272: The Path to Speaking as a Revenue Stream in your Biz

Do you wanna make more money with speaking this year? Of course you do. Like, cuz you can, right? Well, wherever you're at right now, you can. Hey movers, it's Sally Z with Be Moved. Let's go create some talks that will move this world. We're gonna talk with amazing speakers, share tips, tricks, resources, and we are going to be Moved so that our audience can be moved. This moved me. What is moving you? Hey everybody. My name is Sally Koering Zimney. Welcome back to This Moved Me. I am your virtual speaker coach and I empower purpose-driven entrepreneurs, coaches, and changemakers like you to leverage the power of speaking on behalf of your business and your idea so that you can grow your audience and your impact. And, you know, be done with all the baloney that comes with it. Baloney. Why that word? I don't know. Now, what is moving me today is laying out a path for you to start making more money with speaking. Yes, there is a path to 5-figure speaking that is within your grasp within the next year. Or months, it could be months away. No guarantees. Where all the asterisks, the like lawyers are probably like, what are you saying, Sally? I've seen it many times. You can do it too. It's within everybody's reach, but sometimes we just don't know how and we don't know what the pathway is. So I'm gonna share with you what a typical pathway looks like so you can start imagining it for yourself. So if you are hitting a revenue ceiling in your business right now, or you're simply just Tired of the runaround of the one-on-one coaching model? I hear you on that. I've been there for sure. Well, speaking offers a really powerful way for you to break out of that cycle and shift out of the overwhelm of that business model while easing your way to a more profitable arm of your business. But first, I wanna make sure that you join us for this new powerful resource that is coming out. It's called— I always mix up the title— it's called How to Leverage Speaking to Double Your Business in 2021 Without— subtitle alert, subtitle alert— and make more money, grow your audience, and have the impact that you've always dreamed of without all the overwhelm and stress that typically comes with it. This video mini-series has 3 short videos that will walk you through the process of how to do that, and then on the 4th day, we all come together live. So so that I can really take you to the finish line all together. Plus, live videos are so much fun. So if you're listening to this, it's probably already started, but it's not too late. You can still come join us. Anytime before the 18th, you can come and take advantage of this really awesome resource, 'cause these videos are super power-packed, and it's gonna show you how to turn speaking from a pain in, the but part of your business to a catalyst in your business and something that you wanna maximize the benefits. Come and join us before the 18th. It's at bemoove.com/leverage, but don't miss the boat. Okay? 'Cause after that it is gonna go away. So come join us. So some context for us as we dive into the show right now, we're talking about how we're gonna leverage speaking as a revenue generator. In our business. There are two ways that you can really take advantage of speaking in your business. I'm gonna be talking more in depth about it in the video series, How to Leverage Speaking to Double Your Business. So make sure that you join us for that. But right now, I just wanna talk to you about the power of speaking as a source of revenue for you in your business. Now, there is a lot that goes into this, and it's not an exact science. Like, all of the caveats, like, all of them, insert all of them here. It's complicated and it's dependent on a million different things. But what I want to share with you today is the pathway of what it tends to look like. Like, how long is it before I start getting paid to speak? And how long before I start getting paid a lot? To speak. In other words, what can I plan for as a business owner? And what does the journey typically look like? This information is based on my working with speakers over the last 20+ years, along with my own journey as a speaker and entrepreneur. So the first thing that we need to do is to identify where you are in your journey as a speaker. So if you're familiar with things here on the show or over in the Move Your Audience Facebook group, or you're one of my members in MoversU, you probably know about these stages of speaking. That we've got 4 typical stages. We've got our newbies who are just getting going. And let's be clear, you're just getting going with your speaking. It doesn't mean you're just getting going with your business or your idea or your expertise or your general awesomeness. It's just you're newer to the intention of leveraging speaking. If you are an emerging speaker, you're at the emerging stage. Now that means that maybe you're starting to get paid to speak and you wanna do more. You're putting some intention and attention towards your development as a speaker. Now you might be at the pro stage of speaking, and what that means is you're getting paid to speak and you're speaking consistently. So it's a planned part of your business every year. You're already building it into the business plan. It's a generating part of your business. You're there and you may wanna still grow it. You may wanna get paid more for it, but you're there. Now there is this fourth level, whoops, 4th level called that star or celebrity stage of speaking. And I'm not really gonna talk that much about it because they're sort of unicorns and not typical. Most people get to the pro stage and then they're good. Like that's it. People generally just get like plopped into the star or celebrity stage. Those are the headliners. And you're making a ton of money in your speaking, so good for you. Okay, so let's look at the newbies. In terms of your revenue right now, your job is to simply speak as much as you can for whatever you can. Most of those opportunities might be free, and that's okay. You're building up your testimonials, you're gathering footage, you're, you're getting uh, fans and people who are interested. You're learning about your audience, you're clarifying your message, and free gigs can help you make money in other ways. So there's a place for them, and don't discredit it just because it's free. But you can expect to stay in this realm for probably 6 months to a year, even with your attention and focus on growing. And what's really important is that you are really focused on growing. I want you to focus on a few things specifically. As you shift to becoming more of an emerging speaker, I wanna make sure that you are getting support for your development. So finding a community, learning as much as you can, following people like me and other speaker coaches, um, finding YouTube channels that you feel like are, are helping you in your development of your voice and your story. And if you're really intent on moving through this process faster, you gotta get yourself a coach. Your job right now, along with speaking as much as you can for whatever you can, is to focus on your core message and your core skills so that when you have the opportunity, you are making the most of it. You are learning how to wow when you have the chance, because when you do that, you get great testimonials, and then it becomes a flywheel, 'cause the more you speak, the more you speak. Now, emerging speakers, in terms of your revenue pathway, right now your focus is beginning to shift a little bit, and you are hopefully getting paid every once in a while and starting to get paid more and more, but you're probably also really open to doing whatever works. Emerging speakers tend to speak, and this is super contextual and like all the asterisks, all the caveats, put 'em in here, but they tend to speak for somewhere between around $1,500 or $3,000 per opportunity, depending on your audience and the industry and the niche and blah, blah, blah. A zillion factors, enter them here. But I think it's helpful to give people a range so that you can start aiming for something higher. It can take a year of intention to get to this point where you're getting paid thousands of dollars per opportunity versus hundreds of dollars per opportunity, but it is possible. My biggest piece of advice for you at this stage is to not wait to ask for money. You can just ask, start asking now. You have many levers to pull. To meet somebody's budget. And if you're willing to be flexible, then you can know that and make those decisions for yourself. But as you are growing and moving towards this pro stage of speaking, here's what I want you to focus on. I want you to focus on getting support and giving your attention and intention about growing. If you want to be paid more than what you're getting paid for your speaking opportunities, then you have to treat it as a part of your business. If you don't yet have a signature talk at this level, you're gonna start feeling the pain of that. And you're gonna wanna develop it like ASAP, like now, so that you can more easily speak more often without going bananas and like wreaking havoc in your life because the more you speak, the more you speak. So you're gonna have to find a, a process and a system that works and a signature talk will help you do that. So make speaking a priority and it will pay off for you. This can be a rapid growth time for speakers. It can be super exciting, but don't avoid the tough parts of the process. Your Development at this point is really, really important because if you get paid a lot of money and show up and don't wow people, that's gonna be a problem. Your action, your intention, your focus, your risk in this area is needed and will pay off. Now, pro speakers, in terms of your revenue, it is consistent, it is a planned part of your business, it is part of what you're doing already, and that is awesome. Pro speakers get paid this really wide range depending on the audience and the industry, but it can be upwards of $10,000 or more. A lot of my speakers at this stage in their speaking are making $15,000 or more. It's a lot of money. Even like, it's crazy. Sometimes I'm like, oh my gosh, they're paying me a lot of money to do this thing that I love. That is pretty amazing. Now your job in this stage of pro is to keep pushing the ceiling up on what you are asking for in terms of revenue, because money at this stage does equal credibility. As you are growing, it's really important to keep growing. Don't sit on your laurels. You are not done yet. Be sure that you are getting support through a community or coaching, or if you're at this stage, a mastermind might be an awesome opportunity for you. The development of your skills is never done. That is true for all of us at any stage. I love coaching speakers who haven't had coaching in a really long time 'cause they've just been out doing it and they've kind of fallen into a rut of like, here's how I do it and here's what I say and here's what's going on. And I come in and say, what about this? What about this? So keep inviting in fresh ideas, new guidance, new coaching, community support, and mastermind-level challenges for yourself. So along with asking for more, here is what it really takes to move along the path towards 5-figure speaking. Regardless of what stage you're at, you need 3 pretty big things. I'm gonna start from the bottom and work up. The first is determination. Doesn't just happen, right? You really have to work the process and move through the pathway. You have to decide that speaking is worth your time and effort. You also have to be consistent. You've got to bring consistency to your approach and to your message. You've gotta show up. You've gotta want to grow and learn because it's a process. So you can't skip out on that part. And then of course you need a signature talk and the Signature Talk Studio, as you probably know, opens this Thursday. Oh my gosh. And I cannot wait to welcome in the next cohort of movers who are gonna be bringing their scalable, repeatable, powerful signature talk to life so that they can leverage it and help grow their business. Now, women, I am talking to you right now. Okay? Special little message for you ladies. You will only get paid what you ask for. So I want you to ask for more than you're comfortable asking for. Ask for more than you're comfortable with. Start there. You can have boundaries around what you're not willing to take. That's okay. But I want you to ask for more than you're comfortable with. And then your job is to show up and wow, like I know that you will. All right, movers, that is it for me this week. I will see you over in the How to Leverage Speaking to Double Your Business miniseries experience. Don't miss out on it. bmoove.com/leverage. And I will see you over there. There. And then you're going to come join me in the studio, right? Cuz that's the Spurs thing. Can't believe it. Here we go!