Headlines Matter — Make Every Word Count and Compel

You could have the most important message to share, but if the headline you use to introduce your message falls flat, your message doesn’t have a chance.  In this month’s issue of Behind the Podium, a members-only newsletter for aspiring speakers from SpeakerMatch, a meeting planner who makes decisions about keynote speakers had this to say:

“I have to tell you … I’m scrolling through my list of applications.  You might want to let the speakers know … if that paragraph that I see next to their name in my list doesn’t capture my attention, I am rejecting.  If it does, I will read, and I am keeping those that catch my attention to go through.  There have been a couple that had only one sentence or nothing, and I rejected them.”

– Christine Ross, 3M Personal Care Division

Another speaker resource who is creating a directory of world-class women speakers called me in a panic this week because the speakers who were submitting their 150-word bios were not delivering quality messages.  Many of them had to be re-written at the 11th hour in time to meet their production deadline.

With that said, if you have only 150 words to say who you are, the value you bring, and the message you deliver, what would you say?   My advice is to get that message prepared so when the next great speaking or media interview opportunity comes your way, you won’t have to scramble.  You’ll just welcome the call and gracefully say YES to the great opportunity to make a difference for others and your own growing business.   I just updated my speaker page to showcase the 150 words I most want meeting planners to see.  Check it out.

Let me know if the headline resonates for YOU.  To learn more about writing compelling headlines, check out this popular post at The Buzz Bin.

Speaking of headlines, I’ll have the wonderful opportunity to interview John Eggen for a free teleseminar taking place on Thursday, June 24 at 5 p.m.   Eggen is the founder of Mission Publishing Mentors.  He is also the creator and compiler of the international best-selling book entitled “Get the Business Breakthrough You Want.”   The title of the presentation is:

How to Create a Client Attracting Book Fast

that Generates Up to $150,000 in Revenue Before It is Published.

That, my friends,  is a compelling headline!  I’ll have more to share about this important interview in the days ahead, including the link to make it easy for you to reserve your place on the LIVE call.   You won’t want to miss your opportunity to speak in real time with Eggen to get YOUR questions answered.

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Aspiring Experts – Join Nancy Juetten on Wed., Jan. 6 at ThinkSpace to Learn Tips to Get Known

The good folks at ThinkSpace in Redmond have invited me to speak to their members and ten non-member guests on Wed., January 6 at noon about how to get known as an expert through the power of the media.  Be among the first ten people to RSVP to Alyssa@thinkspace.com, and you’ll be secured of a space.  Here is a link to learn more.

And, if you live in the Redmond area and need a new co-working space to make magic happen in your business in the new year, check out what ThinkSpace has to offer.

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Aspiring Speakers — Have You Checked Out SpeakerMatch Yet?

If you are an aspiring professional speaker, you will benefit from learning more about SpeakerMatch. This is the only service of its kind when it comes to matching speakers and speaking opportunities. SpeakerMatch reaches emerging professional speakers, business leaders, technical gurus, educators, and other subject-matter experts who want to communicate what they know. There is no better service available for event organizers who need to reach this very diverse group of experts who speak.

SpeakerMatch is the brainchild of Bryan Caplovitz, a former business technology consultant. In trying to build market share for his consulting firm, Bryan saw the need for somewhere non-professional speakers could find speaking opportunities. As it became clear that organizations had trouble finding speakers as well, he knew there was a great opportunity to fill a need. He saw the internet as an ideal way to bring speakers and opportunities together, and SpeakerMatch was born.

One of the benefits of membership is a subscription to “Behind the Podium” — a printed newsletter that is packed full of actionable tips to advance your career as a speaker. Oh by the way, an article from yours truly appears on the cover of this month’s issue.  It’s called “Project a Professional Image by Putting Your Best Face Forward.”   I am told that 1,000 people receive this newsletter, so that’s a targeted group of professionals who now know a bit more about how I can help them get seen, heard, and celebrated.  Love that.  The newsletter team found this article among my many submissions to EzineArticles.com. I posted this article to this site in April of 2006, and it is still working hard for me.

Visit this link to explore how SpeakerMatch can support your aspirations and plans to speak.  And if you haven’t yet started posting articles about your expertise to EzineArticles.com, when will you start?

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And a Partridge and a Pear Tree …. Whew! What a Year of DIY Publicity Action

On the day after Christmas, I took a look back at my activities for the year and let out scream of glee.  I enjoyed many fabulous opportunities to empower others with the value and impact of free publicity.

In addition to providing public relations and storytelling services to Seattle Chocolate Company, Olympic Hot Tub Company, the Association of Corporate Growth – Seattle, Highline Medical Center, Graebel Quality Movers, Cascade Bank,  ZookHooks Inc. and a few other fabulous clients with great stories to tell, I delivered:

A fabulous media placement for Seattle Chocolate Company in O The Oprah Magazine!  Earning a placement in this magazine has been a goal of mine for years.  Now, I can proudly say I’ve achieved it!

One TV interview on KOMO TV 4 with Dr. Mehmet Oz, who came to Seattle at Highline Medical Center’s invitation to empower and ‘wow’ the hundreds of women who attended his keynote presentation offering essential and practical health advice;

One fabulous broadcast feature about Frangos (created by Seattle Chocolate Company!) on KING 5 TV’s ever-popular Evening Magazine;

One new product introduction to benefit women newly diagnosed with breast cancer and support business owners in their quest to earn free publicity called the Publici-Tea™-TO-GO! Gift Bundle;

Two product sales to offer my followers access to Media-Savvy-to-Go information products at special savings;

Four radio interviews on Chat with Women, the Dr. Pat Show, the Small Business Innovators Radio Show with Paul Casey, and Bellevue Today with Kevin Henry.

Four Winning Bio Writing Workshops;

Six teleseminars with local and national business building/publicity experts including PR Secrets CEO Susan Harrow, Practical Marketing Expert Stacy Karacostas, Patrick Snow, the Independent Practitioners Alliance for the Public Relations Society of America, Street Smarts Marketer Kathleen Gage, and PR Leads Founder Dan Janal;

Six marketing booths at local networking events such as International Networking Day in Seattle and the eWomenNetwork;

Eight articles to empower the independent business owners who belong to BizNik;

Nine Publici-Tea™ Workshops;

Ten Do-it-Yourself Publicity Video Vignettes;

Twelve “Media Savvy” newspaper columns for the Puget Sound Business Journal (search “Nancy Juetten” to find them conveniently online);

Fourteen speeches about DIY publicity to quality organizations such as:

1. The National Association of Professional Organizers – Bellevue Chapter
2. The Women in Business Forum for the Bellevue Chamber
3. The Go Mobile Advertising National Affiliate Conference
4. The Alternative Board – Seattle
5. The Kirkland Chamber of Commerce Panel Discussion on Local Publicity
6. The North Seattle Community College Network Breakfast
7. The Snohomish Tourism Bureau
8. The Marketplace Ministries Networking Luncheon, Auburn, WA
9. The Women’s Entrepreneur Organization (WEO) in Portland, Oregon
10. Women Business Owners Networking Lunch
11. Factoria Rotary
12. Money Wise Business Women Conference
13. Northwest Entrepreneur Network “Think Tank” Panel on Free Publicity
14. The Third Thursday Professional Development Seminar for the Seattle Design Center

Fifteen Rent-Nancy’s-PR-Brain Appointments;

Twenty-Six Media-Savvy-to-Go Ezines;

Over 300 blog posts;

And thousands of opportunities to connect with motivated, inspired business owners in the Puget Sound region and beyond through this blog, social networks, and other networking and media relations activities.  It’s rewarding to be part of a community of business owners who share my belief that great success and remarkable results await for those who get into inspired DIY publicity action.

I don’t just preach the power of DIY publicity.  I consistently apply it to my own business, and the results are powerful — even in today’s challenging economy.

I am grateful for every opportunity I’ve been offered and earned to share what I know about publicity to support your success and my own.  And, I am grateful the year is fast coming to a close so I can take a breath and set powerful and positive intentions to serve in the New Year.

So with all that said, here is advice I often share that is well worth repeating.  Consider the five most powerful lead generation strategies you have put in place in 2008 and ask yourself how consistently you have applied them.   Then, think carefully about the best combination of activities you intend to deploy powerfully and consistently in the New year, based on the results your efforts have brought forth so far. I have always found that the combination of power and consistency is the key to unlocking DIY publicity success and any other kind of success you seek.

Since I am someone who is amazingly consistent with DIY publicity, I know for sure which activities have delivered the greatest impact and which one’s haven’t.   I intend to do some strategic pruning to make sure just about every move I make is productive and fun so I can save some valuable time to relax, recharge, and just be.

One thing I know works extraordinarily well for serving business owners and inviting new opportunities to be of service is public speaking, and I am actively seeking new engagements for 2009.  If you or organizations you know are looking for DIY publicity inspiration to empower business owners to higher levels of success, I’d be honored to contribute as a speaker.  The timing to roll up the sleeves and share your message could not be better, and the satisfaction of doing it yourself is good for your soul and your balance sheet.

If you are game to get into do-it-yourself publicity action on January 9, 2009, sign up today for one of the 12 remaining seats at the Publici-Tea™ Half-Day Workshop taking place at The Village Bellevue from 12:30 – 5 p.m.   You can read all the fabulous testimonials from prior guests and sign up conveniently by clicking on this convenient link. And, here is a special offer.  If you wish to bring your marketing assistant or other essential co-collaborator with you to the January 9 Publici-Tea™, you can enjoy a $100 savings on your guest’s event tuition when you call me at 425-641-5214 or send me email at nancy@nsjmktg.com to secure that reservation.   When the 12th seat is taken for the January 9, 2009 event, this offer expires, so act quickly to benefit from this high value offer that will set up your 2009 DIY publicity program for inspired action and results.

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Want to Be a Public Speaker? Here are a Few Tips from My Journey

Folks tell me often that they want to get started as public speakers, and they ask how I started my journey.  Since I started my journey as a speaker a couple of years ago without any experience — and you may be in that boat, too — the specific steps I took might be of interest to you.

In the beginning, no one would invite me to speak because I had no track record.  It’s a bit of a “chicken and the egg” situation.  You want to speak, but you can’t because no one has heard you and decided you are worth listening to.  My solution to this dilemma was to host several “lunch and learn” sessions at the board room room of my local bank.  I charged $25 in exchange for an information packed presentation that also included lunch and plenty of useful handouts.

I created meeting notices for the local calendar sections of the media, issued ezines to alert my customers and subscribers about the upcoming workshops, and talked up my sessions at local networking groups to which I belonged.  I wrote press releases to invite interest and created flyers to share with colleagues and prospects.   It was a low budget, grass roots effort that delivered good results.

The first two or three events attracted 50 people who were interested in learning how to win the media relations game.  The better news was that influential program directors from local business networking organization elected to attend to hear what I had to say.  At the close of each session, I asked for written feedback.  I received many compliments about the information I shared and the manner in which I shared it.  Those compliments — complete with the names, websites, and company names of event guests — started laying a foundation of credible support to make it easier for event programming directors to invite me to address their audiences.

I created and posted to my blog and website a speaker profile that included my favorite topics to speak about, along with what audience members said about my presentations.  I even captured a few of my presentations on a digital recorder so it would be easy for decision makers to sample my content before making a decision.  When I was interviewed on the radio, I captured the MP3 files from those interviews, too.   I even posted a “hear Nancy on the radio” button on my website to make it easy for decision makers to tune in and benefit.

Pretty soon, I was receiving invitations to address the eWomenNetwork, local Chamber of Commerce groups, and other professional organizations in my own backyard and beyond.  I accepted those invitations and worked at improving my speaking skills by joining SpeakerMatch and observing other speakers who did a great job delivering their messages.

Today, I get invited to speak or serve on panels about small business buzz marketing and do-it-yourself publicity regularly.  I’ve contributed to webinars, teleseminars, and other virtual conferences and earned favorable reviews in my own hometown, from my colleagues in the Independent Practitioners Alliance of the Public Relations Society of America, and well beyond.  In fact, just last week, I received an email from a teleseminar listener from South Africa who thanked me for inspiring him into do-it-yourself publicity action at long last.  Now, I often get paid to speak, and I always have the option to bring my information products to sell in the back of the room, making each engagement a higher return opportunity for my audience members and for me.

What I love about public speaking is the opportunity I have to share my message with impact and efficiency in a one-to-many manner.   Invariably, people in the audience who want more information, opt-in to receive my Media-Savvy-to-Go ezine, subscribe to the RSS feed for my do-it-yourself publicity blog, elect to attend my Publici-Tea™ workshops, purchase the Media-Savvy-to-Go information products, or engage my services.   It’s all good.

If you want to be a public speaker, consider the journey I have traveled over the last couple of years and decide if you are game to get started along your own path as a speaker.    And, if you would like to hear me speak this week, I’ll be talking about how to get seen, heard, and celebrated through the power of free publicity for the Women Business Owners over lunch this Thursday, September 25. You can register for this event at this link.  I hope to see you there.

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