How can speakers earn money when all the gigs have gone?

That’s the single biggest question on everybody’s lips who’s involved in live entertainment of any capacity.

 Which people? Let’s take a look…

1. Speakers.
2. Event organisers.
3. Agency/booking managers.
4. Other entertainers.
5. Sports people.
6. Team coaches.
7. Referees and officials.
8. Transport industry.
9. Merchandise sales and suppliers.
10. Venue owners.
11. Sound and light suppliers.
12. Licensing officials.
13. Advertisers and publicity experts.
14. Caterers.
15. Venue staff suppliers.
16. Onsite signage and branding designers.
17. Security guard agencies.
18. Washroom facility suppliers.
19. Social media influencers and reporters.
20. Potential members and attendees.
21. Financiers and sponsors.
22. Event administration.

Etc… I could still go on but you already get the picture.

How could this happen? Simple.

For live events to disappear, is like first discovering you have an allergy to gluten.
It’s in EVERYTHING.
You may have heard someone like me saying ‘If we stop eating products containing it, we’ll hardly be able to eat anything at all!’
Yes, it’s true.
So stop crying princess and start getting smarter. 

Plus…

1. It’s the same for everybody.
2. Some people will find a workaround until gluten-free products become available.
3. It’s inconvenient but NOT impossible.
4. Stop complaining, it’s already ‘a thing’.

So what do we do actually about it?
We reinvent being a speaker whilst everyone else works on reinventing their own specific contribution.

I apologize that this article is predominately for speakers, however ANY of the industries listed above can start making videos that will work with the following methodology…

So, how/where/when/with what do we start?

Well a typical revenue stream model for a speaker is this…

1. Keynote presentation.
2. Host/MC.
3. Corporate training.
4. Selling books and materials.
5. Online coaching course.
6. Mentoring individuals to fast-track results.

This doesn’t have to change.
It’s just that the emphasis has to be on digital (prices WILL change).
The trade-off is you can NOW target potential clients globally.

• Location is irrelevant online (as long as you have great internet).
• Potential clients are unlimited (anyone anywhere).
• They have to be able to discover you online.
• They have to be able to engage with you BEFORE actually contacting you.

Daniel Priestley business guru and author of ‘Oversubscribed’
talks about the 7/11/4 Rule. 

This is genius.

It’s for formula for creating ‘know, like and trust’ within any new customer.

• 7 hours of time spent with your company.
• 11 different interactions with you.
• 4 different locations where you have met. 

In a bricks and mortar world that could include…

• 7 hours together after meeting at a networking event, conference or even traveling together.
• 11 interactions where you AT LEAST said ‘Hi’ like at a shopping mall with the family, bumping into each other in a elevator, nodding across from each other at rock concert, visiting each other’s office whilst having a sales meeting with someone else.
• 4 locations like a staff party, product launch, social media platform or press junket.

 See how this works? Then these people are ‘ready to buy’.

 Now let’s reinvent this online digitally…

• 7 hours’ worth of video content with any combination of live broadcasts, footage from past gigs and spending time on a Zoom conference call.
• 11 interactions through seeing and commenting on your LinkedIn posts, You Tube videos, reading your emails, messaging back on WhatsApp and so on…
• 4 different places (social media platforms is fine for this).

Get it?

Now they will be ready to buy AND you didn’t have to spend real time building that relationship.

When I started my web TV show, Speak Onstage TV, I found people would call me and ask to work with me AFTER watching an average of 6-7 episodes WITHOUT me chasing them.

No doubt they Googled me and did their research about my credibility and certainty of delivering. By the time we spoke together online, the deal was already 99% done.
They’d sold THEMSELVES to me as potential clients!!!

Already. Think about what that means for you.

Pre-selling. 

Now let’s add another formula…
50/12/10/2 Again from Daniel Priestley
(You should also read ‘Key Person of Influence’ too). 

• 50 fresh leads.
• 12 potentially interested clients.
• 10 ACTUAL sales presentations made (people cancel).
• 2 converted sales paid and delivered.

So why is this all relevant?
You have to be strategic about everything as you build a huge fishing net online. 

Let me give you ONE last formula…

1. Create video.
2. Turn the audio into a podcast.
3. Transcribe the audio into a blog/ ebook/ money magnet.
4. Chop the content into social media appropriate posts.
5. Get them out online. 

Yes it’s THAT simple.
You already like talking? Well, do it ALL on camera now. 

Once you implement all the above consistently, you will start to show up on radars and people (whom you don’t know) will start to follow you.
Make sure your sales funnel system is in place to convert this potential interest into business.

Live gigs ARE coming back. I recently hosted Gitex, one of the world’s most respected IT, technology, blockchain and futurist events.

Dubai (as always) is leading the way.

But the world is still in lockdown. It may be 6 – 12 months before you start seeing a face to face gig depending on where you live.

Don’t let that bother you. Get creative. Get broadcasting. Get reinventive.
Or not.
Remember…
You now have over 7 billion potential customers.
You now have 7 billion potential competitors.
There are VERY few new TV shows, movies, entertainment programs being produced because of Covid-19.
You have a window of 6-12 months to get into people’s consciousness, showing up consistently on their radar and positioning yourself as the industry expert you expected people to hire before the pandemic struck.
You’ve NEVER had a better time in history to make this transition.
Everything and (almost) everyone is frozen in pause mode.

Grab your phone, press the LIVE button and start making an impact today.
Alternatively, contact me directly and let’s plan something together.

Hurry. I’m getting busier by the day AND Netflix isn’t going to keep offering re-runs for ever…

So, who else wants to be an industry icon?

I can help.

Stay safe always. 

P.S: I regularly get asked to write articles on my expertise for online magazines. This is written for the January 2021 issue for Authoritti5.0 .