The most frequent question I’ve been asked in my many years of working with speakers and artists is this:
How do I find more bookings?
My first question back to them is always this:
Where are you looking now?
Seriously, where are you looking?
If you’re not looking, I’d challenge you by saying that I don’t believe you’re all in.
Let me explain…
If this message of yours is so important to you, why wouldn’t you be committed to your own success, and committed to finding places to share it with the right people?
So, let’s get you committed!
Not straightjacket / padded-room committed — but rather, jumping-in-with-both-feet, devoted-to-your-own-success in this field committed.
I find that question usually tips me off that it’s something that person hasn’t thought too much about, truly.
They either believe they can’t figure it out, or they just don’t like doing it, or they don’t have time to figure it out.
Does one of those sound like you?
What if I told you there’s a simple solution to each of those 3 problems?
If you can’t figure it out… Work with someone who can teach you.
If you don’t like doing it… Examine what it is that you don’t like about it. Is it that you’re introverted, or have trouble getting on board with your own value, or just don’t know how to “talk to talk,” or is it something else?
Or is it really the next issue…
If you don’t have time to figure it out… You’ll have to hire someone to do it for you.
When I worked at a speaker’s bureau, I actually loved teaching new speakers how to get their legs under them in a way that set up a solid foundation for ongoing growth and continued success.
In fact, that’s why the bureau and I ultimately parted ways: the company owner felt it was a conflict of interest for me to teach new speakers, to empower them with knowledge about how the industry works.
He subscribed to the old-school way of thinking, the scarcity mindset — that if you know what I know, you won’t want to work with me anymore because you’ll think you can do it better.
However, if this business has taught me anything over the last 15 years, it’s this:
- There’s always more to learn, and the industry is ever-changing. And…
- People work with people they like to work with, not just because of what they know but also because of who they are and how they do business. And…
- The talent rarely likes to handle all the details themselves. That’s not their “zone of genius,” to borrow a phrase from Gay Hendricks. In fact, they often prefer NOT to do it themselves, even if they do know how, because that part bores them. BUT… They still like to know if the person representing them is up to par.
In my opinion, if you understand how the game is played, then you can play a better game — whether you’re doing it for yourself, or whether you’ve hired someone to do it for you.
After all, how can you know if they’re doing a good job unless you know how it should be done?
You’ve got to understand the process if you’re going to be successful.
You wouldn’t go into a football game trying to play by baseball rules, now would you?
It’s basically the same thing.
So, devote yourself to learning the rules of the game, and then learning to play to your strengths within the boundaries of those rules, and then to bend the rules when you see a way to go against the grain that plays to your strengths.
And if you’re looking for someone who can break it down in a way that’s simple to understand and easy to apply, but you’re not quite sure whether I’m that person, please comment below if you’d like to set up a free Q&A call to see if I could help you.