I got an email from someone who asked…
After one year of speaking, I’m still not getting gigs. What’s wrong?
Most speakers are in this situation. In fact, most speakers have been doing this for 5 years or more and still struggle to get speaking gigs.
If you’re in a position with your speaking business where you feel stuck then it’s crucial that you get out of this position ASAP. If you don’t, you’ll always have financial problems and eventually, you’re going to have to get a regular job.
Speakers who ‘just get by’ eventually wake up and realize that things aren’t working the way they thought it would. And once they check their bank balance, they have to go find work if they want to pay rent.
It’s a horrible feeling.
You even get the ‘imposter’ feeling – where you’re teaching people life lessons but when you’re alone and honest with yourself, you realize that you’re not implementing the lessons you teach.
And what’s even worse is that the answer to fixing a speaking business isn’t obvious.
So here’s my answer for this speaker (and any speaker who’s been in the game but still struggles with their business)…
First, you have to figure out where the problem lies.
Success in the speaking business is all about the details. That’s why most speakers struggle. They think they’ve got it right, and they think they’re doing the same things as the big-dogs, but when you take a closer look, you see the problems are in the details.
What do I mean?
Let me give you an example from my speaking business.
Recently, we hired a guy to contact meeting planner by sending out emails. We gave him an email template to follow and all he had to do was change a few words.
After some time, I asked him how he was doing and the results he was getting.
His response?
Nobody responds to the second email.
Hmm…
Here’s the thing, I knew my sequence worked because it’s been tested and tested and tested…it gets me booked consistently.
So I asked him to forward me the emails he was sending out.
And do you know what he did?
Well…lets just say that when I saw the emails, I just shook my head.
He not only dramatically changed everything in the email, but he also copy/pasted the emails. So every person was getting the exact ‘generic’ email.
You know what I’m talking about…
In fact, you’ve probably gotten some generic ‘business’ emails that claim they can help you with your SEO or improve your website, etc etc…and you can tell that they just copy & pasted this email to everybody and their mama.
Well…that’s what this new guy was doing.
After I overcame the initial punch to my face, I told him what was wrong and how he needs to have a conversation with them, not just copy/paste. And once he switched to my method, he got results.
Most people think they’re doing something right, but in reality, the small details change everything.
It’s not the major things you’re doing wrong. It’s the tiny details.
You might be contacting people. But are you contacting them in the right way?
You might be building your marketing materials, but are you focusing on the details so you build them right?
It amazes me at how many speakers say, “Yea I know that.” But when you look at how they’re doing it, they completely miss the mark.
Unfortunately, we can’t see why something isn’t working because it’s not obvious to us. And it’s not obvious because we don’t have enough information on the details that gives us the right answer.
How on earth could the new hire see what was wrong with his emails? He couldn’t. Why? Because he didn’t know what to look for.
You can’t see what you don’t know what to look for.
The only way to see what you don’t know is there, is to have someone else show you.
As soon as I saw what he was doing wrong, it was a simple fix.
Seek out to improve the small details.
The other big reason why speakers ‘have been doing this for a year, or more, and still don’t get gigs’ is because of implementation problems. And boy…don’t even get me started on that.
I’ll save that for another day.