Content has become a buzzword of late, and with good reason. Marketers are increasingly turning to content to bring new customers onto their websites, and to feed their social media platforms, and it can also help with personal branding for individuals.
That’s where public speaking comes into the mix. By their very nature, public speakers live on their personal brands, and content creation can help them build a name for themselves and showcase their expertise.
It doesn’t take a genius to know that creating content is a good idea if you plan to make a living as a public speaker, so we’re not going to labor the point here. Instead, the question that we come across most often is that of how to actually create content, and that’s where this week’s article comes in.
Let’s take a closer look at how you can supplement your public speaking by creating content.
Writing for magazines that cater to your industry can be a great way to boost your professional brand and get you out there in front of the people who matter the most to you. On top of that, it can bring in a little extra cash because many of these magazines are happy to pay their contributors. It never hurts to ask, and bear in mind that even if they don’t pay you for your contribution, there can be other ways for you to monetize it.
There’s no shortage of public speakers out there who’ve released books as a way of bringing in a little extra money. It’s a natural way to make some extra cash because every speaking engagement is an opportunity for you to promote your book. In fact, if you want to become a bestselling author, one of the best ways to do that is to become a public speaker first. It’s hard to make a ton of money through book royalties, but if you can sell a couple dozen copies at each of your engagements, it’ll quickly add up.
Affiliate links are essentially tracking links that you can embed in your blog posts that will give you a kickback if people go through the link and make a purchase. For example, a book blogger might use affiliate links so that people can click through from their reviews to buy the book, giving the blogger a cut at the same time. Public speakers can often do something similar, whether they’re linking to software and services, or whether they’re linking to physical products.
If you’re putting your public speaking skills to good use by creating YouTube videos, the chances are that you’re starting to see a decent number of views. Once you cross a certain threshold, you’ll be able to monetize your YouTube channel and start earning a small amount from each of the ads that run on your channel. It’s not going to make you bucket loads of cash, but it all adds up and you’ll soon start receiving checks from Google.
Online courses are super popular amongst public speakers because they allow them to showcase their expertise and to use their presentation skills to teach people something new. The amount that they charge for these courses can vary widely, and while it’s easier to sell cheaper courses, you also need to sell more of those to compensate. In some cases, public speakers have been able to make online courses their most profitable source of income.
Running ads on your website can bring in some extra cash, but you’ll want to be careful because you also risk cheapening your brand. It’s generally a bad idea to use something like Google AdSense, because you don’t have much control over what gets shown beside your content, but if you can strike up a partnership with a company that’s a good fit for you, and they’re happy to pay you to promote them on your site, why not go for it?
Once your website takes off and picks up a decent amount of authority from the content you create and the inbound links you receive, you’ll find that people want to publish guest posts there. You should be selective here for the same reason you should be selective about the ads you run, but it can be a great way to augment the content that you’re already creating. Many businesses and entrepreneurs will be willing to pay you for the privilege of posting their guest posts, too.
This builds on the last couple of points, and basically revolves around the idea of working with brands on content creation or co-marketing deals. Brands tend to have decent budgets, and if your reputation as a public speaker is strong enough, they’ll be more than happy to send a little of that budget your way. That’s especially true if you can find a way to demonstrate that you’ll add value in some way.
Patreon is a crowdfunding-based subscription service in which people can sign up to pay a certain amount of money each month in exchange for rewards and for feeling good about helping you. For example, you might give lower tier patrons a shout out in your monthly newsletter, while higher tier patrons could receive one-on-one coaching calls. It’s a great way to establish a guaranteed flow of monthly income that you can rely on while simultaneously providing some added value to your social following.
Merchandise is great if you can get your positioning right, but it can be tricky. If you jump the gun and try to sell merch too early, people will think that you’re full of yourself, because why else would you want to display your name on a mug or a t-shirt? But once you start to build a social following, merch can be a great way to make a little extra cash, and there are services out there which can eat up the costs for you. You’ll only be charged for production when someone makes a purchase.
Now that you know our thoughts on how to supplement your public speaking through content creation, we want to hear from you. Do you create content as a public speaker? And if so, how has it helped you?
As always, we’d love to keep the discussion going, so be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments. You can also follow us on your favorite social networking sites for more. We’ll see you soon for another article!
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