The Cranky Consultant

Are you a Slowpoke Speaker?

2010-06-21T07:27:00.000-07:00

Meeting planners have told me that their biggest headache with speakers they want to book is the slowness with which speakers respond with information. This is self-defeating behavior.

On the day I receive an invitation to speak I will work all that day, if necessary, to get any requested info to a meeting planner by 4-5 PM that day. Or if I receive the request late in the day I will work late into the night so that the requested info is on the meeting planners inbox by morning. I respect money and several thousand dollars is nothing to sneeze at. So I will do what it takes to be the most professional speaker I can be.

Not so, it seems, with other speakers. If you didn't know this about me already: I test clients and speakers to see if they are made of the Right Stuff. When I started a bureau and then an agency, I accepted a few speakers with no listing fee. Perhaps 50% never sent their information for me to post. And 9 out of 10 of the remaining speakers took months to send me anything... but usually only enough to fill a half-page. (Two full pages is normal for my web sites.)

If I were a speaker who wanted to be profiled and represented by my speaker agency, Andrea Reynolds International Speaker Agency (ARISA) I would send everything requested within 24 hours.... even if I didn't have all the money at that moment to pay for the listing. I'd be thinking... "OK, what if Andrea receives a request for a speaking engagement that I would be perfect for? If she doesn't have any info on file about me, she can't recommend me. If I get what I have to her now.... she will see that I'm a go-getter."

But sadly, when a meeting planner asks me how fast a certain speaker responds to my requests I have to refer to my notes and tell the truth. If a speaker is pokey (as in slow-poke) with me, they will be pokey with meeting planners too... and that's not good for business, your business.

So do yourself a favor. Learn to respond faster. I'm not going to be your mother and nag you. You're an adult and capable of motivating yourself. And if you're not feeling motivated, then please don't bill yourself as a motivational speaker!

If you believe you have the Right Stuff to be represented by my speaker agency, show me. Complete the form on the agency web site and we'll talk.

Over-Tweeting

2010-06-20T05:18:00.000-07:00

If you want your Tweets on Twitter to be read, limit them to a few a day. Send a hundred a day and you will only overwhelm your followers.

One person I followed sent more than 700 tweets in one 24 hour day. I actually counted so I couldn't be accused of exaggerating. I unfollowed her immediately. She was retweeting every single tweet she received and all the retweets. Who has that much time?

I like to follow people who tweet a few times a day and give me great ideas or make me chuckle. I actually LOOK for those Twitterer's tweets.

Some people send only self-serving updates. Daily boasting doesn't impress me. My life is not enhanced by knowing your speaking schedule. Are you thinking that I will fly to each of your destinations to see you?

Me? I don't tweet every day. I probably don't tweet more than 5 times a day, usually 2 tweets and 2 retweets. I want you to look forward to my tweets, not skip over them... or worse, unfollow me.

First Post: Get Ready

2010-06-20T05:03:00.000-07:00

My future posts may not be easy to read, but if you look for it, there will be good advice in almost every one. I encourage you to be open-minded.