Speaker Services News, March 2005
http://www.speakerservices.com

To leave list:see details below
Content:

Content:
1.   A Note from the founder, Susan Levin
2.   New & Renewing Speaker/Authors
3.   Tips and Advice & Info
5.   Article: Productizing Your Expertise:
      The Secrets To Positioning Yourself as an Expert in Your Field
      by Pete Nelson


A Message from Susan Levin

Well spring is just around the corner.  In Los Angeles we have been having so much rain that I think I live in Seattle.  It did stop a few days ago and I am so happy.  Everything is green and growing and I can go walking again.

You may know that I am a marketing consultant for speakers and authors for the past 14 years.  My interest is to provide you with resources and inform help you grow your businesses through speaking.  This month I am including an artictle on Productizing Your Expertise by Pete Nelson.  Michelle Howe of Word Magic shared Pete's article with me.  It is full of great tips and she is also offering a FREE teleclasses with Pete on March 9 plus a few others you might be interested to be part of.  See all info below.

If you want to know how to get $100,000 worth of PR for your expertise, products or services the teleclass we are offering on 3/14 will provide you with the information you need to move forward.  Robert Smith will take the mystery out of his tricky topic.  Sign up on our website at http://speakerservices.com/teleclasses or order the CD if you can't make it.

Do you need a 3 camera Video Demo?  Contact me as we still have spaces available for April 17 in Los Angeles.  One of vendors reduced his fees and we are passing along a $200 discount to the first 10 folks who sign on with us.

Save Oct 1 & 2 for a very exciting seminar called Get The Word Out in Los Angeles.  It's for all professionals who want to speak, get booked by various media. the latest info on online information,  many experts plus media coaching and pitching to talk show producers.  I will be telling you more about it in future e-mails.

Susan Levin
Speaker Services
877-773-2800 toll free
local-310-822-4922

_______________________

NEW & RENEWING SPEAKERS/AUTHORS- 3/05
See all speakers http://speakerservices.com

David C. Aaronson, Greater Los Angeles Area
Former Oracle and General Electric exec inspires you to get in touch with your real self and real goals and bring balance and meaning to both work and personal life.
Business Building, Sales, Success
http://www.speakerservices.com/speakers/detail/114

Christy Diemond; Author,  Northwest area of Washington State
Consumer advocate reveals how to make a difference by making informed choices with your purchasing dollar.
Consumer Awareness, Environmental, Politics in Medicine
http://www.speakerservices.com/speakers/detail/156

Dr. Christine Hoffman, S. California
Board Certified doctor of natural medicine, chiropractor and kinesiologist reveals how to listen to your body so you can hear its early warning signs and prevent disease from developing.
Alternative Healing, Healthcare, Women's Issues
http://www.speakerservices.com/speakers/detail/158

Tara Khandro, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Nationwide, International
Gifted healer and intuitive inspires you to liberate your spirit and live a free and joyful life.
Inspirational, Motivational, Spirituality, Personal Development
http://www.speakerservices.com/speakers/detail/157

Dr. Victoria Simon & Dr. Holly Pedersen,  Los Angeles and surrounding areas
Experts show how Fearless Communication empowers you to speak your truth with confidence and achieve successful relationships with lovers, friends, family, work colleagues - even the boss!
Communication, Professional Development, Relationships
http://www.speakerservices.com/speakers/detail/116

Pat Sendejas, Author, S. California, Nationwide
Daily news columnist for “Today Magazine” and Interior & Environmental Designer of 25 years, Feng Shui expert, wellness home consultant and author teaches how to optimize health & wealth
Environmental, Feng Shui , Interior Design
http://www.speakerservices.com/speakers/detail/6

Bob Young,  Northeastern Colorado
Former Lockheed group president shows how to crack the code to extraordinary results with ordinary effort.
Leadership, Motivational, Professional Development
http://www.speakerservices.com/speakers/detail/76

_______________________

TIPS AND ADVICE
Send your news, tips or advice to tips@speakerservices.com

How to Get F'R'E'E Publicity Without Ever Writing a Press Release?
- Robert Smith 3pr@ureach.com

Did you know it's possible to get publicity and do tons of
newspaper and magazine interviews without writing a press
release?

All you have to do is read any publication you want to be
featured in and send a follow up pitch letter. The best stories to do this with is those on the front or second page of anysection and those are 3 pages or more. (The most important stories are on the first couple of pages.)

Stories with this much coverage stand a good chance of having follow up articles over the next few issues. And since there will be follow up stories reporters will need additional sources or experts to speak with.

Here's a sample follow up letter that has gotten great results.

Dear (Name of reporter or editor)

In your coverage of potholes in our city I'd like to recommend a follow up story. As a leading expert on car repairs I've noticed that potholes are causing tremendous damage to local resident's automobiles.

The problem is caused when your car tires are....(you go on to explain the problem. Use statistics and facts if you have them.)

If you would like to follow up or for a future story please keep me in mind.

Sincerely,
Jack Doe
Jack Doe Auto Repair
888-3333

Follow up pitch letters should be quick and to the point. And for best results send early in the day.

Pub Note:  Robert will be teaching a teleclass on 3/14 on how to get $100,000 worth of FREE PR. To register http:speakerservices.com/teleclasses
_______________________

FREE TELECLASSES  offered by our speaker
Michelle Howe - michelle@wordmagic.biz
 
Productizing Your Expertise: The Secrets for Positioning Yourself  as an Expert in Your Field
 
Special Interview with author and productization expert, Pete Nelson of The Valeo Group.
Wednesday, March 9, 2005, 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. PST
 
Writing That Makes Your Point, Say it With Fewer Words
Tuesday, March 3, 2005, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. PST
 
Are You Making These 7 E-Mail Mistakes?
Tuesday, March 15, 2005, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. PST
Thursday, April 21, 2005, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. PST
 
Sign up:  http://www.wordmagic.biz/teleclasses.htm
_______________________

Knowbetter.com is a site devoted to E-book reviews and
technology reviews
- Michelle Price - michelle@athirdmind.com

If you are working on an e-book, have just published one,
or intend to do so in the future, the News Editor will
publish a news release about the book.

They are particularly interested in nonfiction titles,
especially textbooks, e-workbooks, or any material that you
might wish to sell to educational markets. Also, don't
hesitate to mail them with other newsworthy events and
promotions that you have an interest in making public.

There is no charge , and they will correspond with you
individually about the content of the release. If your
book is featured on a website, they will include a link to that as well.

They would be delighted to be the first reviewer of your
book. Primary areas of expertise are nonfiction works,
literary works, poetry- in fact, anything except romance.

Submit your inquiries here:
http://www.knowbetter.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=62
_______________________

The Number One Way to Get the Word out About Your Book
 - Judy Cullins- judy@bookcoaching.com

If you have spent time and money down the drain doing traditional marketing such as book signings or news releases, perhaps you are now ready to try the # ONE way to promote and sell your book. From "Ten Non-Techie Ways to Market your Book Online." do this first.

Write short articles and tips that reflect the gold in your book. If fiction, write an excerpt to entice millions of Online opt-in (no spam) ezine subscribers after they read the tip to either visit your Web site or call your toll-free order number to buy your book.

Tip Two

The Best Free Way to Optimize your Search Engine Placement and Get Targeted Free Web Traffic

1. Write a how to article or tip. Include your best key words and phrases in the article title and opening paragraph you submit to ePublishers and top Web sites. Search engines pick up these and you get higher in the top search engines. Expand your keywords through visiting www.goodkeywords.com.  When you are in the top 20 of search engine lists, many more people will visit your Web site. That eventually translates to sales.
_______________________

No More Stagefright - Have Fun Speaking!
- Dianne Legro, Dianne@diannelegro.com

7 Tips that calm and center you before your presentation:

1. Breathe and stretch before your presentation for at least ten minutes. This refreshes you, gets oxygen flowing to your brain and releases the hold your mind has on your body which gives you that “pent up” feeling.

2. Bend your knees slightly and bring your torso over your hips, so that your back is long and loose and your tailbone is pointed towards the floor. Let your shoulders drop. This put you directly aligned over your center of gravity and makes you stronger and calmer.

3. Shake your hands loose. This helps with creativity and mental agility.

4. Rehearse your opening and closing. Slowly go over the words you will say so that you are confident.

5. Before you speak, take a deep breath and find a face in the audience to connect with. Smile. Let them know you are glad to be there with them.

6. Remind yourself how important it is for people to receive this information. This takes the responsibility off you and puts it on the subject that they need to learn about.

7. Do a soft humming exercise. Close your lips and softly hum using the letter “mmmmmmmm.” This warms up your resonance and gets your tongue and lips relaxed and loose.

Remember, the presentation is not about you. People have come into the room needing to hear the information you have for them. What you need to think about is them and how much they need to hear the information! It helps them and takes your mind off YOU!

Send your news, tips or advice to tips@speakerservices.com
_______________________

Article:
Productizing Your Expertise:
The Secrets To Positioning Yourself as an Expert in Your Field by Pete Nelson
 
When it comes to securing new business, if I were to ask you  to choose between having clients chasing you for business or you having to  chase them…which would you choose?  Not a difficult question to answer, right? You want  customers chasing you for business. We all do. But the reality is that  getting your business to that point is a lot easier said than done.  Take for example a series of recent surveys and studies  that indicated over 70% of independent (solo) professionals make less than  $10,000 their first year in business.

When asked what might be holding  them back from expanding their business the two primary challenges given  were “a lack of time” and “not enough money and resources”. Regardless of  the amount of revenue your business brought in last year do these  challenges sound familiar to you?  What if there was a cost effective way to fully leverage  and maximize your experience and expertise through a set of tactics and  strategies that would not only grow your business and career in ways you  only dreamed of, but would allow you to consistently get your customers  chasing you for business instead of it always being the other way around?  There is and it’s . . . Productizing Your Expertise. 

What Is Productizing Your Expertise?
 Simply defined, productizing your expertise is the concept  and strategy of taking the intangible (which is your knowledge and  expertise) on a topic relevant to your service and converting it into a  tangible, information based product. The intention is to educate your  target audience with information relevant to your service in order to  achieve the following five critical components to growing your business: 
 1. Reinforce your credibility
 2. Enhance your visibility
 3. Bring you closer to qualified and ideal clients
 4. Accelerate your sales cycle
 5. Create additional revenue streams
 
The most popular and proven methods for productizing your  expertise include writing a book, speaking in public, creating audio  courses, writing articles and publishing an online newsletter. In many  cases, these products have provided a competitive edge to the  professionals who use them and proven to be the distinguishable factor in  leveling the playing field between smaller, under-capitalized companies  and their larger, more well financed competitors. 

Some of the service industries or professions that are in  need of productization and consequently, benefiting the most from it, are  law firms, accountants, business  life coaches, chiropractors, Web  designers, ophthalmologists, professional speakers and all types of  consultants. Of course, any company or individual who sells a service can  benefit greatly from channeling their expertise into information based  products. 

What’s important to keep in mind is that it’s not so much  the product you create as it is your intention behind creating the product  and knowing the market that the product is intended for that counts.  Specifically, what challenges and needs are your information products  filling for your prospects and clients? Knowing this is a result of doing  some basic market analysis and realizing what specific areas related to  your service that your market needs the most education on. 

Uncovering Your Expertise
 So where do you start leveraging your knowledge and  expertise? There’s five specific areas that you can tap into and start  transforming your knowledge and expertise into information products. 

1. Existing Collateral
 When it comes to productizing your expertise the first place to look is  your existing collateral. This includes everything from proposals, sell  sheets, Website content, direct mail pieces, brochures and even client  related documents. This is your hidden treasure, just waiting to be  leveraged. 

2. PowerPoint Presentations
 Your PowerPoint presentations are your product’s “Story Board”. Expand on  the bullet points and begin writing out brief paragraphs for each. This is  how I started writing my first book. 

3. Articles, White Papers  Books
 Any written piece that taps into your expertise can be leveraged as a  terrific lead generator and expanded into everything from audio programs  to seminars. It isn’t so much a question of whether you’ve written  anything, but how you leverage it that counts. 

4. Speeches  Seminars
 Every speech and/or seminar is a book and audio program waiting to be  written and recorded. If you have structured a speech, seminar or workshop  around a topic you know very well, you absolutely need to transform that  material into other lead generating products. 

5. Existing Clients
 Every client you work with is a terrific case study for you to leverage  and case studies are a form of productization. Create a case study or  white paper based on your best clients. You can even line up a series of  clients and interview them on a specific topic and then turn those  interviews into a book or article to be published online or offline.  Record the interviews and you have an audio program. Of course, you’ll  need to get written consent from your clients for this, but that shouldn’t  be too hard since you’re promoting them and their business through your  products. 

Making Your Products Work For You
 
Give some thought as to what you regularly educate your clients on, as it  relates to your “core” service or “core” product. For instance, if you’re  an accountant that works with small businesses you could write, speak  about and even record an audio program on “The 10 Most Common Mistakes  Small Business Owners Make Using QuickBooks”.  The key driving force isn’t just your knowledge or  expertise on a given subject. But more so, the breadth and depth of your  knowledge and expertise on the market you’re serving.

If you are off the  mark in terms of what your audience wants, no product in the world is  going to help you consistently bring in qualified clients. On the other  hand, if you’ve done your market analysis and have your finger on the  pulse of your market, the chances of your information products bringing in  new and qualified clients dramatically improves.  An example of how this works can be found with Dan Coen, a  leading call center consultant and customer service trainer. Dan wrote a  book titled, Building Call Center Culture, and routinely sends it, along  with a cover letter from himself, to senior executives and managers who  oversee call centers. Not only do most of the decision makers who receive  his book take Dan’s follow up call, but several have turned into clients  of Dan and his company.  The reason Dan’s strategy works so well is that not only  has Dan researched and analyzed his market, but he has created an  information product that reinforces his credibility and delivers solutions  to the very real challenges call centers face.

In essence, he’s leveraging  what he routinely educates his prospective clients on, but in this way,  he’s transferring that valuable information into not only books, but audio  programs that can educate hundreds, if not thousands of prospects  simultaneously. 

Pre-Educating Clients
 While developing and launching information based products  isn’t incredibly difficult it does require some time and effort on your  part. How much time and effort depends on how in-depth you want your  products to be. Let’s not forget every form of marketing and branding  requires time, money and effort. But when it comes to productizing your  expertise you will simply be utilizing all three much more wisely. With  that in mind, the process of uncovering your expertise and then  productizing it is really nothing more than a minor shift from what you’re  already doing right now to educate clients. 

No matter if you’re speaking in public, developing an  audio program, writing an article or book, using a brochure or PowerPoint,  the intention is still the same. You want to educate your target audience  in a manner that attracts, secures and maintains them as clients as cost  effectively as possible. Nothing does that as powerfully and as  effectively as productizing your expertise. Remember, the ideal client is  one that comes to you pre-educated and pre-sold. 

About The Author:
Pete  Nelson is an author of three books and a highly sought after professional  speaker. He is the creator behind the revolutionary and popular training  programs, Selling In Color and Productizing Your Expertise. His clients  range from independent professionals and small businesses to large  organizations such as Allergan, UCLA and the U.S. Department of Commerce. 







UPCOMING EVENTS


3/14  Teleclass
Get $100,000 in Free Publicity for your Books, Products or Services:  Get Booked on Oprah & Dr. Phil and more Robert Smith   learn more

3/21  Los Angeles Workshop 
Market Yourself as a Speaker, Susan Levin  learn more

4/11 & 4/18 Teleclass
The Business of Speaking: Creating a Marketing Strategy, Susan Levin  learn more

4/17  Video Demo Showcase in Los Angeles, 3 camera shoot
 learn more