May 24, 2013

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Ready for your close up? 8 keys to media interviews

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Welcome to Famous in Your Field! Here’s your free weekly tip to boost your fame factor. (Be sure to sign up in the box on the right to get on the VIP list for free tips and training, delivered straight to your inbox.)

Famous in Your Field: 8 tips for great TV interviews

Last month I scored a fantastic interview with a former producer. Roshanda Pratt spent 10 years as a television news producer in a top 20 market in the fast-paced world of 24-hour news channels.

She crammed our conversation with the inside scoop on who does what in the newsroom, how stories make it onto news programs, and the must-have factors that make a story air-time worthy. (Get it here if you missed it.)

Now, we’ll dig into her best advice to give great television interviews.

You did it! You scored an interview on the television news. Once you’ve texted your mom, your BFF and that frenemy you love to one-up, panic sets in…

“What will I say?”

“What if I goof it up?”

Keep cool, my soon-to-be-famous in your field friend. With a few pointers and a bit of prep, you’ll make a fan of the interviewer and have a spectacular clip to share with all your clients and prospects.

1. Preparation is paramount

You’ll up your chances of delivering a killer performance if you prepare. (I know that there are a few people who say that they perform better without rehearsals, but because I’ve never seen the prepared versions, I’m just not buying it.)

Roshanda advises, “Before the interview, figure out who within your organization can communicate the story? Are they prepared for the camera?”

Whether that’s you or someone else in your organization, make sure that person is well coached. You can expect to spend several hours preparing for your few minutes in front of the camera. (Don’t worry, once you’ve got a few interviews under your belt, it gets easier and takes less prep time.)

2. Know the format

First, it helps to understand the framework of the television news programs. The producer – the person who researched and writes the news stories that anchors read on the air – spends eight hours vetting news, culling sources and distilling stories into a 30 minute show.

The average story on the news is only 2 minutes long. You’ll likely only appear on the air for 20 seconds or less.

Here’s Roshanda’s advice: “Do your research!” Go to the show’s website and watch a few stories. See how they’re structured, listen to the “experts” who are featured. How do they communicate? What kind of language do they use?

3. Know your goal

Before your big moment in the spotlight, think about your goal for this interview and how you can make your goal fit into the objective of the news program, which is to educate, engage or entertain its viewers.

Next, get clear on the one to three big ideas that you want to convey. What is essential that the viewer understand about your topic?

Invest time and energy in planning what you want to say and most importantly how you’ll say it.

Frame your remarks like headlines. Give the conclusion first, briefly and directly, and back it with facts or “proof point.”

Bonus points if you can give advice that’s surprising or counter intuitive. It holds the viewer’s attention and makes them want to know more.

4. Face the reporter

Being interviewed for television can be nerve-wracking. Show that you’re a pro by looking at the reporter, not the camera, while you’re talking.

5. Speak in sound bites

Because your entire story may only be two minutes long, you’ve got to pack a punch with your words. You must be concise. Passion for your topic is essential to create great energy on camera, but if you let your passion possess you and ramble, you won’t be invited back.

Reporters are looking for “experts” who can speak in sound bites. Sound bites are those short audio or video clips used to promote or tease an upcoming story or show.

Creating stellar sound bites is all about choosing a few words that convey the strongest possible meanings in nine seconds or less. (Yep, nine seconds.)

Roshanda called these “Twitter updates for TV.”

Derek Halpern, founder of the popular online marketing psychology website SocialTriggers.com is a master at delivering his advice in catchy phrases.

Derek on making money with an online business: “You don’t need new ingredients, you just need a new recipe.”

Derek on whether he believes “the customer is always right”:

“I take pleasure in banning people from my site. Every second you waste fretting over a hater is a second you could spend making a loyal customer happy.” (Notice how his advice is counter to the “do whatever it takes to make the customer happy” conventional wisdom?)

6. Finish strong

Make sure your sound bites end with your vocal tone in a downstroke. Think of it as making a statement, not asking a question.

7. Wait your turn

During the interview you’ll probably be excited to share your message or advice. Whatever you do, don’t talk over the interviewer’s question. Wait until the reporter is finished, then begin your answer.

8. Give ‘em what they want

Sometimes during an interview, the reporter will ask the same question in a different way.

Unless you’re on to represent a controversial issue, you can relax – the reporter isn’t trying to trip you up. What the interviewer really wants is a great sound bite and your previous answer didn’t deliver. Smile and say it another way.

Your fame boosting assignment:

Start preparing for your media interviews this week. No worries if you haven’t scored any yet. Being able to use compelling sound bites is a skill that will make you stand out in a presentation situation, a networking event or while leading a meeting.

Craft three sound bites about your area of expertise, your industry or the topic you represent. Here’s one of mine that I often use in presentations, “Being an expert is more about PR than PhD.”

Smile, superstar! You’re ready for the spotlight.

Filed Under: Digital PR, Marketing strategy, Professional services marketing, Thought leadership Tagged With: , ,

How to make a name on the national scene

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Welcome to Famous in Your Field! Here’s your free weekly tip to boost your fame factor. (Be sure to sign up in the box on the right to get on the VIP list for free tips and training, delivered straight to your inbox.)

Famous in Your Field tip: speak at industry conferences to raise your expert profile

Speak at industry conferences

Want to boost your profile?

Grab the attention of your target audience, in non-salesy way that
showcases you as the expert they need to make their businesses or lives better?

Jump onto the stage.

 

Speaking is one of the pillars of becoming Famous in Your Field.  As a marketing tool, you can’t beat it.

Speaking to an audience of ideal prospects lets you shorten your selling cycle – the length of time it takes for a prospect to become aware of you, know what you offer, believe that you’re credible and to hire you.

And speaking at industry conferences can catapult you from unknown wanna-be to must-have business partner in only 90 minutes! It’s so effective because speaking accelerates the “getting to know you” stage, so that you can establish expertise, trust and likeability in one interaction.

Here’s the catch: most professional conferences have a long lead time for speaker selection, so if you want to see your name in the program, you’ve got to start now.

1. Find industry, professional and trade conferences.

  • Subscribe to a conference database. These will allow you to search for events based on industry, location, size and date.
  • Visit sites that list conferences. Here are several:
  • Google search terms that cover your industry AND “conference.”
  • Scan industry trade magazines and their websites. Many will have an Events page in the publication and section on their websites.

2. Keep track with a spreadsheet.

Each conference will have it’s own date, theme, topics covered,  deadlines and process for speaker submissions. To seize these opportunities, you’ll need a tracking system.

In your spreadsheet, include the name of the conference, when it’s taking place, when the speaker submission deadline is, guidelines and protocols for speaking submissions, contact information, conference URL and a bit of background information about each conference.

3. Review and update biweekly or weekly.

Most conferences publish a “Call for Speakers” or “Call for Presentations” six months to one year before the event. These windows to accept speaking proposals may be open for as long as six weeks or as little as two weeks, so check the websites of your coveted events frequently or you’ll miss out!

4. Customize your speaker proposal.

Industry conferences are not events that welcome a canned “talk.” Organizers are looking for topics that fit the theme of the conference and offer new insight.

Most conferences have a strict speaker submission process, although each one is different. Some conferences require a very detailed speaker submission. Others may want a brief abstract with learning objectives.

Creating a top-tier speaking proposal takes work! Be sure to allow yourself enough time to review the event, it’s focus, the speaking requirements and then to craft your masterpiece to meet the guidelines.

Your fame boosting assignment:

If you’re ready to elevate your game, start speaking at industry conferences. This week, make a spreadsheet of ten conferences in your field. Find the websites and record the dates, then keep watch for the Calls for Speakers to open. We’re waiting for you, guru!

Filed Under: Marketing strategy, Professional services marketing, Thought leadership Tagged With: , ,

How to become an icon (4 business secrets from The Boss)

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Welcome to Famous in Your Field! Here’s your free weekly tip to boost your fame factor. (Be sure to sign up in the box on the right to get on the VIP list for free tips and training, delivered straight to your inbox.)

When you’re an icon, you have fans in high places.

Not your boss. The Boss.

Bruuuuuuuce Springsteen.

Icon of the music world.

What can you learn about business from a music legend?

How about how to outsell, outlast, add heat to the seats and love every frickin’ minute of it.

Read on, friends.

1. Get to the woodshed

We all have a secret fantasy that we’ll burst onto the scene, be immediately asked to keynote a major conference or have clients seek us out, saying the magic words, “I’ll pay any fee.”

Reality check:

The road to conference keynotes and six-figure clients is paved with sweat.

And even what seems like a big opportunity is sometimes wasted, when you don’t have the ability to capitalize on it.

Bruce knew this.

Early in his career, back in 1972, he opened for the then platinum selling group, Chicago, at the artist’s pinnacle, Madison Square Garden. Dream come true, right?

Wrong.

It was a disaster. The crowd was indifferent. Nothing he could do onstage broke through their passivity. He swore off playing at big venues.

“It was time to woodshed, time to build an audience through constant, intense performance in clubs, small theatres, and university gyms.”

Constant, intense performance. That’s how you build an audience.

Put it into action:

Speak, anytime you get the chance, anywhere that’ll have you.

Write. Articles, blog posts, ebooks.

Offer your insights to media outlets. Over and over again.

2. Always be creating

According to a knockout profile of Bruce Springsteen (Bruce Springsteen at sixty-two) in the New Yorker, at an age where compatriots like the Rolling Stones go on tour, drag out their string of hits and cash the checks, Bruce is writing songs, crafting new albums after 47 years in the business.

“He continues to evolve as an artist, filling one spiral notebook after another with ideas, quotations, questions, clippings, and, ultimately, new songs.”

Put it into action:

Make jotting down ideas and inspiration a daily habit. Go old school with a spiral notebook, record audio notes on your iPhone, or track in Evernote.

3. Get your inspiration from a wide variety of sources

Too, too many companies and service providers have relegated themselves to the echo chamber of their industry. Coaches speak coaching language in their marketing, and universally offer their services as “programs and packages.”

Professional service firms (attorneys, CPAs, consultants, engineers, architects and the like) are myopic in most of their business practices. They market the same way, offer services the same way and charge the same way.

These echo chamber dwellers could take a page from Bruce’s brand book. He doesn’t look to his fellow rock and roll singer-songwriters for his inspiration.

“…Springsteen quotes from Irish rebel songs, Dust Bowl ballads, Civil War tunes, and chain-gang chants.”

Put it into action:

Seeking innovation in a vacuum isn’t easy. Pick two industries outside your own and scour them regularly for ideas that you can steal.

4. Do You

All around us there are blueprints and systems that promise to be plug and play. There are also people who, when you see and hear, you recognize

“I saw rock and roll future and its name is Bruce Springsteen.” ~Jon Landau, 1974.

that they are only parroting others.

For long-time guitarist “Little Steven” Van Zandt, Bruce’s intensity was a lure. He recognized in Springsteen a drive to create original work.

In the band’s early days, Van Zandt said, you were judged by how well you could copy songs off the radio and play them, chord for chord, note for note:

“Bruce was never good at it. He had a weird ear. He would hear different chords, but he could never hear the right chords. When you have that ability or inability, you immediately become more original. Well, in the long run, guess what: in the long run, original wins.”

Put it into action:

Look at one aspect of your business where you’re doing something because “that’s how it’s done in my industry.”

It might be offering prospects a free consultation, meeting for get-to-know-you lunches, offering three packages or submitting proposals.

Take just one of those and invent a way to do it differently (and not doing it counts!)

Your fame boosting assignment:

Pick one of these four business secrets and put it into action this week. ‘Cause you’re an icon in the making.

Filed Under: Marketing strategy, Professional services marketing, Thought leadership

Stumped for ideas? 4 places to find article and blog post topics

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Welcome to Famous in Your Field! Here’s your free weekly tip to boost your fame factor. (Be sure to sign up in the box on the right to get on the VIP list for free tips and training, delivered straight to your inbox.)

You’ve been blogging for a while now.

4 places to find new blog and article topics

And you’re fresh out of ideas.

You feel like it’s all been said.

Or, you want to start blogging or writing articles or making videos to catch your ideal client’s attention and position you as the leader and expert in your field.

Either way, you need a blast of new ideas to spark your content creating fire.

And I’ve got ‘em.

Here are four quick and easy ways to find topics to write about:

1. Ask people.

Potential Famous in Your Fielders suffer from “authority-itis” You know, when you spend so much time deep, deep in the weeds of your topic. You talk about it, learn even more about it, and practice it, 24×7.

You start taking what you know for granted. You get caught up in the echo chamber. (You’re in real danger if you spend a lot of time reading blogs and articles from your heroes, mentors and colleagues. )

If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “everybody already knows that…”, you might be suffering from authority-itis.

Hold on, tiger! There’s a super easy cure. Step away from your computer. Get back in touch with your ideal clients and what he or she really wants and needs.

Go, interact with clients. Rub shoulders. Ask questions.

If you need a boost, I’ve got three simple questions to use to get to know your clients on a deep, emotional level.

2. Ask Google.

No surprise here! Google, the font of so much internet goodness is also an endless source of ideas for your blogs, articles and videos.

First, type your industry, profession or niche into the search bar. Pay special attention to Google’s suggestions. The phrases that pop up in that box are the most popular searches that match the words you typed.(Hint: they’re what people are looking for most.)

 

 

 

 

 

 
Bada-boom! Now, you’ve got half a dozen questions to answer on your topic.

For bonus points, click on one of the topics from the search bar, then check out any additional results at the bottom of the webpage, too. (They don’t show up for every search, though.)

3. Ask YouTube

YouTube is the 3rd largest search engine. People – including your ideal client – are typing questions into YouTube to find answers. Just like Google, pay attention to suggested searches.

4. Ask Quora

Wondering what people want to know about your area of expertise? Check out Quora.com!

Quora is a question and answer site created by two guys from Facebook. All the Qs and As are provided by its community of users and are organized by topic.

 

 

 

 

Browse Quora by topic and get an idea of the kinds of questions people are asking. (Warning! Quora can be highly addictive. With real-life answers to questions like, “what it’s really like to work at Facebook? and “who’s the most badass computer programmer ever?” and “what’s it like to meet Steve Jobs?” provided by people with firsthand experience, you could lose months of your life on the site. )

Your fame boosting assignment

This week, try one of these sources for content ideas. Make a list of topics and then create some amazing stuff! We all need that magic locked up inside your brain.

 

Filed Under: Marketing strategy, Professional services marketing, Thought leadership Tagged With: ,

How to attract more fans, followers and customers online, guaranteed

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Welcome to Famous in Your Field! Here’s your free weekly tip to boost your fame factor. (Be sure to sign up in the box on the right to get on the VIP list for free tips and training, delivered straight to your inbox.)

Have you jumped on the hottest online trend going? Or are you still stuck in 2010?

Use visuals to grab attention on the web

It’s all about the visual. Here are the facts:

  • Blog posts with images generate more traffic.
  • The most shared and clicked-on links on Twitter are images.
  • Images on Facebook generate more reach, views, and interactions.
  • The exploding popularity of Tumblr, Instagram and Pinterest (all image-centric online platforms)
  • Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter have all increased the size and number of images they feature.

Looking at the trends across web content and social networks, one thing is clear – visual content can break through our overloaded attention spans more easily than written material.

So, what does this mean to you? As a professional who wants to be famous in your field, one of your goals is to grab your audience’s attention and hold it, so that you can demonstrate your know, like and trust factor.

You know what you need to do.

Go visual.

Yes, visual images get people’s attention quickly. But it’s not just about combating short attention span syndrome.

It’s about getting your message heard.

They also help us learn faster and make the ideas stick better.

Images help us tell stories.

I’ve got five ways that any fame-seeking professional can put the power of visuals to work for them.

1. Quotes and soundbites. 

Inspirational, motivational or humorous, we love to share quotes, especially on social media. And if you’re a professional creating a celebrity platform around your personal brand and your business, you probably have some of your own soundbites. Grab more eyeballs, get more mileage (and even a few shares) by making them visual.

Make your quotes & soundbites visual

You don’t have to be a graphic artist to whip up these high impact messages. Free online tools like PicMonkey make it dead simple to create these.

2. Facts, Stats or Lists.

Spice up your dry facts and spark sharing for your stats by converting them into an image.

Do this on your basic webpages, too. Number of employees? Locations? Make ‘em visual!

21 Suggestions for Success

3. Blog post images.

Blog posts with images get more views. And more views mean that more people are being exposed to your message and your expertise.

It’s a Good Thing.

Images boost views on blog posts and articles

Snap your own images with Instagram, use stock images (I like Stockfresh) or find free images online, offered under Creative Commons licensing on sites like Flickr.

4. Book, white paper or article.

Online marketing expert, Jeff Bullas said in a post that “articles with images get 94% more total views.”

94% more.

Instead of just linking to the text-based title of your fame building piece of content, grab attention (and online real estate) by using an image of the cover and linking it to your Amazon page, white paper download or pdf article.

Use a cover image as the link to your article, report or white paper.

Want to get really fancy-pants on a shoestring budget? Use a free online tool like 3 D Pack to make your content image 3 dimensional.

5. Press releases

Including a photo and a video in a press release increases views by over 45%, says Bullas.

What are you waiting for? You know what you need to do!

Your fame boosting assignment:

This week, review your website. If you’re not taking advantage of the visual revolution, add one new image to each page. And if you’re posting press releases, articles or talking about numbers, add some visuals to the mix. Presto – you’ll be the name in everybody’s news feed!

Filed Under: Marketing strategy, Professional services marketing, Thought leadership Tagged With: , ,

Grab eyeballs with an infographic

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Welcome to Famous in Your Field! Here’s your free weekly tip to boost your fame factor. (Be sure to sign up in the box on the right to get on the VIP list for free tips and training, delivered straight to your inbox.)

Makin’ data sexy

Famous in Your Field tip - use an infographic to grab eyeballs

Grab eyeballs with infographics

Chances are, you’ve seen an infographic, even if you didn’t know what it was called. They’re all the rage for taking a complex idea and transforming it into an eye-pleasing visual.

Why you should jump on board the infographic train

Our online world is more and more visual everyday. The rise of Instagram, the Pinterest explosion and the number of images in your Facebook feed are proof that we want our content delivered in a pretty package.

Below, I’m sharing three ways that you can use infographics to cut through the clutter and seduce your prospects (or the media.)

1. Make a resource for your clients.

Give your clients and prospects a handy, all-in-one reference and you’ll have a fan for life. Best of all, it’ll get shared among your target market without you having to lift a pinky.

Here’s one by LunaMetrics that has been shared all over the interwebs. (Keep on scrolling…it’s long.)

The Ultimate Complete Final Social Media Sizing Cheat Sheet LunaMetrics

Designed by LunaMetrics.

2. Jazz up a presentation.

Give a plain-jane Powerpoint or Keynote presentation a little sizzle with an infographic.

If you’ve got numbers to share, an infographic can deliver the impact with a punch. Here’s one that consulting giant Deloitte used to show how it’s on the cutting edge of user engagement:

Famous in Your Field tip - Use infographics in your presentations

A heck of a lot more exciting than dry stats in bullet points, right?

3. Put it in your press release.

The media loves visuals, especially visuals that tell a story. If you can create an infographic that makes an impact or makes it easier to understand the story of your company, your product or your service, you’ve just boosted your chances of being picked up. By a lot.

Got a “tips” article to pitch? Responding to a query on HARO, Reporter Connection or other journalist/source matching service? Make an infographic of your best advice and you’ve got a piece of marketing collateral that you can keep using, over and over again.

Here’s one on best practices for trade shows:

Show Your Stuff: How to Make Trade Shows Work for You

Show Your Stuff: How to Make Trade Shows Work for You infographic

Yep, there’s an easy button.

I can hear it now: “Those are great, but I’m not a graphic designer. I don’t own Adobe InDesign. I can’t make those.”

This is where I shake my head and marvel at the sheer awesomeness of the internet. You could hire a specialized design firm to create a fantastic infographic for you. BUT, you can also go DIY with a number of online services that allow you to create your own infographics – no design experience needed! With customizable templates, drag and drop shapes and text fields, you’ll build a beautiful infographic in no time.

Here are four tools to create your own infographics:

Infogr.am

Visual.ly

iCharts

Easel.ly

Your fame boosting assignment:

Check out one of these DIY infographic services and whip up a little eye candy about your industry, a trend or a bit of how-to advice. Then, share, share, share your gorgeous info with the world.

Filed Under: Digital PR, Marketing strategy, Professional services marketing, Thought leadership Tagged With: ,

New blog post? Now do these 3 things to get more readers

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Welcome to Famous in Your Field! Enjoy your free weekly tip to boost your fame factor. (Be sure to sign up in the box on the right to get on The VIP List for free tips and training, delivered straight to your inbox.)

You slave over your blog posts. They sparkle with your expertise and unique insights.

3 Ways to Get More Readers for Your Blog Post

3 Ways to Get More Readers for Your Blog Post

Each one is a little like a child – like a proud parent, you want the very best future for that post.

But instead, you leave your post languishing Home Alone-style on your website. Only your subscribers ever see it.

But you can change that.

Rather than hope for an Act of Google to magically draw a flood of new readers to your post, you really need to push it into the world through marketing. Some marketing experts say that you should actually spend significantly more time promoting your blog posts than you do writing them.

Derek Halpern, the founder of SocialTriggers.com, a site that shows you how to use human psychology principles to increase traffic and sales online, recommends that you apply the 80/20 rule to your posts: spend 80% of your time promoting and only 20% of your time creating them.

Blog post promotion: 3 ways to get more exposure

1. Syndicate it.

This fancy-pants word simply means that you make your post available to multiple other sites.  Instead of relying on visitors to stumble onto your post on your own website, you help more people find it by putting in places where they already spend time.

Many blogging tools have settings that allow you to automatically “push” new posts to your social networking profiles. As soon as you hit “publish” the new post appears on the sites you’ve connected. Voila! More exposure in less time. Here are a few places to syndicate your post:

  • Facebook Business Page – In your applications area, search for the “Social RSS” application and set it up to publish your post to your Facebook page wall automatically.
  • LinkedIn– Go to your profile page, look for the “WordPress” or “Blog Link” in the applications section and set it up to auto-post your blog to your LinkedIn profile.
  • Other Social Networking Sites – On Google+, Plaxo, or other social sites? Most allow you to set up your blog’s RSS feed to automatically publish to the network.

2. Put it in your email signature.

Not everyone that you communicate with via email subscribes to your blog posts, right? Give your vendors, partners and colleagues a peek at the goodness you publish by adding your latest blog post headline to your email signature. Many email platforms offer apps – Wisestamp for Gmail, for one – to pull your latest blog post title into your email signature block automatically.

3. Publish it on content sharing sites.

One more way to get your posts in front of more eyeballs is to submit it to content sharing sites. While there are dozens and dozens of these, I’m going to mention three:

Alltop.com – Billing itself as an online newsstand, Alltop collects “all the top stories” from thousands of the most popular sites on the web and organizes them into topic categories. Users can view Hot Topics or create their own topic dashboards.

NetworkedBlogs.com – Like Alltop, NetworkedBlogs is a central place to read content. But it’s also a central place to post content. On the site, you can share the posts you read on Facebook, Twitter or directly with friends.

Outbrain.com – If you’re willing to spend a little cash ($10 per day minimum), your posts could end up recommended on high traffic websites like Wall Street Journal, Reuters & People.com. Good exposure for your blog post, and a credibility booster, too.

Your fame boosting assignment:

This week, pick one of these 3 things and add it to your blog publishing routine. The best part is, once you’ve set up the process, it’ll post automatically every time you publish. How genius is that?

Filed Under: Marketing strategy, Professional services marketing, Thought leadership Tagged With: , ,

Three Tips to Get More Speaking Engagements

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Welcome to Famous in Your Field! Enjoy your free weekly tip to boost your fame factor. (Be sure to sign up in the box on the right to get on The VIP List for free tips and training, delivered straight to your inbox.)

Famous in Your Field - 3 Tips to Get More Speaking Engagements

Want to increase your win rate for speaking engagements? Go pro.

No, I don’t mean that you have to hire your own PR rep or speaker marketer to pitch you as a speaker for groups or events. You can increase your chances of being selected  – and make it easier on yourself – by copying these techniques used by professional speakers’ bureaus.

1. Stack the odds in your favor.

Before you submit a proposal to an organization, do your homework. Read about the organization’s membership and mission. This will give you insight into the information its members would value and what the hot topics might be.

(Stumped at where to start? Here’s a list of 17 ways to find speaking engagements.)

2. Make the conference planner or education committee chairperson’s job as painless as possible.

Provide all the information the program chair or selection committee needs to choose you. Here’s what goes into your package:

  • Your contact information. This includes website, email, phone, cell phone, Facebook page,  Twitter handle, and Google + ID. (Bonus points for you if you’ve got a large social media following. Any conference organizer or group education director will love it  if you can help promote the event, too!)
  • Professional headshot.
  • Brief bio.
  • Clear statement about the topics you cover in your talks (i.e. productivity for entrepreneurs, money negotiations for women.)
  • List of topics (with catchy titles) and what attendees will learn with a short (2-4 sentence) abstract about each session.
  • Video demo of you, live and in action. YouTube or Vimeo is a perfect place to host this. Your speaker sheet should include a user friendly link to the video.
  • Testimonials and evaluations from organizations that the potential client can relate to.
  • List of companies/organization you’ve spoken to previously.

Because this is meant to be concise, all the content should fit on a single page.

3. Use The Secret

There is a secret to getting more presentation opportunities. (It’s one that few entrepreneurs and professionals practice. Not because they’re dumb – they just don’t know about it.)

Ask.

Don’t wait for a Call for Speakers for that small handful of conferences in your industry. Take action to expand your reach and influence!

Research groups and organizations where your ideal clients hang out. (Most groups host regular meetings, lunch & learns, webinars and conferences. They are starving for valuable content for their members.)

Reach out and propose a presentation with a timely topic. Include three to five bullets of reasons that it is of interest to the audience and include your speaker sheet.

Speaking is powerful tool for positioning you as an authority and leveraging your valuable time. You can put it to work for you!

Your fame boosting assignment:

This week, create your own speaker sheet. Then, do a little research to find five organizations and use the secret – ASK!

Filed Under: Marketing strategy, Professional services marketing, Thought leadership Tagged With: , ,

Boost your business fame with internet radio and podcast interviews

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Welcome to Famous in Your Field! Enjoy your free weekly tip to boost your fame factor. (Be sure to sign up in the box on the right to get on The VIP List for free tips and training, delivered straight to your inbox.)

Famous in Your Field - Be a Guest Expert on Internet Radio Shows

Getting on Oprah’s couch or featured in the Wall Street Journal used to be the Holy Grail of media exposure for experts and business owners.

But savvy celebrity experts-to-be are defying conventional wisdom and seeking laser targeted publicity opportunities on internet radio shows and podcasts.

Being the guest on The Queens of Cooking internet radio show may not have the same mom-wowing cache as an appearance on Rachael Ray, but it could actually do more to boost your business. Here’s why:

1. Major network television talk and news shows typically feature a guest for only a few minutes. However, as an expert on an internet radio show or podcast you could have fifteen minutes to a full hour to share your expertise and your message.

2. Internet radio shows and podcasts appeal to very narrow audiences (read, highly interested.) Unlike network television and old-school radio programs that must appeal to broad numbers of people in order to secure advertiser spending, an internet radio listener seeks out the program and listens because they are deeply interested in the show’s topic. Can you say ‘targeted prospects’?

3. Internet radio and podcast listeners are typically at their computers, able to zip over to your business website and check you out or buy your book from Amazon in the heat of the moment. Terrestrial radio listeners, on the other hand, are often driving while listening (and hopefully not on the internet!) You’d have to rely on the listener to remember to look up your website once he or she gets home, makes dinner, etc., etc.  As for television viewers – they may not even be in the room to see your 3.5 minutes of fame!

Internet radio shows and podcasts are typically archived, gaining even more coverage for you as new listeners discover and play older shows. And best of all? Most interviews are conducted via phone or Skype! You can literally be snug in your jammies, while you impress the heck out of targeted prospects around the world.

Sold? I’ve got something valuable for you. Below are 9 killer resources to find internet radio show and podcast interview opportunities.

RadioGuestList.com

Kind of like a HARO (Help a Reporter Out), but for radio shows seeking guest experts to interview. Sign up for the service’s daily emails and when you see a query that fits your expertise, respond right away.

Internet Radio Show Sites

BlogTalkRadio
WomensRadio
AllTalkRadio
WSRadio

Podcast Sites

Podcast Directory
Apple’s iTunes
Podcast Alley
PodFeed

Your fame boosting assignment:

This week, sign up for RadioGuestList.com and search for three internet radio shows or podcasts in your niche. Send the contact for each show a brief, targeted pitch letting them know why you’d be a great guest for their audience.

Congratulations! You’re on your way, superstar.

Filed Under: Digital PR, Marketing strategy, Thought leadership Tagged With: , , ,

Get Bold with brand expert Josh Miles

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Welcome to Famous in Your Field! Enjoy your free weekly tip to boost your fame factor. (Be sure to sign up in the box on the right to get on The VIP List for free tips and training, delivered straight to your inbox.)

Famous in Your Field interview with Bold Brand author, Josh Miles

Treat time! Last week I interviewed author Josh Miles to get his take on Bold Brands and how they help win business, as well as how publishing a book is making him stand out as an expert in his field.


A little about Josh

Josh is the founder and principal of Miles Design, an award winning design firm based in Indianapolis, specializing in branding, strategy and web design for high-end professional services firms. Miles Design’s professional service clients achieve niche positioning through Bold Brand™—a multi-step process that uncovers the most compelling elements of an organization, then leverages their expertise for the greatest possible impact. Josh is highly sought after by architects, business coaches, attorneys, engineers, consultants and software companies.

Josh recently published a book with the Content Marketing Institute: Bold Brand: The new rules for differentiating, branding and marketing your professional services firm.

Why you should buy the book

This book is fantastic. If you’re in the professional services realm (meaning you sell your knowledge and expertise), this is a must read. It’s incredibly thorough, walking you through every step in the branding process, from determining your business goals, to differentiating (knowing how and why you’re different), to rolling out your new brand. Instead of being esoteric and artsy (as some books on the topic of branding can be) the Bold Brand writing style is friendly, entertaining and clear.

Best of all, the book is strong on the business benefits of branding: why you need to differentiate, how to tell when you’re not, and the strategy and exercises to do it effectively.

Here’s what you’ll discover in this interview:

  • What makes a Bold Brand, why professionals (business owners, professional service providers) need to have a Bold Brand and what it will do for them.
  • Why a strong, differentiated brand is far more cost-effective to market than an unprofessional, me-too product or service.
  • The simple and smart steps of Josh’s proprietary Bold Brand framework. (You can use these to brand your own company or to select a stellar branding partner.) Pay special attention to Josh’s series of questions about business goals and objectives – this is pure gold.
  • How to determine if you’re communicating with the megaphone or the wedge and which will lead to more business.
  • The warning signs of a “bland brand.”
  • Josh’s best sources of leads and clients for his own service business. (Hint: he’s doing it in the interview!)
  • Tips on generating more leads from your speaking gigs.
  • How Josh broke out of the pack of 200 million Americans who feel they “have a book in them” to get his own book written and published in just a few months AND the business impact of having a published book.

Watch it now:


But wait, there’s more! Get a discount on Bold Brand.

I’ve always wanted to say that and it’s true. Josh extended a super offer to anyone who’d like to get $5* big ones off the price of his book. Just go to BoldBrand.com and order your copy, using the promo code “LORI.” Josh will even inscribe it with a personal message. (Wouldn’t this make a great gift for a business colleague, client or prospect you want to impress?)

*(To get the $5 discount and the personal inscription, you must buy the book directly from the Bold Brand site by clicking on the big blue Order Now button, not the Amazon or iTunes links.)

Filed Under: Business books, Professional services marketing, Thought leadership Tagged With: , , ,
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