I just read the latest issue of NSA Speaker Magazine and wanted to share and comment on what the 2010-2011 President of the National Speakers Association, Kristin Arnold, MBA, CPF, CMC, CSP, had to say about key trends in the marketplace as it relates to social media.

Ms. Arnold states that, “social media connects you with your audience.  It can also be your primary source for recommendations from within your social network or from a Google-ish search on Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.  Social media will become much more sophisticated as decision makers learn how to use these online tools.”

What this means for you, a professional speaker, is that you have two audiences you can connect with and, more importantly, market to, in a realistic yet virtual way:

1. The live audience members that will be arriving as participants at your engagement then (hopefully) talking about you and recommending you to a colleague in the future and,
2. The online audience of meeting planners and decision makers that will be searching for your content and booking you for your next engagement.

In today’s marketing world, you have a real opportunity to connect with both audiences.  Think about where each audience “hangs out”.

• Is it LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook?
  
• Do you have a social media presence in these places?
  
• Are you being virtually represented in an accurately appealing way?
  
• Are you monitoring the conversation about your topic, industry or brand??

Ms. Arnold goes on to say, “As speakers, it’s important to be aware of market trends and remain flexible so we can provide clients with outstanding value and service.”

So if decision makers are learning how to use social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook to find and choose their speakers; and participants are using social media to talk about your session, shouldn’t you have a solid, marketable presence on them?

Hmmm…..