Turn $2,500 speaking fees into $20,000

Last month, I emailed to my client database a newsletter article and booked three paid keynote speaking engagements. Not bad for only spending 30 minutes writing an article called “is she coachable?”

Getting booked to be a keynote speaker was great, but that’s not even the best part…….

One of the clients only had a budget of $2,500 for a 30 minute keynote. When I also learned there would be 1,000 human resource professionals attending, I immediately accepted their budgeted fee because I knew of the potential. Most speakers and consultants would simply accept the speaking fee, sign the contract then move on. BIG MISTAKE!!!

Remember, YOU are running a business and why are you in business? That’s right, to make a profit. Smart business-people try to make as much profit as possible from every transaction. The same should be true for YOU as a consultant and speaker…..YOU should be trying to make as much profit as possible from EVERY speaking and consulting engagement.

Let me explain exactly what I did to illustrate how I turned that $2,500 into about $20,000! Pay close attention because I want you to begin thinking like a Cash Cow Consultant, and if you will, I guarantee you’ll leap to the next level of making $200,000 to $1,000,000 annually, rather than just relying on getting your delivery fee.

I asked my client if he would be interested in having each attendee receive an autographed copy of my book Lead Like Water, and it wouldn’t cost him anything? Naturally he said yes! I then asked how much the registration fee was for the conference? He said the fee last year was $149 and it will probably be the same this year. I said that if he would set the fee at $155, then each attendee could get a copy of my book (1,000 total attendees) and it wouldn’t cost the association anything.

He would keep $149 for conference fees while the remaining $6 would go to me to cover book printing, shipping and handling and a “small” payment to me. In addition, we’ll set up a booth at the conference so that each attendee can get his/her book personally autographed. He could even promote in all of his conference promotional materials that each person who attends will receive an autographed copy of my book (which retails for $14.95). He loved the idea and said yes to the deal!

Let me share some financial numbers with you:

Cost to print and ship each book: approx: $2.00 per book (Total $2,000)

Total Revenue: $6,000
Total Cost: $ 2,000
=======================
Book PROFIT: $4,000

 

ACTION STEP 1:
Get your book finished. Many of you who have asked me for advice have heard me say this to you NUMEROUS times (you know who you are)! You can’t make money like this until your book is actually done! Make it a priority to get it done!

ACTION STEP 2:
Start “thinking outside the box” when you are booked to speak! Suggest this exact type of deal. Will it happen each time? No! But what if it did happen only one time? Would you have a problem accepting the extra money? Didn’t think so! By the way, this is the THIRD deal I’ve done THIS YEAR and I’m currently working on another right now! Do the math on the extra money!

Here’s the rest of the story of how I took the $6,500 ($2,500 Speaking Fee + $4,000 Book Profit) to $20,000:

I’ll be speaking at 8:30 am on a Friday morning, so I contacted companies and organizations in my marketing database within a 3-hour drive of where I’ll be speaking asking if they would be interested in on-site trainings for their organizations at a reduced rate since I’ll be in their area. Most companies prefer to conduct training on Tuesdays-Thursdays. In addition, there wouldn’t be any expenses. Out of the 20 organizations four said yes (20% return……not bad). My average on-site rate is between $5,000 to $10,000 for a full day, but I offered them 120 minutes up to to a half-day on-site rate of only $3,500 flat (all-inclusive).

4 companies x $3,500 = $14,000

PLUS, at the conference I’m keynoting I’ll be selling my other books. Typically, I can count on about 10% of the audience buying additional products (I know this from tracking my results from past conferences…you should be tracking all of your results too).

1,000 attendees x 10% = 10 buyers

I’ll offer a great package deal at the conference to make sure it’s too good for them to pass up. I’ll give them two of my other books and DVD of a live training session, for $50.

My total cost for each package = $9
My total profit per package = $41

10 Buyers x $40 = $410 PROFIT

TOTAL INCOME PROJECTION:

Speaking Fee: $ 2,500
Book Deal: $4,000
On-site trainings: $14,000
Product Sales: $410

TOTAL: $20,910 (Can you say Cash Cow!)

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