I am a major fan of leveraging stages to grow your coaching business, and that could be in-person stages. Or if you're like me, you love virtual stages. Today's guest, Julie, is going to talk to us about how to grow your coaching business through speaking opportunities, both free and paid. Hey, I'm Amanda and welcome to the best damn coach podcast, where I will teach you how to coach yourself.
how to coach your clients, and how to run your coaching business. The number one goal of this show, though, is to help you be the best damn coach you can be so your clients go out and tell the world about you. Let's do the damn thing. Hello, my name is Ana Cortez Holbert, and I am a life coach for overachieving women, those women that keep on moving the goalposts. And they don't find that inner peace and satisfaction. And the reason that I listen to Best Damn Coach.
as often as I can is because there is always some amazing information that can help me move the needle in a positive way in my coaching business. whether it's the episode on how to gamify rejection or how to fail faster or how to become a client magnet. Amanda is so incredible in giving you those little nuggets, those great ideas in order to improve your business. So go listen to her now.
Welcome friends to another episode of the best damn coach podcast I am joined by a friend today, Julie, Julie Menden specifically, and she is an expert in all things. speaking. And this is a hot topic inside of The Best Damn Coach. I talk with coaches all the time. I love speaking. But one of the things that I think we miss
and you're going to speak to this, is how speaking can be such an influential part of how we get clients, how we add revenue to our coaching business. And so today we're going to be talking about all the things. So welcome. I'm so glad you're here. Thank you. I love it. Yeah, let's bring on all the things. I think one of the big questions our listeners are going to have off the bat is how did you get to this point? How did you become an expert at?
speaking, because I do think this is highly sought after. We want to get onto the stages. They seem hard to come by. So tell us a little bit about your background and how you ended up niching into the speaking route. Yeah, for sure. So I'll give you kind of like the little snapshot view. So first of all, I think there's some people who just love speaking. I have loved speaking since I was a kid. You know, it's a fear for a lot of people.
Uh, they feel like maybe they are not skilled in it, but maybe they want to do it. Some like are like shine away. If you're listening to this episode, I'm assuming you're one that's like, I want to do more of it. But I've been doing public speaking since I was a kid in different groups. I always took them like different leadership groups where I had to present. I was always the person that kids are like, hey, can you present your information for a group project?
So speaking has always been something that I've loved. And I'll say it came more naturally to me. And also, though, because I intentionally found times that I could do more of it, I practiced a lot. I got a degree in communication, interpersonal communication. And then really my career, I spent most of my time working in organizations in leadership development.
And I would be facilitating and leading, speaking to different teams and groups. So creating content for leadership skills, like I help people with public speaking, with presentation, conflict. personality styles, teen dynamics. And so a lot of my time was spent doing personal development, leadership development type things.
And I would be the one going in facilitating those. I spoke, I worked at a large Fortune 500 company and I would be the one on stage for a few years welcoming our hundreds of interns in. So I found myself in these places where I was doing that. And then when I transitioned out of working in organizations, I went and got certified as a coach about five and a half years ago. And I knew that speaking was going to be a big pillar of my business.
So for me, it was like speaking, leadership development, facilitation, and coaching were the three pillars. And so when I started my business, I was really, my intention was I'm going to do speaking and get in front of audiences to attract in clients. That was the strategy that I used. And I felt comfortable with it because it was my background, because it came natural for me to create content.
And so I really started speaking on LinkedIn, doing videos. I started to become known for doing that. So really my first. paid speaking gig came from LinkedIn, which is something I always talk to clients about. And that's really how I got started in growing, again, the speaking side, but also clients. Because I found that when you can build that know, I can trust by getting in front of people. That's really where I started to get my one-on-one clients, getting clients into my group program.
And then, so I was doing that for a couple of years. Julie, how do you find speaking gigs? Like all the things I'm sure you all talk about. How do you find speaking gigs? How are you getting clients from? How are you getting paid? How do you put content together? And so I was just naturally helping people like this is what you do. Right. I had to learn all of it myself. And then people were asking me and then I had a business mentor about three years ago say.
Julie, why aren't you helping people with this as part of your business strategy? And so about three years ago was really when I started doing that speaking mentorship and helping other people, you know. kind of shortening the path for them of what I had done to get my wins. And now the things that the client's been able to do are amazing.
That's so awesome. What I love, a couple of things I want to say. If you're just hearing Julie's voice, but also if you go to YouTube, you can catch the episode live or not live, but on video. What I love about you in particular is I've been around other speaker type coaches. And there's such a down to earthness about you that builds such a fast track to rapport. And that's one of the reasons I wanted to have you specifically on the show is.
like, oh, she's like me, right? It's like a bit self-talk, but down to earth, there's this authenticity that exists. And sometimes, just being honest, In the speaker world where I've experienced things, there's the opposite. And I know it's really important for me to maintain that level of authenticity. So just kudos to you. It's very felt, by the way. Oh, thank you. I mean, authenticity is a huge part of my brand.
And also what I tell people about, like there is only when you, if you want to become a speaker, it is not about going and trying to show up and speak like someone else. There's a whole lot of, you know, you're not going to feel confident. You're not going to attract in the right clients because then you're getting in front of audiences that aren't the right fit for you anyways.
And so to me, it's like you don't want to show up and speak like anyone. We already have all those people. You need to show up and speak like you. And the same thing with coaching, like if you want to attract the right clients. You need to show up as you. Yeah, totally. 100% you all the time. I think the other piece that often comes up through this process is, but like, what do I talk about? And so all of our listeners are coaches, mentors, practitioners of some point. They probably have this.
I mean, I hope you guys, I hope you have a framework first off. If you don't, you need to come into the lab and build one. But you have this. this wide variety of content. possibly that you could get up on stage and speak to. So what are your suggestions for figuring out, like, how do we get a little bit more narrowed and a little bit more focused on if we're going to go on stage, what are the things that we should be focusing on?
Well, what I absolutely love, right, is you're already helping people build that framework. And when I'm working and when I'm working with people who want to get into speaking, a lot of the times they are coaches, consultants. things like that. But also there's, you know, whole other financial advisors, wellness professionals, you know, insurance, like just like sales, like all these other things.
There's so many people that honestly, I'm biased, but I think using speaking to grow your business is the best way to grow your business. When I talk to coaches, I'm like, you have this amazing opportunity. And honestly, almost an easier path to it because you already have a framework. Or if you don't, you should, right? Like working with Amanda, you already have a framework. You already have something that you help people with.
And so for me, I'm thinking, you know, we don't need to reinvent the wheel. You use the framework. You use the thing people are already coming to you for. You use what you're already helping people with. And you take that and you package it into a talk. Because first of all, then you have. congruency in your brand what you're speaking about what you're coaching on you have
case studies and stories to be using of things you've already helped people with. And then people are like, oh my goodness, I love this person. I want to work with them. Well, great, because now you just build no like and trust.
way quicker than we can on social media, to be honest, because I love social media. I grow my business that way. But when I get in front of somebody, I'm much more likely to get. And in front of, I don't necessarily even mean on a big stage. It could be in a small environment. It could be podcast. Could be masterclasses, webinars, but you are the thought leader in the space. so much quicker. And now you bring them into your program. And again,
What they see is what they get then. They saw you and now you built that relationship with them. So in terms of what do you talk about, I say use what you have. What is the framework that you already have? And then obviously there's nuances like how do we massage that into a talk? One of the biggest things and mistakes I would say people make is either going to extreme one of two ways. First of all, storytelling is so incredibly important when we're doing speaking. Sometimes people don't.
right? And they make it too much about my story, my story, my story. People need to see something in you that activates something in them. So we need to make sure that we're tying together our story with
How does that help them? Why do they care about your story? Or sometimes people go too far the other way where they're like, okay, I have my framework. These are all the things. And there's not a lot of personality. There's not a lot of story. It's too... scripted it's too dry right like you do this and then you do this and you do this so it's really fine you might say kind of the magic dance and the secret sauce of the two
Yeah, that's so good. I want to go deeper into something that you just talked about, and that is the speaking, the opportunity that speaking gives you to build a fast track to track. So can you speak a little bit more to why maybe somebody listening has never even considered using speaking as, you know, a lead into the business?
Or they don't see the difference. I'm like, I'm on social media. That's got to be good enough. Like, can you dive into a little bit why speaking is even more relevant for that trust factor? Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I think there's a few things. First of all, it's putting you in the driver's seat behind what you want to put out there. So you are intentionally putting yourself in front of. a bunch of ideal audiences, right? When we think about speaking, we don't want to just go
speak wherever. I mean, it takes time. We're all busy. You're all trying to do things. So we're intentional about who we're getting in front of. And now you're getting in front of a group of ideal clients. And so, you know, again, I love social media and I find it to be extremely frustrating at times trying to get in front of people. Right. You post content. It's like it's going on to the abyss and you're like, I hope a couple people see it.
Whereas when we are finding speaking opportunities, again, that can look like a few different things. We're intentionally finding audiences where we know the majority of people in there could be ideal clients. And now again, they're seeing you talk, you're putting yourself in that sort of leadership position because you're the expert in this thing.
And they're like, wow, that's how we build relationships. Right. And for me, it's like then you're bringing them in by either then they get in your email list or you have a freebie or then they follow you on social media. Right. But that initial. encounter with you is so important. And in all of my experience for myself and my clients, we see how much it fast tracks.
People, you know, someone could be following me on social media for a long time. And, you know, like I run, you know, boot camps, I speak at events and someone might sign up to work with me after one time. You're just like, well, I feel like I know you. Right. And so it really does put you in that leadership position. It puts you in front of a group of really ideal people that you're speaking to and allows you to build those relationships with them.
Yeah, this is just like a funny story. Quick story. I was speaking at an event. And I attended the event all day. They offered a free ticket. I thought, yeah, I'm going to go. I felt like it also gives you the opportunity because I was going to be an end of evening speaker just to get to know the content and be able to pull in real.
real pieces and authentic pieces from being a participant. And I sat kind of by the same two guys all day and we chit chatted and kind of surfaced. We did talk business or whatever. And then, you know, when it was time for me to go, I just, you know, disappeared. They gave the intro, played the walk-up song. I gave my speech. came back to my seat shortly after, and they looked at me like,
Oh, gosh, we'd had no idea. Like it was either like, you know, it was really positive feedback. But the reason I share this story is think about it. If you were sitting in the seat and you were the guy and the person next to you goes and takes the stage, it's like. immediate credibility. All of a sudden, that person that was, let's just say like a side-by-side, automatically their credibility and expertise is elevated when they step on the stage.
And I would even add, I know we're talking mostly live speaking here, but I feel the same way about a webinar or workshop. By hosting a webinar or workshop, boom, it elevates the authority. You are the one giving the information. And if you're about to invest in something, it's critical that we trust and believe that the person that.
going to be teaching and leading us is who they say they are and can get the results and the things that they're promising for us. So I just wanted to like reiterate exactly what you said with, you know, kind of a tangible story around that. Yeah. And what you said, I always say it's credibility, visibility, and authority. And we build those.
by getting in front of people. And I mean, I agree. I talk to people. It's like, you don't have to be the one wanting to be on the huge stages, like the keynote speaker. When we talk about speaking to grow your business. There's a whole gamut of ways to do that. You know, there was one client that I worked with who, again, she's a fitness professional and she's like, I don't want to be like.
a speaker like going and she had young kids at the time i don't want to be traveling and speaking i just want to get in front of more people and so we created a signature talk for her based off of things she already helps people with she already does And now she uses that in multiple different ways. She can go and take that to places as a talk. Also, we talked about breaking it up into many masterclasses webinars leading up to the launch.
of one of her programs that she runs. So when you create this talk, this signature thing, your framework that you use, you can use it in so many different ways. And like you said, People are like, wow, they know what they're doing and they had opportunity to get in front of people. I should listen. I should lean into that. Yeah, 100%. So, okay, I love all of this. We see, okay, maybe... Putting together a talk is less intimidating than we think.
We see the value of it. I think the next question that comes to mind is, but how? How do I lock in the stages? What does this process look like? Because I know even for me too, sometimes that feels way out of reach. for maybe people that have never even spoke on a stage, maybe give us kind of like for a brand new, never spoke on a stage to maybe somebody who's...
a little bit further along in the journey? Like, where do we start? What are your suggestions around actually getting stages to speak on? Yeah, absolutely. And if you're feeling this way, like you're not alone, right? A lot of people feel this way. I hear this a lot. It's like, where? Where do I find the opportunities?
So I always teach kind of like three main ways to get opportunities. And I'm really just going to mostly talk about one because it pertains to both of those groups of people. But I talk about using your network. people that you already know that are already in your network that could either bring you to their stage or make a connection.
I talk about using organic content marketing to attract opportunities in. And then I talk about kind of cold outreach and pitching, which is like applications, things like that. So those are really the three things that I always help people with.
Now, when we look at like I always I always say it like this. If you had one hour, Julie, I only have one extra hour a week that I could possibly even put towards the speaking thing. Where are we going to get the most bang for our buck? It's going to be who's already in our network.
And again, this applies for people who have not done any speaking yet to people who are a little more experienced. If we can lean into people that are already in our network, you would be amazed at the opportunity. So my first suggestion is to really just. sit down and I have my client is like, we have this opportunity spreadsheet, just make a list.
Who's already in your network that either has a stage, meaning maybe they host a free virtual summit. Maybe they host retreats. Maybe they do host a big event. Put them on your personal, like, oh, I need to reconnect with them. Think of people who you've previously worked with who might host events. Think of other people who've been in masterminds or communities with you.
Who are people that you watch that attend events and start? I always say like, you know, polite, creepy, where you're like, oh, they're at that event. I'd love to speak at that. Write that event down as something to consider. Who do you already know that could make a connection for you? And also we say, look in your own backyard, because I think sometimes we forget.
Especially in this world of social media, we're looking at everybody else. We're like, oh, you know, all these events all over the place. What have you looked in your own community? Because there's so many opportunities in your own community. And when I start. And we start working on the list when I'm working with my clients and we're creating their list of where they're going to reach out. They're like, I never even thought of all these things. So think about in your own community.
Who are your people? Who is it that you're trying to help? Is it? moms? Is it women? Is it dads? Is it business owners? Like, who is it you're trying to help through your coaching anyways? And where do you find those people that you could start finding opportunities in your own community? that you could be talking to them about speaking opportunities. So that often gets overlooked. And when you do that,
That really is a good way to start getting. Now, there's definitely more, I get this question that kind of hand in hand with what you said is like free versus paid speaking. Oh, yeah. Good one. You know, and that again, we tend to get more into paid speaking the longer you've been doing it.
And also, you know, so be willing to do some of those quote unquote free things, because a lot of the times those community things or if it's summits or retreats, they might not pay you, but it's not free. Like we always want something from it. Right. We want.
We want pictures or videos in front of people. We want testimonials. We want referrals. So there's a lot more in it for you. And then that starts to build up your credibility and experience and positions you as a speaker to then start going for those bigger stages and getting paid. Yeah, that's so such good information. I mean, the network piece, I think, is like taking the time to sit down and just write out the list.
And really, because it could be your old bosses. It could be your kids' school. It could be your church. It could be, you know, your friends that you hang out every weekend and you forgot that they run a company that's directly aligned. with you when they're looking to fill speaker spots, or maybe they've never even thought about it. So I love that, like going into this discussion. So this is kind of something that...
I'm going to share a really embarrassing story, but a failure from the beginning. That's where I learn, right? Yeah. So I think, you know, I started in the health and nutrition space. Right. And so I remember I had a local CrossFit gym reach out to me early on, probably year one or two of business. And they asked me to come. talk and speak to the CrossFit gym. And I like... Had a huge ego around that at the time. And I like absolutely was going to be paid.
Because there was this part of me that's like that I'm a paid speaker. Right. So I negotiated this price with them, which I think honestly was like five hundred dollars or something at the time. And I went there and I'm just, it just felt yucky, to be honest. Like it didn't feel of service, especially at the phase of business I was in.
And I came home to my husband and I was like, you know, of course, yeah, I want to get paid for my time. But I missed this whole notion really of, at the time, selling from stage and how much more beneficial now, hindsight, I figured out. I take on a lot of opportunities where I don't get quote unquote paid because for the front end anyways, because the room is just filled with ideal clients.
that 100% are going to come into my world. But the things I do get are the opportunity to put out an offer. paid offer, or it could be a lead magnet of some sort that brings them into my existing business ecosystem. And now it feels so much more genuine and authentic for me. And the other piece I didn't know too is so much of the time, these assets, these video assets. And things that are provided at this from the speaking events, even when unpaid, those are.
equally or if not more valuable sometimes than actually getting paid. I guess it was like the underground of speaking that I didn't really know that I think I want to just bring up for our people right now to just understand, like, we got to put the ego out of the side and understand. especially in the beginning, but even it's like, it's about service. Like get up and show your stuff and like what you know, and the money will definitely follow.
I love that you share that story and just like humble enough. Like we all have those moments. I have had moments. too, where it's just like facepalm where you're like, because it's this balance of you want this perception of you to be that you're a high level, whether speaker, coach. And so you think we tell ourselves the story like, well, I can't do it for free. I can't do it for that.
low of a cost because what are they going to think and there is a balance right because there is a certain perception if they're looking for you know a ten thousand dollar speaker and you come in at a thousand they're like oh they might not be at our level and also though Sometimes, like you said, we really have to check ourselves. And is it an ego thing? And again, there's so I mean, even.
I mean, obviously, I still do free speaking. They always tell people that, you know, you do less and less the longer you do it, but you do them strategically. But even like bigwig speakers will do free speaking to get in front of. certain rooms of people. I mean, I've been at big conferences where big name speakers are like, yeah, I don't actually get paid for this.
But they're in front of so many people that, again, they're not like, oh, are they going to buy from me this second? But they're like, wow, they're at least going to follow me. Like you said, now I would say they're in your world. And now, my goodness, that could turn into other speaking opportunities. I had one client who he speaks to a lot of association events.
A lot of conferences and a lot of those big conferences don't pay their breakout speakers. A lot of people don't know that. They pay their big name speakers, but typically the breakouts aren't paid. But again, you're in front of a lot of ideal clients. So he does a lot of these. And he just had an event. He just shared this with me the other day. He had an event that he spoke at has now resulted in six figures worth of spin-off business.
So good. Yeah, it's so good. Well, I love that you shared that too. It reminds me, I was... I'm hosting our first live event here in Phoenix in April. And so in 2024, I reached out to an event planner that runs a few really great local conferences for female entrepreneurs. And when I was wavering on like, what was I going to set up? I was like, OK, can you tell me more about the cost of speakers?
And I'm not going to say their names here just because I want to keep that private, but they're very big names in the entrepreneurship, like girl crushes that I have. And she shared that neither of them were paid for this event. What happened was one basically had a downsell offer that was going to be monetized and the other had a book. Right. And so those it was like get in the room with the ideal clients. They do the thing for free.
I needed to hear that so much because we have this perception in our head. And it was like, oh, we're more alike than different, right? We're being strategic in opportunities. And that's not to say they don't get paid top dollar to go pee. speak in other places, but when there's a couple of hundred women in the room that are ideal clients, like that changes the dynamic for sure.
Okay, so we're getting close to the end. I want to hit on one quick other thought. Can we talk a little bit more to the pitching component, the sell at the end, right? I'm sure there are events where that opportunity exists, where it's clearly articulated, hey, you can totally, you know, soft sell or hard pitch at the end. And there are other opportunities where it's a no pitch speaking event.
So maybe you could just talk to like how to overcome the fear or the hesitation about selling from stage and like what's your key pointers for that? Yeah, I think you hit on a really important thing is make sure that you are clear going into the event of what the expectations are. And what's allowed and what's not allowed. Right. Because some events are very specific and are, you know, they're very mindful and particular that people aren't.
selling from stage, you know, outright being sold to from stage. And so make sure you know that I would say is just number one and just know. And also, again, don't shy away from, oh, they said I can't sell from stage. So now I must I don't I can't talk about.
me or how to, you know, follow me or anything like that. So I think first is just really being clear. And then again, so if it's like, yep, you can absolutely sell from Sage, great. That's kind of, you know, have something right that you're going to be pitching to them to bring them in. If you can't, you know, something I always say is make sure that you always have a way for people to connect with you. Again, there's a few different ways depending upon how they have it laid out.
If it's a smaller event, I know some people will like literally have a handout that they have for people or they put little table. you know, things on the tables with your QR code that could lead people to something. It could lead them to a freebie if the event's okay with you collecting emails. So it could leave a freebie where at least people now are connecting with you.
If they're like, hey, we don't even collect emails and they're particular about that, have it connect to a social media platform that you're big on. So if it's LinkedIn, have it connect to LinkedIn, have it go to Instagram, Facebook, whatever. If you have a podcast or something, have it go to that or a book that you want to lead people to. So something, even when they say you can't sell from stage, we want to be finding a way for people to connect with us.
I have never had my hand slapped for having people do a QR code. to connect with me on a social media platform, nor have I for doing like a freebie of things like that. I tend to be someone who's not a strong like... trying to pitch someone from stage, even if I was allowed to. To me, it's like, let me bring you into my world. Let me prove to you that I'm worthy of you even thinking of talking to me in the future.
So have a way for them to connect with you. And again, you can do that a few different ways. You can have a QR code on your slides if you have slides for them to connect with you. You can have it on the table. So something if you're not allowed to actually sell them into something, have a way for them to follow you in one of those other ways. I love it so much. I had a tip given to me that has really panned out well for me too is.
If none of those things or all of those things are allowed either way, a great thing if you have the capacity and the time is to also finish and say like, I'm going to be standing in the back right corner. And I would love to connect with as many of you as possible in real time. And I love that tip because I've just had like a line of people waiting to talk to me and we make genuine human connection. And then I can like.
you know, be like, here, follow me, take out your phone, like send me a message. And then I get to have the ball in my court so I can follow up and figure out if they're good fits for programs or just how I can serve them. And I love that you show that because I would say every event, big or small, you can see that there's a couple people, if not a lot of people that are like, oh, they just want to connect with you.
Right. So make yourself available after. Right. To even, you know, if you get a chance, I love that tip and tell people because, you know, they want to find you. They want to say your story resonated with me or I have a quick question or.
So, you know, make sure that you do make yourself available for that. And then, right, then that's just even more organic to be like, oh, yeah, you should check. Did you have a podcast? I have a podcast episode probably really help you with the question you just had.
Yeah, so good. Ah, such a wealth of information. You're amazing. Speak a little bit because I know you have a free resource that can definitely help get them set off on the right path to think about getting paid. So you want to mention that and just where they can connect with you as well? Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. I absolutely love you, Amanda. I love your content. I love the community.
One of those ones that you can just tell that you really do walk the walk with everything that you're doing, what you're teaching people. So thank you. I'm honored. I'm honored. Absolutely great to be connected with you. So yeah, you can follow me depending on what platform you're on. I'm really active on Instagram, Julie.Men. And I think we'll drop those in the show notes to people to connect. And that's where I share a lot of my speaking mentorship content.
So I somebody who gives, gives, gives. I share a lot of free content. So you can check that on Instagram. If you're somebody who's on LinkedIn, I post pretty actively on LinkedIn. A lot around my leadership development company that I run as well. So if you're someone who's in kind of a leadership space.
And then I also have a podcast. My podcast is called It Starts With You. When we're recording this, I know it's going to come all year, but the day we're recording this is actually my 100th episode release of. Yes, and you know, such a big commitment. So I have a podcast called It Starts With You, which, man, we've had amazing guests on the podcast.
And then, yes, Mayfer Resource is the roadmap to getting paid speaking. So nice, you know, I again share a lot of information of some of the main steps to take to get you to where you are, to where you want to be in the paid speaking space. And it's something that, you know, I teach to my clients in our Speaker Space Academy. I love it. So good. So all those links, of course, will be in the show notes.
Go show Julie some love. Reach out to her if you have any questions. And yeah, I'm so grateful to be connected to you now. I'm grateful for your time. And I just appreciate all the nuggets that you've dropped for our people. Yeah, thank you so much. All right, coaches, have another amazing week. And until next time, go coach them up. I believe every coach should know. So go ahead. Head on over to amanda-walker.com forward slash questions.