The Speaker Lab Podcast

Do you know what SEO stands for or how SEO can grow your speaking business? You're in luck because today's guest will answer those questions, and more. Brian Dean of Backlinko joins us for episode 206 of The Speaker Lab.

Brian's company is Backlinko, an SEO training company that teaches people how to rank in Google and YouTube. Most people know Backlinko as a blog, it gets 3 million visitors every year and is one of the top SEO blogs in the world.

If you're wondering what SEO is the term stands for search engine optimization, which means getting your site to rank higher on Google. The purpose of SEO is driving more traffic to your site from search engines, like Google and YouTube.

On this episode, we'll talk about why SEO (including blogging and YouTube) should be a part of your marketing strategy. Brian will also share techniques you can use, including where to begin, and much more on today's edition of The Speaker Lab.

THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOW:  

• What does EAT stand for and why does it matter in your Google rankings?
• What is the barbell strategy?
• How do you know which keywords you should use?
• How many keywords should you be targeting to be most effective?
• What are the two ways Google reviews your site to rank it?
• Why has he put so much effort into YouTube?
• What is the 2nd biggest search engine in the world?
• How long should your videos be on YouTube?
• And so much more!

EPISODE RESOURCES

• Backlinko web site
• Backlinko blog
• Backlinko on Twitter
• Seed Keywords Engine
• Database of speaking events 
• Get Free Speaker Resources
• Book a Call with The Speaker Lab
• Calculate Your Speaking Fee
• Join The Speaker Lab Community on Facebook
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on Spotify

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You know it takes time, effort and energy to build and grow your speaking career; succeeding as a speaker means you also must know how to compete every day. Someone who embodies this is Jake Thompson. Jake's brand, Compete Every Day, is an apparel lifestyle brand based on the idea that life is worth competing for.

On this episode of The Speaker Lab, Jake will go into more detail on the evolution of his brand as well as how he's uncovered who his audience is, how he battles discouragement in this business, and how he hustles to expand his business without getting overwhelmed or spreading himself too thin.

We also get into some coaching before wrapping up with Jake's advice for hanging in there through the ups and downs of your journey. Join us for all of that on today's edition of The Speaker Lab.

THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOW:  

• When did he feel called to the stage, and why?
• What is the goal behind his brand?
• How has he gotten traction over the last six months?
• What role has content played in helping people to find him?
• Why it's easier to pivot from the wrong niche than it is to speak to a broad target market.
• What can we learn from Kobe Bryant's basic drill exercises?
• How is batching a variety content helping him grow his business?
• Why you can do it all, just not at once.
• And so much more!

EPISODE RESOURCES

• Compete Every Day web site
• Jake Thompson's web site 
• Compete Every Day on Twitter 
• Database of speaking events 
• Get Free Speaker Resources
• Book a Call with The Speaker Lab
• Calculate Your Speaking Fee
• Join The Speaker Lab Community on Facebook
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on Spotify 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Can publishing a book help your speaking career? It can and here to explain how to get a book deal is my friend Chad Allen. Chad has 20 years of publishing experience under his belt, including being the head of the Baker Books division of The Baker Publishing Group.

On this episode of The Speaker Lab, we're going to talk about how to create your book proposal, why and how to follow authors in your space, how to contact potential publishers, and much more.

Chad has been extremely instrumental behind the scenes of my own book deal and publishing process so I wanted to share his advice with you. Join us on to hear what we've been up to along with his advice for you on how to get a book deal on episode 204 of The Speaker Lab.

THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOW:  

• Why you need a business plan for your book.
• What are the six major elements of a book proposal?
• Do you always need a book agent?
• How do publishers decide which books to publish?
• What are the key metrics a publisher uses when evaluating your platform?
• What is the #1 reason publishers turn down a proposal?
• How many email subscribers do you need at a minimum?
• What are the three forms of credibility and how does a book give you all of them?
• And so much more!

EPISODE RESOURCES

• Chad Allen's web site
• Chad Allen on Twitter
• 5 Insider Secrets to Landing a Book Deal webinar
• Episode 199 of The Speaker Lab
• Free Speaker Workshop
• Get Free Speaker Resources
• Book a Call with The Speaker Lab
• Calculate Your Speaking Fee
• Join The Speaker Lab Community on Facebook
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on Spotify

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

One of the most common topics people ask me about is how to create a demo video. To dive into this topic our co-host, Ms. Melanie Diezel, is returning for episode 203.

This is an important part of building your speaking business and your brand so we're dedicating an entire show to it.

Today, Melanie and I will walk you through the best practices to keep in mind for your demo video, how to actually create your demo video with or without footage, and our best technical tips and software suggestions even if you aren't technically-oriented.

There's a lot to get to so tune in to hear it all on episode 203 of The Speaker Lab! 

THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOW:  

• Why your audience is key when you are creating your demo video.
• How and why to use B roll and voiceover in moderation.
• How can you layer in photos to show diverse experience?
• What is one of the easiest ways to punch up your demo video?
• What do you do if you need footage?
• What are some ways to hold people's attention throughout your video?
• Can you shoot your entire video using just an iPhone?
• Why your title and description of your video are also important.
• And so much more!

EPISODE RESOURCES

• Melanie Deziel's website
• Envato Market web site
• Pond 5 web site
• Episode 56 of The Speaker Lab
• Free Speaker Workshop
• Get Free Speaker Resources
• Book a Call with The Speaker Lab
• Calculate Your Speaking Fee
• Join The Speaker Lab Community on Facebook
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on Spotify

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Are you a part-time speaker, or are you someone who speaks on occasion? Or maybe you're doing a lot of speaking on the side while still working your full-time job, and you're wondering how to transition into full-time speaking. If any of those scenarios sound like you then you're in luck!

Today's episode is completely dedicated to this very topic - how to transition into speaking full-time. Melanie and I will share our own stories of how we went from part-time speakers to having full-time speaking careers.

We'll also tell you when it makes the most sense to make the transition, how to juggle everything before, during and after the transition and how best to prepare yourself so you can make the transition as smooth as possible. Join us for those topics and more on episode 202 of The Speaker Lab.

THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOW:  

• Why are so many people intimidated by making the leap from their jobs to speaking?
• How long does it take most speakers to build their business into full-time speaking gigs?
• Why there is never the perfect time to do anything.
• What are the two types of regret?
• How can you promote yourself without ruffling the feathers of your full-time job?
• What are other streams of revenue you can use while you build your speaking skills?
• How to determine a realistic budget and a financial safety net.
• Will there be some seasons that are busier than others even when you're an established speaker?
• And so much more!

EPISODE RESOURCES

• Melanie Deziel's website
• Melanie Deziel on Twitter
• Melanie Deziel on Instagram
• Melanie Deziel on LinkedIn
• Episode 33: How to Pay Taxes on Your Speaking Fees
• Episode 51: What It's Really Like to Start a Speaking Career
• Episode 113: How to Become a Full-Time Speaker
• Episode 150: How to Work Full-Time and Build Momentum as a Speaker
• Find and contact potential gigs
• Get Free Speaker Resources
• Book a Call with The Speaker Lab
• Calculate Your Speaking Fee
• Join The Speaker Lab Community on Facebook
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on Spotify

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is my favorite guest we've ever had and ever will have: my wife! We are talking with Sheila Baldwin, my other half.

Sheila was previously here with us on episode 60, and we're bringing her back for part two today. We'll talk about how to be married to a speaker: what Sheila's role has been in my business, what it's really like for her when I travel, how we divide up chores and what we like to do for fun.

You'll hear Sheila give her thoughts on those topics and more today. Please enjoy this conversation with me and my wife on this episode of The Speaker Lab! 

THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOW

• What was it like to make the transition from full-time work into self-employment as a speaker?
• Will there ever be the perfect time?
• How did we stay connected while I traveled for speaking gigs?
• How can you stay fully present when you are at home?
• When Sheila has been kept separate from my business, and why.
• What challenges has she witnessed as the business has evolved over the years?
• Did she ever want me to give up speaking?
• Why does she have me do my own laundry?
• And much more!

EPISODE RESOURCES

• Episode 60 of The Speaker Lab
• Get Free Speaker Resources
• Book a Call with The Speaker Lab
• Calculate Your Speaking Fee
• Join The Speaker Lab Community on Facebook
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on Spotify

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome to The Speaker Lab for a very special milestone: episode 200! Whether it's your first time here or you've been with us for all 200 shows, thank you for listening.

On today's episode we are doing something different - we've reached out to our speaker friends and other people in the speaking industry and asked them to share their best speaking tip. It could be related to connecting to the audience, building your business or the craft itself.

About 20 some speakers chimed in with their #1 tip and you're going to hear it when you listen in to episode 200 of The Speaker Lab. 

THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOW:  

• Why should you throw away half of your best presentation?
• What is a contextual model and why should you have one?
• Why you should stop seeing others as competition and start learning from them instead.
• Three ways to take full advantage of the ecosystem around your speaking engagement.
• How do you get your audience to share your talk?
• What three things do you need to have a sustained, successful speaking career?
• Why you want to niche down as far as possible.
• What is the one question you can ask to create more sales?
• And so much more!

EPISODE RESOURCES

• Dr. Susan Ettinger's web site
• Rick Clemons' web site
• Convince and Convert web site
• The Pivot Method toolkit
• Unmarketing web site
• Pamela Slim's web site
• Front Row Factor web site
• Shawn Hanks of Premiere Speakers Bureau
• Tamsen Webster's web site
• Chris Ducker's web site
• Mitch Joel's web site
• Get Free Speaker Resources
• Book a Call with The Speaker Lab
• Calculate Your Speaking Fee
• Join The Speaker Lab Community on Facebook
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on Spotify

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

By now you know publishing is a great way to solidify your reputation in your niche. But did you know you can also grow your speaking revenue through publishing? You can and our friend Jeff Goins is here to share exactly how.

Today is a different type of episode, it's actually an interview taken from our upcoming course Beyond The Stage. Our conversation focuses on all things publishing: self-publishing, traditional publishing or a hybrid of the two we are covering it.

There's a lot of great stuff on this show so please join me and Jeff Goins for a preview of Beyond The Stage right here on episode 199 of The Speaker Lab. 

THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOW:  

• Why getting a traditional book deal isn't necessarily going to make your career.
• Did Mark Twain self-publish his books?
• How are book advances determined?
• When does it make sense to get a traditional book deal, and when not?
• How do you know if your platform qualifies as a "big" platform?
• What is hybrid publishing and how does it work?
• When does a hybrid deal make sense and when does self-publishing make sense?
• What are your "subrights" and why should you keep your audio rights?
• And so much more!

EPISODE RESOURCES

• Jeff Goins' web site
• Jeff Goins on Twitter
• Tribe Writers course
• You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One), by Jeff Goins
• Wrecked: When a Broken World Slams Into Your Comfortable Life, by Jeff Goins
• The Art of Work, by Jeff Goins
• Real Artists Don’t Starve, by Jeff Goins
• The Coaching Habit, by Michael Bungay Stanier
• CreateSpace
• Get Free Speaker Resources
• Book a Call with The Speaker Lab
• Calculate Your Speaking Fee
• Join The Speaker Lab Community on Facebook
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on Spotify

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You know a speaker only makes money when they speak - unless they build their business beyond the stage. And today we are exploring one of the ways to do just that with the one and only Mr. Pat Flynn.

Pat is an entrepreneur and renowned public speaker who runs a site called Smart Passive Income. Even though he and I could geek out on speaking all day long we have a different focus for this show: affiliate marketing.

Pat has built a significant business going this route so I brought him on to share what he's learned along the way. If you're interested in building your speaking business beyond the stage you'll want to check out this episode along with our free live training here. Be sure to join us for the training and for episode 198 of The Speaker Lab.

  THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOW:  

• Are there any types of products or services that lend themselves better to affiliate marketing?
• The one question to ask yourself to determine which affiliate products to offer to your audience.
• Why do you have an advantage in affiliate sales in your role as a public speaker?
• What is the purpose of demo videos and how do you use them?
• Can you ever get a higher commission rate?
• What can you do if a product you like doesn't have an affiliate program?
• Why would a company ever offer 100% commission rates?
• What rules should you be aware of when offering affiliate sales?
• And so much more!

EPISODE RESOURCES

• Smart Passive Income web site
• Pat Flynn’s affiliate marketing course
• Pat Flynn on Twitter
• Get Free Speaker Resources
• Book a Call with The Speaker Lab
• Calculate Your Speaking Fee
• Join The Speaker Lab Community on Facebook
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on Spotify

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wouldn't it be great if you knew how to never lose a customer again? Absolutely! To give us insights is the man who literally wrote the book on this subject: Joey Coleman.

Joey is a full-time speaker who talks to companies about what they can do to keep their customers, especially in the first 100 days of a new customer's journey and how to keep that customer coming back for more.

We dive into those topics as well as his one tip for providing an exceptional experience for your speaking clients. Hear what that tip is and much more on episode 197 of The Speaker Lab! 

THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOW:  

• What percentage of customers stop doing business with a company before their 100 day anniversary?
• How did he double his speaking fee with one gig?
• How did he rack up over 4,000 hours of speaking before he gave he became a full-time speaker?
• While speaking why does he give examples of both big clients and small clients?
• Do you need to tell your audience you are a professional speaker?
• Did he actually close his agency in under a week to become a speaker?
• Why you should prep one hour for every minute you are speaking.
• How much of a keynote should be customized so your audience feels your speech has been written for them?
• And so much more!

EPISODE RESOURCES

• Joey Coleman's web site
• Never Lose a Customer Again, with Joey Coleman
• Joey Coleman on Twitter
• Get Free Speaker Resources
• Book a Call with The Speaker Lab
• Calculate Your Speaking Fee
• Join The Speaker Lab Community on Facebook
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on Spotify

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.