The SIX-FIGURE Speaker

Formula for a Six-Figure Income as a Professional Speaker

by Cathleen Fillmore

Foreword by Orvel Ray Wilson, CSP

GUIRRILLA MARKETING GROUP

Create your own formula to make big money on the circuit!

Bureau owner and consultant Cathleen Fillmore has her finger on the pulse of the speaking industry. She has interviewed and worked with some of the world's top money makers who openly share their strategies. 

• Get international bookings
• Learn the business models of top-earning speakers
• Develop a full pricing strategy
• Build and maintain your prospect database

The SIX-FIGURE Speaker  shows professional speakers a variety of ways to earn a high six-figure income doing what they love to do.  Cathleen Fillmore openly shares what she’s learned operating a bureau and working with individual speakers over the years.  She’s also interviewed some of the world’s top-paid speakers and discovered that not one has taken a strictly conventional route to success.  They talk candidly about what has worked for them and what pitfalls speakers need to avoid.

Cathleen has held nothing back in her straight talk with speakers on how they can create their own formula for six-figure success in the professional speaking arena.  She’ll suggest a few different routes to take and some to absolutely avoid on the way to the top.   

There is information in this book that you won’t find anywhere else.

"Cathleen, the depth and range of your expertise is amazing.  Keep doing what you're doing—you're changing people's lives.”

Susan Sweeney, CSP, Hall of Fame

“Brilliant!  The SIX-FIGURE Speaker is a MUST read for all serious-minded individuals who want to reap great profits from the business of professional speaking.  It's essential reading for those who dare to be the 'Best of the Best'.  Cathleen has broken the code.”

Brigadier General (CA) (Retired) Ezell Ware, Jr., Author and Professional Speaker

“The SIX-FIGURE Speaker has the inside track on finding the money in the conference market.  As bureau owner and consultant, Cathleen knows this industry inside-out.  A wealth of information—I highly recommend it.”

Bill Cates, CSP, Author of Get More Referrals Now

REVIEWS:
Reviewed by Richard R. Blake 
A Proven Blueprint for Success as a Speaker

      Cathleen Fillmore has an amazing depth and range of expertise in the field of the speaking industry. The SIX-FIGURE Speaker provides the reader with a formula for success through interviews, advice, coaching, and business models from top-earning speakers.  Fillmore shares stories from her own challenging and exciting career. She relates lessons learned from mistakes made and how to turn an occasional disaster into a profitable lesson. 

       The book offers valuable help and advice on building and maintaining a prospect data base.  Cathleen provides comprehensive information on how to develop a fee structure, as well as a providing a wealth of data on writing and negotiating the best contract. She gives insight into how to establish a pricing strategy and arms the reader with inside knowledge of the industry.

       Fillmore includes a formula for revamping your marketing strategies, offers tips on public relations, and ideas for creating and selling products. She coaches the reader with practical suggestions for websites, the importance of referrals, and the changing industry of meeting planning and conventions.

       The book is an incredible resource for serious minded speakers at any stage of their career, for established professional speakers, and for those just starting out.  Fillmore motivates the reader to move to a new level of effectiveness in thought and action. She challenges the reader to change people’s lives by inspiring greatness, and sharing their talents with others.

       Cathleen Fillmore has published more than 300 articles and four books. The SIX-FIGURE Speaker is a crash course on how to make big money as a professional speaker. 

 The Six-Figure Speaker:  Formula for a Six-Figure Income as a Professional Speaker 
by Cathleen Fillmore
Reviewed by Tyler R. Tichelaar for Reader Views (12/07)

First, let me say this book is not for beginners. It’s not filled with tips on how to be an effective speaker. It has nothing to do with how to project your voice, how to organize a speech, or how to overcome shyness. This book is for the public speaker ready to take it to the next level, the speaker who is ready to go out and speak professionally to organizations and make large sums of money, starting at $2,500. If you’re that person, read this book. If you’re shy, read another book first. If you’re still learning to be a public speaker, but you’re passionate about it, read this book so you can take your career to the next level. This is the book every public speaker should use as a roadmap toward career success.

That said--one fault of the book is it is not a how-to manual. It doesn’t provide a step-by-step listing of how to create your public-speaking career. But it overcomes that small fault by the wide variety of information and viewpoints it provides. The book contains 31 short articles about speaking professionally. These articles are predominantly by Cathleen Fillmore, but she has several guest speakers who write articles or are the focus of the articles as well.

The book is less about public speaking than about how to market yourself as a public speaker and how to get paid what you deserve. The individual chapters or essays cover everything from how to market yourself as a public speaker using a website, to figuring out how much to charge for your speeches, and turning down speaking engagements if they are not right for you. What I found most informative was the information about speaker bureaus that will help you find speaking engagements if you sign up with them. The book contains many examples of how to use speaker bureaus to your advantage, and also how to maintain a positive relationship with a bureau. As the president of the Speakers Gold bureau, Cathleen Fillmore is the type of authority you want to provide you this advice.

Overall, The Six Figure Speaker opened my eyes to the possibilities as a professional speaker. As an author myself who is often asked to give presentations, I found it extraordinarily helpful in providing motivation and direction for a speaking career. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in becoming a public speaker. The book is worth it just for all the resources to other websites and books. I also appreciated the section for notes in the back—I took plenty while reading. Go out and buy The Six Figure Speaker. Don’t be a public speaker without it!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  (see photo below)

Cathleen Fillmore is President of Speakers Gold, a five-star bureau, and is author of four books and more than three hundred articles.  She’s an award-winning writer and a certified professional consultant. Cathleen is event coordinator for The American Chamber of Commerce in Canada.  One of North America’s top speaker consultants, Cathleen works with speakers who want to implement their own six-figure plan and shows them how to find the money in the speaking marketplace. 

  
The SIX-FIGURE Speaker:  Formula for a Six-Figure Income as a Professional Speaker  ISBN:  978-1-931741-92-7; Trade paperback, 6 x 9, 184 pages, $19.95 US / $19.95 CAN