Once you pass the whole emerging speaker phase and you’ve got your first gigs going, things are going great! Now, it’s time to turn this into a business, which means, you need to generate enough money to make it sustainable. So, this is the moment when you ask yourself how to generate more speaking income.
And you may think ‘After all the hard work I’ve put into getting these gigs, there’s more to do?’ Well, yes, and this is the fun part! There are certain tricks you can apply to increase your chances of generating more speaking income and, the good thing is that you can automate some of these tasks and save a lot of time.
Let’s get into it!
Tips to generate more speaking income
1. Build your sales funnel into your webpage copy
If you have never worked with sales funnels, then this tip will be life-changing to generate more speaking income in the long run.
Building a sales funnel means understanding your customer’s journey and how many steps they have to take in order for them to hire you. Creating a map of this will help you write specific messages for your customers in the different stages of the funnel they find themselves in.
Never underestimate the impact of the right words said at the right time, that is the whole purpose of building a sales funnel. Once you have that, integrate it into your website copy and make it easier for people to follow through with a couple of buttons.
A simple button saying “Hire me” or “Find more about my services” is enough to lead your customer close to the next step, so make sure those are visible on your website.
2. Plan your opt-in path and build upsells into the email chain
You’ve probably heard many marketing consultants preach over the benefits of building a good email list, not only to generate more speaking income, but for every marketing strategy, you can think of. I myself have done it because, like many others, I’ve seen the results of these marketing lists when used correctly.
Take advantage of that list by creating an opt-in plan and building upsells into it. The opt-in plan will allow you to send personalized messages to your customers, so you can address them directly and offer the best services you have for them.
This is useful because not all of your customers are looking for the same thing from you. Some might be new to your brand and would want to know more about you, so they might appreciate receiving a value-driven email where you explain your speaking services.
Others might have already hired you before and would be interested in booking you again or purchasing a course, a one-on-one session, or whatever additional services you offer. This is when an upsells strategy becomes useful.
To implement this tip more effectively, you can include a checkbox on your form, saying “I want to know about more conferences” or “Send me occasional information about new courses available”. That way they will know what they are signing for and you avoid being sent to spam.
Pro tip: people will be more willing to join your email list when they can clearly tell there’s something in it for them, so consider adding other incentives such as free products, samples, discounts, and exclusive content to your opt-in plan.
3. Build a membership site
Membership sites are used to give customers exclusive content or products for a fixed or special price. It can also be a premium service you offer and it encourages people to join your community, so there are great to generate speaking income online.
This will, of course, require you to think about what you can offer that is exclusive and of interest to the people that join your site. It can either be tutorials, webinars, free access to certain events, etc.
Before you create your membership site make sure you have a clear idea of the product or service you will offer and the price this site will have.
Make sure the price is fair. If it’s too low, many people will get in, and you’ll lose exclusivity. But, if it is too expensive, you might scare some potential customers beforehand, and we don’t want that.
4. Launch an online course
Online courses are one of the most lucrative sources of income speakers have because it is very scalable and adaptable. And now that everything is online, launching a course can help you reach a wider audience.
Developing a comprehensive online course can take little time and become an excellent way to generate more speaking income, which means that, when you are traveling and doing gigs, people can still purchase content from you. In other words, you’ll be making money while you sleep!
Make sure you promote the course on your website or through educational platforms such as Thinkific or Skillshare.
5. Have a strong follow-up process after speaking
What can you do to support your clients even after the presentation is over?
The main job of a speaker is, well, speaking, yes, but in order to have a business, you should always think ahead to what your audience needs and wants after your presentation is over.
Even if you gave the best presentation of your life, you left your heart on stage and everyone loved it, offering support after your presentation helps you stay at the top of your customer’s minds and turns the presentation into a life-changing experience for them.
You can also take this opportunity to ask them for feedback and get inspiration to add to your future presentations.
Speaking gigs are not the only way to make money, you can use these tips to generate more speaking income and build a successful speaking business.
