Greetings,

I am really excited, We are 2 days away from the Speakers' Summit and Marketplace in Los Angeles this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Can't make the Summit? The CD's can be preordered individually or the entire 20 hours package is available including the handouts- to order: www.speakerssummit.com click on Speakers' Summit CD's. I'll let you know how it turns out and will share some of the highlights with you next week.

Sunday, March 12 we will be shooting 19 people at the 3 camera Video Demo Showcase at the Marina del Rey Hotel, 13534 Bali Way, Marina del Rey, CA 90292, Regatta Room and you are invited to be in the audience. The morning session is 10am-2pm, guests arrive at 9:30am, afternoon session, 3pm-7pm, guests arrive at 2:30pm in business attire please. The next 3 camera Video Demo Showcase is June 18. See details and streaming video samples http://speakerservices.com/videoprod.html. Feel free to bring friends.

The question I get asked most often is: How do I get speaking engagements? How do I find the event planners who want to hear my message? Did you know that www.speakerservices.com is an online directory since '94 which speakers and audiences together? We can help! We post new listings on a monthly basis. The 15th of each month is the deadline for copy. Please ask me for the speakers guidelines if you are interested.

So that you know-we are not a bureau or an agent therefore we take no commissions however we do charge a flat fee for our service. Want to learn more? Please feel free to call me so that I can assist you further and answer all your questions 310-822-4922 PST.

What our speakers are saying about our service:

Speaker Services has been instrumental in helping me develop my workshops and practice. I have had the opportunity to speak to a wide variety of audiences all over the country thanks to Susan and her online directory. One of the best investments I have made in my business.
-Jeffrey Levine, Speaker, Coach

It is said that knowledge is power, but it is only potential power. Susan's support and marketing ideas have given me the knowledge, and the power to utilize this knowledge. Now, as an accomplished speaker, author, and trainer I continue to use her services because she continues to progress her marketing capabilities. Speaker Services will far exceed expectations anyone can imagine. I highly recommend her knowledge to anyone desiring to start a career or enhance their profession. Thank you Susan.
-John James Santangelo, Speaker

To your speaking success,

Susan Levin
Speaker Services
http://www.speakerservices.com
310-822-4922, 877-773-2800

New and Renewing Speakers & Authors- 3/06
View all speakers: http://speakerservices.com

Click on the links to see the complete speaker listings and contact information

Vanessa Besack, S. California
PR expert shows how to get your message across to a vast audience - on a shoestring budget.
Branding, Business Building, Marketing, Public Relations
http://www.speakerservices.com/speakers/detail/169

Sabrina Gibson, Author, S. California
Marketing consultant shows how to stop spinning your wheels and puts you on the fast-track to a million-dollar business.
Business Building, Marketing, Sales
http://www.speakerservices.com/speakers/detail/213

Christiane Holbrook, Author, S. California
Business coach teaches how to avoid entrepreneurial burnout and build lasting, high-impact businesses.
Business, Entrepreneurship, Work/Life Balance
http://www.speakerservices.com/speakers/detail/215

Linda Lindemann, S. California
Identity theft consultant reveals latest scams and offers 14 simple ways to protect yourself now from this growing threat.
Asset Protection, Crime Prevention, Identity Theft
http://www.speakerservices.com/speakers/detail/217

Dr. Nicki Monti, MFCT, Author, S. California, Nationwide
Motivational teacher/psychotherapist shows how letting go of your personal "story" allows the success, happiness and joy you deserve flow into your life.
Emotional Fitness, Employee/Team Productivity, Motivational Empowerment
http://www.speakerservices.com/speakers/detail/214

Tips and Advice
Send tips to: tips@speakerservices.com

Last Complimentary Teleclass with Bart Smith, faculty of Speakers' Summit
Design and Develop Information Products, Q & A with Bart Smith
Wednesday, Feb. 8, 4-5pm PST
Register: http://speakerservices.com/teleclasses/detail/59 _________________

Turn your speeches into books and products you can sell Donna Beech, info@words2sell.com

Discover the fastest, most efficient way to turn your speeches into books and products you can sell. Award-winning editorial and ghostwriting services for books, articles, web content and more. FREE consultation. 866.547.7508 (US toll free), info@words2sell.com, http://www.words2sell.com
_________________

Great news for our industry
Lois Creamer, lois@bookmorebusiness.com

Meetings Media/MPI (corporate and association planners) report the following trends we should all be aware of:

• Budgets are increasing for meetings! This is due to increased attendance and number of meetings.
• For bigger annual meetings, lead times are getting further out. For smaller meetings, lead times are shrinking.
• Length of big meetings will be typically 1-3 days.
• 53% of planners report that they do not have an emergency/contingency plan for meetings even after 9/11.
• Meeting attendance has increased 10-12%. This is great news!
• HelmsBriscoe, one of the largest meeting/event planning companies in the world, report record attendance and recognition in the value of sending employees to events for continuing education.
• In general, planners seem to be optimistic about 2006 and expect to have the resources available to have successful events.

Stats on the hiring of speakers
Marilynn Mobley, marilynnmobley@cs.com

Here's a link to a very interesting article in Meetings and Conventions.
Enlightening. http://www.mcmag.com/plannersportfolio.aspx?articleid=49509 _________________

10 Benefits Of Submitting Articles To E-zines
Scott F. Geld

1. You, your website, and your business will become well known for the articles you provide to e-zines.
2. You will become known as an expert on the topics you write about. This will give you and your business extra credibility which will help you compete against your competition.
3. Your article might also be placed on the publisher's home page. If they publish each issue on their home page this will give you some extra exposure.
4. You can obtain more exposure if there is an archive directory of articles exists on the e-zine publisher's website. It's possible people will want to view past issues before they commit to subscribing.
5. You will receive advertising at no charge. In effect, you can use the money you make to advertise in e-zines that do not accept your articles.
6. You might get extra income from people wanting to hire you to write other articles, books, or even ask to speak at seminars. This is a great way to multiply your income.
7. You could allow e-zine publishers to publish your articles in their free e-books. Since people give them away, your advertising could multiply all over the internet.
8. You will get your article published all over the web when you submit it to an e-zine publisher that has a free content directory on their web site. They'll allow their visitors to republish your article.
9. People will begin to trust you. They are more apt to make a purchase of your products if they enjoy reading your article. You can then earn more profits.
10. You could establish an agreement with an e-zine where they would promise to publish your article. You could offer to place an article of theirs in your e-zine and they could place yours in theirs. Both of you win in this situation.

Post your speaking schedule
Scott Ginsberg, scott@hellomynameisscott.com

On your Web site, create a page called "Speaking Schedule" or "On Tour." Put the date, client name, what you're doing for them, and where you're speaking. This has four advantages:

• It tells your fans, customers and transient Web site visitors where you're speaking next. People always want to know where your speaking travels take you!
• It shows that you're out there speaking to various groups, cities, etc. This builds credibility.
• It makes your speaking services easy to buy. For example, I've had potential clients say, "Well, I checked your schedule, and it looks like you don't have any engagement on the week of the 5th. Would you be available to come to our company on that day?" Yes. Yes you would.
• It helps customers in your target audiences see that you'd be a good fit for them. If someone notices you're speaking to a youth conference, they might realize that you'd be perfect for THEIR youth conference too. I just got a call from a recruiting agency who said, "We saw you had a speech with a recruitment agency in St. Louis, so we thought, 'We should have him come speak at our meeting also!'"

STORIES REQUESTED:

Have you experienced SUCCESS BECAUSE OF YOGA OR MEDITATION?

Looking for short stories of how your life was changed through practicing Yoga and/or Meditation. Especially if you experienced major improvements in your financial and career due to inner improvement through Yoga and Meditation. Please be as concise and detailed as you can on the actual improvement you experienced. For your submission of a few paragraphs to 3 pages, you will get a complimentary copy of the book when released.

Please send to --Jeff Smith, jeff@infoproductcreator.com

I am writing a book about RAISING BIRACIAL AND MULTIRACIAL CHILDREN TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT THEMSELVES.

I am looking for stories from biracial/ multiracial people who were targets of racial prejudice and how these experiences were reframed and used to your benefit. I am also looking for stories from parents who are raising biracial and multiracial children (either natural or adopted) about what you did to raise your children to be strong in their identities.

Submissions will be edited for style, brevity and content. Contributors will be acknowledged in the Contributors Section of the book. In lieu of payment, contributors will receive two copies of the finished book.

For submission guidelines, send your contact information: name, address, phone and email and a brief description of the type of info you intend to share to walkinpeace@charter.net. (Your contact information will be kept confidential.)

________________

**S E N I O R S over 55... for olden Agers who date.

While on a date, have you had any humorous, bizarre, even horrible experiences or embarrassing moments? Has a date led to a successful, happy relationship? Would you like to share laughs and participate in a study of Golden Agers' Dating stories being conducted by Sheila Gruner, MA, PhD candidate, which will culminate in a book? We would love to hear your tales. Please contact Sheila at: +1-561-282-8939 or casasheila@peoplepc.com Your name will be kept confidential. A fictitious name will be used for you in the book unless you have given express permission to have your real name be used.

I am looking for stories from married people. I am writing a book about KEEPING THE SPICE IN YOUR MARRIAGE.

Send stories or ideas of what your wife used to do and doesn't anymore or what you wish they would do to bring excitement back to marriage and the bedroom. No hold barred. We want the truth. Please send storied to rena.wright@gmail.com.

Article: Selling Multiple Products? Avoid These Top Blunders by Marcia Yudkin

When your web site sells more than a dozen items, you may face a fierce challenge of helping shoppers find what they are looking for. You'll need to classify products into categories, but these will serve as obstacles and even deal killers if those categories do not match those in the heads of shoppers.

I've seen again and again web sites using classifications that aren't known or understood by a portion of their customers. For instance, I once wanted to buy T-shirts and went to the site of a famous catalog company, where I found a category called "shirts." So far, so good. But then I had to choose between a category called "woven" or another called "knitted." There I got stumped. Are T-shirts woven or knitted? I was not sure.

Another time I was searching for a Toyota car part, ready to buy it, but I could not find it on the Toyota parts website unless I knew whether it was part of the drive train, an accessory, the exhaust system or something else. I hadn't a clue. In both these cases, the site wrongly assumed that shoppers understood their jargon, and set that up as a barrier to an online purchase.

Let's suppose that you solve the jargon problem and someone finds what they are looking for. The next hurdle for shoppers concerns whether or not people can find answers to all the questions about availability, shipping charges, warranties and return policies that they could easily ask if shopping by phone or in person. In the last year, I would say that only 50% of the time when I'm shopping online I've had all of my pre-purchase questions answered by the web site. Among the multi-product sites I've toured as a reviewer, I don't remember a single one that answered enough questions for shoppers.

Before your site launches, you can think up all the questions people might ask by imagining different kinds of shoppers - people from other countries, corporate buyers, gift givers, etc. - and what they'd need to know. Once your site's been up for a while, collect the questions that come in by email and phone. Gather the questions and answers in a Frequently Asked Questions page and make the FAQ accessible from every page of your site.

Especially do not make people put items into their shopping cart and begin checking out in order to find out the shipping charges and refund policies! Another epidemic blunder is not revealing the address of the company behind the shopping site. Not only is this necessary to set at ease the mind of any shopper worried about recourse against no-show orders or faulty merchandise, it's important for some people to know where items are being shipped from.

Ditto for your privacy policy. Are you going to be renting out your list of customer addresses and bombarding everyone who's bought from you with frequent emails?

Online order forms range from easy to use and complete to baffling and aggravating. Submit yours to what I call "the grandmother test" - ask people who've never seen your site before to place an order and talk through the process out loud. Button your lips and listen. Note where they get stuck and fix your ordering procedures accordingly.

Finally, do you have testimonials attesting to the quality and value of what you sell and the pleasures of doing business with you? That's the cherry on the sundae of a well-designed site from a company shoppers recommend and return to for more purchases!

Marcia Yudkin marcia@yudkin.com is the author of Web Site Marketing Makeover and 10 other books. A four-time Webby Awards judge and internationally famous marketing consultant, she critiques web sites and performs web site makeovers for clients. Learn more about her detailed critique sessions on five different kinds of web sites (including multi-product sites) at www.yudkin.com/websitequiz.htm