PSASA Virtual Chapter Meeting 14 April – Dr Billy Selekane CSP
Written by Petra Laranjo
When most speakers are just ‘winking at a woman in the dark’, Dr Billy Selekane is the one who has the ‘gutspa’ to go up, speak to her, and find out what she needs – a great metaphor for life and business.
Disclosure: I wish I’d come up with that analogy, but the magic is all Billy.
The slider on his website reads, “Africa’s #1 Professional Inspirational Speaker. CSP, SASHoF, SAEHoF and the only African Speaker EXPY recipient.” That’s quite a claim… until you listen to him speak, then it simply feels like truth.
I’ve never scribbled so fast before because the nuggets were a-plenty. Billy speaks in mic-drop moments, so capturing it all was quite a feat.
How do we, as professional speakers, get out of the ‘eye of the storm’ i.e. moving from once-off gigs, inconsistent income, shaky pricing confidence, and limited marketing visibility, to building a million-rand speaking business?
We all wanted to know.
Billy calls it the new world of Speaker Entrepreneurship and highlighted four shifts that need to occur:
- Thought Leadership (building signature frameworks and owning a point of view)
- Strategic Positioning (how you clearly and powerfully own your unique space in the market)
- Client Acquisition Systems (content strategy, lead capture and conversion, farming not hunting)
- Revenue Architecture (coaching, facilitation, keynotes, and digital products)
So, how do we build a million-rand business?
Here’s Billy’s approach. Focus on booking the following:
- Keynotes: 20 @ R30 000.00 = R600 000.00
- Workshops: 6 @ R33 333.00 = R199 998.00
- Coaching clients: 10 @ R10 000.00 = R100 000.00
- Physical/Digital products: 40 @ R2 500.00 = R100 000.00
Billy knows his business well. He knows which seasons are best to focus on talks and which to focus on products. For example, he promotes his products in November and December, knowing that people are looking for gift ideas.
Such practical advice and a strategy that, if we’re committed to applying the guidance, makes success feel far more attainable.
Thank you, Dr Billy Selekane, for your generosity of time and insights.
