169. Turn every speaking engagement into a $hit-ton of money – with Andrea Merrill
How’s this for a new take on storytelling? Your story isn’t just worth telling—it’s worth paying for.
Imagine, living in the Venn diagram where powerful storytelling and speaking success collide – where you could captivate any audience and monetize every stage you get on.
Well, this week’s guest, speaker & business coach Andrea Merrill, came on to show how you can start using your story to inspire any audience…
so they don’t just remember you, but they become the kind of fans that buy everything you have to offer and tell everyone they know about you…
and how you can set up a system that turns your speaking gigs into multiple income streams.
Listen up!
Resources
https://www.virtuallyadventurous.com/
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Transcript
Andrea Merrill:
I literally want you to get into the hearts and minds of your ideal audience. And who has a better story than you? So when you help them and they become the hero in your story and they can see themselves really getting to that end goal that you have already done and experienced and you’ve already done the grit, the hard work they are going to be 100% a hell. Yeah, I am in. So I like for you to intertwine your offer into your story, where it is naturally selling and we are selling without the sleaze.
Brad Powell:
Welcome to the Standout Business Show, the podcast for business leaders who refuse to blend in. I’m Brad Powell, your standout business coach, and today we’re talking about how to make your story profitable. So here’s a new take on storytelling your story isn’t just worth telling, it’s worth paying for. Let that one sink in, so you know. Imagine that you’re living in the Venn diagram, where powerful storytelling and speaking success collide and where you can captivate any audience and monetize every single stage that you get on. Well, today’s guest speaker and business coach, Andrea Merrill, is here to show how you can start using your story to inspire your audience, so they don’t just remember you, they become the kind of fans that buy everything you have to offer and tell everyone they know about you. And how you can set up a system that turns your speaking gigs into multiple income streams Sound good. Well, with that, let’s start the show. Andrea, welcome to the show.
Andrea Merrill:
Hi, thank you for having me. What a great intro.
Brad Powell:
All right well, to open up our conversation, let’s begin around story, and I know your approach is really helping your clients figure out what their story is.
Andrea Merrill:
Yeah.
Brad Powell:
I really love this as a beginning point because I think you know, when it comes to standing out and people trying to figure out, well, what makes me different, there’s probably no better way to differentiate yourself than to figure out, well, what do I have to say in terms of my story and or the story around the start of my business, or the work that I’m doing, or how I got here, because one else has that going for them. It’s a completely unique thing. So talk a little bit about that.
Andrea Merrill:
Yeah, storytelling is so much fun, guys. I actually have my master’s degree in psychology of behavior, so I literally want you to get into the hearts and minds of your ideal audience. And who has a better story than you? And I believe that stories shift and change within your emotion. So when you help them cultivate that emotion and they become the hero in your story and they can see themselves really getting to that end goal that you have already done and experienced and you’ve already done the grit, the hard work they are going to be 100% a hell. Yeah, I am in when you are done, really talking about your story. So I like for you to intertwine your offer into your story where it is naturally selling and we are selling without the sleaze.
Brad Powell:
Yeah, I like that. Well, okay, so talk about this part of putting their audience in the story or their ideal client or customer in the story, because a lot of people get confused that. Well, I got to tell my story, and I’m going to start, when I was in school, in third grade, and it’s going to be a long story. That was a long time ago and that’s not really the kind of story that we want. So how do you explain, like, here’s where to focus and here’s where to begin your story.
Andrea Merrill:
Yeah, I think that is such a great question and, really honestly, you have to start by identifying your core message. So what is that pinpointing, like the why behind your story? So I want you to ask yourself what do I want my audience to feel and understand or do? So? Defining your core message is so important and it provides clarity and keeps your story purposeful. So I want you to think about a key moment or an experience. So what is that pivotal moment that had happened? And think about the specific experience or challenge or that turning point that shaped your journey and changed your perspective. So, if you think about that experience, that gives your story a structure and keeps it relatable. So I want you to avoid covering, like you said, too many events at once or focusing on your backstory of oh, this is what happened in grade school. Instead, think of the setting. So I want you to introduce the audience to the world, to your situation you were in, and give them just enough detail to set the stage and help them visualize that moment. And then the next thing that you’re going to do is you’re going to move into that conflict or inspirational story. So this is where the heart of the story truly lies and you’ll explain that challenge, struggle or even obstacle that you had faced, and conflict adds that tension and makes your story relatable. And then you wrap it up with that resolution, with how you overcame it, how you overcame that challenge or what you learned from the experience. And this is where that backstory to your core message comes in and this is also where your audience can see themselves in your story when you are sharing.
Andrea Merrill:
For instance, for me, I almost died pregnant with my fifth child. I had my appendix rupture at 20 weeks pregnant. It was absolutely awful. What happened was is three months in and out of the hospital. I came home my house was actually in foreclosure. My HOA was auctioning off my home and my water got turned off and it was 120 plus degrees out and I had this piece of crap red van. I got in the red van and it had no ACA, so I couldn’t take my new baby with me and I cried all the way to the water company and I had no idea how I so I couldn’t take my new baby with me and I cried all the way to the water company and I had no idea how I was going to turn on that water and honestly, guys, I have no idea how I did, but I did.
Andrea Merrill:
And on the way home I put on a podcast and I listened to it and I was like okay, andrea, you’re smart, you have your master’s degree, you know what you’re doing. You just helped your friend make a million dollars in her business. You can start a business. There has to be other people. So I came home, I started my business on my iPhone 8. Yes, I built my website and my brand on iPhone 8. It was insane, insane. And I, in the first seven days of my business, I landed $12,500. That’s my story and that really is relatable. A lot of people can really come in at the heart of that story and then what they’re going to want is what are those next steps and how can I do it too?
Brad Powell:
Yeah, that’s great. Well, that’s yeah very compelling.
Andrea Merrill:
Yeah, those are the stories that we’re pulling out.
Brad Powell:
Right, right, that’s cool. Yeah, well, the cool thing that I think, when it comes to relating any kind of your messaging in the wrapping of a story, is that when we’re hearing a story, in an emotional level, we get to the same place that you were when you were in that moment in the story. So in that moment of challenge, in that moment of whatever is going on that’s not the greatest Like oh no, this is going wrong, this is horrid. Like, whatever the feeling of the person in the story, that character, all of us, we’re feeling the same thing. It’s like, oh, I know exactly how that feels. In fact, it’s not I’m thinking that, it’s like I’m now feeling that same feeling, and this is the part that pulls people with you.
Brad Powell:
And this is where I want to go to the second thing. Like I, you know, when I was looking at your website, I think the website you have now was not the one that was built on the phone. It looks much better, it’s changed. You know it’s funny because from the time that we met and now I think you’ve upgraded and the site you have is really cool. So I highly recommend that people go check out Andrea’s site. It’s awesome. But right there on the homepage, you have these sort of four levels, and the first one has to do with talking about story. The second one, though, is talking about audience and creating something you call a sticky audience and getting them to come with you. So let’s talk about that a little bit in terms of how do you get your audience to stick with you.
Andrea Merrill:
Oh, that is so good. So, ultimately is when you hear that emotional, driven moment, right, like, you could hear it, you could come with me on that journey and by the end of my talk, you’re going to be captivated. And this is the point where they become. A sticky audience is I want I don’t only help people craft amazing stories, I craft them to convert. We want to have conversions in our business, and if we’re just speaking to speak, then I’m sorry, guys, nobody wants to hear you just talking, because we ultimately care about ourselves, right, like, if we think about it, we want to become the own hero in our journey and we need somebody to take us there. And that is why we pay for coaches, this is why we hire designers, this is why we outsource. And what I consider a sticky audience is one that stays with you long after the mic drops. So you have now given your core message, you have given them your offer and you ultimately are giving them a freebie by the end of your talk.
Andrea Merrill:
And what I love about freebies is I like to call them.
Andrea Merrill:
They’re bite-sized, they’re a snack, they’re a charcuterie board when you go out to somebody’s house and they’ve asked you to come over and you’re like, really hungry and you just need a snack, right, and they come out with the charcuterie board and you’re like, okay, I feel good. That is what a freebie is to me and that is ultimately what you need to give them so that they stick with you. They stay with you, they become your fan favorites. They’re the ones that are telling their friends about you. They’re the ones that are talking at their lunch with you with their friends. They’re telling people about you, and that is what a sticky audience does is we have to keep them captivated, we have to bring them along that journey and we have to offer them a way to stay with us. So, by you offering that freebie, giving them a QR code to jump on your snack size, that is very it’s a win, it’s a quick win you want them to have. That is really important, and they’re the ones that are gonna stay with you.
Brad Powell:
Yeah, I think that whole piece of bringing them along with you. I mean a lot of marketers talk about building a funnel and this language I really like the idea of shifting the idea of a funnel. You know, funnel reminds me of when I’ve been to. I used to, years ago I lived on a sheep farm in Scotland.
Andrea Merrill:
Oh, wow, so I lived on a sheep farm in Scotland.
Brad Powell:
Oh, wow, hundreds of sheep. And we used to go, you know, move the sheep around and we would move them from, like, when they need to be sheared. You’d move them into a corral like a funnel, so that only one sheep, like all these sheep, would go into the corral and then you’d shove them in this direction, where they go narrow and narrow and then one sheep would go out to where the guy who was shearing one at a time, and the sheep didn’t like this at all and people don’t like it either.
Andrea Merrill:
No.
Brad Powell:
So I really like the concept of the customer journey or the guided path, and when you’re thinking about your content, like the lead magnets and other kinds of things that you’re creating, that these are markers along the path to whatever the desired outcome is.
Andrea Merrill:
That’s exactly it. It’s that customer journey that you’re taking people on and you’re bringing them along the journey, versus just spewing out information to them. You’re really thinking about them and captivating them, and I believe that that’s what’s really important. People don’t want to be sold to. They feel like that’s really slimy, that’s sleazy, right. We don’t want to be sold to, but if you take us down a journey and a path, they’re going to be all in. They’re going to be the ones that are telling everybody about you, and that is what is important. Like you just said with the sheep, nobody wants to be just stuck in a funnel. They want to know that you care and that you ultimately have crafted and created things for them that is specific for them. That is why tailored content is so important, because they feel like you’re only talking to them, and that is what these stories do.
Brad Powell:
Yeah, and so let’s go one step further around building an entire ecosystem for you’re doing speaking opportunities wherever that happens. You’re now creating a more of an authority position for yourself so that people are willing to pay you when you go and speak and and then. But that’s just one piece like that one, that’s one point of revenue, and then there’s all these other areas where revenue can also be coming to you from from multiple directions. So talk a little bit about how you visualize this kind of ecosystem for them, for a speaker, and where can they be looking to get multiple income streams coming from?
Andrea Merrill:
Yeah, I love this question, so I really help my clients craft their story, bring it together with their offer, but what the magic happens is through an ecosystem. So I know we overprepare, we get ready, we’re ready to get on stage. Like we over-prepare, we get ready, we’re ready to get on stage. We’re on stage and you’re like, okay, people are getting in my funnel awesome or getting in my sticky audience, however you want to say it and that is great. But what ecosystem do you actually have? What systems do you have? So when I say that, I mean you need a psychology-driven website. You need one that is built off of, like you just stated about my website, you brought it up. That means that it is doing its job. So we need that psychology-driven website. So this is the digital heart of your ecosystem and I want it crafted. The reason that I say psychology is because I want it to really guide people, I want it to be engaging, I want it to educate and I want it to convert. So that is really important to have, and not only that is. We want call to actions. We want lots of compelling copy and lots of compelling call to actions that are strategically placed, as well as testimonials and your offers on there.
Andrea Merrill:
The next part of this is you really have to think about what is your offers and what is your pricing. So in the psychology driven like in our ecosystem, we have to think about the different levels of investment and ensuring there’s something for everyone in your audience, because not everybody’s going to be ready to buy high ticket. But you have to think about the journey that they’re in and strategically think about okay, what is my pricing and what are my offers? So thinking about your freebie, which I like to call a freemium, and then you’re moving into maybe a digital product that they can have or a low cost one-on-one call with you, and then it’s moving into a higher tier and then all the way up to your one-on-one coaching. So really think about what is that structure? One-on-one coaching. So really think about what is that structure.
Andrea Merrill:
Then we need to think about your email marketing and those nurture sequences. So now that you have your freemium, I want you to really think about and I have, I strategically do seven emails after your freebie and the reason being is we want to welcome them, nurture them and sell to them. So we really have to do that in an engaging way and really think about how are we bringing them in and taking them on that journey? So you have to bring them on that journey. Then, of course, we have your content, your social media and really following up with them and taking them on a pathway. So you have to really think about all of these offers so that you are fully ready when you stand on stage and you have your website. You have your pricing strategy done, your offers done, you have your freebie done and you also have your email marketing and your sticky audience funnel all ready to go.
Brad Powell:
Yeah, I think that’s really critical. I mean, you really need, first of all, a place for people to go. Yeah, a place for people to go. Yeah, you get in front of a crowd and it’s like, okay, what do I want these folks to do when I’m done? And the answer should be one simple thing like go here to get this, you know, and it’s a very easy move for them. And then from there, this whole thing, like the whole yellow brick road, needs to be laid out in front of them. This whole thing, like the whole yellow brick road, needs to be laid out in front of them, including the land of Oz, that’s right. All of that needs to be built too.
Andrea Merrill:
Yes, yeah, and a lot of speakers like they get up there, they’re excited and then they’re like, okay, I have no idea what the next steps are. And we have to have that. Especially if we’re getting up there and we’re talking about our business, or you’re an author, you’re selling your book, or you’re a course creator whatever it is that you are selling you absolutely want to have these systems in place. Otherwise, you’re just getting up there to speak and then you’re going to really lose out on prime opportunity, because if you’re taking people down, this amazing talk, people want to buy from you. If you have nothing at the end of your talk, guys, you’re losing your audience. They know in that audience that they’re going to get something from you and you have to be there ready to give it to them.
Brad Powell:
Yeah, absolutely yeah. I think the world is full of all kinds of missed opportunities, like this People get up and so many Millions and millions lost. Yeah. So when you are helping clients, are you helping them not only get ready to be on stage and what they’re going to say up there, but also build out this entire system for them? Is that the whole-? It is nine yards.
Andrea Merrill:
Yes, the whole nine yards. I really want to be that one-stop shop when it comes to speakers. I want them to know that I’ve got them, and I know that there are a lot of people that will have to go to one person, then go to another person, then go to another person, and then that’s a lot of cooks in the kitchen. So if we can stick to one place, then you can have your entire talk written out Not only your talk, but I also. We break your keynote into podcasts, like you do on here.
Andrea Merrill:
You get ready for summits that you’re speaking on. There are lots of speaking opportunities aside from getting on stage, so I like to tell people that I help them, whether you’re on stage or off stage. So that could be right now. This is my platform, this is a stage that I am speaking on, and it’s really important to be ready for whatever stage that you’re going to be on. So I really help them along the entire journey, because it’s really important to me that they feel supported, and I also already know their story, so who better to help support them?
Brad Powell:
Yeah, I really like the idea of doing a podcast. I think anyone, any expert you know, whatever it is that they’re super passionate about, they can wax romantically about it for some time. Yes, and the way people think about podcasts, I think, is, you know, it’s a very narrow viewpoint of, well, I want to be the next you know, marie Forleo or you know somebody like that where I’m going to have a podcast that goes on all the time and I’m going to have this big audience and that’s how I’m going to be successful. And while that’s a possibility, it’s a much easier thing to imagine that if you just simply made half a dozen episodes on the thing that you’re most passionate about and have that be a standalone series that you’ve created and that can be one of your freebies, one of your like, the thing that you send people to. And I I think part of the thinking around there is.
Brad Powell:
There’s a study I think it was Google who did this and what they found was that when people you know are coming through this journey with you, they need to spend a significant amount of time, like up to four or five hours with you. So speaking from a stage is good, but that might only be, you know, half an hour from your talk and from there they still need to spend some time in terms of getting to know you, getting a feeling for who you are. And so if you do something like make a podcast series and it’s a set of, you know, 15, 20 minute episodes, that goes on for, you know, six or seven episodes total, people will get that and it’s this cool like one-to-one thing, like you’re in their ear and you’re developing this nice intimate thing with them and now they’re feeling like, oh, now I’m your friend, Like now I really know who you are and they’re much more ready to jump on board. So when you are talking with all of your speaker clients, you know there is this opportunity of doing public, facing, speaking.
Andrea Merrill:
What are the other opportunities that you point them to in terms of other yeah, so definitely podcasts right, we’re here now Podcasting is huge to get out there. Not only that, you have summits that you can do. There are events that you can do locally. You can go to your chamber of commerce to speak. I would also look at different masterminds or memberships that you can go in and speak. I think that those have great opportunities as well.
Andrea Merrill:
I’m actually doing one today, so there I would say Instagram Live, facebook Lives, collaborations with others where you can do that on their platform or your platform or vice versa. You also have YouTube that you can do that on their platform or your platform or vice versa. You also have YouTube that you can do. That is a speaking platform, so you have lots of opportunities where you can get out there. Of course, you can apply to events to be at colleges. You can go speak at colleges. So there’s lots of opportunities to get out there and speak. And, of course, like I love summits. I think summits are so much fun. They’re a great opportunity for new speakers to be able to get out there and really push forward.
Brad Powell:
Yeah, yeah, there’s a lot of a lot of choice there. Yeah, there’s lots of choices, All right. Well, we’re getting close to the end of our time today. If there’s one more thing that you’d like to mention, if there’s somebody who’s thinking well, I like to get on stage, I like to give a talk In fact, I’ve been doing a little bit, but I haven’t figured out all this other stuff what would you like to say to that person?
Andrea Merrill:
Yeah, I just want to say that it’s about getting started. You have a message within you. It’s just about pulling it out and really showcasing yourself and your vulnerability, and I believe that every story changes somebody’s life. So the world needs your voice, your audience needs your voice and they need inspiration. We need hope, we need support, and you withholding that is doing a huge disservice to your audience and to your clients. So get out there and use your voice and don’t let whatever systems that I said we don’t have to overcomplicate them. People think that they are overcomplicated, that they’re hard, that they can’t do it, but I promise you it is easy and there is a pathway to make it super easy. So really, it’s just about saying I am ready, raising your hand and getting out there and the rest will follow.
Brad Powell:
All right. Well, if people are now inspired and they’d like to connect with you, what’s the shortest route to get ahold of you?
Andrea Merrill:
Yeah, connect with me on LinkedIn or Instagram and you can find me at Andrea Merrill.
Brad Powell:
All right, Cool, Awesome. Well, Andrea, thank you so much for coming on today. This has been it’s really been great. Thank you so much. It’s been so much for coming on today. This has been it’s really been great.
Andrea Merrill:
Thank you so much. It’s been so much fun.
Brad Powell:
And if you’re listening here at the end, I just want to remind you that if you’d like to go and grab the entire archive of the Standout Business Show, just go to standoutbusinessshow and you can subscribe, where you’ll get access to all the extra stuff that I put in there. That’s only there for my listeners. We go live every Tuesday at 11 am on LinkedIn and on YouTube, and until the next time, so long-
