Jane Atkinson's Blog, page 38
June 25, 2015
Are you Getting Your Full Fee?
Take this 60 second quiz and let me know if you are getting your desired fee. I’ll come back to you next week with the results. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TWX6P7M I have a suspicion what the results will say; but what I know for sure is that many of my clients come to me because they aren’t happy […]
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June 17, 2015
What’s Driving your Success?
Have you ever gone through a period of time in cruise control? You’re just going with the flow. You know you could be doing better, but you’re feeling pretty chill about it. The phone rings, the emails come in, you deliver a pretty good product. And then something changes and POW! You shift it into […]
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June 11, 2015
Your Risk vs. Reward Ratio
Peter Drucker once said “Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.” As entrepreneurs, we have risk built right into our DNA . However that doesn’t mean that we don’t want to analyze our decisions carefully. Recently, I took a risk that cost $10,000. I took a course […]
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September 24, 2013
Keynote Speaking: It’s not Brain Surgery!
I just hung up from a coaching call with one of my clients who happens to be a surgeon. It got me wondering, how hard is speaking, really?
It may not be brain surgery, but you really do need some skills and techniques.
While prepping my next book, “The Epic Keynote: Presentation Skills and Styles of Wealthy Speakers”, I’ve come to realize that not all keynoters are created equal. In fact, some of the talent that I have enlisted to provide ideas are rock stars in the world of keynotes.
Here are 3 quick tips:
CRAFT YOUR WORDS: Victoria LaBalme says “Writing your speech down on paper is effective for many reasons, but one good reason is to look at each word and ask yourself “can I say this better?” For instance you might want to use a 50 cent word (a descriptive, intriguing word) rather than a 5 cent word (yawn) to describe something.”
My client (the surgeon) loved this idea!
USE TECHNOLOGY: Tech expert Scott Klososky says, “I use JoinSpeaker.com to allow the audience to send questions right from their mobile devices to me on stage. I can then just answer them, or I can throw the questions up on the big screen if I like. I can also open voting and let people send ideas and have the audience vote on what ideas they like.”
ADD SOME HUMOR: When discussing how to punch up your speech with humor, David Glickman says: “If you’ve watched professional sports on television, there is usually one of the announcers whose sole role is to offer color commentary on the other announcer’s ‘play by play’ (factual info) of what’s happening. So that’s what you’re doing—except that you’re offering your own commentary (the funny line you’ve added later) on the comment (point, fact, story) you have in the original script.
Want an example? Here are two lines from a speech you might deliver: “It’s human nature to resist change. People have always resisted change.” Now here are the same two lines with a ‘comment on the comment’: “It’s human nature to resist change. People have always resisted change. I’m sure when the caveman invented the wheel his co-workers were saying things like, ‘Oh, like that’s going to work! Yeah. Right. And how exactly do you stop it once it’s rolling out of control? I think we’ll stick with our square, thank you very much.”
Small things like examining your language, adding technology and punching up your speech with humor can make a BIG difference!
See you soon Wealthy Speakers!
ps: What are some of your favorite speech techniques? Please leave your comments below.
September 4, 2013
Winner! Best Website Contest
Well, the votes are in and the winner with 258 votes is once again an education speaker.
Congratulations Josh Shipp.
Not only is his website solid, but he obviously has a very loyal fan base. Josh’s site has a clear promise and strong video.
Coming in second with 51 votes is David Deeble. David is an entertainer, so some of the rules vary a bit for him. What we were impressed with was how he managed a site with dual purposes. David’s site is fun and energized.
You can review all of the submissions and my comments to the website owners here – it’s quite good learning:)
Thanks everyone for submitting and participating!
See you soon Wealthy Speakers!
PS: If your website needs some work, consider our Focus 40 session – that’s a 40 minute session with me at a very special rate.
August 16, 2013
Top 6! Best Speaker Website Contest
The best speaker website contest is now closed and we need you to vote!!
Here is where you go to PLACE YOUR VOTE ON FACEBOOK!
We were looking for uniqueness, clear promise (how you help people) and a strong video.
We had many websites to choose from, thank you for everyone for participating. If you want to see all of the entries and my feedback, click here.
******
Choose from one of these top 6 videos and vote for your favorite!
1. Josh Shipp – very strong promise, solid video with live speaking footage. http://joshshipp.com/
2. David Deeble – fun, humor is the promise, good segregation of target markets. http://www.daviddeeble.com/
3. David Lecours – clear promise, easy to navigate, calm website. http://www.davidlecours.com/
4. Jane Herlong – solid video that has you laughing right away, clear promise.http://www.janeherlong.com/
5. Teresa Funke – a casual and unique vibe, some nice features. http://www.teresafunke.com/
6. Hal Bowman – there’s a lot of energy and some unique language.
http://www.teachlikearockstar.com/
Here is where you go to PLACE YOUR VOTE ON FACEBOOK!
“Best Speaker Website Contest from @janeatkinson. Vote here: http://tinyurl.com/nnuvlgo”
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August 13, 2013
Who is Your Website About?
Logically, you might think that your website should be all about you, after all, the client is hiring you to speak for their group.
That was true 5-10 years ago. But since companies have been put under scrutiny for how they spend their conference dollars, ROI (return on investment) has become more important.
As my friend Brian Palmer of National Speakers Bureau says “clients no longer want to hire “speakers,” they want to hire smart people who happen to speak.”
It’s with this new idea in mind that we want to focus our websites on the outcomes of our work and not just our speaking, but our entire body of w 
ork – books, consulting, training, everything that we do to deliver our message.
So what is the bottom line?
Do what I call the “marketing flip flop” and make it about them (your audience, your clients) and the outcomes of your work, and people will be more likely to lean in.
Unless you are an entertainer, if I come to your website and it says “hire me, I’m a speaker”, you may be missing out on business.
See you soon Wealthy Speakers!
Jane
PS: There are 3 days left to nominate a website for our Best Website Contest. If your website is “them focused”, then please submit it!
http://www.speakerlauncher.com/blog/2752/best-website-contest-2013/
July 18, 2013
It’s Back! Best Website Contest
It’s that time again! The best website contest has become one of our most popular blog features. We’re looking for websites that have all of the key marketing components.
Here’s our list:
Clear promise: We can tell within 15 seconds how you are going to help your prospects.
Interesting brand: Does your brand or language pull us in? Is it sticky? (memorable)
Simplified: Is your website easy to navigate?
Expert Focus: Does your website say “here’s how we can help you” or is it old school and says “hire me, I’m a speaker”.
Pazow: Does your website have a great vibe or feel that makes us want to do business with you?
Video: Although a strong video isn’t mandatory, it would certainly give you extra
marks.
To nominate a website, simply post a comment below with the URL. Tell us why you like this site. It’s okay to nominate your own site. You have until August 15th to summit your nomination.
We’ll pick the top 6 and then have you vote.
P.S. Note my comments after each submission, many of them are universal. Take a look at your own website and ask the question “do I have these things in place?” Of course it’s not one-size-fits-all, take what you want and put it through your own strategy.
P.P.S: Our Spring Special includes The Wealthy Speaker 2.0 system and a coaching session with me. It is just $197! If you need a marketing makeover, now’s the time to take advantage of this awesome special (expires July 31st)
http://speakerlauncher.com/wealthy-speaker-spring-sale/
June 24, 2013
What’s Driving Your Success?
Ten years ago when I was still single, I decided to move back to my hometown to be closer to my parents. I reasoned with myself that if I was going to live in this relatively quiet town (compared to Sydney or Vancouver where I’d lived before), I’d purchase a place up near Lake Huron.
Two years later, “the shack” was purchased. It cost less than the price of a car and was 5 minutes from Lake Huron. Little did I know that this tiny property would turn into my weekend oasis and offer me so much bliss!
I feel my work in coaching is meaningful. I’ve affected hundreds of lives positively, and that means a lot to me. But what’s driving my success these days is “working for a lifestyle” rather than a living.
My new definition of “wealthy” is being in charge of my own time, while earning above average income. This summer I’ll coach 3 days a week, have one buffer day (for preparation) and 3 days off.
Complete bliss for me is sitting on the porch of my little shack doing a coaching call via Skype, or writing. Molly (our 4 year old Labradoodle) is at my feet, and the hummingbird pops in frequently to grab a drink 5 feet from my chair.
What’s driving your success?
What does a blissful day look like to you?
What do you need to do to get there? (What action do you need to take?)
Feel free to share with comments below!
May 21, 2013
Technology Bonanza: Must Have Apps for Speakers
Whether you are a new speaker, or someone who has been around awhile, there’s always some new technology that you haven’t heard about.
We’ll explore the various apps and software for running your speaking business more smoothly.
SPEECHES: After researching Powerpoint, Keynote
(by Apple) and Prezi - Prezi came off as the
coolest (but comes with a learning curve) with
Keynote as a close second.
CRM/DATABASE SOFTWARE: To keep track of your leads and prospects, you must have something in place. An Excel spreadsheet isn’t going to cut it for long. Infusionsoft appears to be the market leader and provides everything rolled into one, but may be a bit daunting for those starting out. Salesforce and Act are lower cost options. If you have a great sales software to share, please leave a comment below.
* Note: Check Chapter 4 in The Wealthy Speaker 2.0 for more on this, remembering that technology changes daily.
SOCIAL MEDIA: There are new Apps hitting the market daily to help us keep our social media accounts all in one place. I use Hootsuite to combine and schedule my updates, but I know you might prefer another, please share.
TRAVEL: TripIt is a must have for anyone who travels a bunch – it keeps everything in one place. Flightboard helps you see every airport real time. There are lots of flight tracking Apps. Hipmunk is helpful when you need to book a flight/hotel/car from you phone. Let’s hear your favorites.
ESPEAKERS: eSpeakers was designed with you in mind. The original premise (I was one of the Beta testers) was to keep everything to do with event management in one place, and to keep your calendar running smoothly, especially with multiple users. If you are busy, you need to check it out. However, they’ve expanded way beyond this to Bureau and PR blasts, profile integration, streaming video and much more.
IDEA MANAGEMENT: My business got a lot better once I got my thoughts organized. Evernote is perfect for all of my University members. I keep a note on each person and each group in a new notebook. The Reminders app runs across my Macbook, iPad and iPhone. I can add a thought to my “Blog Ideas” reminder checklist and 1 minute later it’s available to me on my phone or iPad. I use Reminders for new business ideas as well.
SCREENSHOT: This one might seem basic but let’s say you review your credit card and there is a charge you want to email someone about, take a screenshot of the page (SHIFT/COMMAND/3 for Mac users) and you have a photo of your page. I think I’m a bit addicted to this feature! You can also do this on most phones. Try Jing or Snagit to create screen-captures and short videos.
I know I skipped some really great Apps here, so I’m counting on your comments to fill in some blanks!
