WHY TSL?
What led me to initially make the investment was the need for help on running the business side of my speaking. I didn’t need help with content or delivery but I definitely felt weak on how to land more speaking gigs. The metaphor I used with the people when I was first exploring this was, it’s like if you go to the gym and you see someone who looks like they work out from the hips up but have little spindly legs; that was like me with the spindly legs being how I handled the business side of my speaking.
Today I speak about promoting meaning making, joy and resilience to working parents who feel troubled by their work-life balance.
WHAT WERE SOME A-HA’S AND TAKEAWAYS?
The selling and outreach part was a big a-ha for me. Prospecting was the biggest aspect of the business I didn’t have in place. Most of my speaking, up until this point, came to me. Learning to do outreach, and its importance, was a huge takeaway.
Working with Erick around prospecting has helped me hone in on the business of speaking. Before, I was passive and scattered. Having an open dialogue with Erick on this helped me refine a message for my audience that is more compelling. I start with an initial pitch of a one hour experience and then I upsell to a seven to eight series of webinars speaking on resilience and happiness. I find this is resonating much better than my previous approach. Erick also taught me to more accurately value my collateral skill as a magician.
I now feel more empowered to use magic to help infuse more joy and connection in both my presentations and pitches. I also better understand how beneficial magic can be for turning around a moment that isn’t going well (e.g., I don’t seem to be connecting with a booker, my audience seems like they are becoming tired).
Secondly, going through the VIP Virtual program helped me set up a quality virtual studio. Before this I would open my laptop and be on my way. After going through the Virtual VIP program I was able to put all the mechanics in place to have a professional virtual studio. This is especially helpful for me as I also provide telehealth services as a psychologist.
WHAT IS YOUR NEW NORMAL AS A PROFESSIONAL SPEAKER?
Prospecting, prospecting, and more prospecting. Erick is a transformative teacher who convinced me early on how much prospecting is required to achieve my target income from speaking. That was very helpful. I know the more I prospect and work my pipeline the more successful I will be.
Back to the gym metaphor: challenge is necessary for change. When I focus on prospecting I have excellent results. I am in the midst of a busy academic season, so I see that when I don’t make consistent time for prospecting my speaking business suffers immediately. The more consistent I am the more meaning and income I’ll generate; it’s really that simple.
Since working with TSL starting in May 2022 I have completed seven gigs, which has helped me to recoup much of my initial investment! (If the conversations I’m now having with bookers lead to additional speaking gigs, and it’s looking like that will happen, I’ll have recouped 100% of my initial investment.)
WHO WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO THE SPEAKER LAB?
Anyone who wants to speak more and get paid! I wish I had done this over a long time ago. While I’ve completed over 300 speaking gigs since the mid 90’s, that’s a small number compared to where I could have been with this information. The instruction I’ve received from TSL will, I believe, allow me to retire early from one of my two jobs in the next few years.
If you are someone who wants to make an impact and a great living, I would highly recommend TSL!