The New Rules for Pricing your Virtual Speaking
Maria Franzoni
Helping speakers stand out, get booked, and grow their businesses. Creator of The Bookability Formula?. Former Speaker Bureau Owner & Agent. Founder, Speaking Business Academy.
OK, I confess there are no new rules for virtual pricing as such, but I wanted to get your attention because we do need to talk about how you price your virtual speaking.?
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First let’s remind ourselves what happened previously.?When we first started setting rates for virtual in 2020 the rates were considerably lower than in person, well there was little or no in person at that time.?Many speakers cut their in-person rates by 50% for virtual.?As we came to the end of 2022 rates were more like 70 to 80% of the in-person fees.
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Now we are in 2023 what should you be doing??Well, this is where it gets interesting, because there are no guidelines or rules, it is up to you how you structure your virtual rates based on your speaking objectives.?You can use your virtual rates to shape your business.?How exciting.
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Here are some thoughts for you based on different scenarios:
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You want to maximise the number of events you can do
There are so many advantages to virtual, no travel time, greater reach, the ability to do several gigs per day in different time zones.?If you have limited time to give to your speaking or are looking to do as much speaking as possible you may want to maximise virtual opportunities.?To do that price your virtual fee significantly less than your in-person to tempt bookers to book you for virtual.?
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You don’t want to discount
Ideally you never want to discount as you don’t want to devalue your offering. Virtual can help here.?When a client doesn't have your full speaking fee for an in-person gig, you could offer a virtual presentation at a lower rate.?This way you aren’t seen to be discounting or devaluing your content.?
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You don’t want to travel
Travelling used to be fun and exciting, it’s not so much fun anymore, for me anyway.?Maybe it’s because I’ve got older but I do find it so much more stressful than it ever used to be.?Anyway, less about me, more about you.?If you don’t want to travel to certain locations or at all, you can again price your virtual fee accordingly.?
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You want to prioritise in-person
I mentioned advantages of virtual earlier but there are disadvantages too including, lower engagement levels, less connection with the audience and of course all that faffing with the tech.?For those reasons and more you may prefer to speak in-person.?In this case you would put a premium on the virtual and charge extra.?Or you may decide not to offer a virtual option at all.?
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Do let me know what you have decided with regards to your virtual pricing and how it’s working for you.?You know I’m nosey and like to hear from you.?
Cheers
Maria
PS?How we can help.
1. Download one of our free how to guides?here.
2. Book a free consultation with me?here.
3. Connect with me on LinkedIn?here.
4. Join?our free Speaking Business community?here?where you'll get inspiration, support, advice, and more.
5. Grab our online training programme to be more bookable and make more money?here.
Communications trainer | Keynote development | Professional Storytelling | Former pro actor/singer
1 年Very useful information (as usual!). Do you believe that lower speaker fees for virtual will eventually drive down the price for in-person? "Well, so-and-so will do this virtually for 3,000€, so we can't offer anything above?"
Helping you harness the power of humor for better connection and engagement. Emmy-winning TV comedy writer, comedian, speaker and presentation consultant.
1 年Kind, insightful and massively useful as always. (Would it kill you to be slightly off the mark once in a while so that the rest of us and our mere mortal, hit-or-miss posts can be graded on a curve?!)
CEO, ProjectSpeaker - Exclusively representing notable speakers
1 年You nailed it, Maria. Every fee is made up of two components: "value" provided and "time". "Value" provides a benefit and the cost of years of experience. "Time" is a direct cost and an opportunity cost takes away from building more "Value". Virtual=less "Time"=lower fee A few of our speakers' lives have changed (kids, other duties, etc) and have asked us to keep the bookings up but with less travel. As a result, we increase in-person (which means only clients who really want the speaker in-person can afford them) and reduce the virtual relative to the in-person (we've done as many as 4 in a day for one speaker). For others, they provide a list of cities they would love to visit, and we negotiate more to those places (adding a day to acclimate). ?? All final fees are based on supply (how much time the speaker has), desire to travel, type of event (does it fit their mission), life circumstances, etc. Mix it all in the bowl and you have a unique fee for every client. This may sound willy-nilly but we all make compromises for what we care about. If a global corporation will derive benefits into the millions and a non-profit is trying to educate members (much harder to measure the benefit), why shouldn't the fee be different?
Protecting children and teenagers from sexual abuse | Founder of Something to Say
1 年I appreciate your newsletter Maria. And all the information you are putting out there. It's helping me hugely.
Branding to scale small businesses | #Publisher of Spain’s leading English-language magazine ?? | Passionate about telling YOUR story | Let's grow your company! | Storyteller ?? | Keynote Speaker ?? | Content Creator ??
1 年The virtual elephant ??in the room! Thanks for sharing, Maria!