Nick Morgan, Public Words

How to develop a paid public speaking career – V: What you need

IN THIS SERIES

• 1. Basic rules to follow.
• 2. How much energy it will take.
• 3. Where to find gigs.
• 4. How to achieve long-term success.
• 5. Essential marketing materials.
• 6. The importance of social media.
• 7. FAQs.

Let’s talk about the marketing materials you need to develop a paid public speaking career.  There are a few essentials:  a DVD, a website, a book, a one-sheet.  And a number of should-haves: a social media presence, a blog, a press kit, handouts, YouTube videos.  And after that, the only limit is your imagination.  The Carrot Principle authors sent 4-foot stuffed carrots to speakers’ bureaus to catch their attention (it worked).  A speaker we know sent live goldfish to speakers’ bureaus for the same reason (the goldfish mostly died).  Seth Godin reaches out to his base with promotions, seminars, special deals, unique offers – almost daily.  He’s a brilliant marketer, and it shows (and it works). 

But let’s talk about the essentials first.

First, the DVD.  Many people have the wrong idea about what should be on a speaker’s DVD.  It really needs to contain one thing and one thing only:  a 20-30 minute excerpt of a speech similar to the kind you want to book.  The sound should be good, the lighting should be adequate, and it should not look like your brother-in-law held a flip cam on you from the back of the room.  It should include audience reaction shots, so you need a 2-camera shoot, maybe even 3.  It should not focus on your head and shoulders exclusively, and it should not show waiters walking in front of the camera. 

This is not a “greatest hits” or “sizzle” reel.  That kind of thing – brief clips of you in front of a variety of audiences, or on TV – is not much use to speakers’ bureaus and meeting planners, because they figure that everyone can be brilliant for 30 seconds at a time.  They want to see you holding an audience (preferably a large audience) for 30 minutes, because then they know that you can do the same thing for them. 

This little object is harder to acquire than you might think.  Having worked with many clients, conferences, video crews and so on, I’ve learned that everything that can go wrong will.  The lighting will be horrible.  The sound will be worse.  Your message will change.  The audience won’t cooperate.  Waiters will walk in front of the cameras.  You’ll wear black in front of a black background and be invisible.  You’ll wear light colors in front of light colors and look like an animated fruit tree.  Everything that can go wrong will. 

Nonetheless, get the best DVD you can and get on with life.  Here’s how to approach the subject.  Imagine that for the rest of your speaking career, you will be looking to acquire more video footage of yourself.  Every time you give a speech, bribe the A/V guys to give you a copy of the master tape.  If you’re always in video acquisition mode, you’ll get plenty of chances to improve your DVD. 

Second, the website.  The next place a meeting planner goes after watching your DVD is to your website.  He or she will get a good idea of how much you’re worth, how current you are, and whether or not you should be hired, from the website.  So, it’s worth putting a good deal of thought into, and (get used to it) plenty of time.  Amateur-looking websites these days mean amateur speakers.  Here are some good ones:  Steve Farber: http://stevefarber.com/.  Susan Ershler: http://sueershler.com/.  Adam Hartung: http://www.thephoenixprinciple.com/.  Notice how having the blogfeed (and other social media feeds) on your home page keeps the site fresh. 

Bottom line is that you simply cannot be hired at $20K per speech if your website looks like it was designed by your kids’ former babysitter. 

Third, the book.  I just did a whole series on the public speaker’s need for a book, so I will be brief here.  You must have a published book (not a self-published book, under most circumstances) to sustain a public speaking career.  It’s a way for audiences to continue the relationship with you, and for meeting planners to feel secure that you are an expert in the field that they’ve hired you speak about. 

Fourth, the one-sheet.  Called a one-sheet because it used to be one page, this document has pictures of you looking great, your speaking topics, a brief bio, testimonials, any media hits, a description of your book, and anything else that is relevant for potential bookers to know.  It should be designed, almost certainly not by you, unless you’re a designer (and even then) and while you probably should print a few up on expensive stock, usually you’ll send it out as a pdf.  This document should be irresistible, fascinating, and delightful.  It should motivate your reader to reach for the phone and hire you. 

How to develop a paid public speaking career – IV: 3 Rules for Long-term Public Speaking Success

IN THIS SERIES

• 1. Basic rules to follow.
• 2. How much energy it will take.
• 3. Where to find gigs.
• 4. How to achieve long-term success.
• 5. Essential marketing materials.
• 6. The importance of social media.
• 7. FAQs.

You’ve created both push and pull demand – you’ve wooed the bureaus and meeting planners and you’ve created a strong platform – and you’re getting inquiries.  What do you need to do to create a thriving, sustainable business?  Following are the three essentials for long-term success in the very tough business of (paid) public speaking. 

First, understand that from your customers’ perspective, it’s all about risk reduction.  So reduce their risk. 

The greatest fear of a meeting planner or a speaker bureau rep is that a speaker will do something stupid, disastrous, or unforgettable.  Sure, they want speakers to be good.  But even more than that, they want them not to offend anyone.  Think about it from their perspective.  You put on a few conferences a year.  The brand and reputation of the company, or the association, or the group are on trial for those several days.  And you’re responsible.  You’re not very high up in the organization, so everyone can abuse you if you screw up.  “How could you have hired (Speaker X) when he insulted every single one of our customers by saying they weren’t green enough?”  That indignant, perhaps career-ending question can come from anyone in your organization from the CEO on down. 

So your job is to ensure that you are a safe commodity for them.  You must consistently deliver exactly what you say you will.  You must do so without histrionics, complaints, or unreasonable demands – in fact, with a smile on your face.  You must show up a day early, introduce yourself to the meeting people and the A/V people and anyone else that is involved, and then stay out of the way while they do their jobs.  You must have arranged any needs you have for A/V or transportation or bottled water from Fiji well in advance, and you must not complain about minor shortcomings in the on-the-ground actual arrangements. (Major shortcomings are another story.  You will deal with those respectfully but firmly.)  Most importantly, you must begin your speech on time, deliver a good performance, and then get off the stage on time.  You will thank the A/V people for their professional help.  You will cheerfully meet, shake hands with, autograph books for, and otherwise perform reasonable social duties for the organizers, the top brass, company employees, and their heirs and assigns. 

In short, you must be professional – always. 

Second, deliver consistently on your brand.  

People hire you to speak to give them an experience – the experience of you, your brand, your passion.  The better known you become, the more this is true.  Many speakers new to the paid speaking world write fresh speeches for every single occasion.  That is actually a very bad idea, for three reasons.  First of all, it’s not what the customers want.  They want the idea, the brand, the platform for which they hired you.  So tailor your basic speech, absolutely, but don’t make up something entirely new.   Second, it means that you won’t be as effective as a speaker, since you won’t know the speech thoroughly and in your gut.  Real knowledge of a speech, like any kind of performance, only comes through delivering it in front of a live audience many times.  If you’re always making up new speeches, you’ll never achieve that elegance, assuredness, and style that comes from complete comfort with a message.  And third, you won’t get the word-of-mouth you need to sustain your business, because audiences will (rightly) see your speech as completely particular to them. 

And there’s another way you need to deliver consistently on your brand:  your marketing materials.  Your website, your blog, your one-sheet, your DVD, your book – all your marketing – needs to look highly professional and consistent.  It’s astonishing how many speakers have an inconsistent, or non-existent, brand presence.  The first thing someone who is thinking of hiring you looks at is your DVD.  Then, he or she looks at your website and blog.  Then, the one-sheet and the book.  Are they all consistent, and do they all clearly present a brand that shows you in a very good light?  If not, get to work and fix them.  More about marketing materials in a later blog. 

Third, generate good word of mouth.  

Most of your long-term business will come from repeat engagements and word of mouth.  Every single audience member is a potential marketer for you – so embrace your audience, make your speech audience-focused, and enlist their help in spreading the word.  You can’t build a speaking business on a series of one-off speeches.  Find ways to connect with your audience before and after the event.  Find out what makes them tick, help them, and establish real relationships with them, and your career will thrive. 

How to develop a paid public speaking career – III: Where do you find gigs?

IN THIS SERIES

• 1. Basic rules to follow.
• 2. How much energy it will take.
• 3. Where to find gigs.
• 4. How to achieve long-term success.
• 5. Essential marketing materials.
• 6. The importance of social media.
• 7. FAQs.

If you’ve read this far, you’re interested in a paid public speaking career in spite of the competitiveness and because of the opportunity to reach an audience with your message.  And you want to make money.  So far, so good.

The next step is to think about how you’re going to create demand for yourself and your speech.  (I’m assuming you have a phenomenal speech.  I’ve written and blogged many times about writing a great speech, so I won’t talk about that here.)  Most speakers starting out think that their best move is to find a speakers’ bureau and sit back and wait for the bookings to roll in.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.  Speakers’ bureaus get a cut from their clients – corporations, associations, and the like who put on conferences – of the speaker’s fee, usually 25%.  So the focus of the bureau is on satisfying their clients, and that means presenting them with, say, a half-dozen DVDs of their best speakers on leadership.  Or the current economic state, or how the regulatory climate is going to look next year, or whatever the topic. 

A speakers’ bureau will only reach for your DVD out of their enormous pile for two reasons.  First, you’re in hot demand.  The client has asked for you, or someone like you if you’re not available.  Second, the bureau knows you and loves you.  So your job is to create both pull and push demand.  To become in hot demand, you need to establish a platform and a community of people who have similar passions and are vocal about them.  To get the bureaus to know you and love you, you need to send business their way. 

That means when you get a speaking assignment, share it with a bureau you want to become friends with.  Pay the bureau the 25% even if it hurts; it’s your way of saying that you’re a professional and you mean business. 

More and more speakers and meeting planners are doing ‘end runs’ around the speakers’ bureaus.  Some meeting planners will even ask bureaus for recommendations, and then go to the speakers’ web sites and book them directly.  That is unethical, but it does happen, and it’s why the business is changing, and bureaus are becoming ‘disintermediated’.  It’s an awful word, but its promise is as old as barter:  cut out the middleman! 

For now, we live in a hybrid world.  If you pursue paid public speaking, some of your speaking assignments will come directly from the meeting planners, and some will come from bureaus.  You have to navigate this tricky terrain as intelligently and ethically as possible. 

As you’re making nice with the bureaus and creating demand (a strong platform) through social media and other methods, you’ll also want to explore a third way to get speaking gigs:  your existing network.  Have you served in an industry-wide capacity on a task force, or on a standards committee?  Have you helped colleagues over the years in a number of companies?  Do you have a wide network of suppliers or customers who know you and respect your insights into the business?  Each of these can become a source of speaking assignments.  The trick is to get one, and then another, and another.  If you do a good job, word will spread quickly. Every member of each audience is a potential marketer for you!  Remember that and treat your audiences well. 

Next time I’ll talk more about each of these sources of gigs, and about what marketing materials you need to be ready to conquer the speaking world when it does come calling. 

How to develop a paid public speaking career – II

IN THIS SERIES

• 1. Basic rules to follow.
• 2. How much energy it will take.
• 3. Where to find gigs.
• 4. How to achieve long-term success.
• 5. Essential marketing materials.
• 6. The importance of social media.
• 7. FAQs.

Coming out of the SXSW conference and the session Tim Sanders and I ran, I’m going to continue a blog series begun then on how to develop a paid public speaking career.  In the first blog I discussed in general terms some of the ideas that came up during the session.  Here, I’ll try to cover the topic a little more systematically and thoroughly. 

The first question is why would anyone want to speak in public at all.  It is very common to fear the task, and virtually everyone who has ever tried has experienced stage fright ranging from ‘butterflies’ to outright phobia.  So why do it, if you don’t have to?

There are two good answers, or perhaps two answers that make sense:  money and influence.  A successful public speaking career can be extremely lucrative at the high end, and you get a chance to take your message to large numbers of people.  You need both to sustain yourself over the long haul, because the travel is hard and you’re going to be depending on the kindness of strangers (to adapt Tennessee Williams) for much of it. 

So that’s the first bit of advice I have for anyone considering a career in public speaking.  Don’t try it unless you’re willing to work very, very hard for money and influence.  You must be passionate about spreading your message.  There will be dud audiences, bad halls, lousy sound systems, failing visuals, empty rooms and travel nightmares on a regular basis.  Don’t take on the challenge unless you have the energy to go the distance. 

Second, don’t try unless you’re willing to be completely professional and dedicated to the job.  It’s not a world for amateurs.  A speakers’ bureau CEO I was talking to recently told me he had a database of 18,000 speakers.  Roughly a third were “leadership” category speakers – the category that most people starting out fancy themselves part of.  Those are tough odds.  How do you stand out?  How does the bureau even remember ten percent of that number? 

We’ll get into how to stand out amongst the competition, but for now, be clear that you’re not entering an easy, simple marketplace.  The paid public speaking business is extremely competitive – and extremely lucrative if you do it right.  If you treat it like a hobby, or a part-time job, it will reward you with a profound lack of interest. 

How to write, sell, and market a business book – VII: Marketing Your Book

IN THIS SERIES

• 1. Getting Started
• 2. How to avoid the slush pile
• 3. What makes a great non-fiction book proposal
• 4. Why you need an agent
• 5. Understanding the secret world of publishers
• 6. Writing the book
• 7. Marketing the book

We’ve arrived at that point you maybe never thought you’d get to:  you’ve written your book, it’s going to be published soon, and you’re ready to market it. 

You’re ready because you’re smart and you’ve realized that your publisher is going to do nothing to promote the book.  It’s up to you.  If that shocked you once upon a time, you’re over it and you’re ready to proceed.  You’ve got a couple of decisions to make immediately. 

First, are you going to hire a PR agency or try to do some traditional PR yourself?  Traditional PR agencies work their rolodexes on your behalf usually for about 6 months – 3 months before publication and 3 after.  What they do is get you all the free media they can – TV, radio, reviews in magazines, newspapers, blogs to an extent – to get your book to sell.  They might also coordinate various other kinds of promotions (both free and paid) depending on their creativity and your budget.  A basic PR contract like this might cost anywhere from $30K to $75K depending on who and how much. 

You can also try to do this yourself; be warned that it’s hard work.  PR agencies get the money because of their rolodexes, and unless you have a nice ‘in’ with a producer of The Today Show, the odds are that interest in a particular author’s work coming from that author will be minimal. 

There is another, and I believe, better way to go.  That is to use non-traditional, online media – social media – to create a platform and join a community yourself.  The huge advantage of this approach is that it’s free – except in terms of your time.  And it works. 

Social media allows you to locate a community of like-minded people who will be interested in your book – provided you show them a little love first.  That means you have to begin a long time – as much as a year or two – before the book publication.  You have to create your blog, and all the other social media tools you’re going to use, and then use those tools to reach out to and connect with like-minded people.  As a professional speaker, you probably have done a good deal of this already. 

Here’s a little thought-experiment to show you why I think this is the way to go.  Imagine your perfect reader, a single mom, business executive, someone who devours business books regularly.  She has 2 kids, and she’s getting them ready for school one morning, while getting herself ready for work at the same time.  The TV is on in the kitchen, and she’s watching The Today Show.  A segment about your book catches her eye, while she’s brushing her teeth, putting the kids’ breakfast in front of them, and looking for their lunchboxes.  Just as the segment ends, Johnny knocks over the OJ and she rushes around to clean up.  A few hours later, when she’s caught up with email and thinking about lunch, sitting at her desk at work, she recalls the segment.  She’s forgotten the name of the author and the book, so (regretfully) she opts for the corned beef, and resolves to buy the book when she thinks of it.  But she never does.

Now imagine an alternate scenario.  Same perfect reader, but home after a long day.  She’s just put the kids to bed, and has settled down in the living room with a glass of wine and her laptop to catch up on her favorite blogs and email.  She reads a piece about your book in one of those blogs, clinks on the link, and has bought the book from Amazon before you can say, “credit card details.”

When I published Give Your Speech, Change the World in 2005, I did tons of radio and other forms of PR.  The book has sold OK, but a recent video review by the inimitable Chris Brogan rocketed the book to #500 on Amazon in less than 24 hours.  It sold out the edition, and Harvard is currently printing more.  For a while I was outselling Dan Brown.  A temporary, but nice feeling! 

Social media works, if you’ve connected sincerely with a real audience of like-minded people.  In this era, it’s the best way to market a book.  And all it takes is time. 

Good luck with your project! 

How to write, sell, and market a business book – VI: Writing the Book

IN THIS SERIES

• 1. Getting Started
• 2. How to avoid the slush pile
• 3. What makes a great non-fiction book proposal
• 4. Why you need an agent
• 5. Understanding the secret world of publishers
• 6. Writing the book
• 7. Marketing the book

At long last you’re ready to write the book.  You’ve sold the proposal and a publisher is patiently awaiting the application of your genius to the blank computer screen.  What do you need to know before you plunge in? 

I’ve written extensively about good structures for content in both of my books on public speaking (Give Your Speech, Change the World; Trust Me) so I won’t talk about structure here.  Instead, I’ll discuss several traps for the unwary in book writing. 

1.  A book is not a speech.  They are two very different genres with different goals and needs.  If you’ve been speaking about a topic, never assume that the book is as good as written.  Speaking is a much less detail-oriented genre.  You can get away with brief summary statements and allusions in a speech that will not pass muster in a book.  You must be prepared to go back to first principles and basic understandings when you write a book.  You may find yourself needing to write whole chapters about topics you dealt with in a sentence or paragraph in your speech. 

2.  Write first, edit second.   Writers get into trouble when they edit themselves as they write.  Any real writer has two voices in her head:  the creative genius who puts the black marks on the white page, and the editor who imposes discipline on the creativity.  It’s a mistake to listen to the editor before the creative genius has had a chance to do her thing.  The minute you start questioning a sentence or a paragraph on a writing day is the time when writer’s block sets in.  Keep it at bay by separating the two processes. 

3.  Write every day.  The difference between wannabes and actual writers is that writers write, every day.  It’s a practice like any other.  You don’t get to be a great baseball player by thinking about it; similarly you don’t get on the New York Times bestseller list by having great ideas and nothing more.  Moreover, a book is long – anywhere from 40,000 words to a great deal more – and it can’t be created at the last minute.  So when you know what your deadline is, start now, not any later, to work toward it.  Publishers are not impressed by late delivery of books because they publish to a schedule that’s worked out months in advance.  If you deliver late, you screw up their catalog for the year. 

4.  A proposal is not a commitment.  The finished book should look something like the proposal, but it doesn’t have to follow it exactly.  Allow for new discovery, serendipity, and flashes of genius as you write.  You’re going to spend a lot of time with your book, so make it better than the proposal.  Think of the proposal as a road map, not the terrain itself. 

5.  A book is all about an idea and a voice.   You’ve sold the idea in the proposal; now it’s time to find your voice.  A book should read like it could only have been written by you.  Books that have unique voices carry their readers along, create passionate fans, and build communities of interest.  And sometimes, just sometimes, they become bestsellers.  So let yourself speak truly, directly, and fully in your book.  Remember, it’s going into the Library of Congress with your name on it. 

Next time – marketing your book. 

How to write, sell, and market a business book – V: Publishers

IN THIS SERIES

• 1. Getting Started
• 2. How to avoid the slush pile
• 3. What makes a great non-fiction book proposal
• 4. Why you need an agent
• 5. Understanding the secret world of publishers
• 6. Writing the book
• 7. Marketing the book

Your proposal has acquired the love of a reputable agent, and he or she is out selling it to the highest bidding publisher.  That process can take a few weeks to a few months.  Publishing is seasonal; there are spring and fall catalogs, and fast and slow times.  So let’s take advantage of this period of enforced idleness (on your part) by discussing how publishing works today. 

Many of the people who come to work with us are writing their second book, having been burned the first time around.  They thought the experience would go one way, and in fact it went another, and not as delightful, way.  But it’s not usually because of malfeasance, just misunderstanding. 

The author-to-be imagines a close relationship with an editor, who is simultaneously enthusiastic about the book and helpful in making it better with sagacious editing suggestions.  When the book is finally published, the author imagines a book tour, with a limo and perhaps even paparazzi and SRO crowds at chic bookstores in New York and San Francisco.  Then, there’s the appearance on the Today Show, and maybe, just maybe, Oprah.  Can bestsellerdom be far behind?

Here’s the problem with that scenario.  Publishers have no idea what books will sell, so they make strategic bets on 100 or so books a year (depending on the size of the catalog).  They’ll pay a big advance on the one book that they think will sell, and small advances on all the others.  What they’re really hoping is that one book in the catalog will take off and pay for the other 99. 

Accordingly, they’re in the wholesale business.  They’re not interested in retail sales – bookstores and such.  They sell to the 5 or so big book distributors and they like to move thousands of books at a time.  For public speakers, this means that you won’t really get the attention of a publisher unless you can credibly claim to sell 500 to 1,000 books or more at your speeches.

And that means that editors no longer edit; they are in the deal-making business.  Their job is to line up a portion of those 100 books a year, and that keeps them quite busy, thank you very much.  Once the publishing contract has been signed, their work is done, and their interest in you will become vanishingly small. 

Don’t take it personally.  It’s just the book business today, pushing too many books on an increasingly disinterested public. 

Oh, yes – that whole publicity thing.  Publishers do astonishingly little of that nowadays except on the one book they’ve paid a fortune for.  You’re on your own.  Again, it’s nothing personal.  Hire a PR agent yourself, or, better yet, create an online marketing program.  But more about that later. 

For now, it’s best to think about the publisher as someone who will pay you an advance to write the book, and then will print and distribute that book – nothing more.  For that, the clever devils will take about $15 - $17 out of a $20 book.  In fact, they’ll take all $20 until your book has sold enough copies to earn the advance back. 

So go ahead and sign the contract; the point is that you’re getting published and that’s a necessary step on your way to a successful public speaking career.  But read the contract thoroughly; the fine points – especially the electronic rights and other recent developments – are negotiable.  That’s where your agent earns her commission.  And you need to figure out what’s important to you – if you think your book is likely to get optioned as a movie, then make that as lucrative as possible.  Or maybe you believe that there is a significant Asian market.  Then push hard on the international rights. 

The book business is dysfunctional, out of step with what’s happening today, and changing.  Electronic books, free digital downloads, and a host of other trends have the publishers confused and frightened.  The only sure prediction is that 5 years from now the business will be quite different. 

Next time I’ll talk some heretical advice about writing the actual book. 

Why Everyone Gets PR Wrong: Beware the Narrative!

For my blog today I'm linking to an article I wrote just published on Forbes.com all about why everyone gets PR wrong.  Beware the narrative!  Enjoy:  http://tinyurl.com/ybj92tc

3 Quick Ways to Improve Your Presentations

For my blog today, I'm linking to an article I posted recently on the Harvard Business blog site that has received a lot of comment.  Add yours here, and  enjoy!  http://tinyurl.com/yzujwv8

How to write, sell, and market a business book – IV: You’ve written that proposal; now what?

IN THIS SERIES

• 1. Getting Started
• 2. How to avoid the slush pile
• 3. What makes a great non-fiction book proposal
• 4. Why you need an agent
• 5. Understanding the secret world of publishers
• 6. Writing the book
• 7. Marketing the book

So you’ve written that proposal, and it’s killer.  Remember, there’s still a long way to go.  And unfortunately, we’re at one of the hard parts of the journey.  You can’t approach a publisher directly.  This is one of those times in life when you need expert help.  If you go to a publisher directly, it will think “Amateur!” and will have no compunction in fleecing you of all sorts of rights you never knew existed. 

It’s like selling a house.  You can do it yourself, but it’s usually better to go with an agent, because you don’t do it very often, and you don’t know all the angles.  A good agent does. 

So find yourself a literary agent.  The web is a great place to start.  Most of them are based in New York, followed by Boston and San Francisco, but there are good ones everywhere.  Look for an agent – this is really important – that covers the kind of book you are proposing.  Agents specialize in genres – business books, children’s books, fiction, religious books – you name it.  Some are broader-based than others, but don’t ever send a proposal to an agent that doesn’t have at least several authors and books published in the area you care about. 

Under no circumstances deal with agents who charge to read proposals (or manuscripts – but you know not to write one yet).  They are the bottom feeders.  They will take your money and write you back a very polite form note saying that they don’t think your proposal is marketable. 

Look for agents who represent a mix of insanely successful people – Malcolm Gladwell, say – and some that look more middle-market.  How do you find out who Malcolm Gladwell’s agent is?  Buy one of his books and check the acknowledgments – he’s thanked in there.  Find several agents – maybe even a half-dozen or more – and be prepared to be turned down by some and hailed as a genius by others.  They are individuals. 

Don’t go to agents hat in hand.  Go with confidence; if you’ve written a great proposal, you’re exactly the kind of author they’re looking for.  In exchange for 12-15 % of your advance (and your royalties) they will be your friend for life and help you navigate the difficult terrain of the contract – and most importantly, help you get taken seriously by publishers. 

Of course, the best way to get close attention from an agent is to come recommended by someone they already know, so use the six degrees of separation to find the friend of a friend who knows someone in NYC who is someone’s doorman who knows the agent in question.

Once you’ve got your agent, be aware that they will want to get you to revise your proposal, change your title, and generally become your collaborator.  This is a good thing; it’s how they believe they add value.  Welcome the advice.  They know what is selling right now, what is a drag on the market, and what publisher will react best.  They won’t want to re-write your book, just the proposal, so don’t do the prima donna thing and refuse to work with them.  Be professional, appreciative, and prompt. 

And be warned:  depending on the agent and how much re-writing you end up doing, the process of getting the proposal ready to be marketed can take a year, or even more.  The good news is that writing the book will be relatively easy after that.  So don’t lose heart, but, again, realize that you may be in for a long journey indeed.  The longest I’ve ever seen or heard of the proposal process taking is 2 years; the shortest 3 weeks. 

Next time:  the publishing contract!

Next: 5. Understanding the secret world of publishers →

How to develop a paid speaking career

IN THIS SERIES

• 1. Basic rules to follow.
• 2. How much energy it will take.
• 3. Where to find gigs.
• 4. How to achieve long-term success.
• 5. Essential marketing materials.
• 6. The importance of social media.
• 7. FAQs.

I shared a ‘Core Conversation’ yesterday afternoon at SXSW with the consummate professional speaker Tim Sanders, author of Love is the Killer App, The Likeability Factor, and Saving the World at Work.  Aided by some great comments, suggestions and questions from the audience, we discussed some of the important rules to follow if you want to develop a paid professional speaking career.  Of course, there are a variety of ways to break into the speaking circuit, and these rules can be creatively broken, but they will help you get started learning the system (if only to hack it later).

1.  Your first job is to build a platform and a community around something you’re passionate about.   A blog is a great way to begin, of course; the idea is to create some buzz that connects you and the topic.

2.  Your next assignment is to write a book on the subject – and get it published by a ‘real’ publisher, not self-published.   The people who hire professional speakers – meeting planners, speaker’s bureaus, and so on – are all about risk reduction.  A speaker that says something offensive, or fails to show up, or delivers a lousy performance wreaks havoc on the conference that the planner has been working on for 6 months or a year.  They never forget and never forgive a bad performance or a diva.  A published book is a way of controlling that risk, because it suggests a certain level of seriousness and professionalism. 

3.  You need a few others things after that, the most important of which is a DVD that shows you speaking in front of an audience for roughly 20 minutes.   The Catch-22 here is that it’s hard to get a good audience without the DVD!  So accept a ‘free’ speech with a good crowd promised, and get the A/V folks to give you a copy of the tape of your speech at the event.  And make sure you’ve got audience reaction shots – if necessary, hire an extra cameraman. 

4.  After that, it’s up to you to create the buzz that will have conference goers demanding that you’re hired to speak.   Your allies in this are the speaker’s bureaus, so treat them right.  When you get a paid gig offered to you directly, take it to a bureau and offer them the commission. 

There’s lots more to be said on the subject, so perhaps I’ll start a blog series.  Thanks to Tim and the great SXSW audience for a fun afternoon. 

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How to write, sell, and market a business book – III: The Proposal

IN THIS SERIES

• 1. Getting Started
• 2. How to avoid the slush pile
• 3. What makes a great non-fiction book proposal
• 4. Why you need an agent
• 5. Understanding the secret world of publishers
• 6. Writing the book
• 7. Marketing the book

So I’ve talked you out of writing the book (yet) and you’re thinking about a proposal.  Let’s take the essential sections of one in turn and expand on each a bit.

Introduction

Begin with the most important section – the introduction.  We’re talking about a few pages, only, and it’s your chance to sell this book in the strongest possible terms.  What’s cool, new, and different about the idea?  Why will it transform current thinking on the subject?  Why will people be irresistibly drawn to it on the bookstore shelf?  And then, how is it like some other book or books that sold millions in the same genre?  Publishers are like moviemakers; if one book sells, they want to publish another one just like it, but different enough so that everyone will buy this one too.  Don’t be shy here; if these pages don’t grab people, your idea is toast. 

Audience

Once you’ve got an idea you’re passionate about, the next step is to find its audience.  Give this one real thought, and come up with as many different kinds of buyer personas, to borrow my good friend David Meerman Scott’s term of art, as possible.  Who will be completely thrilled by your book?  Forty-something martial artists who live in major cities?  Funeral home directors with 30-40 years in the business?  People who love giant pandas?  You need to know these people and then you need to write a book (that will come later) that they care passionately about.  A couple of pages. 

Author’s Bio

For some reason, these are hard for most people to write.  Most of us are uncomfortable bragging about ourselves, I guess.  You might want to get a good friend to help with the writing.  Skew your bio toward talking about all the ways in which you have a platform, a network, a community of thousands of like-minded people, people with credit cards and a stack of books on the nightstand.  A page and a half, unless you’ve been a president or prime minister. 

Competitive Analysis

Here, you want to talk about the half-dozen or so books that are giants in the field about which you’re writing, saying why they’re great (to show you understand) and why your book will be even better.  The case you’re making is tricky; you’re describing a marketplace where there has already been great success, but for which there will be much more.  A few pages. 

Marketing

This is the other really important section.  Publishers are in the wholesale business, not the retail business (like you are selling your book to your Mom, your best friend, and various colleagues), and what they respect is bulk sales.  I’ll talk more about this issue in a later post, but here the point is to talk convincingly how you’ll be able to move books by the thousands at your speeches, to companies, to Warren Buffett, who is a close personal friend and is going to buy, I don’t know, 10,000 copies for Berkshire Hathaway shareholders.  Many businesses that want to publish a book by an executive, say, agree to buy the first print run – in fact, up to 10,000 copies sometimes – in order to make it happen.  The book business is not pretty.  Several pages of forthright prose with real numbers.  

Manuscript Specifications

This is a relatively simple section.  How many words (not pages) will the book be?  60,000 words is roughly 220 – 250 pages, depending on formatting, for reference.  What format will it be delivered in to the publisher?  (The correct answer these days is electronically, in Word, but I suppose you could use a typewriter, or a quill pen.)   The one crucial element here is whether or not the book will be more complicated than words printed on paper.  Do you need photos of rare iguanas?  DVDs?  Audio CDs?  Fold-out maps with expensive 4-color printing?  A hand-written thank you note from your mother inserted in each copy?  Publishers look askance at any and all variations from black print on white paper because they add to the price.  But don’t conceal your need for pictures, graphs or charts if you do need them; it’s impossible to negotiate this item once the book deal has been signed.   A couple of paragraphs. 

Chapter Outline

Here’s the chance to thrill your reader with teasers, promises, explanations and insights that practically give away the book.  For each chapter, and even each sub-chapter depending on how your book is organized, put a couple of paragraphs or more that lays out what will be in the book in the most enticing possible terms.  Publishers want to know that you’ve really thought the book through, that it makes sense, and that there’s meat on those bones.  But don’t write the book!  This section can be anywhere from a few pages (not so good) to 20 (better). 

Sample Chapter

Finally, dazzle your potential dealmakers with your prose.  Make this perfect, brilliant, and original.  No typos.  No infelicities.  Publishers (and agents) are often wannabe writers themselves, often with English Lit degrees, and they know good writing from bad.  Humor them.  Write well.  One trick here is NOT to write the first chapter.  Most people do, but it means that you typically write the same material three times – in the intro, in the chapter outline, and in the sample chapter.  That’s boring, so instead, write the meatiest, most interesting inner chapter you can think of.  Go right to the heart of the matter, and put that in the chapter. 

This blog has gone long, so I’ll talk about what to do with this magnificent proposal once you’ve written it in the next blog. 

Next: Why you need an agent →

How to write, sell, and market a business book – II

IN THIS SERIES

• 1. Getting Started
• 2. How to avoid the slush pile
• 3. What makes a great non-fiction book proposal
• 4. Why you need an agent
• 5. Understanding the secret world of publishers
• 6. Writing the book
• 7. Marketing the book

OK, so you’ve got enough passion for a subject to write a book, and you get that it takes a long time – maybe two years or more.  You’re prepared for the long haul.  What’s the next step?

Don’t write the book.  That’s so important that I’ll say it again, in all caps:  DON’T WRITE THE BOOK.  To make it in the published book world, the kind that gets distributed in Barnes & Noble and Borders and Amazon, and gets reviewed by the New York Times, you have to take the right steps in the right order.  Starting by writing the book marks you out as an amateur. 

Here’s what happens if you go to a publisher with a complete manuscript, your baby, the product of months – maybe years – of labor:  it goes into something called the (dreaded) Slush Pile. 

What is the Slush Pile?  At some major publishing houses, it is the 40,000 unsolicited manuscripts that arrive in the mailbox every year.  That’s right:  every year. 

How do you like those odds? 

At that major publishing house there is a lowly unpaid intern whose job it is to read every one of those manuscripts in the slush pile.  It takes her a long, long time to read them, and how much attention do you think she gives each one? 

If she’s conscientious, she reads the first few pages of each one, and moves on.  A form letter goes back to the hapless author, and that’s it. 

Once every five years or so, the intern finds a manuscript that is so compelling that she reads it all the way through, takes it up with an editor, and champions it all the way through the rest of the process to publication.  So the real odds are something like 1 in 200,000.  It’s more likely that you’ll have an accident involving a drinking straw and have to visit the emergency room – twice as likely, in fact. 

That, at least, you have some control over.  The slush pile you don’t.  So don’t enter it.  Don’t write the book.  (And avoid drinking straws when possible.)

Instead, write a proposal. 

In a proposal, which is the standard currency of the book publishing world, you talk about the book, about yourself, about the competition from other books like it, and about the likelihood that you’ll sell tons of copies.  You include a sample chapter.  But most emphatically not the whole book. 

Proposals run in fads, and different publishers (and agents – we’ll get to them in the next blog) like to see different things in them, but on the whole you need to start with an introduction of 1.5 to 5 pages that sells the sizzle – why the book will be amazing, unprecedented, and yet similar enough to some bestsellers that it too will be a bestseller.  Then, your bio; an audience analysis; that analysis of the competition (half a dozen or so already published books like and yet unlike yours); a marketing analysis (very important) that demonstrates how you’re going to sell thousands of copies; a brief description of the manuscript itself (how many words, how many pictures, etc.); a detailed chapter outline (several pages’ worth); and finally the sample chapter. 

Proposals range in length from 10 pages (minus the sample chapter) to 150 pages, but a good template can be found on the website of one of my favorite agents, Levine-Greenberg, here: http://www.levinegreenberg.com/proposals/.  Next time I’ll go into the proposal and the proposal process in more detail, but that’s enough to get you started. 

Remember:  don’t write the book.  Write the proposal.

Next: What makes a great non-fiction book proposal →

How to write, sell, and market a business book - I

IN THIS SERIES

• 1. Getting Started
• 2. How to avoid the slush pile
• 3. What makes a great non-fiction book proposal
• 4. Why you need an agent
• 5. Understanding the secret world of publishers
• 6. Writing the book
• 7. Marketing the book

I’m going to start a series of blogs on writing, selling, and marketing a business book.  A book is still the ticket to a successful public speaking career – and a bestseller the ticket to a very successful public speaking career – so those serious about public speaking need to embrace the magic, mystery, and heartbreak of the book world. 

Let me make that first point clear.  There are other ways into a successful public speaking career, such as becoming a celebrity.  Captain Sully was speaking for profit and glory shortly after he landed that plane in the cold waters off Manhattan.  The next thing he did was write a book, in order to sustain that career.  Brad Pitt could get all the speaking gigs he wants, without ever writing a book, but he’s presumably having more fun and making more money doing his movie thing. 

The rest of us have to write a book, if we want to speak in public to anything more glorious and profitable than the local Lion’s Club.  The reasons for this are complicated, but they have to do with the nature of the speaking biz.  The people who hire speakers dread a disaster.  Risk reduction is the bread of life for them, and if you hire someone who has written a book, that gives you cover.  “She has written a book,” still has some cachet for meeting planners trying to recover from a bad speech. 

Does that make sense?  A little, I suppose, but let me warn you about something:  little else in the book world makes sense.  But by the time we’re done with this series, I promise you that you will understand the whole Alice-in-Wonderland universe of books – not the Tim Burton Alice, which is a drama, but the Lewis Carroll one, which is a magical mystery tour through an alternate universe. 

OK.  So what’s step one?  Step one, and this is really, really important, is to pick a subject that you’re passionate about.  The typical book experience, from idea to launch party, takes 2 years or more.  And then the book, with your name on it, gets put into the Library of Congress, forever.  So make it something you care about. 

It’s also helpful to know something about the subject, but it’s not essential.  You’re going to have to do some research, most likely, in any case, so you don’t really have to know much more about your subject beforehand than, say, Dan Brown did about the Vatican before he wrote The DaVinci Code. 

But the most important thing to start with is passion, because if you embark on this adventure, you will find yourself scratching your head on a regular basis, saying, “But that makes no sense!  Why would they do it that way?”  Only passion will get you through the idiotic, broken, desperate world of book publishing. 

Ready for step two?  Step two is an essential conceptual shift.  Most writer wannabes think that the be-all and end-all of the whole book thing is that moment when you hold the first copy sent to you by the publisher.  The newly published and printed book is the Holy Grail at the end of your quest, right? 
Wrong.  Your work has only begun.  It’s now up to you to make sure that your book lives on for more than 15 minutes.  To do that, you have to market the book, and that is a job just as big, just as daunting, and in some ways more mysterious, than writing the book.

So calibrate your expectations right at the beginning.  If you want to write a book, you’re not just writing the book.  You’re also selling and marketing the book.  More about each of these later, but for now, do the mental re-calibration. 

The book process begins before you start writing the book and ends long after it is published. 

On to step three in the next blog. 

Next: How to avoid the slush pile →

Current Speakers and their Books – X: Bishop T. D. Jakes

IN THIS SERIES

• 1. David Meerman-Scott
• 2. Sally Hogshead
• 3. Seth Godin
• 4. Daniel Pink
• 5. Chip and Dan Heath
• 6. Michael Mauboussin
• 7. Keith Ferrazzi
• 8. Greg Mortenson
• 9. Chris Brogan
• 10. Bishop T.D. Jakes

I’m closing out my series on current speakers and their books with another counter-intuitive choice:  Bishop T. D. Jakes.  Counter-intuitive because Jakes is a preacher – but not such an unusual choice when you consider that Jakes is the CEO of a modest-sized not-for-profit corporation, with 300 employees, at least $50 million in physical plant, television and radio production companies, roughly 30 books and a Grammy award to his credit.  He has prayed with and counseled the last 3 presidents from his megachurch in Dallas, which has over 28,000 members.  

The guy is a player, with followers, influence, political power, and financial clout.  One of his recent books is pretty typical:  Reposition Yourself:  Living Life without Limits, which is all about growing through faith, achieving through works, and both giving and receiving blessings: http://bit.ly/cJcxXg. 

Jakes has many YouTube videos; here’s a recent one that gives you a good idea of his style: http://bit.ly/nYL65.  What can business speakers learn from this powerful preacher?  Two things.  First, when you’re talking to 30,000 people there’s only one way to reach them:  with passion.  If you don’t have the passion, don’t bother to try.  It’s a lesson that many a business speaker needs to learn.  So take a look at this 8-minute video, watch Jakes keep his passion strong throughout, and take the hint. 

Second, as much as Jakes is a preacher, he’s not just shouting at his audience.  He’s having a conversation with them.  Watch him change it up, involve his audience, pause for them to respond, and generally ensure that his audience is with him every step of the way. 

Two great lessons from the Bishop that all business speakers would do well to remember – and make their own. 

Current Speakers and their Books – IX: Chris Brogan

IN THIS SERIES

• 1. David Meerman-Scott
• 2. Sally Hogshead
• 3. Seth Godin
• 4. Daniel Pink
• 5. Chip and Dan Heath
• 6. Michael Mauboussin
• 7. Keith Ferrazzi
• 8. Greg Mortenson
• 9. Chris Brogan
• 10. Bishop T.D. Jakes

Chris Brogan is a giant in the field of social media.  He’s a blogger extraordinaire (http://www.chrisbrogan.com/), an author, a speaker, and he runs a company called New Marketing Labs, a “new media marketing agency.”  His big book, written with Julien Smith, is Trust Agents:  Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust (http://bit.ly/ayzRkR) and it’s a New York Times bestseller.  His latest is called Social Media 101:  Tactics and Tips to Develop Your Business Online, a collection of the best bits from his blog (http://bit.ly/c0bUd7) with a little more besides. 

You can see him speaking here: http://bit.ly/29ldmv.  What sets Chris apart as a speaker is that he makes the room feel small and cozy by having a conversation with the audience.  And he’s truly passionate about the subject.  Check out his blog, or one of his YouTube videos to see what I mean.  I talk about four steps to authenticity (and charisma) in my book Trust Me, and the first thing that occurred to me when I saw Chris speaking is that he has all four steps down, making him a truly authentic speaker, and one that people all over the world want to see.  He’s open to the audience, he’s connected with them, he’s passionate, and he listens.  That’s what it takes to be authentic, and that’s what Chris manages.  It’s not easy to do, and I recommend heartily checking out Chris in all his media to see how it’s done. 
 

Current Speakers and their Books – VIII: Greg Mortenson

IN THIS SERIES

• 1. David Meerman-Scott
• 2. Sally Hogshead
• 3. Seth Godin
• 4. Daniel Pink
• 5. Chip and Dan Heath
• 6. Michael Mauboussin
• 7. Keith Ferrazzi
• 8. Greg Mortenson
• 9. Chris Brogan
• 10. Bishop T.D. Jakes

I’m going to take a bit of a departure for today’s blog and talk about a different kind of speaker and author:  Greg Mortenson.  If you haven’t heard of Greg, or the work he is doing in Pakistan and Afghanistan, then click on over immediately to Amazon.com and find his first bestseller, Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time, or his second book, Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan. 

Greg’s story is extraordinary, and part of what is so extraordinary about it is that he would be the first to tell you that he is an ordinary man with average abilities.  Greg was a mountain climber, trained as a medic, and he agreed to climb K-2 in the 90s with a team of climbers partly in order to honor his younger sister, who had recently died of the effects of severe epilepsy. 

He didn’t make it to the top, and on the way down, he was sick and emaciated and ended up in a small Pakistani town where he depended on the kindness of the villagers to nurse him back to health.  In order to repay the kindness of those people, he vowed to them that he would build them a school.  The story of how he did that after several years of struggle is amazing, inspiring, and unique. 

Now, two decades later, Greg travels the world speaking about his experiences and the importance of bringing education to Pakistan and Afghanistan in order to promote peace there and indeed around the world.  He continues to work with his Central Asia Institute to build hundreds of schools in the region, in this way helping to educate tens of thousands of young Pakistanis and Afghans. 

Three Cups of Tea became a phenomenal bestseller, with more than 3.4 million copies in print around the world, I think in part because Greg shows us that another way of interacting with the world besides declaring war on it is possible – and indeed far preferable.  His message of hope and education deserves to be heard, and to be spread, as widely as possible. 

Greg maintains a punishing speaking schedule, and continues his work for part of the year in Asia.  You can see him on Bill Moyers Journal here: http://to.pbs.org/6Ai6ZG.  I recommend both books -- and catching Greg at one of his speeches -- in the highest possible terms.  He’s a quiet man with a powerful presence and message that the world urgently needs to hear. 

Current Speakers and Their Books – VII: Keith Ferrazzi

IN THIS SERIES

• 1. David Meerman-Scott
• 2. Sally Hogshead
• 3. Seth Godin
• 4. Daniel Pink
• 5. Chip and Dan Heath
• 6. Michael Mauboussin
• 7. Keith Ferrazzi
• 8. Greg Mortenson
• 9. Chris Brogan
• 10. Bishop T.D. Jakes

Keith Ferrazzi is the author of Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time, and – more recently – Who’s Got Your Back: The Breakthrough Program to Build Deep, Trusting Relationships That Create Success--and Won't Let You Fail.  Clearly, he’s not afraid of long book titles.  Keith is also the CEO of Ferrazzi Greenlight, a sales and marketing consulting company, and a professional speaker. 

He’s also one of the most networked people on the planet.  He will tell you it’s all about forging deep, real connection with people – and helping each other – but his address book must be one of the most envied in the world.  Both books give very thorough instructions in how to build your own network and make meaningful use of them. 

Keith’s central 2 messages are:  (1) don’t make small talk, make deep connections and (2) create a network of a small number of people who ‘have your back’ – who will tell you the truth and expect the truth in return.  In an era where Americans – and indeed the Western world – are increasingly isolated, it’s timely advice.  Keith is a good speaker, and one who involves the audience in his talks.  You can see him here, being vulnerable on Larry King: http://bit.ly/b4ZoCQ and here: http://bit.ly/90kQsb, launching Who’s Got Your Back around Arianna Huffington’s pool.  Now there’s a connection. 

Current Speakers and their Books – VI: Michael Mauboussin

IN THIS SERIES

• 1. David Meerman-Scott
• 2. Sally Hogshead
• 3. Seth Godin
• 4. Daniel Pink
• 5. Chip and Dan Heath
• 6. Michael Mauboussin
• 7. Keith Ferrazzi
• 8. Greg Mortenson
• 9. Chris Brogan
• 10. Bishop T.D. Jakes

I had to dig a little to find any video of Michael J. Mauboussin speaking, and that’s a shame, because he does a good job of explaining some very complicated business subjects.  Mauboussin is Chief Investment Strategist at Legg Mason Capital Management and adjunct professor of finance at Columbia Business School.  I finally tracked him down talking in a spin-off interview at an Economist conference:  http://bit.ly/27fiVJ. 

Mauboussin’s latest book is Think Twice:  Harnessing the Power of Counterintuition (Harvard Business Press, 2009) and it’s all about the ways in which we fall into irrational mental traps as we try to think rationally about investing.  The book is brilliant, clear, and a must-read for anyone who wants to understand why most of us do our research, ponder the salient news and trends, and then end up buying high and selling low despite our best efforts.  His earlier book, More Than You Know:  Finding Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Places, took 50 insights from a variety of fields of interest and applied them to investing. 

If you want to understand better why your mental models are woefully inadequate to modern investing (or just about any other aspect of modern life) than read Think Twice or catch Mauboussin at one of those Economist conferences.  Your bank balance will thank you. 
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