Barbara Walters Price

Answer These 3 Questions and You'll Have a Personal Marketing Plan

It's mid-January.  Do you have your personal marketing plan in place for the year?

If you Google "personal marketing plans," you get about 11,000 hits.  Clicking through, many authors advise beginning with developing a personal mission statement, vision statement, and SWOT analysis.  While this is fine advice, and likely preferable, I have found that the more complicated the process is on the front end, the less likely it will ever be started, much less finished. 

Therefore, let's begin without the mission, vision, or SWOT analysis.  Let's make it easy.  Take out a sheet of paper.  Write these questions down:

ROI Measurement for Webinars

Vickie Sullivan's blog, Tips, Trends, and Tirades for Compelling Experts, pointed to a webinar ROI worksheet created by RallyPoint Webinars.

Webinars are a proven tool for many professionals and professional service firms.  I have checked out the ROI worksheet and found it pretty useful.  It's a decent way to think about and attempt to measure ROI.  You can click here to get the worksheet along with two whitepapers if you want them: "7 Keys to Running a Glitch-Free Webinar," and "Expand Reach, Grow Revenue: The Business Case for Lead Generation Webinars."

Not Your Mother's Sponsorship

As the CMO of a professional services firm, I am often approached on behalf of my firm by event coordinators to sponsor specific events or educational conferences. 

I find it interesting that I am receiving an increasing number of requests from print publications to sponsor webcasts and/or podcasts.  I am also noticing fewer requests from those same folks to purchase ads in their print publications.  In fact, we received such a call re sponsored podcasts yesterday from a well-known print publication in our space. 

This makes sense because these print publications understand that the days of only selling print ads are over.  To remain relevant, and in business, they have to broaden their business model so they are sharing content via the web and pushing it via other platforms (webcasts, teleseminars, podcasts, virtual conferences, etc.).  This has been the norm in the tech field for a long time but for our profession which touches tax, estate planning, accounting, employee benefits, as well as law, this is relatively new.

These opportunities raise issues for this CMO.  My stance on sponsorships has historically been "I will consider it only if we get a spot on the podium."  Why?  Our firm's culture is centered around providing content.  Speaking at the right events before the right audience has proven to be very effective for us because it showcases our expertise.  In addition, we have the marketing back-office to leverage the reach of each speech.

If a sponsorship involves underwriting a cocktail party so our professionals can schmooze, then that's pretty much off the table for us because it's just not a good use of our dollars. 

With increasingly "good" opportunities to share content via these sponsorships and reach even more tightly targeted markets, or challenge is to identify those "best" opportunities.  These sponsorships are typically not cheap.  Because of the dollars invested, the importance of leveraging each opportunity is magnified. 

In addition, it might be time to think about reworking our marketing budget.  Because several of these sponsorships are attractive, and relatively expensive, do we move money from other marketing budget items or just stop doing some things?  The answer is probably "yes" to both. 

The point is that, for us at least, the opportunities to reach ever more targeted markets are evolving.  The good news for us is that the trend is moving towards providing these markets with more relevant content.  Deciding when and how to rework the mix of marketing tools and activities to best position us to take advantage of the evolution will prove interesting.  But that's one of the things that make this job fun!

 

Great Resource: Improve Your Slides with the Rule of Thirds

Per Six Minutes Public Speaking and Presenting Skills blog, check out this post, "How to Improve Your Slides with the Rule of Thirds."  Per the blog:

"Designing attractive slide visuals does not need to be a painful task. You don’t need to hire a design firm. You don’t need loads of expensive software.

You can design attractive visuals by following simple guidelines.  One of these simple guidelines is the Rule of Thirds — a composition technique borrowed from photography and other visual arts that works wonderfully in PowerPoint.

What is the Rule of Thirds?

It is a guideline for composition that suggests placing key graphic elements along lines which divide your image into thirds, or at the intersection of those lines."

If you engage in speaking engagements or produce slides for others, you must read this post.  It will change the way you think about slide structure.

Can Speaking Up Enhance Your Career?

A post on Olivia Mitchell's blog, Speaking About Presenting, presents the findings of a research study done with 68 students to determine if speaking up (speaking in meetings, answering questions, etc.) enhances or detracts from others perception of you.  What they found was that those who spoke up were rated most highly for such qualities as "general intelligence" as well as being "dependable and self-disciplined."  Those who didn't speak up were deemed "conventional and uncreative."  In addition, it didn't seem to matter what type of speaking you did, just as long as you spoke.

This is interesting, indeed.  I too find that those who will engage in the conversation, whatever the topic, are those that people look to.  I also know people who just like to hear themselves talk and you know that where two or more are gathered, they will be pontificating.  Yet, those folks are the minority.

I agree with the basic premise of the study.  Speaking up is important.  Be heard.  What you say doesn't have to be perfect (just look at what others around you say).  Olivia gives those quiet people 5 tips to get started. 

Just remember, once you've learned to speak your piece, don't hog the floor.  Brevity is truly the soul of wit.

The Do's and Don'ts of Beginning and Ending Your Presentations

Bert Decker posted "6 Don'ts for the End of Your Presentations" and "6 Do's to Open Your Presentation."   Great advice.  And don't miss this comment from the "6 Don'ts for the End of Your Presentations" post:

Thanks for the useful post.
Here's a "Do" to end a presentation from my experience.

I end my presentation with an anecdote about a Zen monk giving a 100$ bill for a 5$ tea and waiting for the change in a snack bar. He waits for fifteen minutes and summons the waiter and yells " Hey, where's the change ?". And the waiter replies reverentially
" Master, don't you know that change must come from within ?"

I usually get uproarious laughter and then I tell them we had a lot of fun and learnt a lot but if you don't decide internalise at least one learning, this program will not be of any use to you.

I continue to receive feedback that this was a memorable ending. Trainers, motivational speakers, please try this out and let me know if it worked for you !

cheers
CK

Presentation Zen: Live Webcast December 15

Garr Reynolds will do a free, live webcast on December 15, 2:00pm (PST) :: 5:00 (EST).  The title of the webcast is "How to Think Like a Designer (and why it matters)."  Register here.

From his blog, he describes the webcast as follows:

I have been asked to essentially talk about the contents of the book [Presentation Zen]. I will indeed talk about the themes and ideas covered in the book, however, I have entitled the presentation How to Think Like a Designer (and why it matters). The applications of the items I discuss will focus on presentations, particularly presentations that are given with the aid of slideware, but the ideas can be applied to other types of presentations and even other types of disciplines such as web design and professional communications of all types. I have come up with a list of 10 ways to "think like a designer" with examples for each and applications for presentation design.

For you financial types who rely upon bullet point slides, please take the time to participate in this webcast.  You will learn something useful for your practice.

Speaking/Presentation Resources via Alltop

Check out this speaking resource page from Alltop and then spend a bit more time reviewing some of these blogs.  If public speaking is part of your and/or firm's marketing strategy (and it should be), you'll find useful information here. 

Hat Tip to Bert Decker via Twitter.

18+1 Bits of Tongue in Cheek Advice for Speakers

A recent post commented on Peter de Jager's playful advice for speakers.  As a result of that post, Peter and I have been in communication and he's updated the list.  It will brighten your day.  Take a look here.

He also has a list for meeting planners.  Enjoy.

If at all possible, you should stop talking before your audience stops listening

All you meeting planners out there, take heed.  My friend, Eva Lang, sent this e-mail to speakers for the upcoming FCGU conference.  Read the "Advice for Speakers" section. I've reprinted the e-mail (with permission) and the boring but needed stuff (the information I first focused on) has been replaced with "yada yada":

Thank you so much for agreeing to speak at the FCG University Program on April 23-24, 2007 in Atlanta.  Below you will find some information about the program and logistics. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Audio/Visual Needs
Yada Yada

Conference Materials
Yada Yada

Schedule
Yada Yada

Location and Lodging
Yada Yada

Conference Fees and Travel
Yada Yada.

Dinner
Yada Yada

Advice for Speakers
Below is some advice that you might find helpful in planning your presentation.

1) Your presentation should bear at least a passing resemblance to the announced topic.

2) If at all possible, you should stop talking before your audience stops listening.

3) If you insist on speaking past your allotted time, you must start giving the next speaker's presentation.

4) All humor must be either “politically correct” or funny. If you manage to achieve both of these goals at the same time, you are eligible for a standing ovation.

5) Keep your ego in check. It was our intent to book the best speaker possible, they weren’t available... We booked you instead.

6) If you walk around the stage or through the audience, it should be for effect and not because you’ve forgotten where you are.

7) The slickness of your presentation should not outweigh its content. (There is content… right?)

8) If you intend to use sophisticated technological equipment you must provide to the meeting planner (in advance) documented DNA evidence proving beyond all reasonable doubt that you are related to Bill Gates.

9) If you are intending to fly into town the morning of the talk, you must first present to the meeting planner, your pilot's license and registration number of your private jet.

10) Unless you are intending to give it away for free, all mention of "product" on stage is expressly forbidden.

11) If you intend to mumble throughout your presentation, written transcripts must be distributed to the audience in advance.

12) If you intend to read your presentation, it is forbidden to hand out transcripts to the audience. Since they can read faster than you can read and talk, we want to keep the ending of your presentation a surprise.

13) If you speak in a monotone, you must inform the meeting planner in advance so that we can provide pillows to the audience.

(From Peter de Jager and the original longer version is on his website at  http://www.technobility.com/docs/article107.htm)

Thanks! Look forward to seeing you in Atlanta.
Eva

Thanks to Peter de Jager for the list and visit his website to read the entire list.  Thanks to Eva for sending this playful "advice" to the conference speakers.

I dare all meeting planners to include this list in their correspondence with speakers.  What a fun and funny way to remind speakers of some very important points.  If you find your speakers without a sense of humor and humility, you might consider not inviting them back.  Hopefully everyone will enjoy the good natured ribbing and take a few truths to heart.