey.
Tara: Yeah. So it sounds like the work that you are regularly doing is always building that foundation for those little things to happen that propel you forward.
Joel: It’s showing up. It really is. That’s a great way to summarize it. It’s going to an event when you don’t even necessarily know why you’re going, but you just feel drawn. You’re curious. You want to see who’s there. What are they saying? What’s the networking like? Showing up and talking and listening and asking questions opens up all kinds of doors. You know, and I get asked frequently, if you were starting over, what would you do? Let’s say you weren’t you with your reputation, and you wanted to be in and you felt drawn to a certain business. I would get my butt onto a plane or even locally, if they had it, and find events that are in that industry and go talk to people and ask them questions. Don’t try to sell yourself. Ask them what they … what they do and what they need, and how you can best serve them, and people will tell you the areas that they need help in, and you’ll know when somebody says they need something that you can provide the solution to, and that’s how you start.
Tara: Awesome. And that is such a fantastic metaphor, I think, for social media in general. It’s a brilliant, you know, strategy for life and for networking and for building a business, but I think it’s also really specific to social media. So to kind of bring it back full circle, then, as we start to wrap up here, I’d love to just ask you what do you see as kind of the next big thing, or the next big wave in this social media jungle that we’re all playing in?
Joel: Well, I’m already in it, and people are starting to catch it right now, but it’s definitely live video. Live video is the new TV. This is something that I’ve been really preaching for the last couple years, and we’re starting … we’re coming to the end of the early adopter phase. 2017’s going to bring us into mass adoption, and so those who want to carve out a piece of the pie, this is the time to do it. Find the platform that best suits you, your style, your message, where people engage with you, and start building up your audience and deliver your content through that method, because this thing is getting ready to blow up, and as viewership of traditional broadcast television and cable television falls, people are turning to the web, and soon, the two will be melded into one, where what’s popular on Facebook Live and maybe some other platforms will start appearing on your television screen. And this is going to happen. This is the wave that I’m riding and it’s a great deal of fun, so I’m trying to encourage as many other individuals, small businesses, corporations to do this, and trying to train as many on the hows as I can.
Tara: I love it. So what’s next for you personally?
Joel: Oh, gosh, well, there’s the book that I’m ready to, just about ready, in fact, my laptop in my other room is open to the proposal document, so I’m posturing myself to get ready at some point to sit down to do it. I’m working on putting together a new podcast. Of course, I’ll be teaching at CreativeLive, which I’m really excited about on both live video and on how to use Snapchat, and I’m going to keep doing a lot more broadcasting. I just … I really enjoy doing my own broadcasts and interviewing people and introducing my audience to some really amazing people.
Tara: Awesome. Wonderful. Joel Comm, thank you so much for joining me. This has been a great conversation.
Joel: Love it. Thanks for having me.
Tara: Find out more about Joel Comm at JoelComm.com. You can find his class, How to Leverage the Power of Live Online Broadcasts, at CreativeLive.com.
Next week, I talk to Dr. Michelle Mazur, founder of Communication Rebel and a coach for entrepreneurs, speakers, authors, and thought leaders who want to speak with impact. Michelle and I talk about negotiating a new engagement, preparing for a talk, getting paid, and all the ways you can speak without ever stepping on stage.
CreativeLive is highly-curated classes from the world’s top experts. Watch free, live video classes every day from acclaimed instructors in photography, design, audio, craft, business, and personal development, stream it now at CreativeLive.com.
This has been Tara Gentile. Discover how to accelerate your earning as a small business owner with my free class, Revenue Catalyst, at QuietPowerStrategy.com/PPP.
That’s a wrap for this week’s episode of Profit. Power. Pursuit., a CreativeLive podcast. Download more episodes of this podcast and subscribe on iTunes. If you appreciate this kind of in-depth content, please leave us a review or share this podcast with a friend. It means the world to us.
Our theme song was written by Daniel Peterson, who also edited this episode. Our audio engineer was Kellen Shimizu. This episode was produced by Michael Karsh. We add a new episode of Profit. Power. Pursuit. every week. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you love to listen to podcasts so you never miss an episode.
When “Enough” Isn’t Enough
Sometimes “enough” isn’t enough.
Set the bar for “enough” and, if you fall just a little short, you no longer have enough.
Here’s what I mean:
Let’s say you know that 8 clients per quarter is enough for your web design business. You have 6 lined up with deposits paid, so you announce you have 2 more openings.
You find those 2 new clients and you put them on the schedule. You stop looking.
One of them falls through. They have a hiccup and their plans just don’t work for working with you.
Now you only have 7 clients for the quarter.
Not too big of a deal… but it does represent about $6000 in revenue that you may or may not be able to find a replacement for.
The next quarter, the same thing happens.
Now you’re down $12000 for the year and things start to get tight.
This is what I mean when I say “enough” isn’t enough.
If you plan for just enough, you end up only doing enough to get “enough.”
Any bump in the road on the way to “enough” and now you have, well, less than enough.
That’s no way to plan for your business.
Or, your life.
When you plan to line up 12 clients per quarter, assuming 4 will fall through, the worst scenario you have to deal with is finding a junior designer to take on some of the workload.
That’s, potentially, another $18,000 in profit every quarter.
The other thing that happens is that your behavior starts to change.
You work differently when you’re aiming for a substantially bigger goal. You don’t just try to do more, you try new things.
When you think beyond enough, you fundamentally change how you approach the problem. Doing things differently can get you much bigger results.
That’s just one of the things I talked about with my clients and friends, Kathleen Shannon and Emily Thompson, this week on the Being Boss podcast.
We also geeked out on business models, some of the challenges Kathleen & Emily have faced in growing the Being Boss business, and common mistakes that business owners make that hold them back from explosive growth.
I had a blast recording this interview–it’s a real inside look at my conversations with clients.
Check it out:
Why You Should Hire for Happiness
Business owners get too hung up on titles when it comes to hiring.
“Who should I hire first, a VA or a social media person?” people often ask me.
The answer is neither.
Whether you’re on your first hire, your 10th hire, or your 100th hire, you should only look to hire people who would be insanely happy tackling the responsibilities you need help with.
That probably sounds like a pipe dream.
It’s not.
I talked to Vanessa Van Edwards, a behavioral scientist whose recent work has focused on happiness, about engineering happy teams. She said that through “job crafting” you can help people experience happiness every single day.
Now, in our interview, she described this process as part of reorganizing and optimizing her existing team.
But you can–and should–hire this way too.
The first step is to determine what responsibilities you need help with. Sometimes this means delegating work you’re already doing, sometimes this means assigning work that’s been going undone but could really move the needle on your business.
Next, take those responsibilities and organize them into a job description. Forget trying to assign a title to it at first. Definitely don’t assign responsibilities based on what you think a certain title or role should be doing.
Then, you can use the process Vanessa describes as job crafting to make clear who you’re looking for. Instead of just listing responsibilities, include qualifiers:
The ideal candidate would:
- Feel happy making customers feel understood and taken care of–even when we make mistakes.
- Feel masterful when it comes to spotting places we could improve our customer service procedures and creating solutions to those challenges.
- Love to craft customer-focused communication and reach out to existing customers to offer them additional opportunities
- Feel capable analyzing customer communication and surveys and provide recommendations to the leadership team.
Once you have your job description fleshed out, you can pass it around to friends. Ask them if they know people who are happy doing the things you’ve outlined–not just moderately capable.
You might be surprised at the quality of people who would respond to such a job description who would never think of themselves as a VA, marketing assistant, customers service rep, or project manager.
Of course, if you don’t find people through your friends or network, you can post about the job publicly, email your list, or advertise the job locally.
How would your life–and your team–be different if you were surrounded by people doing things they loved?
Want more on job crafting and engineering a happy team? Definitely listen to this week’s episode of Profit. Power. Pursuit. with Vanessa.
Click here to listen to the episode or read the transcript.
[smart_track_player url=”http://media.blubrry.com/creativelive/content.blubrry.com/creativelive/PPP-051-VANESSA-VAN-EDWARDS-2016_1_.mp3″ title=”Engineering a Happy Team with Vanessa Van Edwards” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ]