As a public speaker, your main goal is booking paid speaking gigs. Since our goal at The Speaker Lab is to help you do just that, we get a lot of questions from aspiring and active public speakers (especially keynote speakers) about whether they should employ the services of a speakers bureau.
Some speakers think they need to get listed by a bureau before they can grow their business, while others think they’re doing something wrong because the gigs they are getting aren’t coming through a bureau.
At The Speaker Lab, we’re all about inspiring speakers to grow their business. So in this article we’ll walk you through some helpful questions to ask about speakers bureaus – what they are, whether you need one, and misconceptions you might have about them. But first: what is a speakers bureau anyway?
What is a Speakers Bureau?
To put it simply, a speakers bureau helps speakers book gigs in exchange for commission. These companies will manage contracts, negotiations and fees with potential clients. Speakers bureaus will sometimes pitch you to a client, but more often field client requests for your services and help you land the best gigs.
Bureaus handle all kinds of speakers, including keynote speakers, motivational speakers, business speakers and inspirational speakers. Speakers can choose to be either exclusive to the bureau – meaning the bureau is the only way clients can book them – or non-exclusive, accepting both bureau bookings and normal gigs. Now that you know what a speakers bureau is, let’s cover 5 main questions about them that you might have.
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Is a Speakers Bureau Necessary to Get Speaking Gigs?
Many public speakers think that before they can be a perfect speaker, they need to be listed by a bureau. Sometimes a great speaker struggling to get speaking gigs will think that a bureau is what they’re missing.
Building a speaking business involves a lot of work that, let’s face it, can be a bit boring. Establishing client relationships, marketing your services and trying to acquire paid speaking gigs can be hard work. Sometimes, speakers will think that if they were just listed by a bureau they would have what they need to get booked.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. A bureau is a valuable asset if employed correctly and can even provide value to you if you’re not listed (more on that soon), but is not a replacement for the foundational work required to build a speaking business. It’s much more important to focus on the basics first.
Besides, as we’ll see, if you’re not consistently booking gigs, you won’t stand a chance with any bureau anyway.
Is a Speakers Bureau an Easy Way to Get Gigs?
This is a question we get a lot, but unfortunately, the answer is no. In fact, this misconception can be cleared up easily if you understand what speakers bureaus are and what they aren’t. A bureau’s client is actually not the speaker they get gigs for, but the event planners they help to find speakers who are a good fit.
This matters because it means that if your services aren’t in high demand, the speakers bureau has no confidence that you can make them money. And they aren’t non profit organizations. They want their client to have a successful event.
Bureaus don’t create demand, they manage it. If your marketing efforts aren’t already producing demand for you as a speaker, a bureau won’t help. That’s why you should focus on marketing and growing your brand as someone who can provide expert insights in your field.
Getting on a bureau’s roster is hard. If you feel like a bureau is a shortcut to gigs, it’s not likely that any bureau wants you. But don’t let this discourage you! There are still ways a bureau can help you grow your business.
How Can a Speakers Bureau Help Me Grow My Business?
At this point you may think all we have to say about bureaus is negative, but that’s not the case! As long as you understand how bureaus work and have your priorities in order, they can be incredibly useful in growing your business as a keynote speaker or any other kind of speaker.
The best way to get involved with a bureau is through networking. Connections will work far better than cold-calls. Even if you don’t want to work with a bureau now, connections with people in that industry can be incredibly beneficial to your speaking business in the future.
Bureaus interact with both sides of public speaking business – the speakers themselves and the event planners hiring them. That means that connections within a bureau can be a valuable source of knowledge about what type of speakers are in demand and the way current events are contributing to the public speaking market.
You can also engage with bureaus even if you aren’t on their roster. For example, if you have an offer from a client, you could offer to run the negotiations through the bureau and give them the commission. This is a great way to build relationships at the bureau and get experience in the industry.
Are Speakers Bureaus for Everybody?
The answer is no, but that’s perfectly fine! As we’ve covered bureaus aren’t a cheat code to building your speaking business, and they aren’t necessary to find success in the industry. Here’s some reasons why it might not be a good idea to pursue a bureau yet:
First, before you engage with a bureau, you need to have a professional brand. This might sound intimidating, but the fact is that if you don’t have a professional speaker website and demo video, bureaus are just not going to take you seriously. You need to have clearly chosen your audience, topic and overall niche. Content creation like a podcast, book or blog also go a long way to solidify your image as a thought leader. A best selling author doesn’t feel like as much of a risk to a bureau.
A second reason why a bureau might not be for you lies in the fact that there are inherent dangers in doing business through a third party. If you run all of your business through a bureau and the bureau goes out of business, you’re back to square one. Sometimes building your own business independently is a better option.
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So How Do I Know If I Should Use a Speakers Bureau?
Despite the fact that we’ve gone over several situations where a bureaus isn’t right for a speaker, there are situations where they can be useful. They tend to control the highest paying speaking opportunities, so in certain industries, a bureau is the natural next step once your fees hit a certain range.
Working with a bureau can also be a wise choice if you notice that most speakers in your niche and at your level are working with one. Even if you’re non-exclusive and you don’t get many gigs through the bureau, there are other advantages to working with a bureau. They can help you increase the size of your network and gain name recognition in addition to getting your name in front of new potential clients.
Bureaus love speakers who generate high demand. If you have so many client inquiries that you need to turn some down, a bureau could use those leads. Working with a bureau can help you handle your inquiries and connect event planners you can’t serve with speakers who can.
Conclusion
In this article, we’ve covered everything you need to know about speakers bureaus. Hopefully, if you’ve read this far, you understand more clearly what a speakers bureau is, what it isn’t and when you should pursue working with one. Although they can be useful and at certain times make sense for speakers, they aren’t a path to easy gigs, and they certainly aren’t necessary to grow your business.
If you want to learn more, Brandon Edmondson from Premiere Speakers Bureau sat down with Grant Baldwin on The Speaker Lab podcast to discuss bureaus in more detail.
