Speaker Services E-News -6/09
Training, Marketing and Development
http://www.speakerservices.com

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In this Issue:
-  Note from Susan Levin, founder
-  New & Renewing Speakers/Authors
- Tips & Advice
-  Article:  Seed and Grow Rich! A Proven Approach to Selling That’s Not Salesy
- 

Note from Susan Levin, founder

Message from Susan Levin

Wow the month of May flew by.  At the beginning of May we did the Speakers’ Summit –our yearly event with over 70 folks in attendance.  Many of the attendees insisted that we offer another Summit in six months rather then a year.  We listened and I am in the process of organizing the Summit for Oct 19 & 20.  You can have a peak at the program at www.speakerservices.com/speakerssummit1008/program.html  and former Summit attendees can take advantage of the $397 fee and the three for one offer and new attendees will pay $597 and be able to bring two colleagues for the one fee of $597. The MP3’s and handouts from the Summit are ready for you to purchase.  Check it out at http://www.speakerservices.com/products/detail/88.  You can see a one minute video on each of speakers’ program plus you can order single MP3’s or all 6 MP3’s at a very reasonable cost.  We also installed a shopping cart for easy purchase and almost all of our CD’s are available as MP3’s.   See all of our products at http://www.speakerservices.com/products.

Did you know I hired a VA?. My work life has completely shifted since Christina my VA (virtual assistant) came into my life.  I have more free time to do what I want to do and have a life too.  I don’t know how I managed before. Oh yes. I do - I worked 24-7. 

This month we are doing our three camera video demo showcase, I am also speaking at the Holistic Chamber of Commerce and we are offering a 1/2 day workshop/luncheon called Talk Up Your Business.  This event is for anyone who needs to communicate.  Do you know someone like that?  In addition to How to Make Money as a Speaker and Powerful Presentations talks by myself and Jack Barnard we will answer all your questions and share our services to see if there is fit for you and we will have lunch all for the incredible price of $39.  

June teleclasses for the Speakers’’ Community include :  Mari Smith talking about Social Media for your Business on June 11 . Mari is a Facebook expert .  If you are not a member of the Speakers’ Community you can come on the teleclasses and receive the mps for a reasonable fee.  For June 11 register at http://www.speakerservices.com/teleclasses/detail/89
On June 24 I will be interviewing Deborah Deras, Speaker and Author of Confessions of an Andrenaline Addict . Details: http://www.speakerservices.com/teleclasses/detail/92 .

In July we will have the one camera BizSpeak & Video Workshop  where professionals will actually get to do three or four one to two minute video segments that they can use in various ways (see my tips below) and you can see sample videos on the BizSpeak page.

The Speakers’ Bootcamp is just around the corner- July 30-August 3.  I think the best way to talk about the Bootcamp is expressed by some of the attendees.

Barbara Niven said, Jack is the Wizard of Oz for speakers.  Every person had a profound transformation and walked away with marketable branding and a solid speech foundation.  Thank you Jack, for your heart and soul.  We’ll take part of you with us out into the world.

Betty LaMarr said, Bootcamp was indeed an experience.  It met my expectations and more.  I left with an incredible brand and identified a plan and process for developing speeches and seminars. 

And John Vosler simply said The Bootcamp kicked my ass and I liked it!

Anyhow if you want to play the GAME you need the ticket and how are you going to get the ticket?  By attending the Bootcamp.

Lisa Sasevich weighs in today with a great article on Seed and Grow Rich! A Proven Approach to Selling That’s Not Salesy.  This is an issue that is something I am always asked about.  How do I sell my services without being obnoxious?  She will also be my guest on July 28 on a teleclass as well as one of the featured speakers at the October Speakers’ Summit.

Susan Levin
Speaker Services & Speakers’ Community
310-822-4922 PST
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Meet our New & Renewing Speakers/Authors, June ‘08

Click here to see listings of Featured Speakers/Authors
http://www.speakerservices.com/categories/featured.html

Steven Bloore - S. California
Certified Hypnotherapist shows how to reprogram your subconscious mind to replace old patterns with new behavior, support healing and create the life of your dreams.
Cancer Therapies, Empowerment, Stress Management, Wellness

Deborah Deras - Author, Video   -- S. California
Success coach, author and entrepreneur help busy professionals achieve more with less effort.
Diversity, Law of Attraction, Stress Management, Time Management, Work/Life Balance

Betty LaMarr - S. California
Expert business consultant and coach shows how to stay true to your core values in the workplace while generating profit, productivity, work-life balance and inner peace.
Cultural Diversity, Personal Development, Work/Life Balance

Gina Ratliffe - S. California
Success & Life Coach shows women entrepreneurs how to hone feminine energy to achieve success and prosperity, based on the personal journey of history’s legendary Queen Esther.
Motivational, Prosperity, Success, Women's Issues

Bill Rose - S. California
Consumer attorney reveals how to avoid debt relief scams, make creditors play fair, and fight back effectively by knowing your rights.
Consumer Rights, Debt Relief, Negotiation

See all entire list of Speakers/Authors:
www.speakerservices.com

TIPS AND ADVICE

Need to write a book or info product fast  but don't know how?

My friends at the Blog Squad, Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff  created the Blog to Book Project http://www.blogtobook.com/ and have a free 7-step mini-course  http://www.blog2bookminicourse.com on how to use a blog to write your book.

In the free mini course you will learn how to...
•    Build an audience of raving fans fast •    Create your content effortlessly •    Automatically build your marketing platform while you write •    Organize your content with one simple step •    Become a recognized expert in your field   •    Write your book in 90 days or less

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SEEKING GUESTS FOR ONLINE RADIO SHOW
Contact Frantonia Pollins at fmpollins@gmail.com

Frantonia Pollins host of the WEALTHY online radio show designed to empower women  is seeking guests speakers for a reciprocal joint venture which includes an interview for the show, product & event promotions and sales, and future partnerships to be determined.
 
In order to be considered, you must meet the following criteria:
1) You must have a website
2) You must have a tangible product (book, CD, DVD, workshop/seminar/conference, etc)
3) You must have an opt-in mailing list (emails)
4) You must provide me with a written testimonial letter no more than 72 hours after your appearance on the show
5) You must agree to a reciprocating joint venture agreement (details provided later)
6) You must have or establish an affiliate program
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Sheryl Roush says: Be PUBLISHED in the forthcoming BOOK:
Heart of a Woman in Business - Stories, Strategies and Skills for Business Success

Original contributions are needed: short stories, up to 1,200 words; poems; quotations; advice; anecdotes; suggestions; best practices; insights; and?successes. Get incredible exposure! Include your company name, expertise, and website address. You maintain all copyright of your original material.

There is NO FEE to participate in this publication, NO OBLIGATION to purchase printed books. Deadline July 1st. Email a text message or Word.doc file to Sheryl Roush: Sheryl@SparklePresentations.com  More information is posted at: http://heartbookseries.com
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Tips on how to use Video

1. Create short videos about your products and services, upload them to your website, and include video links in your press releases.

2. Speakers, create short video snippets of your presentations and post them at your site

3. Use videos to demonstrate how to use your product.

4. Authors, create short little videos that discuss portions of your books.

5. Take visitors on a tour of your website using a screen-capture software program like Camtasia.

6. Shoot your own video of events the media won’t cover, and submit the video to local newspapers and TV stations, many of which offer consumer-generated video at their websites.

7. Use video on a one-page sales letter. If a picture is worth a thousand words, video can close the sale.

8. Generate leads and pull traffic by creating videos and posting them to YouTube and other video-sharing sites.

9. Use video at your blog, or create a video blog on a free Wordpress platform.
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Two great Tips from John Kremer
John Kremer's Book Marketing Tip of the Week
Web: http://www.bookmarket.com

African-American book clubs

Jeff Rivera, author of Forever My Lady and one of the most generous authors in publishing, has sent me a list of 191 book clubs that discuss African-American books. He has kindly allowed me to share the list with you. You can download the Excel file for free at the following address :http://www.bookmarket.com/BlackBookClubs.xls.

Also, check out the new article Jeff wrote on how to attract a first class literary agent: http://www.bookmarket.com/literaryagents.htm.

He also offers a wonderful service connecting authors with agents. It's called Query Match: Agents. Just this past week, he has helped three authors get agents. For more information about this service, email Jeff at Jeff@jeffrivera.com.

And

David Shepherd, author of a debut novel called Resurrecting Randi, sent me two great ideas for doing a book tour. Here are his tips:

1) Meetup.com includes book discussion groups in most cities. They stipulate the type of books they're interested in, and the group leaders can be emailed directly from the site. As we all know, book groups are becoming more and more influential, and are also being targeted by major publishers. Still, notifying them that an author is appearing in their city and offering them an advance copy has had some positive results for us.

The link http://writers.meetup.com will take you to a page that shows the total number of groups worldwide (410), the number of cities (251),
and allows you to search for groups by city or zip. Once you've found the city you want, select the group you want and MeetUp will tell you
how many members that group has, how often they meet, and who the organizer is. The organizer will have an email address though you have to register for Meetup.com to access these addresses. That's no big deal and there's no charge.
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ARTICLE

SEED AND GROW RICH!
A Proven Approach to Selling That’s Not Salesy
by Lisa Sasevich Sales Conversion Specialist
www.theinvisibleclose.com
 
The dictionary definition of ‘seed’ is:
¨     A fertilized plant ovule containing an embryo capable of developing a new plant; a source; offspring; to plant seeds in.
 
Seeding while giving a live presentation is the technique of planting valuable little tidbits of useful information (seeds) that come from the products or services you will be offering for sale some time during your presentation. It works wonderfully in both group and one-on-one situations and works in any medium, whether on the phone, live or on a recorded product.
 
If done well, seeding should create a hunger in the person listening so that they want more.  You give them something very valuable and also let them know that more of that good stuff can be found in your book, CD, weekend workshop, etc…
 
There is a particular place that I come from with seeding that has been very, very effective for me over the last 19 years. It has certainly been one of the keys to my success as a speaker, trainer and salesperson.
 
I’ve used this approach everywhere from leading personal growth seminars all the way through selling and presenting for big companies like Pfizer Pharmaceuticals and Hewlett Packard.
           
This is part of what makes up “my style” as a trainer, and it happens to be a skill that is also transferable. In other words, it’s teachable. You don’t have to be me to pull it off.  It’s something you can learn as a skill and it will do magical things for your presentation style and sales results.
 
 Seeding Mistakes You See All The Time
 
Have you ever been at a presentation where you loved the speaker, they’re providing so much value…and then they switch into their “sales mode”?
 
They start “doing sales” on you? Sometimes their voice changes or they start speaking like an auctioneer or the Ginsu Knife guy?
 
Sometimes they’re so passionate about their subject that when they’re teaching their voice is really enthusiastic and they are very self expressed, but when they switch into “doing sales” they go down a few octaves. Their enthusiasm, which was there the whole time, shifts into a mode of, “Okay, bear with me, I’m going to do the sales part now.”
 
Another common mistake that a lot of speakers make is they passionately provide value throughout their whole talk and then they throw in the “sales part” at the last few minutes.  They get their sales sheet out or their special offers for the day and they run through it really quickly. Sometimes they do it so quickly that you’re not exactly sure what they’re talking about. They’re trying to hurry as if they are doing this bad thing to you and they better hurry up and get it over with.
 
There’s this whole mode that you see trainers shift gears into and it’s not very enrolling. It doesn’t drive you toward them and what they’re offering.  In fact, it gives me the heebie-jeebies!
 
A New Place to Come From
 
Many of my consulting and coaching clients are really wonderful creative people who are offering a fabulous product or service, but they are the best kept secret in their industry because of their fear of being too pushy or salesy.  They are afraid they will turn people off. This approach works really well for them.
 
My approach to seeding is called “Partnership from the Start.”
 
>From the very beginning of my presentation, I establish a partnership with my audience. It allows me to unabashedly promote my offerings, without seeming salesy or pushy. In fact, it’s fun!
 
Whether I’m speaking for 45 minutes or for two days, where I come from to establish this partnership is this:
 
-  I have a limited amount of time with my audience.
-  The information I am providing is super-valuable and will transform their lives, their business, etc...
-  And even though I have a specified amount of time with them, I have more to give them than I can possibly fit into the time we have.
- Thus, I’m going to give them as much value as I can possibly squeeze into our allotted time.
-  And as a service to them, as I touch on subjects that I have more to say about, but not enough time to include it all, I will point out where they can get more on that subject.
-  This is what a true partner would do.
 
I tell them right from the beginning, “Since we have a limited amount of time together, I’m going to give you everything I can in the time we have. From experience I can tell you that there will be some topics that you will likely want to dive deeper into and we just won’t have time. So, along the way I’ll show you how you can get more on that subject through one of the resources I offer. And then later today, I’ll show you how you can get some amazing deals on my products and services if you feel inspired and want more.”
 
What This Approach Does For You As A Speaker, Trainer or Salesperson:
 
Using this approach right from the beginning has more benefits than I can begin to describe. Here are the top 4:
 
1)    If you seed as a partner from the beginning, then you don’t have to switch into “Sales Mode” when it comes time to talk about your product offerings. You’ve already given valuable tidbits from each of your products and pointed them out along the way.
 
2)    When it comes time to present your special offers, you just have to remind them that this is the product that contains the great information you gave them about X, and it has 17 more secrets beyond what you were able to share with them in the limited amount of time you had together.
 
3)    You don’t end up having to describe each and every product you are offering when you get to presenting your special offers. You already did it briefly while you were seeding. Thus, you don’t end up with a long “sales part” at the end. The whole time you were pointing out where they could get more on the topics you covered, and then you show them how to get it on special.
 
4)    It relaxes your audience because they’re not wondering when “the big close” is coming. You told them how it was going to go and what you were going to do and you are doing it.
 
This is the best approach I’ve found for wonderful trainers who have a hard time being salespeople. With your mind coming from a place of partnership and service, you will truly want your audience to have the benefit of your offering. Thus, you are just focused on completely serving them…rather than selling them.
 
 A Few Words of Caution
 
You really do have to come from and believe that you have great information and you truly do have a limited amount of time with these people. You need to believe that it is truly is a service to show them how it all fits together and where to get more.  If you don’t believe that, then maybe you are really not connected to the benefits of what you are offering. You can’t try to “do” this technique. It’s a place to come from.

This is not about trying to squeeze a little product plug in everywhere you can. This is about giving value and then pointing out where more can be found. You want to teach for a while, give some value and then, when there’s a truly appropriate time to show someone where more value can be found, you show them from a consultative place.
 
Imagine checking out a new restaurant and the owner comes out and reads you the menu. Informative at best. Now imagine that he comes out with a sample tray of the top five dishes they offer. You get to taste and smell the food and if it’s good…you want more!
 
It’s the same when you’re seeding. You can’t just read them the menu of what you offer. Give them a taste of your best, something they can sink their teeth into and can immediately apply in their life and/or business. Make it so good, that they leave feeling served and like they got tremendous value whether they bought or not.
 
When you seed well you leave your audience thinking, “That appetizer was so good…I can’t wait to have the whole meal!”
 
Are You Ready For The Whole Meal?
 
As I write this my mind is exploding with all of the other critical elements that dramatically increase sales at your live presentations.
 
You are probably wondering things like…
 
Once you’ve seeded well, what are the key elements to presenting your Irresistible Offers? Is there a certain format I should use? And, what are the secrets to Designing Irresistible Offers? What makes someone act now and buy “the whole meal?”
 
I have an idea!
 
Visit www.theinvisibleclose.com  to download my FREE 6-Part series, “Simple, Quick and Easy Ways to Boost Sales Without Spending a Dime!”  It’s loaded with information you can immediately apply to skyrocket sales without being “salesy”. And I promise you, if there are subjects you want even more on, I’ll point out where you can get more and most likely offer you a great deal!
 
(See how I did that?!)

  And in the Blog

- How to Earn a Reputation as a Thought Leader

- 5 Steps for Getting Your Articles Published

- Why Aren’t You Talking to Me?
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UPCOMING EVENTS

Speakers' Community Teleclasses
- June 11- Social Media for your Business
- June 24- Confessions of an Adreneline Addcit

Complimentary for Speakers' Community Members
Not a member? Join now
60 days complimentary
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Susan is speaking at the Westside Holistic Chamber of Commerce, Friday, June 13.  $15, RSVP holisticchamber@live.com Website
http://wholisticchamber.com
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June 8
Video Demo Showcase
learn more
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June 23
Market Yourself as a Speaker Workshop
learn more/register

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July 12 & 13
BizSpeak & Video Workshop (1 camera shoot)
learn more

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July 30-Aug 3
The Game: Speakers' Bootcamp
learn more

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Sept 19-21
Authors' SpeakEasy & Video Workshop
learn more

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