How To Start A Training or Speaking Service

The number of professional speakers and trainers developing an online presence is growing rapidly. Many meeting and event planners are turning to the Internet to research and book a speaker or trainer for their next event. Many business professionals are also looking for professional coaches and trainers to teach them specific trades or skills. Therefore, if you are a professional trainer or speaker, the Internet provides an excellent opportunity for you to generate more income for your business.

There are multiple ways in which you can generate revenue if you are operating this type of online business. If you are a professional speaker or trainer, you can easily promote your services and take bookings online. The latest advancements in Webcasting technology enable speakers to convert traditional videotapings of their offline seminars so that people can easily download and view them on their desktop—for a fee, of course. This is growing in popularity among many trainers and speakers, as it provides a self-generating stream of revenue once the files have been developed and uploaded to your site.

Many speakers and trainers also develop and sell products at their various speaking engagements. Things such as books, video- and audiotapes, and training kits are typically sold at conferences, training seminars, and conventions. These same products can also be sold online directly from your Web site. This provides you with an excellent opportunity to generate additional income for your business.

SKILLS NEEDED

Excellent training or speaking skills are a must for operating this type of business. Professional designations would also be a benefit, as they would enhance the professionalism and credibility of your services.

COST TO START THIS BUSINESS

Initially you will have to pay for the development, design, and hosting of your Web site, computer hardware, computer software, a printer, and a digital camera. If you currently have some of these items, your initial start-up costs will be considerably lower. If you are selling books or related training materials and are considering taking online payments, you will have to pay for the development of your storefront or purchase storefront software. You will also incur all costs associated with setting up your merchant account, which enables you to take online payments. If you decide to offer online training seminars, you will have to pay for their development. Other costs that you will incur are related to the promotion of your Web site. Estimated cost is $10,000 to $60,000 to start.

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NEEDED

Approximately one employee is needed to run this operation. If your service requests exceed what you can handle, you may want to hire an additional employee to handle all administrative duties associated with the day-to-day operation of the business.

INTERNATIONAL POTENTIAL

This type of business has very high international potential, as people from all over the world can hire you to come speak at their event or to their employees. Also, if you are offering downloadable training sessions, people can easily download them to their computer to learn from the comfort of their home no matter where they live.

E-BUSINESS MODEL/PAYMENT PROCESSING METHOD

E-business level 3 or 4 would be appropriate for this type of business.

IMPORTANT BUSINESS ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED

Since you will be promoting your speaking or training services both offline and online, you should remember to keep your marketing strategies consistent with each other. This means that you should use consistent colors, images, logos, and overall creative strategy when developing all of your marketing pieces. This will create a consistent visual atmosphere for your business. If people read one of your offline brochures and later visit your Web site, they will remember the brochure, and vice versa. This is a great way to keep your business fresh in the minds of your potential customers.

Since clients will be interested in purchasing your services, you should try to do whatever you can to assist them with their decision-making process. Provide them with background on your career, including past training or speaking seminars that you may have delivered, what you currently do, and even a listing of your upcoming training sessions and seminars. All of this information should be accompanied with positive testimonials from past sessions. This will encourage your potential clients to book you for their next event.

ONLINE MARKETING TECHNIQUES

Launch a strategic banner advertising campaign on Web sites frequented by your target market. These sites could relate to the specific industry that your services target or Web sites targeted toward meeting and event planners. These are the Web sites that your target market will visit on a regular basis.
Develop as many links as possible from Web sites, directories, and metaindexes related to your target market. These sites should relate to the industry that you target, meeting and event planning sites, or sites dedicated to professional speakers and trainers.
Participating in newsgroups and discussion forums related to your area of expertise would be quite effective. Through providing valuable contributions, you will be able to demonstrate your expertise and capture the attention of your target audience. Make sure you include a cleverly designed signature file in all of your postings. This will act as an advertisement for your services.
Participating in mailing lists related to your target market would be a great way to encourage people to visit your site. Make sure you provide a valuable contribution and include your signature file.
Develop a sponsored listings campaign to bid on appropriate keyword phrases with the popular search engines.
You could hold a weekly or monthly contest on your Web site for one of your speaking or training products. You could ask people if they would like to be notified of the winner via e-mail. This e-mail will encourage them to return to your site to re-enter your contest, thus re-exposing them to your site.

ADDITIONAL INCOME

If your primary focus is selling your speaking and training services, you could earn additional income from the sale of related products and services. This could include books, audio- and videotapes, and training kits. You could also set up a referral business with businesses offering products or services related to your area of expertise. For example, if you spoke about database management, you could partner with Oracle to promote their database products. You could then receive a percentage of all sales made as a result of your referral.