CAPS BC organizes events monthly for professional speakers. This month, the event was a premier for CAPS BC: Linda Edgecombe and Hugh Culver hosted a mind-blowing CAPS BC retreat at Linda’s Edgy Acres acreage in Kelowna. A full day of workshop with 4 Speakers learning, networking, brainstorming, mentoring, socializing, laughing, with local foods paired with local wines.

Here are my notes from the event:

PART I:

HOW TO GET YOUR NEXT 10 PAID SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
Hugh Culver, CSP, MBA

Hugh has done every part of the business and taught us how to get us where we want to go faster and easier than he did and how to avoid the mistakes he made.

WHAT PROBLEMS DO WE FACE?

Undercharge. Wait for the business to come. Go after the shiny object. Lack of prioritizing. Lack of delegating for non-generating tasks. Lack of follow-up. Don’t know the audience. Taking anything on.

1. Anything of any value should fit on an index card. I.G.A.P. exercise. (I Got A Problem). Give yourself a score from 1 to 5 as to how you evaluate yourself for the four following “P”.

• Planning: Know how you spend your time
• Product: Create content, products
• Performance: being focused, take control
• Personal: How well did you take care of yourself

Put a star beside the one that you want to address in the next 30 days. When you speak, make sure you do this right at the beginning of the talk so that people right away see the value of what they will get from you.

MONEY

Taste the lure of a big paycheck. This is how Hugh thinks about business.

Business model no.1: If you want to make $100,000 per year and charge approx. $3,500, you need to speak about 30 times. = This is a really bad business model.

Business model no.2: If you put all your eggs in the same basket, it often turns into an empty calendar. You still can charge $3,500 to speak and add products to sell over the years.

• Charge for your handouts, really nice bound handout that you can sell for $20 to each participant.
• Add coaching (always have packages – bundle)
• Add facilitator services
• Add training
• Add self-published book
• Add a webinar to follow up the event – $40 on zoom (and you don’t even need to wear pants – make sure you don’t stand up… LOL!)
• Add an online course
• podcast

Tell your crowd to chat about which product they will want to work on. Tell them specifically: Who do you talk to? What are you talking about? How long you got?

Do about four times interacting with your crowd.

WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM?

The Mainstream Market: You are up against bureaus, competition and meeting planners.

#1: Associations have regular meetings and conventions.

#2: Corporations

#3: Not for Profit Agencies

The Side streets Market: Instead of going after the money, go after the volume. Reverse the way you go after business.

Offer to be a one-off Speaker to make $100,000 with the Mainstream Market:

Coaching ($1,500) X 6 times per year = $9,000

training ($3,500) X 6 times per year = $21,000

speaking ($3,500) X 20 times per year = $70,000

Single event = $6,000  + Books = $400 = $6,400 per event, twice per month

Offer to work with 1 client ONLY on the side streets market and be a select advisor with ONE client or a FEW of them:

Facilitation $3,500 X 1

Training $3,500 X 6 = $21,000

Coaching $1,500 X 20 = 30,000

Total $54,000 for ONE client.

Why would clients want to shop around and take a risk of hiring someone new? Become a trusted advisor.

• Municipality governments
• Provincial governments
• Credit unions
• NFP societies
• Coops
• School districts
• University admin – staff
• Health authorities
• Indian bands
• Start-up businesses
• Local agencies

The model is to become their trusted advisors.

10 BETTER-BUSINESS TIPS

• Build other revenue sources
• Build your LIST (no.1 way to market yourself) an email is treated differently than anything else on the web.
• You need to Blog (video or 300 words or long-form articles) a blog brings people to the website and makes them stops on your website.
• You need to track the numbers – check your credit card bills and make sure you really need to subscribe to everything you are subscribed to. Take your revenues and divide it by the number of days you work and make the math to know your average daily rate.
• Other people’s platforms. Network. Ask people for advice (it makes them aware of your existence and what you do). When you ask for help, people become very generous.
• Market yourself on LinkedIn (more so than any other platform, the less restricted right now). Medium.com is a good one. Reproduce your blog as an article with the picture instead of just a link to your website.
• Tell people what you do. Tell people you are a speaker that gets paid to do this.
• Outsource Upwork (you can search in Canada only to support Canadian freelancers).
• Learn from people who are ahead of you. Share and ask. How did you do that? Don’t ask them to get you to work. Ask them how they got work.
• Write more. Book, articles, journal. (Atomic Habits: James Cleary grew his list of 540,000 more names, just writing) – 800 to 1000 words is the magic number of words. Put all the call to action in the first 30% of the article. Put the links like a speaker, coach, etc. with a link to your coaching page or your speaking page at the beginning of the post as people may not read until the end.

PART II:

THE COACH APPROACH TO SPEAKING
Beth Hanishewski shared her journey from International Business and Life Coach to accidental Speaker. Beth outlined her signature process – the relationship formula – and how her expertise has enabled her to take a one-on-one coaching process to several thousand people conventions. The ‘coach approach’ continues to influence all of Beth’s offerings that now include keynotes, training, workshops and curriculum design for both facilitated and evergreen online programs.

In 2006, Beth’s marriage fell apart, her relationship imploded, and she was angry about being a divorced person. She had a coach at the time who challenged her to do something about it and work on her marriage. She decided to show up in her relationship, the way she wanted him to show up and somehow, he became nicer. She was just trying a system and it worked. She will be celebrating her 20^thanniversary next week. She was so surprised that it worked and wanted to experience this with other couples. She realized that what she did, her three things, had worked and that if anybody was doing these three things, it would work for them.

You should have extraordinary relationships.

Here is the technique:

Write the name of a person in your life that you want to have a better relationship with. Rate your relationship with them on a scale of 1 to 10.

The relationship Formula:E + V + C = H

Every relationship breakdown can be related to one of the first three letters.

E FOR ENERGY.

The energy of the masculine and feminine is what she refers to.

Certain characteristic is associated as masculine and as feminine. Which is very different than men and women. They are just characteristics.

4 different ways to split the energy

Positive Masculine                        Positive Feminine

Driving                                                Receiving

Logical                                               Allowing

Problem-solving.                            Intuitive

focused                                              Flow

Protecting                                          Nurturing

Passive

Negative Masculine                       Negative Feminine

Aggressive                                        Submissive (doormat)

Controlling                                         Manipulating

Violent                                                Bitchy

Resentful

Needy

Closed                                                Hysterical

Judgemental

When it is not going well in a relationship, ask yourself, which quadrant you identify in that relationship. If you are in the lower quadrants, move up to the lighter side.

We create instant polarity with people and it is okay to be the opposite.

V FOR VALUES.

Main mistake: Stealing your person’s highest value. Main relationships breaker.

Masculine Highest Value:

#1-Freedom

Allow freedom to masculine energy, don’t tell them what to do and how to do it.  Ever. Take away their freedom and it will go south.

Feminine Highest Value

#1-Safety

Don’t make fun of them in public, flirt with others in public, don’t judge her. Be 100% present. Make them feel like they are the most important thing for you.

C FOR CURRENCY

Relationships currency. How do we get paid in our relationships? We give what we want. You need to give what they want. This is the most important thing they want:

In the absence of these, relationships transform and breakdown.

Masculine currency

Appreciation & Trust. Say thank you when they open the door instead of saying: I got it, I’m okay, let them help you and say thank you. If a woman gives you their trust, keep it, be faithful.

Feminine currency

Connection and Protection. Give them your undivided attention and protect them. Tell them you are there for them.

H FOR HAPPINESS

If you do these three things, you will live happily ever after. Energy + Value + Currency = Happiness.

Be in their energy, honour the value, give them the currency they want.

COLLABORATION

You don’t only live with your spouse or significant other. You live with your kids, your friends, your co-workers, your boss, your clients.

The formula is being used in your business collaborations. In business, when we are with people all the time, we need to make sure to put the formula in action.

Most people are close to leaving when they are not even willing to work on it anymore. If you still have emotions, even if it is negative emotions, it means that you still care. That is when it is worth working on it. If there is somebody that you once loved and want to work on it, this formula is for you. Even if you rate your relationship at a 2 or 4 out of 10, you can save it.

PART III:

HOW A SIMPLE 5 STEP PROCESS CAN HELP YOU SELL MORE AND CHARGE MORE EVEN IF YOU HATE SALES.
Scott Peckford is the owner of I Love Mortgage Brokering and author of “How to Rob Your Bank.” In 2018, after interviewing over 200 top producers in both the US and Canada, Scott doubled his income by applying a new sales formula that focuses solely on solving a problem.

Selling for people who hate selling. Scott shared his process on how the technique can allow you to transform your business.

Most people don’t like sales, feel uncomfortable. People normally show up to sell with the wrong mindset. They hate selling. They never ask for money.

Follow the process. Syntax matters. It is like a sentence, if you move the order of things, you miss out or change the outcome. i.e. The Dog bit Paul. Or Paul bit the dog. The order matters.

I.R.U.S.S. SYSTEM.

Intention: When you do a sale, your intention really matters. Before getting on a call, you have to show up in a way that you are fully present. Do some creeping online about them first, find something you love about them and open with that. I noticed that you did… etc. Show that you care.

Rapport: If you don’t have rapport, people won’t be honest with you, won’t buy from you. If you can make them laugh, it scrambles a part of your brain and they won’t pay attention to what you are saying. Find a way to make them laugh. Interrupting kills rapport. Assumptions kill rapport. Ask questions, don’t assume. 1. Connect and Build Trust. 2. Frame the conversation. Tell them you will be asking questions. Don’t talk about yourself.

Uncover: ask very specific questions to identify the real problems. Sell something that is difficult and desirable. Be specific about the problem that you solve. You have to identify the real problem. What is the biggest challenge in your business right now? What is your biggest challenge working with a consultant? Do you think you are getting the best results right now? Make them realize they don’t have the answers. Don’t use the “me” or “I”, talk about them and their problem. You want someone who understands your problem exactly. Talk about the exact problem. It is not about you. Ask good questions and listen 90% of the time.

Size Up: Decide if the client is someone you want to work with. Have standards on who you want to serve and who you can serve best. At this stage, you get additional information to develop a plan on how you will serve this client. Have standards and make a list of who are the people you can serve best. Who you can have the most impact on. Then RECAP: recap their problem and what they are living, so that they really feel like you can describe their exact pain. Then you say: If that is true, then I am 100% that I can help you with this and solve that problem.  The purpose of the phone call is not to coach them right away. It is to sell them a solution. Don’t give a bandaid or a solution on the phone call.

Sell the Solution: Present your solution as THE solution to their problem. Move with them, adjust your pace to theirs. Give them a high-level overview of what you will be doing with them. Don’t give them the solution, just talk about outcomes and what they will get, not what you will do or how you will do it. Don’t give them specifics, just tell them what they will get.

Here are some great Uncover questions that you can ask an event planner:

What is the goal of your event?

Why is that the goal?

What has worked in the past and what has not worked?

Where do you get feedback from your members or board? How do you make sure they are happy? Get some intel about who is their boss? There is always someone that you are trying to impress with this event. Who would be the influencer, the person you need to impress?

What would you like them to say about this event?

What tone would you like me to set?

What one or two things on my website stood out to you? They sell themselves as to why you are great.

How will you know the event will have been a success? How will you measure this event’s success?

Is there anything that I should stay away from and make sure that I don’t mention?

Ask personal questions: Family – Occupation – Recreation – Goal (if time permitted).

If I am a good fit, and I really think I am, I will make this work for you.

A cold call is a 2% success rate. The warm connection has a 20% rate and referral has a 50% success rate.

Then you can present your solution using their language their words.

“Never leave the scene of a decision without first taking a specific action towards its realization.” Tony Robbins.

What you can say, is to offer them to charge your people to be there. Get their people to pay into it so that they will really commit and see a difference.

Great book: Chris Voss “Never Split the Difference.”

The person asking the questions controls the conversation. Organize your sales call.

Magic sentence to start a call:

“First I will ask you questions, where you want to go, and only if this is a fit, then I will explain to you what I do and offer you a solution.” If they ask questions, tell them: I don’t even know at this time if this is a fit so I can’t tell you at this point if I am a fit.

PART IV:

 HOW TO STAY RELEVANT IN CRAZY TIMES
Linda Edgecombe, CSP, Hall of Fame

After 27 years and 5 ‘re-sets,’ Linda has worked her butt off as a Speaker to stay relevant in crazy times.  Through raising her family, to burnout, through depression times three.  Her saving grace has always been to lean into the mirror. Linda will share how she has taken her content and reworked it to stay relevant, honest and transparent all the while keeping you laughing. This combination has only grown her bookings and business. “A day without laughing is a day wasted!”

Her biggest fear is that the business will quit her before she quits the business. She is really curious about what her next act looks like. She organically let her business grow. She had to re-set, re-boot.

Linda got started with Participaction to share their message, bring people together and build a better community. Linda has never been afraid of pushing boundaries and be funny. You want to keep adding humour to keep people in the room.

As a human being, she knew that her evolution in her career was for her to wait for the phone to ring. As life went, she got better. She also went to a dark and stressful period and did not like the person in the mirror. She was still talking about humour and pretending as a hypocrite. She needed to figure out on a long journey, how to get out of this state of depression.

“You gotta go there to get there.” Then when you tell it, it is honest, integral and you mean it.

She brought her story to the stage, how she hated yourself, how she did not like the person in the mirror and worked hard on liking her again. When she put her story forward, the business started booming again and the whole cycle started again. She worked too hard and started hating herself again. You have to lean in the mirror and face what you see. No-one has it all together. Talk about your vulnerabilities. People will love you.

Three challenges to do: If you want more client, better life, etc. here is what you do:

1. Think about a friend who knows you really well and can help you. Ask them to tell you how they see you holding yourself back. How do I self-sabotage myself?

Marinate with the answer and decide what you will do about it. If you really want to move forward: lean into the mirror. It is a challenge and uncomfortable.

2. If you could change one thing in your life right now that would exponentially improve your life, what would you change? Assistant.
3. What is holding you back from making that change? Be honest with yourself.

Then Linda turned to the room and had us share our answers to these questions and the whole room turned into a wealth of knowledge. The pieces of advice are always in the room. Somehow, we all shared, opened our hearts, cried, received and gave advice. Mould only grows in a dark space. Put it into the light and it won’t survive. By sharing our challenges, they became brighter.

FEEDBACK

Change the word Feedback for the word: Encouragement.

Can I offer you some encouragement? will get a lot more openness than asking: Can I give you some feedback?

PICK A LANE

What is one topic that you can talk about in your sleep? If you were only allowed to talk about one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

What is one organization that can benefit from this topic?

FEAR

Fear of rejection: Technique of beliefs stacking. Write down 20 reasons why rejection is great: I get better every time I get rejected. I get to practice for the right client. It puts me in a better position. Etc.

IN RECAP

What an amazing day! We all learned, grew, shared and belong to this great community of speakers, entrepreneurs, coaches, friends and new friends. A huge thank you to Linda to open her home to us!