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.

---

Networking

Put join a networking group on your to do list with a big underline, star and happy face. You'll be glad you did for more reasons than you can count. And the advice... Read More

The Answer to Your Worst Networking Nightmare

Imagine you just met your ideal client at a networking event. He's friendly, has great ideas and could use a valuable person like you to help grow his business. Not to mention, he's... Read More

Which Networking Events Should You Attend?

How does one determine which are the best events to attend based on one's best customer?Customers are not a dime a dozen, especially in today's economy. So it is best to follow the... Read More

7 Step Plan To Get Going With Networking

Whether you're an introvert or an extrovert, feel like you have the gift of gab or just don't know how to make small talk, networking know-how is very important for your business success.... Read More

Network Marketing

Network marketing is the ordinary person's best opportunity to make extraordinary income. Well known author, Robert Kiyosaki, says that most ethical network marketing businesses are like business schools. They teach people the power... Read More

Measuring Value for a Networking Group

How do you measure a group's worth to your organization?It is sometimes necessary to measure the value of a group. You may be asking yourself why you would want to measure the value... Read More

Where Does That Word Come From?

"Instead of a handshake, I gave Toby a high-five to break the ice; and when we sat down on the front porch and started talking off the cuff, it was as if serendipity... Read More

A New LinkedIn Discussion Forum for High Power Dealmakers

For those of you interested in international business transactions or the business networking organization, LinkedIn, a new Yahoo groups discussion forum has been created. Several Yahoo discussion groups already exist on the uses... Read More

Sharpen Your Business Networking Skill To Grow Your Small Business

Most people become lax at maintaining their professional business network when they've worked with a company a while. With the constant rounds of mass layoffs, having a dead or outdated business network can... Read More

Networking to a New Life

Research shows that talking to strangers -- not people in your comfort zone -- is the single most powerful key to a creative career and business move. Yet many people resist. Sometimes they... Read More

Small File Box With Resumes to Help Customers

I bet you have not thought about it much, but there are many ways you can help your customers in their daily lives. If you have a customer who just got laid off... Read More

How to Shmooze

Definition: talk idly or casually in a friendly way Value: pricelessGearheads like me have trouble understanding that great ideas and hard work aren't enough... you gotta shmooze too. Every day we deal with... Read More

Networking and Trade Shows

The most important reasons people exhibit at a trade show? To see what's new and to gather leads - information for future business.So, how do you that besides standing in the booth and... Read More

Social Networking: A Link To Like Minds

Not all dot-com dreams died when the Internet stock bubble burst.Amazon.com, the king of the dot-com era, is keeping some of them alive in 2005 inside a small office on Capitol Hill.Light floods... Read More

Give People Something to Talk About!

My husband and I tried an experiment one night. We were invited to a dinner party with three other couples we didn't know. What we did know is that we were all around... Read More

Giving Referrals to Get Referrals

One of the best ways to get a referral is to give a referral. When you give someone a referral, they are forever grateful and will feel obligated to return the favor.Before you... Read More

Why Arent You Talking to Me?

Your nonverbal communication talks before you do. Only seven percent of interpersonal communication is transmitted verbally-the remaining ninety-three percent speaks for itself.And, because nonverbal communication is learned and practiced on an unconscious level,... Read More

10 Steps to Successful Networking

"It's not what you know, it's who you know."This old saying rings true in everything we do, especially in business. Finding contacts is key to the success of your business, and a great... Read More

Sticky Situations: Nametag Best Practices

Because a person's name is the single context of human memory most apt to be forgotten; because self-disclosure is the single most effective way to build rapport and connect with people you just... Read More

The 7 Habits of Highly Horrible Networkers

Networking is a term that didn't exist (academically) until almost 40 years ago. It's a word uttered in and around the business world every day, yet is unclear to most as to how... Read More

Is The Company You Keep Hurting Your Business?

When you look at your friends, it's like looking into a mirror. Take the sum of characteristics of the five people you spend most of your time with and you will be the... Read More

Alcohol & Events

Many people associate alcohol with relaxation and fun, so it is an important ingredient for a successful event. However, it can be a problem and too much alcohol can cause a great deal... Read More

Getting Leads

How many leads do you pass on?As a reminder, you must give a lot before you can expect any leads from the group. You must be able to define your best customer, give... Read More

Should You Offer Commissions For Customer Referrals?

As a small business owner you may find yourself in a situation where you want to partner with another business but they are asking for a commission on your services. You will want... Read More

Business Networking ? Extroverted Web Weaving for the Introvert

If you have been in business for any amount of time, you go to networking events. Did your body just seize up? Was there a swelling of nervousness in your gut? Are you... Read More

Five Best Ways To Build A Network

I have been working from home on the internet for over 3 years now. 18 months of that was spent trying out various different programs trying to find things that would work for... Read More

Volunteering for a Networking Group

When is it appropriate to volunteer to take a position in the group?Have you heard the saying that "the fastest way to get anything done is to ask a busy person"? It is... Read More

How To Make Your Next Networking Event A Success

There are people who are natural born networkers - those people that can make conversation in any situation and have no problem walking up to complete strangers. This article is for the rest... Read More

Test Your Networking Know-How

Let's test your knowledge on networking:1)The best definition of networking is: a) Schmoozing at meetings and events b) The solicitation of funds c) Building and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships d) Marketing... Read More