Stop speaking for free (unless you want to)

In response to yesterday's email, a $peakpreneur subscriber (who I'm not sure wants to be named) asked:

"What if they didn't come forward and ask you about how much you charge? How do you bring that up in a conversation when you feel you deserve to be paid for speaking?”

My reply was simple.

You're not a charity.

Unless you're speaking to sell something, or otherwise really are doing this for charity purposes, you have to be direct with whoever asks you to speak at their event.

One of my go-to techniques is this:

I like to ask a question to smoothly transition the conversation towards the fee:

"I'm assuming you've allocated a budget for this, right?"

You can ask it at the beginning or somewhere in the middle of the conversation.

It really depends on the conversation you're having and the context around it.

But...

The real question is... why would they think you're not charging in the first place?

If someone reaches out to you to speak, they either saw you speak at an event before, heard about you from someone else, or found you online.

But even if it was through the first two, they usually always look you up online.

And here's where you have to make it clear that you're not just a speaker... you're a professional speaker.

There has to be a clear section on your website about it.

And most importantly, there has to be a dedicated landing page for the specific keynote that you've delivered before.

Even if you don't have a website, create a simple landing page for the keynote where you include:

- A demo video

- A compelling headline

- Some pictures

- An overview of the keynote

- Benefits and testimonials

- A clear CTA: "Book [your name] for your next event"

You have to frame yourself as a paid speaker before they reach out to you.

And if you need help creating that for your own keynote, just reply to this email with "Landing Page" and I'll send you a link to book a short consultation call.

We can then furhter discuss how I might be able to help you.