This is the fifth lesson of the ‘'Get Started As A Speaker' email course.

Today, we'll look at two key marketing tools that every speaker must have to build your business and get paid.

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Now that you’re clear on why you want to speak, who you want to speak to, and what you want to speak about, it’s time to create two key marketing tools that will help you best communicate who you are and what you do to potential clients and decision makers.

Alright, let’s not waste any time. Here are the two biggest marketing tools a speaker needs to get started...

1. Website

2. Demo Video

Let’s start by talking about your website. A website is a must in today’s business world. It is the most common way for clients to research you.

I recommend you use your name as the domain (i.e. grantbaldwin.com). Why? Because as a speaker, you are the brand. When an organization or event books you to speak, they aren’t booking some random company…they are booking you! You are the product.

Knowing who you want to speak to is so critical when building your site. You want to speak the language of the decision maker, so that when they come to your site, they feel like, “Yes! This speaker is perfect for our event!"

With all the resources available today, you can make a really sharp (and inexpensive) site using WordPress and a nice theme or a tool like SquareSpace.

Plus, you really don’t need a lot of pages on your site when you’re getting started. Here are the key pieces that you need...

1. Pictures - Promo pictures are ok, but I’d prefer speaking pictures. When people see pics of you speaking, it gives credibility and validity to you. It makes people feel like you’ve actually done this before.

2. Recommendations - Ideally, you want to get quotes from people with fancy titles in your target market. But in the beginning, focus on getting recommendations from anyone who has heard you speak. Even if you just have 3-5, that’s fine to get started with.

3. Bio - Clients want to know who you are and what you’re about. I like to also include random facts or funny stories that make me seem human and distinguish me from every other speaker website.

4. Topics - I like to think of this as your menu. You may only have 1-2 talks in the beginning and that’s fine. Your ‘menu’ is just a title and a short 1-2 paragraph description of what that talk is about.

5. Contact Info - If someone has more questions or they want to book you, make it easy for them to contact you. You’ll want to provide both phone and email.

6. Video - Alright, let’s go more in depth here…

Your demo video may be the most important part of your website. It’s the chance for people to actually see if you’re good and if you’re a good fit for their event.

Here are a few tips for making a quality demo video...

1. Keep it short - Consider your own attention span for online video. I’d recommend you stick to 3-4 minutes max.

2. Think of your video like a movie trailer - It should be short enough to give someone an overview but should make them want to see more. Show some of your best material but leave some cliff hangers, so they want to talk further with you.

3. Show me, don’t tell me - The video should be you actually speaking, not you talk about speaking. So many videos are highlight reels of media clips, interviews, and some voiceover talking about how great you are. Show you actually speaking.

4. Work with what you’ve got and improve as you go - You don’t need a bunch of bells, whistles and flashiness in your video. My first video was shot with a little Handi-Cam on a tripod in the back of a room with 50 people. I even edited it myself on Windows Movie Maker. It wasn’t great, but it worked.

Also, keep in mind that you don’t have to create a website and demo video overnight. It may take a few weeks, but if you’re going to be a speaker, you want to have these two tools in place.

Once you have them in place, then comes the fun part of marketing to decision makers. How do you do that?

I’ll tell you exactly how in the next email

Today's homework is short and sweet.

Lesson 5 Worksheet: What's keeping you from creating your website & demo video?

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