Ep. 292 WHAT KEEPS YOU FROM GETTING BOOKED WITH JENNIFER LIER

Hey there, Marc Brown. Most speakers don't have any clue what's keeping them from getting booked.

Yeah. But today we're gonna find out from someone who knows all about the booking process. In a moment, you'll meet the inimitable Jennifer Lehrer. Let's do this, Darren.

Anyone can give a presentation. Few deliver unforgettable presentations. What's the difference? You're about to find out. Welcome to the Unforgettable Presentations podcasts with your hosts, world champion speakers and coaches, Mark Brown.

Mark Brown, your life tells a story, and there's someone out there who needs to hear it.

And Darren Lacroix. And Darren Lacroix.

Stage time. Stage time.

Stage time.

Ready for some powerful presentation. Ahas. Let's dive right in.

Mark Brown, live from the Vegas studio. We are here with Jennifer Lear.

Hello.

And just for those who may be unfamiliar, Darren, give us. Well, you know what, Jennifer, how are you today?

I'm excellent. How are you today?

It was so funny seeing you rushing in from wherever you were coming in to be live with Darren in his studio. And, you know, our topic today is what keeps you from getting booked? And for those who are unfamiliar with you in a snippet, what's your background with getting booked for speakers and all that? So they know an idea of who our expert is today.

Absolutely. So. Right. Currently I'm working with Executive Speakers Bureau, and I've been there for six years as a bureau agent. If some people don't know what a bureau is, it's an agency that books speakers into clients, events and conferences and their maybe company meetings. It doesn't look too much different from that, but there's some variables. And been blessed enough to be with them for six years. Like I said, incredible team. One of the top 10 bureaus in the country. And before that, I had my own business. Actually, I started my own Bureau back in 2015 and built that right here in Las Vegas is where I started. And then I went national and had an incredible time, yet it was a lot. So when executive wanted to bring me on, I was more than happy to say yes.

They had systems. They had big systems in place to kind of make it. And a support team that you didn't have.

It's exactly right.

So you spend all day booking speakers, talking to prospective clients. So you know what keeps speakers from getting booked, which is why you're here and why you're at Game Changers.

Yes.

We just recorded a podcast with Ford, and we did one with Jerry before that. So we're trying to line up Our ducks in the row. Sorry, Mark Brown, Go ahead.

And for the record, Darren, Jennifer has booked us our best gigs in a long time ever.

What's this? In a long time ever.

So we attest that she knoweth whereof she speaketh.

And I will say one thing on that, while we're on that quick subject, is that it. It is very difficult for you to negotiate your own gigs. It's so hard to negotiate your own events. And there's people. Some people don't know the value of a bureau. And the old adage is you don't need a bureau until a bureau needs you. Which is true. And we can touch on that for a second. But the biggest thing is to have somebody negotiating for you because they can always negotiate, usually negotiate higher for you than you can for yourself. Because we always. I know, Darren.

I used to try and I was like, why am I doing this? And you said, just hand them to me. Yeah, yeah, duh, duh. Don't do what I did.

Yeah. I think I'm gonna soon dive into the psychology around that there is something. Go for it. Go for it. Yeah, I think I'm gonna do that and do a presentation for you guys and have something on that because there's so much around that with value. And our friend Mark stiving, you know, he talks about selling on value and stuff. And so. But I digress. I will go back to that another time. But it's very important to be. Have somebody else be your champion and be able to talk for you because it's so much easier to talk about somebody else than it is to talk about yourself. So.

Amen.

Real quickly, I want to go back to what you said earlier because I have met presenters in my 30 years speaking who say bureau's. Well, you don't need them before they need you. And I forget how the quote works. You can clarify that. But there is, to me, in some ways, in some circles, a bit of cynicism towards bureaus. Could you address that real quickly and give us the quote again? So we get familiar with the cliche, if you don't mind.

Absolutely. The quote is, usually you don't need a bureau until a bureau needs you. So. Meaning that oftentimes, if a bureau doesn't know who you are, they will find out who you are. When you've been booking enough events, you have a good, prolific social media page. People start hearing your name or a client asks for you. So when a client is requesting you, that's when you get on our radar and we go, oh, okay. And then the reason why we don't actively go seek people out and. Or say yes when they just come on board and they want to get on top of on. On the bureau website is because we don't know how good you are. We don't know. You might have great marketing, you might have a great promo reel that's three to five minutes long, but we don't know really how good you are. And our job is relying on how good the speaker is because, you know, we need to look good to our client because our client needs to look good to their client and, or their bo. And so we go on tried and true, we go on references, we go on somebody who we know is amazing. And one of the things that proves that is, are you doing, you know, 20 to 30 events a year? Are you having a nice solid fee to your. To your speaking? Because if you're speaking for 2500, you might not be at the level that we're looking for for our clients. And I will say, but typically there is. And that's actually a really good. A good subject is that typically a bureau fee or a Bureau client is 10,000 and over. 7500 is probably the lowest that they'll go with booking an event. And the reason why is because a bureau is bigger, they have to make sure that they're making the commission that makes sense for to run their own machine, the logistics coordinator, their own accounting people, their marketing people, blah, blah, blah. But now it's interesting. We are actually lacking and missing a of sense solid base of 10,000 and under speakers. So if you're in that place and that's where you want to be, I'm seeing some and I might have some. You have to come to Game Teachers because I'm not going to tell you until you go there. So.

Nice.

Yeah, right. You're like that. I'm going to release some information that is going to be mind blowing for you guys. And I can't wait to talk about this in that 10,000 and under speaker realm. So if you want to know this, you're gonna have to come to Game Changers or at least be on virtually.

Love it, love it, love it.

Well done. Okay, if you're curious, go to stagetimelive.com it's actually next week, but there's still time. You can still join us and get the replays, but we'd love to have you live in Vegas. But hey, if virtual works, boom. We have an awesome smoking setup for virtual, by the way.

Yeah, you do.

Three Cameras roving, zooming. Yeah, not your typical.

Anyway amazing.

This is about you, it's about what we can learn from you.

So a couple more things on that on that topic is that like I said so we. We want somebody who's doing several, you know, multiple events a year and really into a good place and why speakers have. I think there's some kind of. What's that word when there's a stigma I guess is I'm looking for there's a little stigma around some people in regards to bureau's is they just don't have all the information. Right. I think when people are afraid of something or they look down on something it's because they don't it completely because there are a lot of people who love speak love bureaus and they built their businesses on bureau's because we are like if you think about this, you're the product, we're the distributors. You're the product, we're the distributors. Because you can't ever put out your name as often as we would if you are friends with and connected with and romancing the bureaus and the bureau salespeople and the partners out there. Because it is all about networking and getting your name around. Right. And so they're putting you in proposals if you're that type. If you're good enough to be put into proposals and for that we take a commission. So just for sake of round Numbers if it's $10,000 typically a typical bureau fee is 25%. Some are a little bit less, some are a little bit more and but we're running a business for that. You take care of nothing. You just show up and be brilliant. Our job is to do everything with the client. Make sure it's seamless, make sure that they're taken care of and that they're happy for you. So that all you have to do is show up to the event, be brilliant and they're waiting and ready for you and it's just ease. It takes you hands off completely. Not of the client but of the process and of the mud that gets you stuck.

Yeah, Mark and I can speak to that too because you have a couple people that are your support team, Jenny and Cheryl who Mark and I work with and we're over in Istanbul and they set up the. The ride that we have somebody when we ground transportation. Ground transportation. We don't have to do that like my team and my business model keynotes isn't the biggest part of it. However I want to work on it but I don't want to train my team to learn how to deal with contracts, do negotiating, do the ground transportation, do all of that and change the.

Information because remember, I think it was that one and I think it was Istanbul where they weren't, they were just busy. They were so busy trying to, you know, they were unlimited team members trying to put on this massive event. And so you guys, I don't think had your, I think, I don't know if it was ground transportation or the hotel while you were in midair. Like, we were trying to get this information from them so that we knew where you were going or who you were going to be met with. Right. So. But we're that team. We're your support team. And it's, it's per. It's not like you're keeping us on retainer. It's not like you're having to pay us, you know, thousands of dollars in salary a month. You just, we take care of it for you, that event. And so, and also this too is in the commission side. We are your added, we're your ancillary business. You know, we're your added bonus for what you're currently doing. So when we bring you an event, we are taking a commission because it was our marketing dollars, it was our sweat equity and, or our clients and things of that nature. Right.

And it's your reputation, too. That's the other thing is working with a bureau is their reputation at stake. So if you're egotistical, if you're. I've been to an event where somebody booked by a bureau got drunk and was. You were flirting with people openly and it was an issue. And that bureau is never going to forget that event and that person. And now they become a liability. They don't need that because it's the bureau's reputation.

And we talk.

FYI, bureaus talk to bureaus.

We are friends. We are in essence, competitors. But we are colleagues and we speak, support each other. We're in masterminds together. We, we're a very special industry, just like speakers are, just like nsa. So it's a beautiful thing on our side as well, we have a gorgeous community.

So a direct question for you. There are speakers who are hearing this who have never before worked at a bureau. What. How would you define or describe the relationship between the speaker and the bureau? Because I think the risk is one where somebody think, well, the bureau works for me. They're my, you know, they're my hired hand. They're my hired help. But I tend to think it should Be more of a partnership. Darren's. For those who can't see, Darren's had his head in his hands. You can do an emoji for that face. Palm emoji. But really what would you like everyone to know about the quote unquote ideal relationship between the bureau and the presenter?

It's for sure a partnership. I love that you said that word. Because we want you to win. Like we want you to win and for you to win and for us to get you to win. We need you to help us to have you win and for you to help us. That means your marketing materials need to be on point. We need to hear from you when we reach out to you. We want to have fast response times. We want you to do your homework. We want you to prepare for your events. We want you to nail it when you go. We want you to knock it out of the park. We want you to be of service. You know, we want, we want to look good to our client and it's all, it really is up to the speaker to do that. So on the, like the pre event call. One of the things I love about Darren and Mark is that man, they're just, they're so, they're so, they have a certain, the servant's heart and they're so servant minded that they're always like, you know, how can we, what can we do for you? How can we serve you? Can we show.

Be your favorite be.

Yeah, be my favorite but also be the client's favorite. Ask them when. You know there are a lot of speakers that if they say, hey, can you come in they the night before and attend this event. Now I understand that's not possible sometimes and I understand that some speakers need their, their rest and everything and I'm, I'm completely clear with that. But the speakers that fly in just before and fly out just after, I have a problem with, you know, I mean sometimes it's schedules and it's, sometimes it's necessary and that I completely understand. But when it's not and it's just their peace out, it just seems like they're going and collecting dollars and then leaving and they don't care about the client because that's what it's about, right? It's about caring about the client. And you know, one thing is again that I'm gonna, I'm gonna shower love on both of you is that you go to the, you go to the event, you're there early, you're watching the other sessions, you're collecting data and Information. And this is the beautiful part of this, is that when you go to your event early and you're sitting in on all the sessions, if you can, if it's not an 8am session for you, but if you're there the day before, go early, go and see if you can sit it. Because you're gonna gain. You're gonna get so much information and you're gonna hear the president talk, maybe, or some other people talk. You're gonna see what they have, and then you get to reflect those things in your presentation. And you look like the rock star, you know, and that's, I think, what I know, that you guys get that time after time. And there's several other speakers that do that too. And you just. There's. There's no, there's no amount of money that can pay for or that can put a price on serving that way. And then the reputation that you get. Cause guess what? They talk as well, especially meeting planners. But they're going to tell their friends and you know, oh my gosh, these guys were really amazing. And that's how you know, you are making your way around this one organization. Because people talk about what you do. People talk about not only the effect that you have and the transformation that you bring, but also who you are. Because guess what? You are not your presentation only you are. It's when you. It's the moment, not just when you step into the building, it's the moment you take that first phone call and you're connecting with the client. It starts there and then it goes into the moment that you step on property. And if I might say, it also should be the moment that you land in that city and you text either me and. Or most importantly, the meeting planner that you let them know that you've landed. And you might think they don't care. They're too busy. Let me tell you, they love it. They love it. So it's really about the moment that you land. You. You're on, the clock is on and the spotlight is on you and everything that happens there.

And I have a feeling when they get that text, they go, oh, yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely. And they may not be worried at all, but there's something about it that's right there. You're right.

It's a loop that's open.

Yeah, exactly.

They need it closed because they have 32 loops going on in their head. And just that you landed safely. Huge.

100% huge.

And that's why we've got to ask that question. How can we be Your favorite, when Mark and I work with the client, we ask that in the bureau. We ask that because I want to know. And most, by the way, most people don't ask that. I want to know what are their pet peeves, what makes them look good, you know, talking to you and dia another agent. It's like, I need an answer fast. I need an answer fast. If you get an email from a bureau, you get a phone call from a bureau immediately. I mean, unless you're in a meeting yourself and you can't immediately, they need to respond.

Yeah. And the reason why is because our clients need the response, because we need to get them the information as fast as possible. If we don't get it from you, we're moving on. You know, we can say, hey, sorry we didn't hear from, you know, Darren and Mark, but here, let me show you these other guys that you might want and then you might sound on a gig.

It's not a 24 hour thing, it's a 24 minute thing.

Pretty much. Pretty much. I mean, we do want to hear within 30 minutes is wonderful. I mean if it's and. Or even within an hour. But you know, within that 30 minute window, even a text like, hey, I'm in a meeting or I'm on a plane or blah, blah, blah, what can I do for you? Oh, yes, I'm open. And for people, I've had responses where I don't have my calendar with me, but I'll be home, you know, tonight. I'm like, I do not have your calendar with you. You know how.

On your phone. On your phone.

Right. How do you not have that in this day's world? Exactly, exactly. And then also. Or hey, can you send me your. Because this is oftentimes like maybe, maybe you can text say, yeah, I'm available. And I say, hey, can you send me your blah, blah, blah. Because I don't have either your bio or some specific information about a certain topic that I know you can deliver on. And the speaker says, you ready for this? It's on my website. Go. Yeah. Now both these guys are putting their heads in their hands. I know so many times it's on my website. Go get it on my website. And I'm like, you know what? I could do that. But guess what? That's going to take me. I have to go to the website, I have to find the page. Hopefully it's in no place where I can find it. I have to download it. Hopefully it's downloadable. If it's in a PDF with branding then I can't use it. Guess what? I've got to take all that information off of that branding PDF doc which is going to turn out wonky anyway put it into a word doc so that I can put it into my proposal. Do you see all the. What you need to do working with a bureau or actually any client is take away the friction.

Take away the friction. There's a keeper. Take away the friction. Everything you do either gains you bureau points or loses you bureau points. There's no middle ground.

Yeah. And so for people saying well what should I have for instance on that always have your marketing materials, all of them. Have your bio, have your introduction, have your what else your tech needs, your tech writer and all your speaking topics in a non branded just a, just a PDF white page. It could have your name on it but no other contact information. But easy. Not in funky fonts, not in funky colors, just in black and white so that you can have it for meeting planners because not just for bureau's, it's for event planners period. Because they're gonna need the same thing. They don't want all your branding stuff either. Now you can have a one sheet and it's beautiful. You can have all that as well in a separate place and you can have it to send people for marketing purposes. But for us make sure it's just easy to do business with you because we're gonna go. You don't know when we're going there too. Maybe I can go onto your website and I don't even tell you and then I see that I don't have it and I move on. And another thing. And who was it? One of our friends here in Las Vegas.

I knew exactly where we were going with this.

Okay, please have your videos shareable on your website. So if you have a YouTube video, typically I can share that video specifically just that link rather than sharing the whole website. If it's a Vimeo page, oftentimes people forget to make it shareable.

Just a certain click, it's in your default segment or on that specific video. You've got to make it that it's one click share. She went off on us not even like this kind sweet soul transformed. And I'll just leave it at that. But you can use your imagination. But she's adamant that look it we've got to be easy to do work.

With because I want you to think of this and this is what I want. You know for people that go that say oh what's the big deal? Like it's just a video. Well, if not just me. Not just me, but if a meeting planner or maybe an executive assistant. This is what I want you to picture. An executive assistant going and getting video links of speakers for the CEO or another C suite to look at. She's not going to send him a website for that speaker for that CEO to dig and find the video. She's going to send the name and the video and that's it. So if you can't do that, then you're not going to be in the conversation. So right now I want you to think about what's keeping you from being in the conversation. Yes. What's landing you the gig? That's important. But what's keeping you from even just being in the conversation? That's important because if you're not in that, you're not getting the gig anyway. Right. So, yeah. So little things, the PDFs, the making your video shareable. And so this is what we're going to go into now in moving towards all speakers, not just the ones that are working with the bureaus. This is what is costly mistakes that are very simple and easy to fix that are keeping you from being booked, period. And I say this because, you know, we deal with such a large volume of speakers and in different kinds. And it's ironic because sometimes I hear get a client bringing me a speaker I've never heard of. And that happens, that happens quite often. There are thousands out there that you don't even know that you're in competition with. I mean, thousands. And just when I think I've seen all the best, I hear of another one that I just was not in my universe. And just when you think you have it all, remember that we have such a small limited view, maybe our NSA view or a small limited view of what's in our stratosphere. But remember, there's multi layers out there of other types of speakers who are doing different types of things that you just never know what you're against. So this is the biggest thing that I want you to think about for your. For your. All of your marketing and why this is so important. Your messaging on your website and your speaking topics and descriptions, your titles and your descriptions have to align with your brand. They have to align with who you are and what you do and what you bring to the table. So I want you to think about this because so many people don't. This is not including Darren, because this man spends months thinking about this stuff. And you do. You dissect it, which I love but it's, what am I really doing and what am I really saying and what am I really bringing to the table? Because if you can't articulate that in written word, then people will not understand it and they'll move on. You don't know how many people are seeing your site and. Or seeing your information even on a bureau page. Maybe you're on bureaus and you have all your information that's there, but if it doesn't make sense and it doesn't connect and it doesn't land, then they're moving on. And I don't want that to happen. If you are not so clear on what you deliver and for whom and how, and then the tools that come along with it, you're losing gigs. End of story.

Boom. Keeping you from getting booked.

Clarity, clarity, clarity. Right, Darren?

Exactly.

Same thing we teach and speak.

Oh, that's awesome. That's exactly right.

Even more so because you have seconds. If we're on stage for an hour, we have a little grace that if it's not perfect and they can sense our energy. When you're looking, looking at a website or a demo video, if you're a potential client, it's like, peace out, I'm done. I get 12 other people who would love the gig. So they're gonna look at the one that's clear that like, ooh, my people need this.

Yes. And they're not gonna stay on your website long too. So remember that if they're on it, they're on it for maybe 30 seconds to a minute. If it doesn't click and they go, oh, I'd like to see more, then they're on to the next. They're not even going to the second page or they're not going to the speaking page. They're not going further if they don't. If it doesn't make sense. Sense. And when you're thinking about your website and your marketing, what's on there? Is it all about you, or is it all about your client? Meaning that is it Jennifer Lear? I'm amazing. My clients think I'm the best thing in since sliced bread. And there's this testimonial, and I can do this, and I've done that, and da, da, da, da. But when are you talking about your client? When are you talking about what the problems are? When are you talking about how you. How you understand them? Because if you don't, I mean, there might be still some people that are going to bring you in. Of course, because, you know, you. That might be exactly what they're looking for, but to get it to go deeper and to get another percentage more connect with them. Because just think about if you're in a conversation with somebody, if you're in a conversation with somebody and all you do is talk about yourself, you never talk about them. Who wants to be in that type of conversation? And it's. Your website's the same way. So now it's a conversation. If you can think about it that way. It's more of a person to person connection because people buy people, they don't buy brands. So I want you to make it more, a little bit more personal, a little bit more personable. And when you're very broad, stroke colorful language but nothing's really clear and actionable, they'll also move on. And this is the reason why is because people are too smart. Maybe seven years ago that would have worked, but not in today's world. Not until they just know too much question for you.

Someone says, okay, I want to work with a bureau. I hear what all these great bureaus, I want to work with them. What are some of the mistakes they make? And they wonder why they can't get a connection, they can't get a link. What should we not do? Or what should we do?

Great question. Give us a reason to work with you. Okay, so bring us a gig. Because if we don't know you, right, if we don't know you, we're not going to take a chance on you. But if you bring us a gig and a booking and we work that with you, we see how you work, we see how you were at the client, we see the client's response to you after you present. You're in. I mean, it's so simple. It's so simple. And it's one, it's. And it's a 25% commission that you're going to pay to have a potential lifetime and multiple bureaus on your side. Because again, we talk. So if I bring somebody in, I'm like, oh my gosh, this is amazing. Blah, blah, blah.

And when I think of the new emerging speakers when me back in the 90s, I just thought, I just love what I do. I'm so passionate. I care about the audience. I just need someone to sell me.

Oh, yeah, that's a big one.

I know you've probably never heard that before.

I never heard that ever, ever. I hear that today all the time. This person needs to sell me. They need to sell me. I need to find somebody to sell me. And it just doesn't work that way, unfortunately.

So if you have that thought, you're not alone. There are gazillion speakers who think that. And look, I did too. We got to realize that we need to get our videos, our demo, our copy on, our marketing and our one sheets. Like we have to make those so good we don't need someone and then bring a gig to them with these great marketing materials.

It really does help. And then on top of that, let us know, do you have a following? Where do you turn on? Right. Do you have a YouTube page or YouTube channel? Do you have a great social media page? Are you prolific on LinkedIn? What are you, what are you doing? What are you giving? What's your background? There's a couple different schools of thought. I love a good story and a good transformation and a good, you know, outcome, but that's hard to continue to sell. You know, it's got to be very unique. It's got to be something that is not an everyday thing. There's, you know, there's, there's elements to it. If you're transforming in something business wise, then I want to know what that is. I. And make it current. Maybe it's. Hey, Jennifer, there's a lot of uncertainty and change going on right now and a lot of companies are dealing with layoffs. There's a lot of people that are also again in fear right now. And because I happen to deal with a sector of government, of government contractors. Right. And you know, maybe it's looking into what's happening at this moment and just not, not a, not a, what do you call it, a newsletter or a funnel campaign. Not a, not a that but an email to me to say, hey, I know this is going on. I think I can help your clients and just bring something that's personal because that's going to catch my attention, bring something of value and then I'm trying to think of what else as far as like working with a bureau. You know, don't just send a mug with your name on it or a book with your dm.

I can't even imagine how many of those you get. Yeah, let's just leave it at that. And you told me something, I believe it was you, where you said, look, if it's got your logo on it, that's not a gift.

No, that's exactly right.

That's a marketing tool. No matter what it is, if it's got your logo on it, that's not a gift.

Yeah, I had somebody, don't do this, but I had somebody Send me sneakers, Nikes, which was amazing because at one time I was running a lot and I think I posted it or whatever and they sent me some shoes and.

You know, and have their logo on it.

No, I have Nike's logo. No, but you know, I just, you and you just get somebody's attention in a great way and then just remember that we've got thousands of speakers that we work with and not that I work with thousands in particular, but we've got thousands on the website. Usually like there's up to four or five thousand speakers probably or more. I don't know the time but, but I'm also doing, you know, I'm doing a few hundred events or involved in a few hundred events a year. So I've got speakers texting me and emailing me. So if you do, if you find my email address or anybody's email address and you are emailing them, if they don't get back to you, don't keep emailing them. And this is, but I, and I understand on the sales side you want to keep following them and saying hey, I know you probably didn't see my email, blah, blah blah or and hey, again, you know, just you know, letting you know. A tactic that I would take is they hey, I know you're busy and I know you're overwhelmed. I just want to introduce myself and know that I am here for you and this is what I do and this is how I can do it. And then maybe you send another one in a month or so. But it's not like you know, trying to get my attention because I have bureau reps that they never answer speakers that they don't know email because they can't. There's no time in the day. There's no time in the day.

Bring them a gig, give up the commission and develop a relationship.

Absolutely.

So Mark, we got to honor Jennifer's.

Time here a few more minutes.

I do want to ask her one more question.

Yeah, you're fine.

A little off topic, Jennifer, but I know the idea of client calls prevent calls and so on with the client. And sometimes it's a speaker, you bureau is working with you, you get the gig and you plan your pre event calls with the client. Do you find that some speakers exclude the bureau until the very last minute or bring the bureau in on those calls early? What's a good rule or guide for having the bureau involved at that level of the process?

You mean when you're bringing your bureau into an event, when you're gifting it Right. In the beginning because. Right. Because if you're bringing us an event for us to see how you work and also get to know this client, we want to build the relationship with the client as well. So the moment that you know that a client's interested and, or ready to go to contract or the earlier the better so that we can number one, advocate for you and advocate on the fee if we need to, but also so that we can build that rapport with the client. And it's not an awkward because you bring us into the end, then all it is is a contract and then we don't have that ability.

Right. Because I know it's easy to say, okay, I'll work with, with the client, but I want to make sure I get the right dollar, the high dollar. So at the last minute here's my, my business manager and they'll negotiate the fee for you. But you can come in, you don't know the background.

Right.

It could be awkward for you. So we recommend viewers and listeners if you're going to be involved in a bureau, in a cycle, get involved in the entire cycle of the, of the, of the engagement from the, from the, from the word go all the way through. And Darren and I can attest just to how happy we are with you, Jennifer and your team. I think at one point we got hold of Jenny, it was probably 4 in the morning, we're in the air and I text her and it was. But she answered, we got, we landed. She answered, wow, she was up. And we really appreciate that. But that couldn't have been effective had we brought you in at the very tail end of the negotiations.

Exactly.

And the communication with the client. So we appreciate, we want to know.

The nuances, we want to know the, you know that the personality of the client, what they're doing, what the challenges they have. And, but also we also want to have, like I said, that long term relationship. So when you bring us a client, I mean odds are you're probably not going to speak to that particular client again. Oftentimes speakers don't speak to clients in multiple times in a row. So we'll keep that client and nurture that event. So that's a big gift that you would bring someone and I want you to treat it that way. I want you to treat it with kid gloves. It's not a throwaway. It's something that we were going to build with that client so that we can then have, keep it for a long time. So it's, it's, it's it's respecting that gift and the way that it works in that partnership. So that a couple last things before I go is. It's so funny because I didn't know that we were gonna go this way, but this is great because I have so much more to say. You have to come to Game Changers because I have. I'm gonna do a presentation for an hour on the things that you don't even know is keeping you from getting booked. And this stuff, I'm telling you, this is gold. This is such a gold to hear this information. One of the other things is on your website, this we found out. So remember that the younger generation is coming up and the millennials and Gen Z, they don't want to send. They don't, they want to text. FYI, they want to call and they want to text. They don't just want to send an email and a contact form, they'll do it. But they're. If they see a phone number there that they can text, get a, get a text number. If you don't want to put your cell phone number, get a text number or a Google Voice number.

That's Google Voice number three.

Yep. And it goes on your phone and then you know when you get a message from that, it's from your website, they call or they text. And it's a great way to have another number or way to get a hold of you that's immediate rather than a 1-800-line or a number that nobody answers. And because that happens and then you just, you lose. Like I said, just minimizing friction, Minimizing steps, Minimizing friction. If it's a one stop shop, man, you're in Lake Flint. So just to recap a little bit on this before I get going is making sure that your website looks great. You have a beautiful promo video. And by the way, people are wanting longer videos. So yes, a 3 minute to 5 minute video is good in a sizzle reel, but you need to have a solid 30 minute video in your back pocket. Not that you have to have it anywhere living outside, but make sure that you have it at the palm of your hand to be able to send. Oh, I didn't close the loop on the other one. On the, on the materials for the meeting planners and stuff too. Have it on your phone somewhere. So if you're out and about and somebody needs your information, just have a folder that you can send right away or a Dropbox link. So just have it in your notes so that you can just copy the link and Paste it into an email. Just think ahead, you know, for stuff like that, just to be so on the ready for things. So making sure you have a great photo, a great website, a great photo, a great video, a longer video somewhere so that you can show that you've really got the goods. Because people are getting questionable because marketing is getting so good. So that's the talk around the bureau world and also the meeting planner world. So be careful. Make sure that you can actually do what you say you can do and deliver. Right. Be really vigilant around your copy on your website and all your materials and how you decide. Describe who you are, your branding, what you do, why you do it and how you do it and then what your speaking topics are and make sure this is aligned in your brand. Make sure your website's personal, that it talks about you and what you do and who you are because people are gonna buy you. Because remember, I'm gonna show you this for stuff. People buy a brand for a phone, I buy Apple, it doesn't matter. I'm just gonna buy an iPhone no matter what. But for people, I'm going to buy that brand person. So I need to know who they are. I have to look right behind the curtain and then making sure that you're easy to work with and responsive. And if you want to work with a bureau, bring them a gig, get them to get to know them. You know, it's, it's, it's not that it's hard, it takes a few steps, but it's doable. And this is a career. And remember, you are a company. You're the brand. You are also the, the product. So it's like any other, it's like any other business. You have to treat it as a business and you know that it's going to take work.

It's a team, team effort. Absolutely. And be the person they want on their team. Boom. Mark Brown, what do we got for keepers?

Oh, man. I'm going to start with the very end. You are the company, the brand and the product. Look, it's hard for you to negotiate your own gigs. Let your bureau be your advocate. Bureaus, they don't seek you out, but bring them a gig so they'll work with you. Look, they look for people who have 25 to 30 events a year generally. And most viewers, they want speakers who are about ten grand or more. But Jennifer Lear, if you come to Greentaine, Game Changers will show you the value that you can get if you're a $10,000 or less. Speaker. So come to game changers. Okay. You are the product, the bureau is your distributor and you should treat your bureau as your partner because they want you to win, they care about you and they care about the client. And by the way, be nice to them because bureau's talk to each other and they take away the friction. Make sure you have marketing materials that are non branded the bureau can use. Details are in the are in the program. Make your demo video shareable, people can share it. And again, non branded is good. And ask yourself what's keeping you from being accessible. Your website content must align with your brand and be clear on everything you do and everything you are. Check your site, is it really all about you or about how you can serve your client? Give the bureau a reason to work with you. They want to build a relationship with you and with the client as well. We do this right can be a great partnership and it's a win win for everybody. Thank you so much. Jennifer Lear. I got a mouthful, a handful and a mindful from these nuggets. Darren, were that helpful?

Did I give you enough value in this 30 minutes?

That's amazing. Thank you so much.

And if you're going to join us for game changers, go to stagetimelive.com stagetimelive.com and use Jennifer's code. Give Jennifer credit. Jennifer, 20 gets you 20% off. Sincerely, thank you for being here. Can't wait to share the stage with you and Mark. If we're nice, she might even sing. Just saying.

Yeah, okay. Thanks Darren. I don't know if our viewers caught this, but she showed us her iPhone just now on the front on her homepage is a picture of you doing you. Doing who?

Marilyn Monroe.

Marilyn Monroe. Jennifer did Marilyn Monroe on the strip in Vegas for how many years?

Oh my gosh, 15. Around the country. I still get requests for. I turn it down now but I still get requests for it around the country.

See how good my eyes are? I saw that. Anyway, go ahead, bring us home.

Talented. Remarkable. And thank you for sharing all that value with us. We are thrilled to have you here and can't wait to see you next week in Vegas.

Honored to be here. Thanks guys.

All right, thank you, Jennifer.

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