7 Tips to Get on a Panel at a Conference

by R. Scott Lorenz

Admit it. You've been to an industry conference and you look at the people on the panel and you wonder, "How in the heck did 'that' guy get on the panel? I could do that."

Well, you're not alone. Like getting asked to the Junior High Dance you can wait to get an invitation or get aggressive and make it happen. As a publicist I am often asked to get a client on the convention dais and as a result I've got couple of tried and true tactics that really work.


Here are seven tips to help you land that panel gig:

1. Bring a big name to the party
   If you have little name recognition organize a panel around a topic and call in a favor from Bill Gates or other notable friend, client, customer or vendor by creating your own panel. Pitch the "ready made" panel, which includes yourself of course, to the conference organization. They have less work, and you get more editorial control over the discussion. Big names draw big crowds. All conferences like big names.


2. Create a catchy title
   Even if you have a big name on your panel, an unexciting panel title and no mention of the big name will not be as interesting to the conference planner. Take a page out of the entertainment industry. Would people rather watch "Desperate Housewives" or the same program titled "Five Bored Housewives on Wisteria Lane?"


3. Make a promise
   Tell conference planners what prospective audience members will learn and what they will take away from the presentation in the copy describing the program. For example: Tell them they will learn to do X, Y & Z and will be able to implement something tangible in their own business or practice.


4. Offer to promote the conference
   Tell conference planners you'll promote the convention to the prospective conference goers. This helps drive more people to the conference and they will surely like that.
   
   You can offer to promote the event using:
   
   
   • A PR campaign to industry and consumer media.
   • direct mail piece to YOUR clients and customers.
   • series of emails to YOUR clients and customers with a link back to the conference's web site.


5. Bring something to give away
   Tell conference planners you'll be giving away 'something of value' to audience members if you get the engagement. Items such as a free video, autographed book, new software etc. are often welcomed by conference planners as they make them look good.


6. Make yourself the logical choice to speak on a particular topic
   Demonstrate expertise by showing conference planners your articles on the subject. Nobody wants to take a chance on an unknown person with shaky credentials. But, if the conference planner can "Google" you and find your web site and numerous articles you've written or your quotes in news, that takes the uncertainty out of the equation and they're more apt to book you.


7. Plan way in advance
   Most conferences are booked into convention halls years in advance and most programs are decided upon many months in advance. If you really want to get on a panel, make your pitch before your competitor does several months in advance. Now, there's always a chance of a last minute booking but more than likely it's best to plan way ahead.

These are just a few ways to get on a panel or to deliver a presentation. If you'd like to share more ideas please email them to me and I'll use them in future articles on the topic. Remember: Just like the Junior High Dance, you can wait around until they ask you or you can do the asking and make it happen.

THE BOTTOM LINE

You've got to market yourself!

Get aggressive and initiate the opportunity!

About the author
Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm which specializes in marketing authors, doctors, lawyers and entrepreneurs. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC Nightly News, ESPN, The New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, NPR, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Family Circle, Woman's World, & Howard Stern to name a few. To discuss how Westwind Communications helps its clients get all the publicity they deserve and more visit WestWindCos.com.

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Other posts in the category marketing:

• How To Be A Newsletter Writer For Hire
• Promotional Pens - Apt For Any Kind of Businesses
• Scratching A Niche

How To Be A Newsletter Writer For Hire

by Dr.Mani Sivasubramanian

Some weeks back, a business owner approached me to ask if I'd consider writing for his newsletter. I'm an infopreneur, and turning words into wealth in any form sounds attractive to me. I decided to try it out and found it interesting enough to keep doing it.

How can you be a newsletter writer for hire too?
- It's easy if you consider two things:

First - business owners are too busy doing things and often don't have the time or energy to manage their newsletter.

Second - if you have knowledge or expertise in an area, and are familiar with newsletter writing, it becomes more attractive for business owners to outsource the work to you than trying to do it on their own.

So the best way to become a newsletter writer for hire is to develop expertise in an area and find business owners in the niche to write for.

Become Expert in a Niche

If you are already an expert or specialist in a popular niche, good for you. If you are not already a specialist, you can become one by studying the available resources - websites, forums, newsletters, books and courses - until you are reasonably familiar with the niche.

Wait until you can confidently present yourself as a newsletter writer with some competence and knowledge.

Develop Expertise as a Newsletter Writer

The best way to learn the intricacies of publishing a newsletter is to do it yourself. Pick a subject you have skills, knowledge or experience with. Then start becoming a newsletter writer for real.

Create complete issues. Publish them electronically, or even in print. Offer them to your own audience. Gain experience in the various steps of the process. Figure out how to overcome hurdles and solve problems.

Find Business Owners To Contact

Search for relevant businesses that may be able to use your newsletter writing skills to add value to their customers and prospects. If you have gained expert status in dog training, look for businesses that sell things to dog owners like dog food, dog collars, dog kennels and more.

Once you have a list of potential businesses that may find your skills as a newsletter writer of value, approach them to discuss a proposal where you manage their newsletter for them in return for a payment.

Make an Irresistible Offer

When you contact the business owner, remember to focus on the right 'angle' - what's in it for them. Don't harp about your knowledge, expertise and skills at writing. Instead, sell them on the value of having a newsletter.

Teach them how it opens up a line of communication with their prospects and customers. Show them how they can run product endorsements and special offers within the content of their newsletter and generate more sales. Explain how their newsletter will brand their business and attract buyers more frequently to their store.

Once they are convinced that publishing a newsletter is in the best interests of their business, you can start positioning yourself as the best person to be their newsletter writer and create a newsletter for their business.

Run projections about how much extra profit you will help generate for their business, and then show how the rates you charge will come out of added profits, making it a zero cost venture for their business, one with infinite upside potential to grow their business massively.

By becoming expert at a niche topic, learning the intricacies of being a newsletter writer, and identifying a target market of related businesses to write for, and then convincing them to let you write for their newsletter, you can take advantage of this overlooked infopreneur opportunity and profit in a big way - easily.

About the author
Dr.Mani Sivasubramanian is an Internet infopreneur who has helped hundreds of business owners build online information empires. For more powerful tips, ideas and secrets about achieving success and building massive wealth visit InfoProfitz.com.

Promotional Pens - Apt For Any Kind of Businesses

by Tina Rinaudo

Use useful gifts for promoting and popularizing your brand so that it is visible to everyone and can promote and advertise the brand easily. The products thus chosen should relate to your brand so that the consumers are reminded of your brand when they use it.

It should relate to the target consumer and clients also or in other words, the products should be able to create a relation between the consumer and the company. The personalized pens are the perfect items and are apt for any types of business. The promotional pens are useful to everyone and are used in our daily life.

The promotional pens can be used as gifts and can be gifted to the consumers on various occasions and events. They have the brand name imprinted on them which advertises the company and remind everyone about it.

These printed pens are the most convenient items as they are easy to carry and are mobile in nature. They can be carried easily in your bags, pockets and purses.

They are useful to small children, office goers, house wives, old people and almost everyone. To note down something, to play crosswords, for calculation and various other things, a pen is needed.

The personalized pens can be distributed to the target consumers during exhibitions and trade shows. They can be handed over to people attending the event so that they are pleased with the free gifts and get to know about the brand through the name printed on them. It would attract them to the particular company and work like an advertisement.

The printed pens can be the ideal corporate gifts for your clients and business associates. You can make use of branded promotional pens that can be used as business gifts and gifted to the clients on special events like parties seminars and meetings.

It would create a positive impact on them and help the company to get better business deals in the future. The personalized pens can serve as motivational gifts for the employees of the company and can be gifted to them as rewards to boost their moral. It would help in motivating them to work harder and in turn increase the productivity of the company.

Log on to the internet to find a range of such customized pens and other items that can be personalized and used for promoting the brand and its products. The UK based website has good branded pens like Parker, Prodir, Balmian, Papermate and other such companies.

It has many other different types of writing material also. All these printed pens can be viewed on the website and are priced reasonably to suit everyone's budget.

About the author
Tina Rinaudo is one of the leading lights in the UK promotional pens industry. She is a key member of YesGifts, the UK's fastest growing online promotional pens resource specializing in promotional pens, mugs, mouse mats, umbrellas, conference items and much more. For more information please visit YesGifts.

Scratching A Niche

by Claire E Cunningham

Even if you're selling something with broad appeal - like toilet paper, corn flakes, or cell phone service -- you've probably thought about vertical or niche marketing.

How do you go about it, though?

Here's how to be successful:

1) WHICH NICHE?

Choosing the right market for your service or product is where it starts. There are lots of places to go for insights.

• Current customers, for instance. What groups can you identify?
• Take a look at inquiries/leads, too.
• Talking to sales reps can yield information.
• Trade publication articles and market research reports can point out trends.

You may wind up with several market ideas. Pick one. It's easier to deal with one new market at a time. Plus, while you're working in this first niche you can establish a procedure to follow in the future.

Not sure how and where to start?
- Call in a marketing consultant for advice.

2) TALK THE TALK

To become a successful vertical marketer you may need to learn a new language - the jargon of the market you're going after. You'll gain credibility faster by using recognizable images and words.

TRUE STORY: An adhesives manufacturer had a product they wanted to introduce to the hospital market. Their first ads used generic photos and headlines and didn't generate much interest.

Then we brought in nurses who would actually use the new product. They showed us how to depict and talk about the product realistically. The result was an advertising and direct mail program that pulled in lots of well-qualified inquiries.

3) FOLLOW THE RULES

Once you've picked a niche and learned the language, it's about following the basic rules of marketing communications.

1. Identify a Central Message. Pinpoint the primary benefit your service or product brings to this market.
2. Use a Mix. Make use of all the tools you can -- publicity, Internet strategies, advertising, direct mail and more. Build your entire program around your Central Message.
3. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat. It takes lots of exposures for a message to sink in.
4. Measure and Learn. Look at results. (Inquiries generated are a common measure.) Find what works best.

Is vertical marketing right for your service or product?
Need to select markets and design programs?
- Call in a professional who can help identify markets, analyze potential, and implement communications programs that speak the language.

About the author
Claire Cunningham is the president of Clairvoyant Communications, Inc. She helps companies jump start their sales with increased visibility. For more of her expertise visit ClairVoyantCommunications.com.