How Speakers, Exhibitors, Consultants, and Meeting Planners Partner-Generate More Money and Value

? "Make Every Moment Count" is the title of a CD that a pharmaceutical company gave away at their exhibit booth at two major conferences.

Half of the CD covered the company's new product news and "how-to's"; the other half featured tips from a speaker at those conferences. The gift was announced with on-the-seat cards during the speaker's sessions.

? A fullflilment house inserts a speaker's "Communicate Clearly" tips sheets on top of the informational updates that the fulfillment house mails out on behalf of their corporate clients in the fields of insurance, credit and healthcare.

The tips are a welcome relief from the important, but highly technical reading below it.

The speaker provides the camera-ready tips to the fulfillment house that offers them as an extra benefit to their corporate clients.

Those clients pay for reproduction. Each sheet has a line at the top, "(name of company) supports your personal success." ? The largest beer producer in India introduced an upscale beer for women. Hanging from a gold cord around the neck of each bottle is a card entitled, "Live Well" that promotes a free 3" x 3" book of 100 lifestyle tips for women buyers. Buyers get the book from their store when they turn in ten bottle caps. The book is co-authored by an American woman speaker and a popular Indian woman journalist.

These are examples of cross-promotions among speakers and people from different industries or professions. Like all successful cross-promotions, they are aimed at better reaching and/or serving a mutual market.

Successful cross-promotions build customer-attracting visibility and value. Unsuccessful joint promotions can create irritation and lose credibility.

Some speakers are avid cross-promoters. Several have written about partnering and joint promotions including Jeff Slutsky and Ed Rigsbee. Some informally or formally share speaking leads. Some refer to each other in their speeches, articles, ezines, web sites, books and media interviews. Some sell each other's products.

To truly stand out in an over-advertised world, some speakers and other consultants are beginning to partner with people a step or two outside the meeting industry.

For your partnering opportunities, look more closely at your key stakeholders, including your "hot list" of fans who have heard you speak, meeting planners, speakers bureaus, exhibitors at trade shows where you appear, other speakers, vendors who support the industry.

Now look at the markets and organizations that are important to them. In each case, you may have a way to partner with a stakeholder - or with an organization that is important to that stakeholder - to better reach or serve one of their markets.

Your "product" is your message, delivered in person, or in some other package. More credible than traditional advertising, your helpful and inspiring stories, tips and examples can naturally attract prospects to you and to your cross-promoting partners.

Do you speak to manufacturers?

? What if your pertinent tips appeared on their packaging, along with your contact information?

? What if your product was inside the package of a big ticket consumer product? For example, techno-savvy speakers' pertinent ideas could add a human touch if they appeared on or inside computer hardware or software packages.

Two Lexus dealers will be placing a speaker/singer's CD, "It's a Beautiful Life", on the front seat of their newly sold cars.

For many years, speaker Bob Popyk has produced sales publications for retailers and other distributors of big ticket consumer products, ranging from boats to musical instruments. His clients are the manufacturers of those products. All these publications pull people to his "Creative Selling" magazine.

Agilent Technologies sponsored my presentation for their clients and prospects. Each attendee received a card pack with their technology tips on one side and my communication tips on the other.

Offer your clients the opportunity to co-author articles with you for their professional or industry publications. Tell them some of the titles of your timeless articles so they can choose one to revise.

Via email, send your client the article she selects, with places marked to insert examples and quotes from their industry.

Include brief instructions for completing the revision.

Ask her to send the version back to you for your final approval.

Offer to submit the article to the appropriate industry and professional publication(s).

Now, more than ever, people are open to innovative ways to capture attention, offer genuine value without price-cutting and reach new markets. Your suggested cross- promotions can demonstrate your care for customers and your capacity to be cutting edge.

Kare Anderson is the author of LikeABILITY (see Grand Store at http://www.SayitBetter.com), Make Yourself Memorable and SmartPartnering. A popular speaker on SmartPartnering and on how to be more frequently-quoted to become your kind of customers' top- of-mind choice, she also publishes the SayitBetter newsletter, with 32,000 subscribers in 28 countries.

---

Why Cant I Start A Conversation With You?

One out of every ten Americans has a fear of... Read More

Defining a Quality Networking Group

When it comes to quality, how do you choose the... Read More

Networking: Breaking into the Buzz

Breaking into conversational groups is one of the things people... Read More

Youve Got Personality, Use It!

For the self employed professional, nothing is more important than... Read More

How Well Do Your Customers Know You?

Know your customer, know your customer, know your customer. Three... Read More

The Promotion Factor: Seven Strategies to Promote Yourself and Your Business by Playing Golf

Effective business promotion is more powerful than advertising. Using golf... Read More

Getting Leads

How many leads do you pass on?As a reminder, you... Read More

Which Networking Events Should You Attend?

How does one determine which are the best events to... Read More

Are You Really Listening: The Importance of Strong Communication Skills

Let's face it, when most people think of IT professionals,... Read More

Franchisees Should Learn From Each Other

If you own a franchise you should be in contact... Read More

Unforgettable First Impressions Part 3: Time is (Not) On Your Side

You only have three seconds?Connect in under a minute?People decide... Read More

Building Business Relationships in a Roomful of Strangers

You approach a stranger at an association meeting or industry... Read More

Planting the Seeds of Greatness - Make it Great Newsletter #7

Thought of the WeekThis week, I'd like to challenge you... Read More

Lesson 15 - Meeting the Prince with More Reputation than Power

The StoryBusiness has a habit of testing us as individuals... Read More

Effective Networking

The process of finding out about a job, getting interviewed,... Read More

10 Top Tips for Successful Networking

1. Recognise the importance of networkingAsk any successful business person... Read More

Five Steps for Expanding Your Customer Base with Guerilla Networking

As a single company, it is impossible to provide your... Read More

Test Your Networking Know-How

Let's test your knowledge on networking:1)The best definition of networking... Read More

Networking: What the Heck is a Ryze?

If you're new to the internet marketing club, you may... Read More

Networking

Put join a networking group on your to do list... Read More

Sticky Situations: Nametag Best Practices

Because a person's name is the single context of human... Read More

Develop a Great Network - Pay It Forward for Maximum Success

Who needs a network of people to talk to about... Read More

34 Power Affirmations for Networking with the Affluent

Here are 34 affirmations I have created after studying the... Read More

Flying High, Flying Far

"What me? Sell myself? You have to be joking!"This was... Read More

Networking Know How

Networking, even to a seasoned professional, can seem intimidating or... Read More

Why Cant I Remember Your Name?

You're terrible with names. You forget someone's name within ten... Read More

How NOT to Waste Your Time Networking

Ever wonder if networking, referral groups, and conferences are a... Read More

Politics, Religion, Race; Conversational No-No?s in Business

Do not destroy all your positive displacement and high energy... Read More

How to Collect Business Cards

Why the business card grab is not why you are... Read More

How Speakers, Exhibitors, Consultants, and Meeting Planners Partner-Generate More Money and Value

? "Make Every Moment Count" is the title of a... Read More

Value-Added Network

A value-added network can be achieved through explicit actions to... Read More

Jump Start Your Network

Networking is often identified as a key business building activity... Read More

How to Generate More Business by Telling People What You Do

What do you tell people when asked what you do?... Read More