Book Writing Tips Archives - How To Become A Motivational Speaker

How To Boost Your Credibility So Meeting Planners Can Book You To Speak

by Rene Godefroy | May 25, 2012 | Book Writing Tips, Career in Public Speaking, public speaking jobs, Public Speaking Tips

Let me guess. You are either a paid motivational speaker, or you are starting your speaking journey. If you are just starting as a motivational speaker, welcome. Together, we’re making a difference. We are inspiring others to greatness. Simply put, we’re world transformers. Every time you and impact an individual, we impact the world in our own way.

You see, we are living in a time where so many people are defeated and discouraged. The news is so depressing. More and more, the world desperately needs inspiration and encouragement. It’s a privilege to be called upon to stand and deliver in these uncertain times. Right? Now, you may be thinking, “I’m not a motivational speaker”.

Okay, let’s look at it this way: If you are speaking for a living, you are a motivational speaker. Regardless of your chosen topic, you are motivating someone to do something. All speaking is motivational speaking. It doesn’t matter if you are speaking about email marketing, sales, or self-esteem. You still have to motivate your audience.

Yeah, I know you cannot motivate people. Motivation is intrinsic. They have to find the motivation within themselves. However, they still need something outside of themselves to trigger the motivation. The more motivating and influential that something is, the more they are motivated. That brings me to exactly what I want to share with you about speaking for a living.

Be The Solution To Their Problem

Yes, when it comes to speaking, credibility is everything. If you cannot establish that you are the solution to their problem, you will always struggle to get speaking engagements. Meeting planners will not put on their stages. Notice I didn’t say that your message has to be the solution to their problem. Why? It’s because you come before your message. They have to buy you first before they buy what you have to say.

If your audience doesn’t believe you are the right person with the right qualification to talk about your subject, you won’t make an impact. And, if you are not making an impact, you are not making money. As a motivational speaker, your job is to make sure your audience is sold on you before you even open your mouth to say the first word. Your reputation must precede you.

I’m sure you’ve heard that perception is reality, right? Well, it’s your job to create, mold, and shape that perception. When I started investigating the speaking business, I was a doorman at a hotel in Atlanta. I knew it was going to be really hard for me to convince meeting planners to put on their stages. I basically didn’t bring much to the table to position myself as the solution to their problem.

My background did not create the perception that I was the man for the hour. After all, life started for me in a poverty-stricken village in Haiti. I arrived in the United States with five dollars, two shirts, one pair of pants and unable to speak any English. I worked as a janitor in Miami and later became a doorman in Atlanta.

As you can tell, that kind of resume was not convincing enough to persuade a meeting planner to put on his or her stage. But, through trials and errors, I discovered how to boost my credibility. I found out how to create the perception that I was the right motivational speaker for the hour.

So, let me share with you how to position yourself as the solution to your prospective clients. For some of you, consider this as a reminder. I’m sure you’ll agree with me that we all need reminders. For most of you, this will be very valuable. Please pay very close attention.

5 Ways To Boost Your Credibility So You Can Become The Choice For Meeting Planners

1- Know What Problem You Are Solving

Another way to say this is, when you choose a topic, you must understand the problems that exist around your topic. When I’m coaching business owners, the first question I ask them is, “What problem are you solving?” As a speaker, you have to clearly know the problem you’re solving for your audience.

Now, you don’t necessarily need to know everything about your topic. However, you have to know enough to offer some solutions. Okay, how do you choose your topic? Well, start with what you know or what you are passionate about. Usually, it’s the thing that many of your friends come to you for advice on.

Please don’t think because you are a motivational speaker, you don’t need a topic. No. Motivational speaking is not a topic. Maybe you can speak on self-esteem, persistence, time management, bullying, leadership, change, etc. You need to focus on a topic. You will have more clarity and less confusion.

It makes it so much easier for you to create the right marketing materials.

2- Make A List Of Your Truism

Once you decide on the topic you are going to talk about, make a list of everything you believe that is true about your topic. For example, if you are going to talk about leadership, list what you believe leaders must do and not do so they can be a successful at leading people. Your list is your truism or leadership according to you. You can also call them your philosophies. Next…

3- Turn What’s In Your Head Into Physical Things

If you want to boost your credibility and get on meeting planners’ radars, you have to put what you know in a physical format. No matter how smart or knowledgeable you are about your topic, to the world you don’t know beans until they can touch your knowledge.

If I were having a conversation with, I would repeat that sentence again. It’s that important. You need to convert your truisms or philosophies into CDs, DVDs, special reports, and ultimately into books. That’s how you create, shape and mold the right perception.

So, the idea is to take your list and write a piece of content or article about each one. Read the article in front of a video camera to create a DVD. Then, extract the audio from the DVD to create a CD. Hire someone to transcribe the audio for you and turn it into a special report.

4- Write A Book Now!

Yes, I know you have heard this over and over. Write a book. Have you written a book yet? It took me a long time before I forced myself to sit down and write my first book. I’m so glad I did. It was the best thing for my speaking career. I can tell from personal experience that writing your book will be the best move for you. Do it! I know.

Writing a book can be an overwhelming task. However, the problem is, most people try to cram too many books in one book. Look, you are not writing an encyclopedia. That’s a surefire way to confuse and turn off your readers. You need to share simple ideas with your readers. As I mentioned before, we all need reminders.

People need to be reminded of the basics. It’s kind of like you as a speaker. I bet there a lot of things you used to do that worked. Then, you stopped doing them. Now you need reminders. Just so you know, you can make a fortune reminding people of what they already know. Let me share with you a simple formula to write your book fast.

It’s the 10/10 formula. Write 10 chapters and 10 pages per chapter. That should give you a total of 100 pages. Now, it doesn’t have to be exactly 10 pages per chapter. Some chapters may more and others less. Guess what? Later on, you can use your more in-depth knowledge for your second and third book. Make sure that your first book is version 101.

5- Give Away Your Stuff Lavishly

The reason I’m encouraging to turn what you know into CDs, DVDs, books, etc. is not to have a garage full of them. Also, the trunk of your car is not a storage place for your stuff. In case you don’t know, your products are your marketing materials. They are your positioning tools.

The big difference between your one pager and your book is that one will go to the trash can while the other will be displayed permanently on a bookshelf. You should always give away your stuff to people who might open a door for you to speak.

When you are making a cold call to find who you can send your “7 Ways To Triple Your Sales In The Next 30 Days”, you are not making a cold call. You also are not calling as a needy person to beg. Do you see what I mean?

6- Don’t Give Up

Please don’t walk away too soon. Speaking is a business just like all other businesses. The main difference is, the barrier to entry into the speaking industry is very low. But, that doesn’t mean you should give up when you are not getting the speaking engagements. It means you have to be more persistent.

There are lots of awesome speakers who started when I did. Today, they are not around. They gave up. You see, it’s takes patience and dedication to run any business. The main reason I’m still speaking today is because of persistence.

All right, there you have it. I just shared with you some great ideas on how to speak for a living. If you’ve been looking for a magic formula, there’s none. Just build your credibility, create products, give them away lavishly, and don’t give up. I wish you incredible success!

On Demand Book Publishing Is The Way To Self-Publish Your Book

by Rene Godefroy | Jan 25, 2012 | Book Writing Tips

On Demand Book Publishing

Okay, in the post that preceded this one (Why You Should Not Get Your Book Published By A Publisher) I told you the big publishers are becoming more and more a big joke as it relates to publishing your book.

Now, I want to persuade you to publish and print your own book so you can keep all the money. And, you can still look like you are published by a big publisher. The secret is on demand book publishing. That puts you totally in charge. Here’s what I mean:

You decide what goes in your book. I say this because when a good friend of mine got his book back from Random House, he didn’t recognize the book he originally wrote. They made so many changes to it that the book was completely disfigured.

Here’s the thing: Not only the big publishers will completely disfigure the book you write, you would have to wait a long time to finally get your book published and out to the public.

On Demand Book Publishing Allows You To Call The Shot

You can get going and have your book out in less than 6 months. You can even do it in 30 days.

Do you remember in the previous I told you that authors who use a big publishing houses only average $1 per book? That means you have to sell 100,000 books in order to make $100,000. Well, guess what?

When I sell my book, I profit about $20 per book. I only need to sell 5,000 books to make $100,000. Are you with me so far? Now, to sell 5,000 copies, you have to really market the book.

Fortunately, I don’t have to promote my book. I simply promote my speaking. And every time I speak I sell a bunch of books. I also can afford to give away lots of books to keep promoting my speaking.

You might remember in one of the free videos I sent you, I encouraged you to use your book as your business card. Do you remember that? Well, it wouldn’t be possible for you to do so if a big publishing house publishes your book. It would cost you way too much money.

The Speaking And Book Writing Field Are Now Wide Open

Consider yourself lucky because you’re launching your speaking, coaching, and book writing empire in the digital age. The barrier to entry has been drastically lowered. Today, you don’t need a stack of cash to publish your book.

Of course, that creates another problem. You now have way too much competition to deal with. Okay, I know I always say you’re not competing with anyone. But, I have something different in mind when I say competition here.

Basically, since there are so many authors and speakers out there, you have to really position yourself as the definitive authority so you don’t have to compete. You just need the RIGHT coaching. Anyway…

I spent $9,850 to publish my first book. Today, all you need is just a few hundred dollars. Isn’t that amazing? You might be saying, “Rene, show me how to print a book for just a few hundred dollars?” Sure. Let me show you.

On Demand Book Publishing Is How You Do It

In the past, once your book is written, you had to send it to a traditional book printing house. They would create plates, type setting, and a bunch of other stuff. Which means it would cost you a lot of money. And, you would have to print a minimum of 500 books.

Depending on the size of your book or whether you want hardcover or paperback, the cost would be anywhere from $3 to $6 per book. Now, I’m assuming you didn’t write an encyclopedia with 1,000 pages.

Guess what? Today, you can print as many as 2 books at a time. That is called short run book printing. Yes, you read it right. In fact, if you want one book, you can print one. There are no more boundaries. All that is required of you is to write the book.

3 Ways To Publish Your Book On A Dime Through On Demand Book Publishing

1- Check Out Lighting Source

I have referred Lighting Source to several of my coaching clients. They do an awesome job. Just provide them with your final manuscript and they will take it from there.

They also do traditional printing. But, I encourage you to choose print on demand. There’s no need to have 500 books gathering dust in your garage.

Here’s the best part: You don’t have to worry about ISBN, layout, book cover design, etc. They will take care of everything. And, it’s amazingly cheap.

Lighting Source is owned by Ingram Book Distribution, which is the largest book distributor in the world. You will be in good hands. They will take good care of you.

2-Create Space

This book on the demand publishing resource is owned by Amazon.com. It’s really easy to publish your book with Create Space. Just upload your file, use their available resources and you are good to go.

With Create Space, you can almost publish your book free. I say almost because they have services you can buy a la carte. For example, you can pay $120 for basic editing for up to 10,000 words.

But, I’m sure you can find a much better deal on a freelancer site. Granted you have to know exactly what you are looking for. Sometimes you can lose a lot money using cheap help if you don’t know how to go about it.

3- Book Baby

Yes, Book Baby is owned by CD Baby. They are a big company on the Internet. Musicians love them. They make it very easy as well. You should check them out. They just started their book publishing division.

How To Make Your Book Available At Bookstores

How To Make Your Book Available At Major Bookstores

I’m going to keep this section short and sweet. You see, when you use Lighting Source, Create Space or Book Baby, your book will automatically be available at all major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and Hudson Booksellers.

Your book will also be available at all online bookstores such as amazon.com. That is REALLY amazing! I think you should get very excited. Didn’t I tell you the game of book publishing has changed? Do you how you can ride the wave of change?

On Demand Book Publishing Can Be Expensive

I want to warn you that on demand book publishing can be expensive. The less books you order, the more money it costs per book. Although, I told you that you can print one or two books, you should consider ordering a minimum of fifty if you can afford it.

There you have it. I just gave my best and highest recommendations to get your book published. It’s time to take massive action to finally get that book out. Please stop procrastinating. Discipline to write that book!

Why You Should Not Get Your Book Published By A Publisher

by Rene Godefroy | Jan 20, 2012 | Book Writing Tips

Okay, many of you are asking how to get your book published. There’s definitely some confusion about the best way to publish a book. Maybe you’re not sure whether to look for a publisher or self-publish your book. I get that.

So, I want to take a moment to offer you some solid advice here. And if you are going to listen to anyone about this, I’m your guy. I have been on the speaking circuit for over 15 years. That’s a clue for you.

I get to share a stage with pretty much all the top dogs in the speaking industry. Many of them are self-published authors. Yet, some are New-York Times Best Sellers. They tell me the good, the bad, and the ugly about book publishing.

You see, there is a big misconception out there about publishing. Many people think if you’re not hooked up with a major publishing house, you’re not doing it the right way. Well, maybe this was true years ago. But, that’s no longer a valid point.

The publishing game has changed significantly. The big publishers are no longer in control. The power is in your hand. And you can thank the Internet for it. Here’s what you need to aware of: (more…)