Greetings,

This Thursday-Saturday,  May 3-5 we will be at the 2nd annual Speakers’ Summit www.speakerservices.com/speakerssummit07 .  Seats are still available if you can make it to this yearly event.

We have several events on the calendar for the next 6 months: The Speakers’ Bootcamp in August, BizSpeak & one camera Video Workshop in September, The 3rd annual MediaSpeak Symposium in October, 3 camera Video Demo Showcase in June and November and February ‘08 The Visionary Business Conference.  You can always check out our activities on the home page at www.speakerservices.com just glance over to the third column for upcoming events and click learn more and you are there.

Besides producing events we have an online directory www.speakerservices.com since ‘92 which brings speakers and audiences together.  We are a paid listing service and take no commissions. We work with business folks who recognize the value of speaking as a way to build their practice and income.  Peter Vogel shares his experience in a short article below on 4 Compelling Reasons To Use Public Speaking To Get Clients.  He says, “As a speaker and copywriter, I've used all the recommended techniques for landing clients, including direct mail, writing articles, and cold calling.  But there is one tool that's given me the biggest (and quickest) bang for my marketing buck, and it is LOTS of fun.  Yes, you guessed it:  it’s public speaking.” If you are interested in speaking gigs feel free to call me so we can discuss your needs and concerns.  Yes, I almost always answer the phone! 310-822-4922 PST.

What our Speakers are Saying:  This could be you too.

Amazing!  Incredible!  There aren't enough words to express what a wonderful investment Speaker Services was for my business.  Susan Levin knows how to connect speakers with key business-building opportunities.  Her expertise has helped me increase my clientele in a short period of time. In addition to the many products and services that were beneficial, it's Susan's "personal touch" that makes it the best investment a speaker will ever make.
- Lisa Marie Platske, Upside Thinking™

I signed up with Speaker Services, got a speech the next day, and it's been raining speeches ever since! I cannot say enough about Susan Levin's remarkable generosity and support. She has been an unfailing source of information and inspiration at all times. I highly recommend Speaker Services if you are serious about increasing your business.
—Ann Convery, Speaker, Author

Partial list of our clients: American Bus Association, Effective Workshops, S. California, Brinderson Corp,  Torrance, CA  Well Point Sales Training, Woodland Hills, Ca. , RE/MAX Realtors, Sherman Oaks, CA, Xerox Management, Santa Monica, CA. , Culinary Arts Institute, Glendale, CA, Woodbury College, Pasadena, CA, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Sacramento, CA, Washington State University,  Washington, DC, Family Housing Fund, Minneapolis, MN, ChoicePoint Inc., Atlanta, GA, Director of Convention Sales & Marketing Convention and Visitors Bureau Greater Portland, Maine, State of Washington Dept. of Ecology Data Bahn Inc., Dallas Texas Annual Men's Health Conference, by Senator Deborah Ortiz, Sacramento, CA.  Read more http://www.speakerservices.com/adv_pkt_info.html .

Ready to get listed? E-mail susan@speakerservices.com a request for the listing guidelines and rates.  May 15th is the deadline for your copy to be posted the beginning of June.
 
In this e-zine for May I am pleased to bring you a bunch of valuable tips and recommended resources that will be helpful for your business.

Best regards,
Susan Levin
Speaker Services
310-822-4922 PST

Speaker Services Recommended Resources

Websites Customized for Speakers, Authors and Professionals
Link to products, newsletter, blogs, speaking topics, events, training, even a shopping cart, add photos and more. Add streaming video and or audio. Simple do it yourself maintenance. $350 for website template, hosting and optimization also available. Will customize to your needs.  Brian Williams. Learn more at: http://tinyurl.com/2eyuen

My Training Center

Bart Smith, "The Marketing Man" has created yet another tremendous online learning resource for authors, speakers, trainers, business owners and consultants who want to develop and market their own products and services. With hundreds of audio and video tutorials and other business, marketing, audio-recording and self-publishing special reports inside, it's absolutely the largest training web site resource of its kind.  A "MUST SEE" to believe!

LEARN MORE ABOUT COMPUTERS,
Business,
21 Ways To Marketing Your Business,
51 Ways To Market Your Web Site Address,
Internet Marketing,
Selling Online,
Web Site Design,
Registering Really Great Domain Names,
Writing Books,
Writing Tips,
Self-Publishing,
Marketing & Selling Books,
Audio Recording,
Recording Tips,
Creating Audio Books,
Creating Audio Libraries,
Selling Audio Online,
Starting Your Own Affiliate Program,
Making Money From Home,
Shopping Carts,
Merchant Accounts,
Graphic Design Programs,
Conducting Tele-Seminars (How-To),
Public Speaking,
Presentation Nervousness,
Free Publicity,
Domain Name Registration,
Starting a Home Business,
Marketing any Business both Online or Offline
and SO MUCH MORE!

LEARN AT YOUR OWN PACE! Great for Speakers, Authors, Coaches, Business Owners and any one who wants to Own/Start Their Own Business!
Website: http://mytrainingcenter.com/speakerservices

Tips/Advice

2 Tips from Larry Chase’s, Web Digest For Marketers
http://wdfm.com

1. Social Media Linking
 
You've heard all about Digg and Del.icio.us and may even be participating in these social media networks to promote your site. The problem with some of the social media big guns is you must evaluate who is using these sites, whether or not they are your target audience and therefore whether or not a time-intensive social media strategy will pay off for you.

There is another option, however, and that is tapping into one of the growing number of niche social media sites instead. For example, This Next is a shopping recommendation site for products of all kinds. It's driven by visitor recommendations, each of whom tag their favorite products with various keywords so that others with the same interests can find them.

So, for example, if your company has a product to market you can set up your own ThisNext  www.thisnext.com account, pick a few of your products, tag them, throw in your company URL and then hook up with others who share your tags. As long as you are providing good information (as opposed to self promotion) this is a viable strategy. Other examples of topical social sites are DealBundle, http://dealbundle.com/  wherein users collaborate on finding the best deals by store or product, and fashion-specific social shopping site StyleHive  http://www.stylehive.com/home/index.htm.
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2. Content Repurposing

You've written or paid to have someone write content for you, so you might as well get as much as you can out of your investment by repurposing it. You can submit your content to an article bank, where other sites can pick up your articles or tip lists or what have you and link to them or publish them on their sites. Companies that offer a directory of already published content include Ezine Articles
http://www.ezinearticles.com , Go Articles  http://www.goarticles.com and iSnare.com   http://www.isnare.com

You'll want to find out whether your content will live solely on the article bank's site or whether those who pick it up can publish it directly on their sites. If they do so, keep in mind you lose do lose control of where your content appears and that may have branding implications. But hey, isn't the same true of RSS feeds?

If you or someone on your staff is a prolific writer, you may also want to get a gig publishing regularly to an industry publication or by publishing regularly to a content site where user-contributed articles are welcome, such as Topix Business News  http://www.topix.net/business or Newsvine.  http://www.newsvine.com
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Tip from John Kremer
John Kremer, http://www.bookmarket.com

Jennifer Brown will be doing children's book reviews and news for the Shelf Awareness daily ezine. Send review copies to her in care of Shelf Awareness, Jennifer Brown, Children's Book Reviewer, P.O. Box 43310, Upper Montclair, NJ 07043-0310; 973-953-0304. Email: brown@shelf-awareness.com Web: http://www.shelf-awareness.com
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QUOTATIONS FOR SPEECHES

Excerpted from  Presentations: Proven Techniques for Creating Presentations That Get Results by Daria Price Bowman
 
Presenters find it’s helpful to borrow words of others to begin or close their remarks, to make a point, or to add a little humor or poignancy.  Good presenters keep a stash of pithy or pointed quotations to put spice into their mix of words.
 
When using a quotation, you may want to introduce it with the following phrases:
•  A wise person once said...
• (Name of person quoted) once said...
•  I read that...
•  I’ve heard that...
•  Someone once said....
If you feel the need to change the quotation, you might say:
•  (Name) once offered this advice
•   I read something that impressed me. 
    It goes something like this ....
•  There’s an old saying that goes something like this
• To paraphrase (name)...
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Reaching Airport Bootstores:
Brian Jud, http://www.bookmarketing.com11.
 
Two top airport bookstore retailers are Hudson Booksellers and The Paradies Shops. You can reach them through distribution companies such as Bookazine, Anderson News or Midpoint. Or, you can contact them directly:

Book Buyer, Hudson Booksellers, 1521 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 250, Marietta, GA  30062 and The Paradies Shops, Inc., 5950 Fulton Industrial Boulevard, S.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30336, 404.344.7905
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Use the Power of Your Voice to Attract More Clients
Jeanette S Cates, PhD-The Technology Tamer
www.jeanettecates.com

We are speakers; therefore, it only makes sense that we have audio  on our web sites. But until now, it has been complex and tedious  to add audio to your site - actually, you needed a "techie" and  a week. Now it only takes a phone call and a single line of code.

Audio can provide an added dimension to your site. It creates a warm  atmosphere where visitors feel like they know you. And it can enhance  your reputation as an expert. Here are several ways you can start  using audio on your speaker site.

1.  Welcome people to your site. Toward the top  of the page, add your photo or a short statement saying “Listen  to a short welcome message” then a button to start the audio.  Keep it brief and tightly targeted to the people you’ve brought to the site.

2.  Give them a sample of your presentation.  You can record this sitting in your office or use a clip from a  live performance. Either way,  your visitors will be able to hear your style and form a closer  bond with you as a presenter.

3.  Provide client testimonials. One of  the most powerful techniques for using audio is to ask your clients  to record a short audio testimonial.  Ideally you can capture this with a tape recorder at a live event  or have them call and record it on the phone. The audio testimonial,  combined with a photograph of the person giving it, gives a powerful  picture of who you are and why a newcomer would like your services  or product.

4.  Answer questions. If you have FAQs, consider  answering some of them with audio. Sometimes it’s easier  and faster to explain something verbally than to write the entire  explanation. Plus, they’ll  be able to hear that golden voice again!

5.  Provide the latest information. Record  a weekly update on news from your industry, then add it to your  site. It gives people a reason  to return to your site and gives you the status of being an up-to-date  expert. You can even alert them to the newest update with a brief  email message.

6.  Offer a mini course using email with  audio explanations.  Instead of all of the material being written, you can change the  pace and put a lot of information into a short space by offering  some segments via audio. This is especially effective if you want  to share a short meditation or visualization exercise.

7.  Demonstrate your coaching or consulting  techniques by using a short audio clip from a client call.

8.  Walk them through a process. If you have a  form you want visitors to complete, use audio to walk them through  the  sign up. Remember  to pace your remarks so they can easily complete the tasks  as you’re  talking.

Regardless of the technique you use, you owe it to yourself and  your clients to start using audio on your site. It’s faster  than ever and you should be taking advantage of that easy-to-use  technology.

Pub note:  I’ve been using AudioAcrobat for almost 3 years and love it- AudioAcrobat - Powerful and Easy Online Radio and Audio Content Development Tool AudioAcrobat is an audio recording, streaming and hosting service. All of your audio and video messages are automatically converted into a single piece of html code that can be uploaded to any Website.

Try it for 30 days for free and see for yourself.  Use this link to check it out: http://speakerservices.audioacrobat.com
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4 Compelling Reasons To Use Public Speaking To Get Clients by Peter Fogel

If you're like most people having a colonoscopy might be a more pleasurable activity than giving a public speech.  However, this activity will rapidly become one of your favorites when you let it give your career the huge boost it has given mine.

If you're an author, consultant, trainer, life coach, small business owner, or any client based business owner---you know better than anyone that the success of your company will hinge on how you market and get your branded message out to your targeted audience.

As a speaker and copywriter, I've used all the recommended techniques for landing clients, including direct mail, writing articles, and cold calling.  But there is one tool that's given me the biggest (and quickest) bang for my marketing buck, and it is LOTS of fun.  Yes, you guessed it:  it’s public speaking.

I have, for example, so far gotten over $12,3000 worth of work (plus repeat business)...all from just one seminar I spoke at in my own hometown.

Here are four reasons to use public speaking to elevate yourself above your competition and land your dream clients.

1. It Makes You the "Expert"

The quickest way to make yourself the "expert" (short of writing 60 or more books over 20-plus years) is to stand in front of a room full of eager, targeted clients who are there to gain the information and knowledge they need.  And you're the one who's giving it to them.

People feel "If he was asked to speak, he MUST know what he's doing."  Remember, expert status can equal higher fees (regardless of your past experience).

2. It Gives You One-on-One Contact With Potential Clients

No more getting a potential client's voice mail.  No more hoping they got your letter.  No more playing phone tag.  Public speaking gives you the opportunity to talk to them face to face.

You have their undivided attention, so you can deliver strong content, solve their problems, hit their hot buttons, and have them clamoring for your services.  You can interact and connect with your audience right there and then.

3. It Gets You Out of Your Comfort Zone...And Into a Sizeable Profit Zone

If you’re someone who spends a lot of time in front of a computer, or in the office, then public speaking is an effective tool to use because it gets you out...and gets you to interact with an entire universe of prospects.  This is a great way to learn not only what prospective clients want and need, but also to learn what your target market wants and needs.

And nothing is more exciting than to give a good program and have eager clients coming up afterward to exchange business cards with you or ask a for an appointment to discuss a future project.

4. It's the Quickest Way to Build Your E-zine Opt-In List for Future Contacts and Communication

I spoke at a seminar that had about 80 attendees.  Every one of them signed up for my e-zine.  At the beginning of my presentation, I gave each person a sheet to fill out with their contact information.  Then I had "a call to action" during the seminar to remind them to do it.  It worked very well.

The cost to get their contact information?  Zero dollars.  The ability to follow up with them whenever I want to?  Priceless.

Your ability to acquire the most desirable clients depends on the type of audience you address.  Chambers of Commerce and Rotary Clubs are good places to start.  Just make sure you provide them with content that THEY are interested in hearing.

Keep in mind that you will be approached by lower-end clients (who can't pay as much) as well as higher-end ones.  Working with lower-end clients is a perfect way to start the ball rolling in your business.  Higher-end clients will more than make up for it down the road.

Peter Fogel is a high response copywriter, speaker, and author. He is also the creator of "Peter 'The Humorator' Fogel's Guide to Effective Public Speaking." For more information on it - and to get his FREE 7 Days to Effective Public Speaking E-course - go to www.fortune500comedy.com/PublicSpeakingEBook

Peter Fogel is also the author of the book, “If Not Now… then When? Stories and Strategies of People Over 40 Who Have Successfully Reinvented Themselves.” As a comedian he's appeared on “CBS Morning Program”, “Evening at The Improv”, “Caroline’s Comedy Hour”, “Comedy Central”, and has worked on such sitcoms as “Married With Children” and “Hope and Faith.” Visit http://www.fortune500comedy.com for more!.  Article Source: http://www.positivearticles.com