Jamie Abbott: Welcome to pitch Perfect. Well, today, Monday the 3 June. If you're listening to this podcast on today's date, we are kicking off our speak and earn challenge. It starts at 09:30 a.m. sydney time. Today, Monday the 3 June. If you are watching this after that time, hopefully it's still before listening to this, I should say hopefully it's still before Wednesday the 5 June because it's going to be a three day challenge at 09:30 a.m. m, Australian Eastern Standard Time, Sydney time each day. Jump in jamieabbott.com dot au speakandearn and you can catch up. You can go straight into the Facebook group. You're gonna get an exclusive canva template which you can use to pitch yourself as part of your speaker toolkit. You're gonna get access to the community. It's all free, by the way. Day one you're gonna learn get that canva template so if you have missed it, you can still get that jump in. Day two, you're gonna learn how to pitch yourself as a paid speaker. And day three, Wednesday the 5 June is the cracker. It's how to score those lucrative speaking gigs. So where to find them? how to get anyone's email address in the world and pitch to them. So it's a really great challenge. Jaimieabbott.com dot au speakandearn and I'll see you inside. In the meantime, welcome back to another episode of Pitch Perfect. Today I wanna tackle an exciting milestone for any speaker, and that is scoring your 1st $10,000 speaking gig. Now, I think that reaching this level kind of signifies that you've made it to the big leagues and it opens the door to even more lucrative opportunities. So if you are ready to take your speaking career to the next level, get comfortable and let's dive in. Number one, build your expertise and brand. So to command a ten, or just call it ten k fee, you need to establish yourself as an expert in your field. And here's how to do that. One niche down. So focus on a specific niche where you can provide deep insights and value. And becoming an authority in a particular area makes you more valuable to event organisers. Content creation regularly create and share content that showcases your expertise. Chat GPT can make life easier for you in this regard. And this could be blog posts, videos, so you can, you know, get some inspiration for the scripts from chat, GPT, podcasts or articles in industry publications. Branding develop a strong personal brand and this includes a professional website, high quality photos and also consistent messaging across all of your platforms. Number two tip is create a compelling speakers portfolio and I'm going to show you exactly how to do that. Not only in paid to speak, which opens its doors June 4, so 4 June 2024 and closes doors on the 11 June, but also inside speak and earn, you're going to get a template for your one sheet professional bio. And when you write a compelling bio that highlights your achievements, your expertise and your unique value proposition, it really puts you in good stead to start getting these highly paid speaking gigs, as does a speaker reel. So invest in a high quality speaker reel that showcases your best moments on stage. Make sure that it's professionally edited and also includes testimonials from satisfied clients. And with testimonials and case studies, just start collecting and displaying these from previous speaking engagements because they are powerful endorsements of your value. Now number three is develop a high value topic. And this can be hard because sometimes you think, oh, what we think is going to sell as a topic may not, may not resonate. And in my paid to speak course, I do show you how to come up with a sellable, scalable, winning keynote topic. But in a nutshell, it needs to not only be engaging, but also highly valuable to your audience. So a couple of quick tips. You want to identify the pain points of your audience. So research and understand the key challenges they're having and the pain points of your target audience. Now your topic needs to address these issues. I love the how to's, the how to type topics like how to become a highly paid speaker. And with your keynote you want to provide actionable solutions. Find a unique angle, find kind of a perspective that sets your presentation apart from others. This could be a new approach, perhaps some innovative ideas or exclusive insights, and then make it outcome oriented. So clearly define the outcomes that your audience will achieve by attending your session, by attending and watching your keynote. And this adds tangible value to your talk. Number four, network with decision makers. Building relationships with the right people is so important for landing high paying gigs. So here's how to network effectively. You want to attend industry events, so participate in, you know, conferences, trade shows and networking events where you can meet event organisers and decision makers. LinkedIn networking use LinkedIn to connect with the organisers, the speakers and industry leaders, and engage with their content and start some meaningful conversations. LinkedIn can be really powerful for this and then referrals. Ask your existing network for referrals. Personal recommendations from trusted sources can significantly increase your chances of landing a high paying gig. Number five, perfect your pitch. So your pitch is your chance to sell yourself and your value. We're going to cover this in not only speak and earn, but also paid to speak, but here is how to perfect it. Research. So before pitching, research the event and its audience thoroughly tailor your pitch to show how your talk aligns with their goals and needs. Value proposition. You really want to clearly articulate your value proposition and explain what makes you different and why you're worth the ten k fee and then professional presentation. So create a, polished and professional pitch deck. Include your bio, your topic, your overview of your topic, your key takeaways and some testimonials inside. Paid to speak, you get a four page speaker bio canva template. It's the exact one I use to pitch myself as a speaker. Number six, negotiate with confidence. Now, negotiating your fee can be intimidating, but it's really important to do it with confidence and here's how. Know your worth, so understand the value you bring and be confident in your pricing. Don't undersell yourself either, but also be prepared to walk away. This is really a challenging thing for people, particularly if you're going for your first ten k gig. But if the organiser can't meet your fee, you need to be prepared to walk away. And sometimes standing firm on your value, backing yourself can actually lead to them meeting your terms. And this has happened to me so many times. And then offer flexibility. So while you should stand firm on your offering flexibility in other areas, such as your flights, your accommodation, other travel arrangements can really help close the deal. So for me personally, when I quote a client, it always includes my travel and accommodation because, otherwise, so many times I've said the client has to organise that and they've put me up terribly, but they've put me up in like a three star caravan park motoring, so I rather would have full control over my flights. I always fly, you know, a particular airline. I was not going to mention them, to get my particular frequent flight points. And so, yeah, I like to have full control over the times that I leave and where I stay. And then, number seven, deliver an exceptional experience. So delivering this is key to securing high paying gigs and getting referrals for future opportunities. Here's how. Engage your audience so use interactive elements, storytelling and high energy delivery to keep your audience engaged. Provide value. Make sure your content is valuable and actionable. Your audience should leave with practical insights that they can implement immediately. Follow up after the event. Follow up with the organiser and attendees. In my last podcast episode last week, I was talking all about how to get repeat engagements. A lot of these tips are very similar. so when you do do a ten k gig, thank them, ask them for feedback, and stay connected because you know they have the budget to afford your ten k fee. So reaching the ten k mark for a speaking gig is an incredible achievement and it's entirely possible with the right strategies and mindset. This is what I teach in paid to speak. By building your expertise, creating a, compelling portfolio, developing high value topics, networking with decision makers, perfecting your pitch, negotiating with confidence, and delivering exceptional experiences, you can score your first ten k gig and then open the door to even more lucrative opportunities. Thank you for tuning in to pitch perfect. If you enjoyed this episode, if you haven't already, please subscribe and give me a five star review. And don't forget to share it with your fellow speakers until next week when we're in launch of pay to speak. Keep speaking and earning.
