First though, I want to talk about this, how I went broke as a professional speaker myths, truths and marketing. When I first got started speaking, there was a lot of myths out there about what it took to be a successful speaker, what it took to just have a career as a speaker. And I was running around a lot, attending meetings that were a waste of time, listening to people who didn't really know or who didn't want to tell me. And I just found myself losing time and losing money. And I got really frustrated with them. And I started to really look at my checking account and say, Wow, I've gone to a lot of seminars, a lot of events, and the events and seminars I've gone to, I haven't made any money from going to them.

In other words, if you're going to go to a seminar or an event, go to one where the person is going to teach you directly, how to make money, how to build the business, go to one that's teaching that whenever I go personally do seminars, that's all that I teach is how to make the money. Because when you have the money, you have the leverage and the flexibility. But I'm going to talk about this for a moment and some of these myths, and hopefully by you hearing me talk about it, it will dispel it from your mind and you will not allow these things to distract you. The first one for our list, the four myths of professional speaking and why they're keeping you broke. The first one is the message myth. One of the things that I have observed people will say is that I have a message for the world.

Well, let me give you a quick reality check. Nobody has a message for every person in the world. What we have are specific messages for specific people at a specific problem and a specific time in their life. specificity is really the key to being successful as a speaker being specific, but when you believe you have a message for everyone, you have a message for no one. So that's why it's so important for you to not Think your message is for everyone. You can't think that way because it's hard to focus on who you should be speaking to.

Number two is the 10 k speaker man, what most people think, is anyone making over $10,000 as a speaker is a better speaker? And the reality is No, they're not. Nobody speech is worth over $10,000. What happens at the 10 k marker is you become famous, you become well known. you've developed a celebrity status. Anytime you hear about people making $50,000 a speech 20,000 30,000 $100,000 of speech.

They're getting that money, because they're famous. They're not getting that money because they're a better speaker than you or a better presenter than you. They're getting it because they are known, and their presence attracts people. It's not their message that attracts people. It's them. So the real secret if you want to make Over 10 grand is about getting famous and building a celebrity status and brand.

Because I have watched people who are not that good on stage. But yet, so well known that they command exorbitant fees. Now, just imagine, you actually have a good message that makes a difference. And you become a celebrity, you will have that really the two things that truly can take you to the stratosphere as a speaker, when it comes to being under 10 grand, that's a working speaker. I'm what's called a working speaker because my fees to fluctuate from zero up to $10,000. It depends on the marketplace.

Depends on what I'm doing. It depends. So setting fees really depends on marketplaces, the time you're going to speak where you're going to speak all these things have a variable or variables and you being able to command higher fees, but anything over 10 you're famous, anything below it. They are booking you for yourself. Knowledge, your understanding your wisdom, your inspiration, they're booking you for your content and information. When you're getting booked for over 10 grand, it is now based on you and not what you're saying.

Number three, the million dollar speaker myth, anyone that's going to tell you that they can make you into a million dollar speaker is lying to you. Because if you've never made 50 grand as a speaker, you're not gonna make a million dollars. And I tell everybody that over and over again, you can't make a million until you understand how to make $50,000. This is a progressive game. This is not a lottery game. No one starts off making millions of dollars as a speaker they have to build up and they build a momentum over time, and they leverage opportunities over time.

Now in my introduction, I told you that I have made millions of dollars as a speaker but that's over the course of 17 years, and I didn't get to keep all the money I made. I may have grossed it but I didn't get to keep it all So what I'm saying to you is that when someone tells you, they can make you into this, understand if you've ever made 50,000 or 100,000, it's gonna be hard to become a million dollar speaker and even in my own life, even though it's a goal of my own, I've never made a million dollars in a year as a speaker. Now, I would love to do that. But I've never done that before. Over the course of years, yes, but in a year, in one year, no, never done it before. But I understand structurally what you have to do.

The same goes if you're listening to this, you need to understand structurally what it takes to make 50,000 to $100,000 as a speaker, then from there, you can work to build out and grow to become this million dollar speaker that you might want to become. So just want to dispel that myth. 50 grand is a good number, especially if you're not planning to quit your day job. If you don't know quit your day job and you can make 50 grand as a speaker on the side. That's a good part time. job right there.

So just keep that in my head. If you plan to make 50 and this your full time gig, then it definitely is a sustainable income. Number four is the speaking circuit. When people used to tell me they say, Johnny, you know, I want to get on the speaking circuit, I will tell them really flat out there is no speaking circuit, especially for those that are unknown, untested, and no one even knows what you talk about. There is no speaking circuit. For those that are working as speakers.

What we have are events and programs around the country. Now there are some celebrities. And there are some promoters. And these promoters probably get together and they create these events around the country and they have celebrities come and speak, and they call it a circuit. But the reality is, for us regular speakers under 10 grand, we have to put together our programs and we have to call people when I got started and I still do it to this day. If I get booked in your town or I get booked somewhere I am calling organizations in that area to see if I can speak while in town.

Why am I doing that? Because I'm trying to create more opportunities and more leverage. That's something that each and every person on Listen, this should do. When you go and speak somewhere, see if there are other places you can speak. Now, if you are able to book other places that you can speak while you're in that location, can you call it a circuit, you could call it a circuit, but what I call it is just creative marketing. There is no real speaking circuit that will suddenly take you from obscurity and put you out on the road and make you super successful.

There just isn't anything that exists like that. After 17 years, I would know if something existed like that. All I know is there are a lot of promoters who are looking for celebrities to come to their events. But circuit I don't think there's a real speaking circuit. So I just wanted to kind of clarify that myth. Because if you want to build this business is you taking a step every single day Now some of the troops have a business here.

You know, this is one of the big things here. And we've been addressing this here as we've gone along. The troops here why people fail and go broke unclear on the message, you got to be clear on your messages. In other words, when you write your speech and you have your speech, you've got to be clear exactly on this message and how it impacts people and who is supposed to help. Number two is unclear on who to speak to. If your message isn't clear, then you're not clear on who you speak to.

So you got to get clear on who you are speaking to, you know, unclear on how to market themselves. You cannot hire people to market you until you know how to market yourself. And a lot of people have wasted a lot of money, myself included. When I first got started, I tried to hire people to market me, but I wasn't clear on what my message was. I knew I was unchanged, but I wasn't very specific. And because I wasn't specific, the people I hired could not be specific for me.

In other words, they weren't able to market me the way they should and therefore it cost mean money. And I was losing money every single month, because they weren't successful because they weren't clear. So you need to spend time getting clear on what your message is, who it's for, and then getting out there marketing it so that you can give instruction and advice to those that one day will market you. Number four, unclear on where to find speaking opportunities. There are opportunities to speak everywhere, the only question is do they pay. So what I want you to think about is, you know, you can go and speak in a lot of places for free.

And there's a lot of rotaries and civic groups out there. But if you're gonna try to make a living as a speaker, you have to identify marketplaces that have the capacity to pay you. And you've got to get clear on that, finding marketplaces that have the capacity to pay you. And even if they only pay you 500 bucks, it's a start, but you've got to find places that are willing to pay to have you come and speak. And number five, of course, unclear on the real benefits of their presentation as a presenter Not just as a professional speaker, but as a presenter, your message is supposed to have benefits to it. And it's so important for you to think about what how do people benefit from hearing what I have to say, you know, yes, they can become inspired and motivated.

But what are the real benefits? What will they become? Or have or do because of listening to you? What are the benefits of it? And that's something that you have to think about, what's your message? When you tell your story about your life and your struggles?

How do other people benefit from that? You know, I speak to a lot of associations, corporations and government groups, and they are very clear on tell me the three benefits of having you come and speak. They know I've got a good message, but they want to know what the benefits are of my speech. So that's why it's so important. And when I got clear in these areas, that's when money started to come back. When I was unclear, it was very difficult to make any money as a speaker and I was looked at as a commodity and I looked at just like anyone else in the marketplace.

But when I got started to get really clear on what I was and who my message were for and how I was going to benefit people, and how to market it, then money started to find me. And what I mean by find me was, I was finding opportunities, and the money was then being made available to me. So let's talk about secret number one here. What I wanted to do first with dispel a lot of rumors and conjecture. Now we can really get down to the mindset part here of who you are. As a professional speaker, what type of speaker are you?

You know, when I realized really quick, was that, in the world of speaking, the keynote speaker makes more money than everyone else, and they speak less than everyone else. Why is that because they are the featured speaker. They are the showcase speaker of the conference. So my focus has always been on being a keynote speaker. However, I do breakout sessions. I've done seminars, trainings, coaching, consulting retreats, I've done all of these things here.

But when you are trying to classify yourself, you've got to be very clear as to what you are. If you're a keynoter, then that's what you are. And everything else is a byproduct of your keynote addresses. If you're a seminar person, but you also can do trainings, you want to be first known for what you are first, it was a keynote or consultant or coach. If you're a coach first, then be a coach and use your speaking to attract more coaching clients. I use being a keynoter to attract more keynote opportunities, more training opportunities, more breakout session opportunities, but it's so important to be clear on what you are so that people start to understand where you fit in the world of speaking.

Next on there, find your topic. A lot of times when people start to speak, they're not very clear on what their real topic is. You know, my passion at this time here was always about helping people never give up to keep on going because they're everyone's always close to their dreams and goals. But people give up. And so I realized that people give up because they get overwhelmed and give up because they're afraid that you up because they're unclear. So I realized that helping people to keep on going was something that I was really excited about.

I really enjoyed watching people take my advice, and just keep pushing toward the dreams and goals. My expertise was in the insurance industry. So I realized change management, conflict resolution was my expertise. I also came out of the insurance marketplace, and the industry. So I knew that there were people who were in the insurance industry, who are going through change, who needed to never give up and keep on going, who leaders needed to get their people through these organizational challenges. And I knew that if I combined all of these together, I would find my sweet spot.

So for me, knowing what my expertise was and is which is unchanged and conflict resolution, helping people never to give up so that they can keep on going and succeed. Out of the insurance marketplace, I knew I would find a sweet spot where opportunity was. Because in these three elements when they all come together correctly, now you're in a place where you can get paid for your passion, your expertise in a marketplace that will appreciate you. So that's the real key right there for you to be thinking about here, as you listen to people under mindset is it's the poor man's tip, my poor man's marketing tip here, how to get started the right way. These are the questions that you need to be asking yourself, as you build your business before you do anything, not even a business card. You need to be thinking about this right here and being able to write down and answer these questions.

What do I want to talk about? You got to be clear, what do you want to talk about? What makes you credible? In other words, your experiences, your expertise, your results, what makes you credible, who doesn't help? That's your marketplace who will this help? Why will it matter to them?

If you're going to help them? Why would it matter to them? Where are they? in the marketplace? Where are they? What industries?

Are they in? What associations? Are they a part of? Where are they on the internet, on Facebook, on LinkedIn on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, wherever they are Pinterest? Where are they? Because you want to get your message in front of them?

How will it help them? Think about your message for a moment? How is it going to help people? Whenever you think about helping people, you got to say that this particular talk will help them in these three areas or one of these areas, the Bs, the do's and the haves. If they listen to my message, they will be this. If they listen to my message, they'll be able to do this and they listen to my message they'll be able to have this.

You got to be clear on what occurs when you speak. In other words, how will your message help them and number seven of courses How will they know which one After hearing you present, how will they know? And if they take action on what you're saying? How will they know? And why would you want to say that to someone? You say that because that's a part of your presentation.

You want to educate them and say, if you do when I am suggesting, this is how it's going to work in your life. When I started to think about my business, these seven questions have really helped me earn money, because I really got understood. What do I talk about? This is what I talk about. I talk about change and conflict resolution. What makes me credible?

I came out of the insurance industry, massive change reorganization, job loss, who does it help those that are going through an organizational change? Why would it matter because they need to be thinking clear. They need to understand a process for coping with it. And they need to also understand how to benefit from it. Where are they they're inside of the insurance marketplace and in specific industries. How will it help them it will help them be able to do things that they need to do while the organizational change is happening.

And then how will they know it's working because of the results they're going to get. In other words, they're going to be more effective. They're going to earn more money, they're going to have a greater peace of mind as they make better decisions and their teams are going to run better. You've got to understand these questions here. This is powerful right here, and it doesn't cost you anything. It only costs you the time to get clear.

So I want everyone listening to this to be sure to absorb these questions right here, because it'll make a big difference.