The more you charge, the more it’s about YOU than your speech
- My current strategy – Build name recognition
Finland Event – Spent about 20k
- “We thought you would charge more”
Save money in your bank (so you’re not desperate)
- Must come from a position of power
- Not desperate for $
Are you in the right market?
- High schools won’t pay you 20k
- Do they pay a lot of speakers 20k?
- No? = bad market
- Must be SEVERAL others, not just one or two
Do you sell what they pay (high fees) for?
- Story: I’m a mentalist b/ mentalists don’t get 20k
- …became a speaker
- Motivational Speaker can get 25k
- ‘Female Empowerment’ speaker won’t get 25k b/c they preach to the choir
Do you look like you’re worth paying high fees?
- Website
- Sound in-demand?
- What are the circumstances around you? Context
- Story: Me in a restaurant = can’t get high paying gigs
- Context – restaurant entertainer not making much
- What are the assumptions people make?
- Restaurant vs White House entertainer
- Story: Me in a restaurant = can’t get high paying gigs
- Influence assumptions = influence perception
- At a certain point, your price is about YOU, not the market
- Build social proof
How did they hear about you?
- They approach you = higher value
- You approach them = lower value
- How ‘invested’ are they?
- Did they watch your videos, etc?
- Or just a one-sentence reply to your email?
- How ‘invested’ are they?
Pay attention to the details of the event
- Who did they hire before?
- How big is the event?
- How far in advance did they contact you?
- Further in advance = higher value placed on you
- They come to you? Or you go to them?
- Have they seen you live?
How many events are you contacting?
- Need quantity to get quality
Ask for it
- Even if they can’t afford it, it will be a higher price than you thought