Visit the Sage

Book Review: Money Talks - How To Make A Million As A Speaker

Money Talks - How To Make A Million As A Speaker, by Alan Weiss, Ph.D. -- review by Gill E. Wagner

Prologue

I'm an avid reader of Alan Weiss' many books, because they consistently contain more solid and usable advice than most books I've read. Yes, Weiss is a highly opinionated and sometimes controversial author and speaker, but that's exactly why I like most of his stuff.

Unless you are absolutely serious about making changes, do not buy this book -- it's got so many great suggestions you'll get overwhelmed and quit. But if making money as a speaker is on your to-do list, roll up your sleeves and start here.

Enjoy,

Gill

Philosophy

Speaking is a profession, so treat it like one – that's the fundamental idea conveyed throughout Money Talks. Weiss advises that anyone who accepts compensation for speaking to a group has an obligation to provide value not only to the attendees of the meeting, but to the owner of the meeting as well.

Weiss' approach with Money Talks is to overload you with practical advice, exercises and homework (often in the form of checklists) that will guide you through the process of creating a professional speaking career.

Just as I constantly advise you to leverage your strengths and create your own system for selling, Weiss advises you to create your own path to speaking success.

Opinion: I love this book because, while Weiss gives you tons of advice about what to do and how to do it, his overall philosophy is that you must both do what fits your style and accept personal responsibility for your success or failure – two values to which I also hold strongly.

The Process

Money Talks walks you through the complete process of building a speaking career – from determining your message and creating your presentations, to finding paying clients and leveraging speakers bureaus, and on to setting and ultimately raising your fees.

And by organizing the book into three primary sections he calls Savvy, Steak and Sizzle, he virtually guarantees that, if you do the work, you'll be successful at building your speaking career.

I normally prefer to offer an in-depth opinion of the processes, ideas, strengths and weaknesses of the books I review. But, in this case, I'll just say:

1. Buy it today.
2. Read it tomorrow.
3. Implement the ideas that fit your strengths immediately.

Do those three things, and I promise you'll be a more highly paid and successful speaker almost immediately.

--
Gill E. Wagner, Sage of Selling
President of Honest Selling
Founder of the Yellow-Tie International Business Development Association

Lesson Relearned

In a past visit, we discussed courage and the positive effect it can have on your life and business, and I promised to implement an idea -- perhaps crazy? -- I had about direct mail -- to "mail" myself to a talk-radio program director to see whether I could get him to "open me." The ultimate goal would be to create a relationship with this program director who would invite me to be interviewed on one of his programs, because those types of interviews increase your credibility with prospects. (If the radio producer lets you on air, you must be good.)

We'll I've done it. I actually climbed into a box complete with mailing label, "postage" and some humorous warnings like "Do Not Bend" and my favorite "This End Up!" and I walked into a St. Louis radio station to see what they'd do.

And the truly amazing thing is, what I relearned from the experience has little to do with courage, nothing to do with direct mail, isn't even in the neighborhood of creativity and lacks little resemblance to success.

The Package

The stamps were fake.

On the front was "Animated Brochure Enclosed," "Press Here For Audio" and "Do Not Bend."

That's an actual USPS return receipt at bottom right.

On the back was "This End Up!" "Perishable Contents" and "Time-Sensitive Material."

As a leave-behind (just in case I actually got "opened"), I assembled a large envelope containing:

• A cover letter to the producer
• My one-sheet promo for my best presentations
• A reprint of the "Random Thoughts On Courage" article that spawned this silly idea
• A copy of my book

The Delay

Two weeks ago when I wrote the courage article, I said I would package myself "today" and mail myself "tomorrow." This may seem strange, but implementing this little idea has been one of the most nerve-racking things I've done in years. It took me a full two weeks to put it together (instead of the two days I promised), because, like a crack addict rationalizing armed robbery to get his fix, I rationalized any and all delays:

• "I'm just being thorough. You have to be thorough for direct-mail to work."
• "What if this? What if that? I'm trying to get interviewed about creativity and courage. The idea isn't enough to 'sell it.' I've got to have a fantastic looking package too."
• "I've never even listened to one of this radio station's shows. I can't go in without knowing the format, the hosts, the most recent topics. I'd look like an unprepared fool if I did that. I'll spend part of next week learning about the station and listening to its programs."
• "I have a client who needs me. This proposal can't wait. Our new Fortune 1000 division meeting is Saturday, and I'm not prepared. Well, I guess this package-thing will just have to wait."

In other words, I wasted a ton of time with the nervous second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-guessing that cripples many salespeople and keeps them from ever getting the job done. Sure, I'm all for doing homework and being thorough, but at some point thorough becomes avoidance, and a good salesman should be able to spot the difference quickly.

Of course, since I made a public promise to do this, even the pain of doing it eventually became less than the pain of having to admit that I hadn't done it and wasn't planning to, so yesterday I finally executed the plan.

(Side Lesson: To avoid avoidance, tell everyone in the world what you're going to do, and make sure the pain of breaking your word is worse than any pain keeping your word can bring.)

The Final Detour

It's about 20 minutes from my office door to the radio station. Of course, it took me the better part of an hour to get there, because a colleague had just opened a new business and I had to stop in to say, "Hi." Never mind the fact that the two destinations were in opposite directions, or that I could just as easily have stopped by after I had "delivered" myself.

The Drive Downtown

I've been selling, building companies and doing public speaking for more than 30 years. I've built and personally tested prospecting systems where I had to cold-call senior executives at Fortune 1000 companies. I've walked into boardrooms filled with arrogant executives whose missions in life at that moment were to "make this salesman squirm." I've keynoted corporate meetings and conferences, and suffered question abuse from people whose only way of feeling good about themselves is to close their minds to ideas and open their mouths to belittle others.

Yet nothing I can recall over this 30-year stretch ever made me as nervous as that drive downtown.

The Lesson Relearned

When I finally realized just how many butterflies were flitting about my stomach, and stopped to figure out why, the lesson of this experience became clear: Never, ever, under any circumstances, put yourself in a position where one phone call, one knock at one door, one sales appointment, one proposal or one client matters, because when a single thing matters that much, you are almost guaranteed to fail.

I knew that -- I simply cared too much about this one "package," because I wanted to come back to you with a great success story (or at least a great story) to tell.

The Outcome

What actually happened? The "receptionist" is a member of the building's security team. He wouldn't let me in without an appointment, and didn't find the least bit of humor in what I was trying to do.

--
Gill E. Wagner, Sage of Selling
President of Honest Selling
Founder of the Yellow-Tie International Business Development Association

Chain Of Events

"Giving first is a way of life, not a strategy. The best results come when you do it without worrying, wondering or even caring how it will benefit you."

That was my response at the March 14 Yellow-Tie Drinks & Handshakes event when an attendee asked me, "How can you afford to give so much of your time to a nonprofit trade association?"

Upon reflection the next day, however, I came to realize that, while my response definitely contained the right attitude, it did not actually help my new acquaintance decide to give first.

Shame on me for not giving first to him, by humbly answering his sincere question.

The St. Louis Small Business Expo was held on March 21, despite the late-season snowstorm that snarled traffic and scared off many a registered attendee. I was one of the many visitors who attended anyway, because I was on a mission to atone for my arrogance of the prior week.

Give first. Give only. Don't care what's in it for me.

And to make sure I stayed true to that goal, I attended the expo as the president of Yellow-Tie, not as a sales consultant.

Armed with pen and pad, I entered the seven-hour expo with the goal of finding someone to buy what every single vendor (there were 130) was selling. (The best goals are always lofty.)

To accomplish my goal, I had to learn three very specific things from every company with a booth:

• What did they sell?
• Who buys what they sell?
• What do they need to buy right now that someone else with a booth might sell?

During the next seven hours, I had what I must say was the most fun I've ever experienced at an expo, because the moment I told the vendors I was there to find buyers for them, every one enthusiastically engaged.

The downside was that my conversations lasted so long, I got to know only 43 people. The upside is that I got to know 43 people, and I started this wonderful chain of events.

March 14 (at the expo):

• I introduced a CPA with a computer virus to two gentlemen who specialized in small-office computer repair.
• I sent a trade-show booth expert who needed a CPA to the woman above (who needed her computer fixed).
• I connected a business consultant who speaks on business challenges with the CEO of a janitorial service -- the CEO also happened to be the president of a building service contractors association that was looking for speakers.
• I introduced a banker who provides merchant services to a website developer who wanted to start accepting credit cards.
• And I helped a telephony consultant find a company that could supply bottled spring water to his place of business.

Since that day at the expo, three of the people with whom I shook hands have met with me over coffee to simply chat about business and figure out how we could be of use to each other. Another two have corresponded by phone, and one more has traded a dozen e-mails. Among this group, I managed to connect three additional buyers with three additional sellers -- including helping a client of mine by finding her a specialized banking resource.

Yesterday, in preparation for this Visit the Sage tip, I contacted all the people I could reach and asked them how much business they had done or proposed -- if any -- as a result of the connections made.

All told, $42,000 worth of business has been proposed and $8,500 has closed, all as a direct result of my deciding to give first.

And today, you can add $3,500 to the closed total above, because one of the people I chatted with at the expo hired me to be her sales coach.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring? I sure don't. But I do know tomorrow holds far more promise than it would if I had stayed in bed that snowy morning two weeks ago.

How can I afford to devote so much time to a nonprofit trade association?

How can I afford not to?

Make Two Connections: With your participation, Yellow-Tie will continue this chain of events by doing this exact same thing for you. Simply tell the Yellow-Tie board of directors what you sell, who buys it and what you need to buy, and they'll do their very best to make two connections for you.

--
Gill E. Wagner, Sage of Selling
President of Honest Selling
Founder of the Yellow-Tie International Business Development Association