No Guts – No Glory:
How Putting Yourself “Out There” Can Change Your Life And Your Business…Fast
By Eric Ruth
Last night I was singing Neil Diamond’s Song Sung Blue on the Karaoke machine.
I fumbled a couple of the lines, but I was belting out the chorus like a champ.
I like to sing, but the only time I do it in public is in church or around the piano at Christmas – and never, ever solo.
Let me tell you how this situation came about, and what it has to do with building your business.
We were invited to a big party at the home of a very wealthy Chinese American man named Jack. When we arrived, Jack gave us a tour of his mansion. He showed us his sunroom where he grows mango, guava, banana and jade trees. He showed us his art room where he proudly displays his wife’s Chinese rice paper art. Then he took us downstairs to the party.
The main room downstairs must have been about 2500 square feet, and he had every imaginable “toy” including a large hardwood dance floor with a disco ball, state of the art entertainment center, and a professional quality Karaoke system with three cordless mics.
Stupidly, I commented about the Karaoke.
Jack turned to look at me with a big smile and said, “ohhh!, you like karaoke?”
I told him I’d once performed AC/DC’s Back In Black at a bar after about five shots of tequila, but other than that, I had no experience, and my voice… well, it’s not the best.
Jack flipped on the power, put in a laser disc, and began belting out Tom Jones’ Delihlah. He danced around, shimmied his hips, and basically put on a great performance for the crowd of about 50 partygoers.
After the song, Jack looked at me and said, “okay, your turn Eric.”
Believe me, the last thing in the world I wanted to do was stand up in front of these 50 strangers and sing a song. But I refuse to be one of those people who won’t participate – particularly when it’s so public. Jack basically challenged me in front of all his guests.
Was I nervous? You bet! So much so, that I flubbed a couple lines of the song (even though I was reading off a monitor).
But as the song progressed, I relaxed and put more emotion and animation into it.
By the end of the night I had performed four solo songs and two duets.
Before I was challenged to perform, I didn’t know anyone at this party. By the end of the night, I had lots of new friends.
This is clear and compelling evidence of the power of putting yourself “out there.” I don’t sing well at all, but people at the party saw that I was willing to put forth the effort and take the risk – something that many of them wouldn’t do. In some “mystical” way, this translates to the perception of charisma, and people gravitated towards me as a result.
I’m telling you about this experience to illustrate the importance of putting yourself out there – not at a karaoke bar, but in public forums where you give talks about fitness.
Is it a little scary in the beginning? Yes! Will it pay huge dividends for you in building your business – in acquiring new friends (clients)? You bet!
There is NO faster way to establish your expertise and promote your business than to do public speaking.
Here’s an action plan for you that can bring you a ton of high quality leads and immediate new business.
Get out your yellow pages, look under “Associations” and make a mailing list of as many as you can find. If you don’t’ find many associations in your area, then look for real estate agencies and companies with a number of salespeople.
Send each one a letter offering to give a 30 or 40 minute FREE presentation to their members/realtors/salespeople about the five secrets for improving their ability to do whatever it is they do by incorporating a few simple daily fitness tips that you will reveal.
The key to your success with this strategy is to “niche” your presentation to the specific needs of the association or group. For instance, if you’re contacting the Nurses Association, one of your “secrets” will be how to avoid sore feet at the end of the shift (of course, the answer is to lose weight and get fit to improve circulation, etc). If you’re talking to realtors or other salespeople, you want to emphasize the importance of looking good (numerous studies prove that people who are physically appealing/attractive/fit, have a distinct selling advantage).
These associations/groups are always looking for experts to give presentations to their people which empower and motivate them.
Just giving the presentation is great exposure for you, but the most important thing is for you to find some way to capture the contact information of each and every person in attendance. So you need to offer them something. Consider a valuable door prize. The more valuable the gift, the more likely it is that everyone will participate. But don’t just leave it at that. Each person should get a form to fill out to receive your monthly newsletter (either snail mail or email) and also possibly an offer to receive a special free report just for completing the form. The point is you need to offer MULTIPLE reasons for response in order to capture as many names, addresses and emails as possible.
When you follow up to these leads, be sure to remind them who you are (I’m Jane Glutes, the fitness trainer who spoke at your monthly sales meeting). Don’t ever assume they will remember you.
The combination of your presentation (which establishes you as an expert and develops rapport), and your lead generation efforts will result in a rapidly growing database of prospects who have been exposed to your message, and possibly even a few quick sales.
Always remember that you are not just providing information, but also selling your services. At the end of your presentation you should “pitch.” Have a special offer for these people, and give them an opportunity to avail themselves of your services right then and there.
Be sure that each attendee gets a brochure (not an “image” brochure, but a direct response brochure) and your business card (not an “image” business card, but a direct response business card).
Once you’ve done one of these presentations, be sure to get a testimonial from the organization for whom you did it, that you can add to your introductory letter which goes out to other organizations. This is how you “leverage” off of each of your efforts.
After you’ve done a couple, then record one, make dupes, and use the tape as a marketing piece when you solicit more presentations (again, leverage!).
If you can do one of these presentations per month, you may never need to do any other marketing at all. Public speaking is THE most powerful and most rapid way to gain exposure and quickly build your business.
Sadly, however, some of you will probably never use this simple, low-cost marketing method for one reason…
FEAR!
I was scared when Jack shoved that mic in my face and said, “sing.” But I did it, and I impressed a lot of strangers. Not with my singing – cause that didn’t really matter – but with my willingness to put myself out there.
You don’t have to be Anthony Robbins when you give these presentations. Your first couple might be a little rough. But the important thing is to “just do it!” As you gain experience, you will gain confidence, and you will gain new clients. Your efforts will rapidly snowball, and you will soon be THE health and fitness expert in your area with more new business than you can handle.
Life’s too short to let fear hold you back from doing something you KNOW is in your best interest. Remember, there are three types of people in this world:
Those who make things happen;
Those who watch things happen;
And those who sit and wonder, “what happened?”
Which one are you?
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