Make R5,000+ an hour talking about what you love
Money Making Insider | 5 October, 2009 | Hot Topics:
I don’t know about you, but I’ve always hated public speaking. And it’s surprising because when it comes down to it – I’m not too bad at it. I manage to get the words out without mumbling (too much). But I’m nervous for weeks before. I’m not joking – I actually dream about making the speech (and how I’ll mess up).But then the other day something happened.
My boss asked me to talk about something I’m very familiar with… writing. And you know what? Instead of dreading the speech – I looked forward to it. And once I got in front of my small crowd – you couldn’t shut me up (my poor audience!).
It was then I realised that when you talk about something you love, public speaking becomes effortless. Just think about it. What do you love most? Now picture telling friends about it. Easy? Of course! Now picture being paid to do that.
Because that’s exactly what my colleague Paul Lawrence gets paid to do every single month. And today he’s going to show you how to do it too…
In the name of financial freedom,
Pascale Barrow
Managing Editor of What Really Makes Money
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Make R5,000+ an hour talking about what you love
By Paul Lawrence
It was a pleasant hour. I stood in front of a small audience and told them what I knew about a subject that fascinated me. The best part? I walked out of the auditorium with a cheque for R5,000.
And I’ve done pretty much the same thing more than 100 times over the past few years – earning a nice little chunk of money by sharing my expertise in various subjects that I enjoy talking about.
Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not a "big shot" professional speaker. In fact, I haven’t had any training at all. But I’ve discovered that if you have knowledge about a subject that other people want to learn about, you don’t need any formal training to earn money by giving speeches.
And you need almost no capital to get started. Plus, it’s something you can do on a part-time basis. You can do it locally or, if you want, you can make presentations all over the country (while making a profit).
Another great thing about public speaking: Whatever area of expertise you have, it’s likely that there are people who would like to hear what you have to say. If you’re a relationship expert, for example, there are many women’s groups that would be interested in your ideas on how to have a successful marriage. If you’re a gourmet chef, you’ll have no trouble finding cooking schools that would love to have you share your secrets with their students.
Public speaking is something you can do on the side, in addition to your regular job. (That’s what I’ve always done.) But there are many people who speak on a more regular basis – like Tom Antion, who gets R170,500 per appearance and earns a substantial six-figure income.
Even if you aren’t very comfortable speaking in public right now, you can turn speaking into a nice stream of extra income. Almost nobody is comfortable speaking to an audience … at first. But if you know your subject and practise your presentation, it really isn’t that hard.
And in addition to getting fees for the speeches themselves, there’s the potential of earning even more money by selling instructional materials to audience members. I have personally seen speakers pull in R30,000 in product sales after a seminar.
As you can see, there are many opportunities to earn money by speaking about something you love.
To get started, this is what you need to do:
1. Choose a subject.
There’s an almost unlimited number of subjects you can choose to speak about. Information about motivational and wealth-building topics is always popular with audiences – but so is information about many hobbies (like cooking, martial arts, and exercise, to name a few) and self-improvement skills (like parenting and coping with illness).
Choose something you’re passionate about. Your enthusiasm will come across to your audience and make your speech exciting. And make sure you know enough about your subject to not only provide useful information but also to answer any questions your audience might have.
2. Create your curriculum.
Your presentations will probably be a lot shorter when you’re just starting out – maybe a series of half-hour "lunch" talks to small groups of businessmen. Whatever the length of your presentation, divide it into three parts: A beginning, a middle, and an end. Your beginning is your introduction – your opportunity to hook the attention of your listeners. Your middle presents the information. And, finally, you sum up what you said. If you’re going to be selling additional "back-end" products to your audience, this third leg of your talk is the time to do it.
3. Create your marketing plan.
There are many ways to market yourself as a speaker. For openers, you can market yourself directly to the organisations that might hire you. For example, if you have a wealth of knowledge about fishing, there are many fishing clubs that you could approach with a proposal to speak at one or more of their events. Virtually all trade associations hire speakers to make presentations to their members. And, if you have information that could benefit their employees, lots of companies will be interested.
When you have more experience, you could also hold your own seminars and market them to the public. You would either rent a facility or partner with someone or some group that already has space. To promote the event, you can use traditional advertising methods (like newspapers and radio) – or, if you have an identifiable target audience, direct mail. (Have you ever been to a seminar on something you saw advertised in the paper? I’ve been to a few, and they’ve always been packed with hundreds of people.)
I’ve personally proven that speaking can be a fun and easy way to make money. If you have an area of expertise and would like to earn additional income with a business that has virtually no start-up costs, this could be the perfect side business for you.
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Editors note
Chris Densley
Business Opportunity Guru and contributer to Insider Secrets
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