Ten Tips To Help You On Your Journey
I quit my “regular job” in March, 1991 to start my own company and peddle my skills to the world. At the time, I had a wife and two young children at home (12 and 10), not much money saved, no other income and only one client. But, since that one client was going to hire me for a steady project, I figured I’d be all right.
That was until a few days later when my one client decided not to use me. I spent the next week in bed horribly depressed, regretful and frightened out of my skull.
Then, I realized I better do something productive or I’d really be in trouble.
Since then, I’ve had many ups and downs as a speaker and consultant but I don’t regret leaving my job. However, and this is a big however, I don’t recommend you start your free-lance journey the same way I did. There’s no need to learn all of your lessons the hard way. So, if you are thinking about becoming a professional speaker/consultant I have ten tips that will help you make the journey more successful and profitable.
#1) Start now, but don’t quit your day job–yet. Boy I wish I would have done this. Given a “do over,” I would have saved up enough money to live for at least six months with nothing coming in. Your situation may be different. I’m just telling you what I learned the hard way.
Another money note: don’t rely on one client unless you could do fine if they drop you. I learned this lesson well when a manager who hired me for an extensive training program (which I allowed to take up all of my work time for over a year) got cancer and had to take an extended medical leave. The manager that took his place nixed the program. Yikes!
#2) Find a niche that is honestly you and that solves a problem. Safety meetings, presentations, training and most other parts of a safety program are notorious for being boring. It’s a common problem in every industry that I became an expert at solving. Then, I started passing on what I learned to other safety leaders and company executives. Eventually, I became well known for my ability to help Safety Leaders “Make Safety Fun.”
What problem are you solving now? If it’s something a lot of safety speakers are already solving (like getting employees to realize how important their personal safety is and how much it will affect their life—i.e. Charlie Morecraft, Billy Robbins, Kevin Bailey, Martin Lesperance—and that is just a tiny sample) then you’ve got to find a new way to address it. What is special about your ability to solve the problem? What can you do that is unique? Don’t just say: “Everybody loves my meetings.” Though that’s important, it’s not enough. Find an innovative way to stand out.
#3) Stay focused. Never say you can do everything. It will dilute your chance for success. That’s what I did for a while. If a potential client asked me if I could give a talk on how to cook sushi, I’d say “Absolutely! It’s my favorite topic. Get known for something specific first, go deep.
Then you can “spread out” or even reinvent yourself and give talks and consult on other related topics because researching your niche and experience may give you the insight into other similar realms. For me, that includes stress and using your imagination. Both tie in to my niche on helping safety leaders create a vibrant safety culture by making safety fun.
#4) Get help. I tried to learn everything myself at first. In fact, one reason I found my friend and agent Michele Lucia was because I finally realized I needed someone to help me with the business side of my business. She has made a huge difference. But be careful. For ever aspiring speaker there are a couple dozen entrepreneurs (and that’s a conservative estimate) making a living by helping new speakers.
You still need help, we all do. Just take your time choosing who gives it to you—especially if it is costly.
#5) Create products from the get go. You can do this easily while you are working at a full-time job. Take a few minutes a day and write out solutions to the problem you’ve chosen to solve. Then, use your wonderful imagination to create titles for e-books, videos, e-zines, one-sheets, articles, etc. The possibilities are huge! (One reason to create products is to help fill in when you have a slump in gigs.)
#6) Love people, not the applause. This took me a while too to realize. But once I started caring, truly caring, about the people in my audience, and not just about how much I could woo them, my skill as a speaker rose quickly. Be kind to everyone. You can’t lose if you keep a humble, loving attitude no matter how successful you are.
#7) Read, read, read, and then read some more. You’ve got to do this. Your clients and audiences rely on the fact that you have delved so deep into your topic that you’ve gained insight worth paying for. You’ll also need to read all you can about the speaking business. This is no small task. I love to read so it’s easy for me. But, even if I didn’t. I’d still have to read if I wanted to become an exceptional safety speaker.
#8) Enjoy the Ride. I love hanging out in airports. Truly. When I have a layover that gives me an extra hour or two between flights, I look forward to it. Who knows who I’ll meet or what fun I’ll have. (I’ve even gotten gigs while sitting in a lounge “smoozing.”) Learn to enjoy all aspects of the speaking business, especially the traveling. Speakers, even celebrity speakers with a booked calendar, spend almost all of their time off the stage.
#9) Always, always, believe in yourself. From the beginning, this is something I did do right. Through everything, I’ve never doubted that I had the ability to help people while being entertaining. You must keep a high level of self confidence—even when nothing seems to be going right. In the speaking business, like many others, you’ve got to pay your dues. That’s how you grow. You will have talks that flop. You will have talks that fly. As time goes on and you hone your craft, more talks fly and less flop until it becomes more a matter of degree than it does success and failure.
#10) If you think you got what it takes–Go For It! It’s a fun and challenging career that’s worth every bit of the effort.
‘till next time.
Richard
