"If you can align your expertise with a specific industry and then really bring tremendous value with a clear ROI, you're always going to win the game."

This week, Grant’s on the show with TSL legend Erick Rheam. We’re a little late to this year’s state of the speaking industry, but better late than never, right?

"It's not necessarily that budgets are cut, but what I would tell you is that event planners, they tend to be intentional with the money that they're spending. Instead of saying "I've got a $100,000 budget for this event," it's "Yeah, I've got $100,000, but I need to see a return on that $100,000."

In this episode, Grant and Erick get into:

• 00:00 Current trends in the speaking industry
• 06:06 Why do relationships matter more now than ever before?
• 07:32 How do you focus on building relationships?
• 11:20 The importance of offering a virtual service as part of your speaking business
• 15:51 The key to growth right now, even in a tough economy 
• 19:44 Why you should focus on relationships and providing long-term solutions for your clients
• 21:50 How to leverage industry expertise to prove ROI
• 26:35 What it looks like to tweak your message to withstand the test of time.
• 28:00 The importance of iterating and meeting your client’s needs.
• 31:11 How to balance other streams of income + being on stage
• 35:28 How to get comfortable creating value for clients
• 36:44 Reflections and wrap up

"Something that is not attractive is desperation. And you could tell it, you could smell it from speakers — when they're just trying to get the gig, they're trying to get the money, as opposed to speakers who are like "Hey, I want to add value and I'm willing to go on a long term type of commitment with you."

Episode Resources:

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