Should Speakers Compete or Collaborate?

Dr. Gary Arnold's Book
How the Top 1% of Speakers and Coaches Do Internet Marketing
Paperback: ISBN:978-1-57867-041-3; eBook: ISBN:978-1-57867-043-7

Have you been approached by someone you viewed as a competitor, and asked to collaborate on a project, and chose not to? Do you feel guilty about hoping others will fail so you have a better chance at success? Have others collaborated and you opted not to join them? If you answered yes to any of these questions you are in the majority. Let me offer this perspective, as a professional speaker, on collaboration.

There are many professional speaking opportunities out there that you may not take advantage of.

In addition, some of the professional speaking events that you could take are not that great. I have found, through my own experience that a speaker is successful because of the skills they develop, and not because of the speaking opportunities that are out there. With that mindset your success does not depend on the failure of someone else. In fact, when you help another speaker to achieve a successful speaking career you can feel your own status raise. In a sense, we as speakers are all in this together. It is a bit like the proverbial barrel of apples; one truly can spoil the lot. When professional speakers are substandard, all professional speakers suffer the consequences. This is because it creates a perception that more caution should be used when deciding on whether or not to use a professional speaker.

Competing by the omission of helping another can be more damaging to your own career than overt competition. It has been shown that a great deal of the help a speaker gets is created by the allegiances they formed when they helped another. Even a resourceful individual who can do many things on their own, can attribute their success in part to networking and collaboration.

Another form of collaboration is affiliate marketing. You can increase your income and the income of your affiliate best when you are seen as a subject matter expert promoting your affiliate's product. Pick your affiliates carefully because your reputation is at stake. Remember that collaboration is not one-sided and the affiliate must deliver their part. If they don't, find another. Additionally, if you offer a free article or ebook, to let others know about your expertise associated with the affiliate product, you will help sell your affiliate's product and set yourself apart from others.

Setting yourself apart from others through collaboration will help you become a successful professional speaker.