From Developer to Digital Marketer: The Speaking Journey

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Are you leveraging public speaking to grow your brand? Have you considered expanding your reach by having team members represent your company at events or interviews? Today’s featured guest has transformed public speaking from a marketing tactic into a primary source of new business leads. In just three years, he went from getting most of his business from webinars to getting most of his leads from his speaking engagements.

In this episode, learn the common fears that keep agency owners from speaking at more events, the type of speaker you should be to attract more business, and why you should consider building a team willing to share their expertise and promote your agency at events or interviews.

Dale Bertrand is the founder of Fire & Spark, a Boston-based SEO agency with a team of 25. He shares his journey from being a software developer to diving into the world of digital marketing. He also shares about transforming his love for public speaking into a key agency tool to promote his business and getting new leads. With a busy schedule of 30 conferences annually, he shares how he built his speaking career and what lies ahead to keep the momentum going.

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

• Where to start in public speaking.

• Should you give away your secrets? Why the “giver” speaker sees results.

• Converting speaking engagements into business growth.

• The benefits of sharing the spotlight.

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Sponsors and Resources

E2M Solutions: Today's episode of the Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by E2M Solutions, a web design, and development agency that has provided white-label services for the past 10 years to agencies all over the world. Check out e2msolutions.com/smartagency and get 10% off for the first three months of service.

How Public Speaking Transformed an Agency

Frustrated with his previous career as a software developer, Dale sought to learn more about digital marketing. Already dabbling in website development and affiliate marketing in his spare time, Dale found the digital marketing field appealing enough to leave his coding career behind. This transition led him to consulting and eventually founding his own agency, which has grown into a seven-figure business.

Until 2023, most new business came through webinars and strategic partnerships. However, an unexpected shift occurred as speaking engagements began generating the majority of his leads. This transformation was particularly notable by 2024, when conference appearances became his primary source of new business.

Before the pandemic, Dale had only attended a few small events, enough to discover his passion for public speaking. Once restrictions lifted, came his big opportunity. Many conferences were now looking for speakers, as many dropped out due to the reduced audiences. Dale took the chance, said yes to everything, and started a new unexpected stage in his career where he now travels most weeks doing something he really enjoys.

How to Easily Gain Confidence as a Speaker

Understandably, many people fear getting on stage as an expert, especially if they’re not very familiar with the subject. When Dale first started making taking the stage at these events, he spoke about his own case studies. It was a subject he knew well and felt comfortable talking about. This helped when it came to gaining confidence as a speaker and was something audiences loved because it was like pulling back the curtain on his processes and what he does.

For Dale, this is the ideal place to start, because instead of a dry informational speech you’re providing insights and tips based on something you actually worked on and are passionate about.

How to Prepare for a Speaking Event:

You should never just show up to an event without previously researching and preparing for the subject you’ll be covering. Dale has a comprehensive "event playbook"—a detailed spreadsheet outlining thirty specific preparation tasks for each speaking engagement. This tool outlines key strategies and actions tailored to the specific conference, which includes researching other speakers, understanding the audience demographics, and identifying potential opportunities for networking.

Understanding his audience allows him to craft targeted content that resonates with attendees, while additional initiatives like hosting dinner events create valuable opportunities for deeper connections in a more relaxed setting.

While the process itself isn't complicated, Dale clarifies this is not a process he completes on his own. He has three people on his team who help him execute this playbook starting from the planning and execution to following up with attendees afterword.

Why Being a Giver Delivers the Best Results

In public speaking, you may encounter two types of speakers, the givers and the takers. The takers often approach speaking engagements with a transactional mindset, focusing on what they can extract from the audience—be it attention, leads, or sales—without offering substantial value in return. In contrast, givers prioritize the audience's needs and interests, sharing insights and methodologies generously.

Dale firmly believes it’s better to be a giver and often ends up sharing more than he had intended to. As a representative for an SEO agency, he advocates for a strategy of sharing even the most intricate details of their methodology, dubbed "SEO for Revenue."

By openly discussing their framework and providing actionable insights, Dale empowers his audience to understand the complexities of SEO while simultaneously positioning himself as a credible expert. Some people may think he’s sharing too much, but most of the time what happens is that half the people try execute his recommendations and the other half decide they don’t have the time to do it themselves and contract his services.

This tactic not only builds confidence in the speaker's capabilities but also encourages potential clients to seek their assistance when they realize the challenges involved in executing such strategies independently.

Converting Speaking Engagements into Business Growth

Speaking at events can be an excellent way to grow your business by getting yourself in front of your audience and establish your expertise. However, it can also be quite expensive. In his case, Dale doesn’t pay to get a spot in these events. Half of the time he gets paid to speak and the other half he pays for his airfare and hotel.

As long as it nets out to zero, he’s willing to attend as many conferences as he gets invited to. Speaking engagements offer not only a platform to share knowledge but also a unique opportunity to build credibility and foster connections that can lead to significant business growth, in addition to the visibility it can offer, as one speaking engagement can serve as a stepping stone to further opportunities.

Pro Tip: Include a Call to Action

To ensure you’ll get the most of your time on stage and go home with new leads, Dale recommends adding a call to action that can get some audience members to send you their contact information. He makes sure to include a slide in the middle of his presentation with a QR code for anyone who wants to download the slides. This way, they fill out a form offering him a way to follow up after a few days. This call to action can vary depending on the topic of discussion. For instance, it may be a piece of content pertaining to the topic discussed or slides with prompts he mentioned during the presentation.

In the case of smaller groups, like a webinar, he already has their contact information and focuses on getting people to sign up for a strategy session.

The Benefits of Sharing the Spotlight with Your Team

With a few years of public speaking under your belt, you may start to recognize the importance of being selective with the events you attend to throughout the year. You may not want to travel as much and consider not attending the smaller events. In these cases, Dale encourages a team member to participate in speaking engagements as a strategic way to amplify his agency’s presence.

As he sees it, nowadays  everyone can be an influencer in their own right and can contribute to the brand's visibility. This is something he’ll consider for future hires with a view to cultivate a team of individuals willing to share their insights and expertise to attract clients and enhance credibility. By fostering a culture that encourages and supports public speaking, businesses can cultivate a diverse array of voices that contribute to their growth and visibility.

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