You know from earlier posts that I consider you to be much more than a speaker. I consider you to be in the intellectual property business. Meaning, we get paid when we deliver (in whatever way) what it is that we know. It’s all about delivering your expertise.
Your first revenue stream is, of course, your speaking fee. It is the one where you make the most profit. But it shouldn’t be your only revenue stream.
Products really add to the bottom line. Make a live recording of your speech. Sell it as a CD or MP3 file. People love this kind of product!
Write a book. Books are a great way to share your intellectual property. I suggest you approach writing a book much like the old saying, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!”
Write an article on a dozen main points that you cover in a program/speech. Good size for articles is about 600 words. Embellish the article by adding a few stories that illustrate the point you are making. Then let’s call it a chapter! Repeat a dozen times and you have a book! My approach makes it really doable. That’s the key. A decision that must be made now is to publish with a publishing house, or to self-publish. More on that in a future post.
If you have a book, you have an eBook. I also share that you can take a collection of blog posts, tips and articles and create an eBook in days! I’ll bet you have more content already than you realize.
How about taking your program and creating a companion workbook to go along with it? Then you have a type of “learning system”. Perhaps a self-led version of your program.
Perhaps you have a program that could lend itself well to a licensing arrangement. By this I mean that someone else would deliver your program for you. Typically in this type of arrangement, a percentage of the fee is paid back to you. There are all sorts of ways people set up this type of plan.
You should be recording your speeches on a digital recorder and selling them. If people like what you have to say, they will want “more of you”. You’ll only gain from having speeches on CD’s and MP3 files. Every product creates more interest in what you do.
I sent out a tweet that said: blog post = article = speech = book = eBook = learning system = licensing agreement = ??? I’m trying to point out that there is great value in leveraging your intellectual property in these ways. It is not only lucrative, but creative as well.
So, now that you are in an intellectual property business how are you going to leverage that property? Go out and create a new revenue stream now!
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Copyright 2011, Lois Creamer. Lois works with professional speakers who want to book more business, make more money and avoid costly mistakes! She can be reached in the following ways:
Lois@BookMoreBusiness.com
Twitter: @loiscreamer
Phone: 314.822.8225
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Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/loiscreamer
For more information on Lois’ business check out http://www.bookmorebusiness.com as well as http://www.bookmorebusiness.tv
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