Marketing for Motivators: Reinventing Brand "You" ™

Your greatest value to your client is what truly makes you unique- brand "you". Maximizing that value and cultivating innovative approaches to your marketing is what keeps you fresh and exciting to your prospects. They key is to present yourself in such a way that the value is immediately perceived and the prospect feels compelled to take action.

Motivational speakers often have the greatest challenge in expressing their value in their marketing materials, because so much of what we do seems intangible to the market. As the owner of a 17 year advertising agency and a professional speaker for the last 10 years, I understand this conundrum all too well. In the past few years, it has been my privilege to work with dozens of professional speakers all over the United States, and several of them are motivators. Here's what I've learned as we've branded and repackaged these speakers and helped them grow their businesses.

I- Your Name and Theme Line Are Critical

Many speakers simply promote themselves with their name only, and that's fine if you are well-established. But if you are just starting out, or even if you are reinventing your business, you might consider choosing a highly powerful name and theme line that describes the value you offer.
Mark LeBlanc's company name is Small Business Success, Linda Blackman's is The Executive Image, and mine is called Fired Up! Willie Jolley, who has now achieved international renown, started out as the "Inspirtainer: Inspiration, Entertainment, Education and Motivation." That gave his prospects a much better idea of what he was offering than just the phrase "motivational speaker." Today, he can promote himself simply by his name, because he is so successful. But he needed a "hook," a way to intrigue the prospect first.

II- Defining Statements
Mark Leblanc recently spoke on "Voices of Experience" about his trademark concept " the defining statement." This is a brilliant idea where you learn how to give a quick 30 second snapshot of what you do and who you do it for in very simple terms. Here's Mark's own statement:
"I work with companies that want to grow their businesses and with individuals who want to start their own business." He suggests you use this formula to create yours. "I work with ___________________ that want to_____________________________ and with______________________ who want _________________________."
This is another aspect of your branding where you get very clear about what you do best and which audiences are the best for you. The defining statement should be part of all your marketing materials, even your business card. It is a great branding tool.

III- Logo Design and Corporate Identity
As a marketing professional, I can tell you than your logo and corporate identity are critical elements to you "brand" and they are all too often overlooked by speakers. If major corporations spend millions on their logo design to get their brand out there, shouldn't you invest a few thousand to get yours just right?

A good logo design includes a stylized font or typeface of your corporate name and your theme line, and usually has a distinctive graphic or "logomark" that gets trademarked and is unique to you. An example of this would be the logo that we did for Karen Hinds. We helped her develop her corporate name and identity and her branding for the market place. Born and raised in St. Vincent, Karen's melodic lilt and unusual approach of drawing on her ancestral knowledge was packaged as "Artifact Wisdom: Ancient Knowledge for Modern Day Success." We used ancient artifacts that she actually uses as props in her speeches to be the graphics on her logo and all her marketing materials. This gave her a totally unique "brand" and helped her grow her business as a rare entity in the marketplace.

III-Let Your Clients Sing Your Praises

We have determined that one of the most effective ways to determine the value of a motivational speaker is to interview their clients. After getting permission, we frankly ask the clients leading questions, like"How has the workplace improved since so and so spoke to them?" "What has your audience learned to do or change since so and so spoke to them" "What impressed you the most about so and so.?"
And we have a 15 minute conversation with these clients and draw them out. This conversation has two key purposes: 1. we develop fabulous testimonial quotes for our speaker clients that they would have a tough time getting themselves. (There's a weird syndrome in which people will tell strangers more than they will the speaker directly.) 2. We unearth the actual value delivered to the client which then becomes part of the branding. This is vital to successful speaker marketing.

IV- Branding Key: Consistency in Everything
Once you have determined what your brand and identity is, once you are clear about the value you deliver, that message has to be conveyed over and over again in everything you do, from your one sheet to your press kit to your website to your video and audio demo. It may seem like old hat to you, but it is the only way to build brand awareness so that the prospect automatically thinks of you when he/she needs a certain kind of motivational speaker. You want to be memorable and distinctive in the minds of your prospects. In the next issue, we'll explore how branding works in all the various media and how to keep your brand in front of your prospects regularly.

©2000, Snowden McFall, All Rights Reserved