Month: April 2019

As seen on BigSpeak.com

The power of positivity is real. We feel it in our everyday lives when a coworker’s smile gets us through a rough meeting, or a good car-karaoke session starts our day a little brighter. But until now, the effects of positive thinking always just felt like a hunch.

Bert and John Jacobs, co-founders of the Life is Good lifestyle brand, just teamed up with BigSpeak’s exclusive speaker Tan Le to use technology to prove the power of positive thought. As Chief Executive Optimists, the Jacobs brothers turned their business selling T-shirts out of a van into a globally recognized company with a focus on promoting positivity and helping others.

The Jacobs brothers attribute their success to one question their mother always asked around the dinner table:”What went right today?” They were raised on positive thinking and believe their positive perspective is what helped them grow their business—despite having no experience as entrepreneurs.

Recently, Life is Good showed how tangible positivity really is. The brothers teamed up with Tan Le’s team at Emotiv, a tech company who pioneered the first non-invasive headset that reads brain waves, to turn positive thoughts into actions.

They created a setup in which someone wearing an Emotiv headset could turn on a water spout and fill up a cup with water using positive thoughts alone. Watch the video below to see how thoughts of loved ones, special places, and even cupcakes metaphorically and literally filled up each person’s cup with positivity.

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Jessica Welch is the Content Marketing Associate at BigSpeak Speakers Bureau, holding a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature and Anthropology from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Her business thought articles often appear on Business 2 Community, Born 2 Invest, and YF Entrepreneurs.

As seen on BigSpeak.com

BigSpeak is proud to welcome the man that turned Harley-Davidson Motor Company into a tattoo-worthy brand—Ken Schmidt. Ken is a customer loyalty expert who was brought on as Harley Davidson’s Director of Communications in 1985 when the company was on the brink of ruin.

Through his branding, storytelling, and marketing expertise, Ken was able to around the company’s image and transform Harley-Davidson into the success we know it to be. Now, Harley-Davidson is the most widely-known motorcycle company in the nation with a reputation people pay a lot of money to be a part of.

Ken served as the primary spokesperson to the media and financial communities, making him the face of the freshly branded company and a branding expert within the world of business media.

He has toured the world on two wheels, met with presidents and royalty, partied with movie and music legends, and appeared numerous times on network news.

In 2018, he put his expertise into a book—Make Noise: The Unconventional Road of Dominance that shares stories and insights on the road to building a fanatically vocal customer base, creating a passionately loyal corporate culture, and developing leaders who inspire and motivate. He has spoken to Fortune 500 countries around the world and given over 1,000 keynotes.

Ken speaks on…

• Make Some Noise: Open The Throttle & Dominate Your Marketplace

• Building A Great Corporate Culture That Leads To Revenue

• Leading Winning Teams

• Building Tattoo-Worthy Customer Relationships

• Thrive Among Thorns: Untapped Growth Opportunities For Financial Services

• Fierce Loyalty: Dominating In A Commoditized Market

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The content writers at BigSpeak Speakers Bureau are Experts on the Experts. They hold doctoral, masters, and bachelors’ degrees in business, writing, literature, and education. Their business thought pieces are published regularly in leading business publications. Working in close association with the top business, entrepreneur, and motivational speakers, BigSpeak content writers are at the forefront of industry trends and research.

As seen on BigSpeak.com

BigSpeak Speakers Bureau is fostering entrepreneurship in young women after contributing to the Central Coast Girl Scout troop 50886’s cookie sales and distribution. BigSpeak purchased over 500 boxes of cookies. The girls worked with the BigSpeak team to brand the cookies with BigSpeak’s marketing materials, gaining valuable insights into the marketing industry. The cookies will be sent out as tokens of appreciation to BigSpeak clientele.

Girl Scout Troop 50886 includes 35 girls from grades 6 through 12. The troop—made up of Senior Girl Scouts and Cadettes—is focused on leadership, earning badges, and outdoor activities. Recently, the Senior Girl Scouts hiked in the Eastern Sierras/John Muir Wilderness to Evolution Valley and back, a total of 45 miles. This summer, the Senior Girl Scouts will travel to Belize on a seven day trip, which will include a community service project at a local school. The Cadettes will travel to Catalina this summer for a hike and camp out as well.

Troop 50886 also has bimonthly meetings, monthly hikes, and community service projects such as canned food drives and singing holiday carols at retirement homes. They will participate in a weekend campout and skills competition called Kaleidoscope this spring. The proceeds from their cookie sales provide them with the funds to sponsor these opportunities.

BigSpeak is happy to support Troop 50886 in developing their life skills, while also working with them in marketing and distribution.“We are so excited to have the support of Big Speak! By purchasing cookies to send to your clients, you are supporting the leadership and skill building of our troop,” said Troop Leader Katelyn Rodeo.

 

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Jessica Welch is the Content Marketing Associate at BigSpeak Speakers Bureau, holding a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature and Anthropology from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Her business thought articles often appear on Business 2 Community, Born 2 Invest, and YF Entrepreneurs.

As seen on BigSpeak.com

If you’re in the market to book a keynote speaker, you might be feeling overwhelmed. Who should you hire? How do you get in touch with that big-name keynote speaker you want? How do you know if the speaker is any good? Or maybe you’re wondering what is considered normal for fees, travel costs, and audiovisual requirements?

The keynote speaking market can be confusing. There’s no central database of all available speakers. Fee transparency is minimal. And there are many groups that represent speakers: speakers bureaus, talent agencies, and publishing houses. Not to mention the thousands of individual speaker websites you can find all over the web.

Finding a keynote speaker can be a daunting task. Most of us don’t have the time, money, and patience to do it on our own. However, if you want your life made easier, consider contacting a speakers bureau.

What is a speakers bureau?

Speakers bureaus are organizations that specialize in helping you book the perfect keynote speaker. Bureaus can be large, small, international, domestic, have hundreds of exclusive speakers or represent just a few people. Some are brand new and some, like BigSpeak, have been booking keynote speakers for the Fortune 1000 for over 20 years.

In short, they serve as intermediaries between a contracting company and a speaker. Speakers bureaus provide expertise, insight, guidance, security, and freedom for the event team and the speaker—so no one has to worry about making the wrong choice.

Why use a speakers bureau to book a keynote speaker or celebrity?

Expertise

Speakers bureaus are experts on the experts. Bureau websites help you search for the right speaker for your event. Their databases provide transparency for costs and availability. And their sales advisors have personal knowledge of speakers and their expertise.

Insight

Sales advisors provide insight into the selection process. When you contact a speakers bureau, a friendly and expert advisor will guide you through the process step-by-step until you find the right speaker to fit your event and budget.

Guidance

Speakers bureaus provide the logistical know-how to guide you through the complicated event process. Speakers Bureau event planners can help you coordinate travel, hotel, per diems, contract logistics, and more.

Security

Life happens. Sometimes a speaker gets sick, a plane is delayed, or an act of God happens. When you make a contract on your own, you’re out of luck. But a speakers bureau provides a security net. If a speaker can’t make it, the bureau has a network of great speakers who can fill in at a moment’s notice.

Freedom

Best of all, using a speakers bureau is free. There’s no extra cost to work with a bureau. Speakers bureaus earn their commissions from the keynote speakers. All you pay is the keynote speaker fee and in return get all the speaker bureau expertise, insight, guidance, and security you would’ve missed doing it on your own.

So next time you need a keynote speaker for your event, don’t feel overwhelmed. Contact one of the many professional speakers bureaus out there to help make your next event great.

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Kyle Crocco is the Content Marketing Coordinator at BigSpeak Speakers Bureau, a graduate of UC Santa Barbara, and the lead singer of Duh Professors. He regularly publishes business book reviews and thought articles on Medium, Business 2 Community, and Born 2 Invest.

As seen on BigSpeak.com

Melodie Tao is a keynote speaker, thought leader, and social media marketing expert. She began using social media in 2008, later launching MarketingMelodie.com to share her insights into social media and marketing. Her expertise has attracted clients from diverse industries—technology, media, real estate, and education— who she advises on how to leverage social media to market their products and services.

By Melodie Tao, Social Media Marketing Expert 

Social media isn’t an overnight success tool. It’s one of the most powerful sales tools if you make the commitment that requires patience and persistence. It will bring you success in the long term if you are consistent.

Your job on social media is to stay top of mind until your prospect turns into a customer. This is much easier said than done—so there are five ways you can use social media to stay top of mind, every time. See if you can incorporate at least one of these methods into your sales strategy.

1) Publish consistently.

Being consistent is the most important element for your success on social media. You need to show up constantly to be memorable, rather than posting once and then stopping for a few weeks.

If posting consistently is a challenge, start by choosing one day each week where you post something directly related to your business. For example, one of my real estate clients posts a “Wow Wednesday” update every single week. Every Wednesday, they consistently share a luxury real estate listing. Her followers now expect and look forward to this weekly share.

Don’t get overwhelmed with committing to too many days of posting. Start with one day and then add on from there.

2) Share educational content.

The first thing many people do when they want to learn something new is search online for articles or videos related to what they want to learn.  When you share something related to your business or expertise that teaches a skill someone can put into action, they will think of you when taking that action. They will also likely share what they learned with others and let people know where they learned it from; therefore, keeping you top of mind.

3) Be social on social media.

Staying top of mind on social media doesn’t just mean posting on your own accounts. It also means showing up and participating in conversations that are already happening.

You can do this strategically by researching where your potential customers are hanging out online and interacting with them there. This may mean you join industry-related Facebook Groups, comment on blog articles or Instagram posts.

Your social activity will be different depending on your target audience. If you aren’t taking time to socialize on social media, start by taking just five minutes each day and dedicate that time to commenting and interacting with others. This not only helps boost someone else’s activity, which is just good karma, it also reminds people you are available and active online.

4) Create opportunities to interact.

Now we know the value of interacting with others on social media, it’s time to create opportunities for people to interact with your own content. The more you can keep people engaged on your pages, the more likely you will stay top of mind.

A few ways to create interactive opportunities include asking questions, asking people to share their own experiences and also prompting user-generated content. User-generated content is where your audience creates their own posts based on something related to your brand. An example of this includes asking people to use a hashtag to share photos when using your product.

5) Make social videos.

Watching video continues to dominate online activity. Oftentimes, the top Google results for how to do something are YouTube videos that answer the question. Facebook video (especially live video) gets more visibility in newsfeeds than any other type of content, more so than photos and links.

Making videos for your social media creates a personal connection with your audience. Many people are camera shy when it comes to social video because they are afraid they won’t look perfect and polished. The benefit of social video is that it’s ok to post impromptu videos that aren’t rehearsed. These videos humanize your brand and attract more people to connect with you.

If you don’t have a video strategy yet, start by posting just one video. After the first one, creating more videos become easier.

There you have it. Five ways you can use social media to stay top of mind to generate more sales and leads.

As seen on BigSpeak.com

Cybersecurity Expert Eric O’Neill achieved his first bestseller on Amazon with his new book Gray Day. After just one week of release, the true-life spy story sits squarely in the top 10 for Intelligence and Espionage books. In Gray Day, O’Neill recounts how, as a young F.B.I. agent, he was recruited to take down the most notorious spy in U.S. history—Robert Hanssen.

The story of O’Neill and Hanssen has previously been made into the movie Breach, starring Ryan Phillipe as Eric O’Neill and Chris Cooper as Robert Hanssen, and retold in several books, but this book is the first to provide O’Neill’s insider look at the takedown.

O’Neill shows what it’s like to attempt to maintain a normal life—going to law school and maintaining a marriage—all while pretending not to be on a secret assignment. However, stress takes its toll on both his education and marriage as he tries to fool Hanssen into making a mistake. A great read for anyone interested in intelligence, espionage, and cybersecurity.

 

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Kyle Crocco is the Content Marketing Coordinator at BigSpeak Speakers Bureau, a graduate of UC Santa Barbara, and the lead singer of Duh Professors. He regularly publishes business book reviews and thought articles on Medium, Business 2 Community, and Born 2 Invest.