Lots of speakers ask, “How do I find more speaking opportunities?”
If you’ve been asking yourself that question then this blog post will show you how to find so many speaking opportunities that you won’t be able to contact them all…that’s a big claim.
Why do you think most speakers have a hard time getting speaking gigs?
Is it because there aren’t a lot of events going on? Is it because there are no gigs in the area?
Not at all. There are TONS of events.
The problem isn’t a ‘lack of speaking opportunities’…the problem is a ‘lack of systems for capturing speaking opportunities.’
When you put systems in place for capturing speaking opportunities, you naturally build a huge list of events for you to contact so you can speak at these events.
But exactly is a system for ‘capturing speaking opportunities?’
Think of it like a to-do list. With a to-do list, when something pops into your head that you need to get done, you capture it really quick. Maybe you put it into your phone, into the Evernote App, etc…but in some way or another, you capture that thought so you don’t forget it.
And that’s exactly what you should be doing with events and meeting planners.
Everyday, you come across names of events and names of meeting planners who host events.
Maybe you’re hanging out on Facebook and you see a post, “XYZ event in San Diego June 15th.”
What do most speakers do when they see this? Nothing!
But because you’re the business-savvy speaker…what do you do?
You open your Google Spreadsheet and put the name of the event into the spreadsheet. Now, you can follow up with the event later. You can go back to the website, contact the person in charge, etc.
There are events all around you…it’s just a matter of being on the lookout for them.
When you go to a hotel, do you look at the ‘list of events’ going on for the day? You might not be speaking or attending any of the events…but you should at least look at them.
And when you see the ‘Company X Annual Gala’ is scheduled…what should you do? Take out your phone and put it into the Google Spreadsheet app you downloaded. Put down the name of the event, the date, and any other information you can find out about the event.
You don’t have to contact anyone at that very second, but you should at least capture the event.
You also want to do this with meeting planners.
Maybe you’re reading a blog from a meeting planner magazine and it says, “Our new meeting planner of the week is John Doe. He demonstrates so much….”
And when you read this, you put that person’s name into your Google Spreadsheet along with any other information you find out about them so you can follow up later.
Create a spreadsheet right now with information like the ‘event name’ ‘where’ ‘when’ ‘notes’ etc.
In the ‘notes’ section, you should include the names of speakers they had on stage. Why? Because it lets you know the caliber of the event. If they had Bill Gates as a speaker then it’s probably a high-profile event.
You should also include ‘when’ the event is because it lets you know when to market to them. If you know the event was held in June, then you need to contact them several months in advance. The bigger the event, the further in advance you have to contact them.
Eventually, you will have a massive amount of speaking opportunities you can contact to get booked.
Most speakers have a hard time finding speaking gigs because they’re not constantly looking for them. Finding speaking opportunities is a state of mind. And if you’re always looking for them, you will have a hard time NOT seeing them.