How to Start a Speaker Booking Agency

Speaker agencies can specialize in a niche topic or cover an entire industry.

Speakers are individuals who conduct lectures or workshops in specialized areas based on their experience and expertise. There are business speakers, motivational speakers, celebrity speakers, health & wellness speakers and sports speakers, among others. Some agencies offer their services according to topic, fee range or location. In order to start a speaker booking agency, you will need to have a solid base of speakers who specialize in different areas, as well as good planning and managment ability.

Instructions

1. Make a list of competitors in your area. Research them and identify their speaker offerings and rates. Determine the best and worst factors of your competitors' businesses.

2. Narrow the topics or areas in which you would like to specialize. Analyzing your competitors will help you see the areas that are not being covered and may therefore be in demand. Employ your knowledge, experience and talents to identify possible niche categories.

3. Assemble a business plan that includes your market research of the business climate in your locale, details of your competitors' businesses, relevant background information, pro forma financial statements and legal documents.

4. Register with your secretary of state as a sole proprietor, partnership or limited liability company. Get an employer identification number (EIN) from the IRS website at IRS.gov.

5. Hire speakers in different subject areas. Interview each speaker personally and check their qualifications. Identify and hire the rare and valuable talents. Determine their pay and billable rates for each session or hour. Hire more than one speaker in each area to help in instances of schedule conflicts or high demand.

6. Develop an aggressive marketing strategy. Place ads in newspapers, television, radio, magazines, billboards and yellow pages, and create your own website to offer the ease of online booking for your clients. Print brochures or catalogues that describe your lineup of speakers in an organized manner.

7. Rent a suitable location for your office.

Tips & Warnings

• Present a free program in the local church, library or a local club or organization. Try to create awareness about your niche categories.

• Plan well to fit in your speech within the given time limit. Test the oratory and organization skills of your speakers.

References

• Common Sense for Drug Policy: Building a Speakers Bureau
• Minnesota Department of Health: Starting a Speakers Burea