Speaking Roles, Podcasts, Video and Getting Face Time

I’m fascinated with people who market themselves as a “life coach.” Not necessarily because of what they do, or the way they determine if they’re successful or not – but with the rise of that area of consultancy in the past several years. Ten years ago, there was no such thing as a life coach.

How often is it that a new service is created and is accepted as a viable thing that people or businesses need? Not very often.

Sometimes, like the life coach concept, it sticks, but in reality, chances are that in your chosen business-to-business industry, there are other players doing similar work to you, and you are constantly in the pursuit of differentiating yourself.

Hell, even life coaches now have to say what makes them stand out from all of the other life coaches.

So, how do you do this?

Obviously, many, many companies in the business service sector turn to social media, and pump out boatloads of content that, unless they’re spending significant dollars to promote, no one sees.

A big thing now is to self-publish a book – something to show how knowledgeable you are on your service, and an awesome leave-behind for prospective clients.

(By the way, we love this approach, but also know that not everyone has the time, perseverance and $$ to write and publish a book… But we do know how to get it done! Just ask.)

I think a lot of business service providers see themselves ultimately walking across the stage at major conferences with a little mic attached to their ear telling people from Microsoft and Google the secrets to succeeding in whatever field they’re in.

We’re not going to throw cold water on that dream, but it’s got to start somewhere.

In the business organizations you already belong to, there are many, many opportunities for speaking roles. And they need content to keep their members coming back for more.

Unfortunately, in most cases, no one is sitting around thinking how to get you into them. In fact, often when they do, they want to charge you for the opportunity.

Think about it… They want you to pay… to provide content… that they need for their members.

Doesn’t make sense, does it?

“$2,500 sponsorship and you get to speak on the panel.”

No, there’s a better way to do it, if your content is good. The organizations you belong to want to be associated with good programming – whether it’s events, blogs or on their podcasts. If you can provide good content, that’s valuable to them.

Or, it should be. I don’t want to paint a bad picture of business organizations here for actually taking sponsorship money and providing value for it – they have to survive.

But, this leads to the conversation surrounding which organizations you choose to belong to.

Because, if you’re in marketing, as an example, and your business organization runs several sessions a year on marketing – branding, social media marketing, etc. (they like their marketing sessions) – and you’re seeing your competitors’ logos being featured each month because they’re paying $$ to be there… You might belong to the wrong organization. The opportunity’s not there for you.

And… If you’re already giving big $$ to business organizations and not getting your message (not your logo, your message) put in front of their members as often as possible, call me immediately and we’ll do a counseling session. Get your money’s worth!

Make your content invaluable, and have the organizations you’re giving $$ to want it.

Because your content is worth a lot to them.

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Are you not getting enough love from your business associations to help you get your story told?
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