Thursday, June 30, 2011

The Controversial and Offensive Truth About Selling from the Stage


WARNING:  I am not very polite in this article:  Don’t read if you are easily offended.
This brief post contains the secret to creating MASSIVE sales from the stage and creating a feeding frenzy of people rushing to the back of the room at your events.  The technique I’m about to share with you works BETTER than any other technique you would hear at any other speaker training program.  Are you ready?
Hard close the shit out of your audience and constantly be selling throughout your speech.
That’s it... and I’m going to prove to you why this is the best technique if you want to make the most amount of money possible.  The kind of speakers who follow this philosophy are nothing more than sleazy salespeople who only care about one thing:  Making shit loads of money and making it as fast as they can.  This is why they hard close like crazy and never provide any real value.  Think about it.  If there actually was a better way to sell from the stage, those sleazy sales people would be using that technique instead because all they really care about is how much money they make.  Since there isn’t a more effective way to sell from the stage, that’s the technique they use.  They aren’t hard closing because they are jerks (although I think they are).  They aren’t hard closing because they get a kick out of it (although they usually do).  They are hard closing because it works better than any other technique out there and all they care about is making money.  
I will be the first to tell you that I do not have the highest close ratios of a lot of speakers on the circuit.  But I can tell you this:
I sleep better than any of them.
I don’t care about creating a feeding frenzy in the back of the room, I care about creating loyalty in my relationships with my customers.  And when you hard close people and constantly sell without providing any real value, they often regret their decision and eventually cancel anyway.  
Now the guilty parties reading this would argue a different perspective.  They would say, “Topher doesn’t believe in his product as much as I believe in mine.  Because if he did, he would want everyone to have his products, like I want people to have mine.  Everyone will benefit from my knowledge.”  
And I would respond,  “Really?  You’re that narcissistic to think EVERYONE needs your product?”  I am very proud of the products and services I offer, and I am not so arrogant to think that everyone in the world should buy them, and even if someone would benefit from them, it doesn’t mean they should buy them immediately without taking into consequence their other financial obligations. 
I will happily sacrifice some sales at my events in exchange for peace of mind, knowing that the people who did buy made the right decision, and the people who didn’t buy also made the right decision for themselves at that time.  This is one of my key beliefs that I share with my clients who hire me to train them as a professional speaker.  
If you want to learn the best way to sell from the stage, then go to a training program that specializes in selling from the stage and doesn’t focus on the more important aspects of creating value, connecting with your audience, creating unforgettable experiences, and operating your business with a conscience.  Those 4 aspects to speaking are what I prefer to focus on, and yes, I even teach how to sell from the stage as well, but it’s a technique I’ve developed over the past 20 years that allows you to incorporate the 4 key aspects of a professional speaker at the same time.  You may not make as much money using my techniques, but the money you make will be clean, and you’ll sleep really sound at night.
If you like what you heard and would like to learn some more, then please visit: http://www.tophermorrison.com/events/7secrets 
By the way, I do believe there is a difference between hard selling, and overcoming objections.  If someone expresses interest in buying a product or service, and shares that they would benefit from getting it, but has some concerns - there’s nothing wrong with using your sales skills to help them make the right decision... but that is another article for another time.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Creating Special Memories as a Speaker

Transform from a novice to professional speaker with help from your guide, Topher Morrison. Captivate an audience and leave them wanting more with Topher's tricks of the trade in his speaker training online course.



Thursday, June 16, 2011

Read the Refund Policy

Become bulletproof on stage as you shift from amateur speaker to professional speaker with the speaker training online course.  Learn how to increase your skills as a public speaker and hold an audience in the palm of your hand.  Topher Morrison shares his tips and tricks on how to become a highly paid professional speaker.



Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Speakers' Secret Weapon

Enrich your public speaking skills and inspire your audiences. Develop new speaking abilities to become a bulletproof professional speaker with Tohper Morrison and his speaker training online course. Learn tips and secrets on becoming bulletproof in the business.



Monday, May 16, 2011

Professional Speakers' One Sheet

Make the transformation from a speaker to a bulletproof speaker. Learn how to captivate an audience on stage and leave them with a memorable long-lasting, impression off stage. Cultivate your speaking skills with Topher Morrison as he shows you what it takes to become a successful professional speaker with his speaker training online course.



Saturday, May 14, 2011

How to Find a Promoter

Electrify the stage with your presence as a bulletproof speaker with the speaker training online course.  Hone your current skills as a public speaker and develop new speaking strategies as Topher Morrison guides you on a path to becoming a professional speaker.



Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Avoid these Scams from Promoters

I just saw a speaker submission page on a website promoting an event.  When I clicked on the criteria, this is what I read: 
  1. We do not cover travel expenses or provide fees or honorariums for speakers.
  2. We have a strict “no selling from the stage” policy that all speakers must follow. Speakers who expect to sell during their session need not apply.
  3. We will not consider submissions that are incomplete or submitted except as described below.
  4. Conference registrants are invited to submit speaker suggestions on their own behalf. We often choose speakers who are registered to attend.
This is basically a way to tempt wanna-be speakers into signing up for their seminar on the hopes that they will get chosen to speak.  If you do get chosen to speak, these people are basically saying, "Come share your knowledge with our audience that we have charged to attend and have profited from.  In return, we won't do anything for you, but you'll have fun knowing you've wasted your own time and your own money."

And this company teaches how to succeed in business!  Its absolutely amazing how hypocritical people can be sometimes.  Don't fall for these scams.  If you do, it sucks you further into debt and farther from your dream of being a professional speaker.  There are easier, and better ways to make money as a speaker.  Check outhttp://www.bulletproofspeaking.com/ to get some great tips and tricks for success in the business.  

Monday, February 21, 2011

Lessons from Thomas Edison

Did you know that the first words Thomas Edison spoke into the phonograph were, "Mary had a little lamb"?  

I wonder if he contemplated the implications of being the first human to have his voice immortalized on a recording would be?  Seems to me, if he had given the thought it deserved he would have said something more profound.  Perhaps he could have immortalized his love for his wife, or sent a personal request to President Hayes.  

Such a monumental moment in history deserved more profound words than, "Mary had a little lamb."  Why didn't that happen?  Most likely because Mr. Edison was just experimenting and didn't even know if it would actually record.  Chances are, he had already tried several times with no success and this was just another attempt that happened to actually work.  Incidentally, his original recording was destroyed, but here's a recording of Edison repeating the words again... 



Fast forward to modern day and we think nothing of having our voices recorded, but as speakers, I believe it is our responsibility to give the kind importance that Thomas Edison should have given when he first spoke those words.  Why?  Because regardless of whether our words are the first recorded words of mankind, the last recorded words, or anything in between, the fact is, they will be there forever.  If you as a speaker don't properly site your sources, or do the research to discover whether or not what you are saying is even true, it may come back to bite you later down the road.

For example, as a teenager I listened to some motivational tapes from a well-known motivational speaker, and on the tapes he shared some amazing statistics about goal setting.  He said that Yale University did a study on the graduating class of 1953 (although other motivators cite Harvard MBAs in the 70's).  He said only 3% had their goals written down with time-tables.  In a follow-up study 20 years later they discovered that the 3% who had their goals written down were worth more in financial terms than the 97% that didn't have goals.  As inspirational as that was for me to set goals, it turned out to be untrue.  Sadly, as I got into the field, I perpetuated that lie, and I've even got those bogus statistics on recordings that I've made!

Now many people in the self-help business defend their actions when they are informed that this whole story is a lie.  They say that it doesn't matter because it's inspired so many people to set goals, but that logic to me seems very sketchy.  Can you imagine if we all of a sudden found out that the Bible was a fictional piece of work that some kid did for a school project?  Imagine all the televangelists saying, "but it's okay, it's helped a lot of people behave over the years."

The fact is we have a responsibility to make sure that the words we immortalize into recordings are accurate, true, and can withstand the tests of time.  When you, as a speaker, record your thoughts, pause for a moment and consider whether your thoughts deserve to be immortalized.