Grow Your Public Speaking Business
Business:Marketing
Using LinkedIn as a speaking lead magnet. Note: Do Not sell on LinkedIn. It’s considered spammy, people will unfollow you and you could take a chance at ruining the credibility you worked so hard to build. A great way to avoid “selling” is to ask and answer questions.
I’m often asked how I find speaking jobs. It’s a combined effort of research, building relationships, networking, marketing and building my speaking platform.
The stronger your platform, the more doors of opportunity will open. There is not just “one magic thing” to find leads or bookings. It’s a combined effort of many things and doing those many things regularly — even daily. Speaking is a business and should be treated as such.
LinkedIn is part of my strategy. I consider it part of my networking, building relationships and marketing all together inside a professional platform. LinkedIn offers enormous opportunities to connect with the people who have the power to hire you as a speaker. LinkedIn gives you un-gated access to your target market.
Here’s a simple strategy to using LinkedIn as a speaking lead magnet and to help expand your reach:
Note: These same steps can be used to get you in front of the media, too. Instead of companies and organizations, figure out an escalating chain of media appointments, starting smaller and local to get warmed up, then working your way up to larger venues.
This is an easy habit to get into, just spend a few minutes a day responding to posts and asking for connections. I recommend you doing it yourself because you will know what to look for. However, if your time is limited you can outsource research to an assistant — they can make a nice spreadsheet of some potential buyers, but you spend the time asking for the connections.
Be Original
Do NOT use the default connection message that is already written for you. Make up something zippy, unique and personalized to the contact – but whatever you do don’t be lazy. You never want to be perceived as lazy.
Be Brief
Be brief, be professional, polite and personalize it with their first name (double check the spelling!) and if you have room, mention something you have in common, that you are grateful for or inspired by from their profile. Tie it back in to why you’d like to be connected.
Reach Out
Once you’ve built a good connection and established your trustworthiness, transition to an offline conversation. Pick up the phone and chat and get their email address to continue your conversation.
There are many ways of finding a person on LI who can hire you, but you have to take the time, make the effort and commit to doing it. Not just one day but several times a week, on a regular basis. If you commit, LinkedIn can become a speaking lead magnet for you.
If you enjoyed this post, you’ll love our free guide on “21 Ways to Increase Your Paid Speaking Gigs!” at www.CharliJane.com
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