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NB: This newsletter is published every Monday. Point your browser to www.tayosolagbade.com/sdnuggets to read at least ONE new post added to my SD Nuggets blog on a different category from Tuesday till Saturday (sometimes even Sundays)
in line with this publishing schedule 
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1 of 2: PUBLIC SPEAKING – Should You Request an Advance or Not?
When a potential client is nibbling at our sales bait, and we sense s/he is likely to bite, one can sometimes make potentially costly mistakes. For instance, how flexible should you be? Should you agree to start work without getting a reasonable advance payment?
There will be rare exceptions, but I argue that ANY competent expert, should INSIST on a reasonable payment advance.
Among other things, it helps you establish the seriousness/readiness of the prospect.
If a potential client does not ask you how you want to get paid, I say GET WORRIED, and make a point of TELLING him/her how much, and how you want payment to happen.
If s/he balks, take it as a warning & insist on getting the advance in hand before you start.
The late Consultant’s Consultant – Herman Holtz recommended the same thing…
In his Guide to Independent Consulting, Holtz recommended that when you’re a solo act, you should request advance payment to cover your cash flow needs.
And he narrated several anecdotes to illustrate the fact that it is both possible, and advisable.
One of the examples he gave was that in writing technical reports for his multinational clients companies, the decision makers always acknowledged his need to get paid about one third in advance.
Not just that, they also had no problems doing business with him by coming over to his home office.
Holtz noted that this made it easy for him to access cash to progress client work, while cutting out overheads that could have accrued from paying office rent etc
Another thing he said was that if you ever find yourself dealing with any potential client or company decision maker, who is unwilling to pay you a reasonable advance, BE VERY WARY of starting work for him/her!
Why?
You still have to ask??
Okay, I’ll tell you:
What if the person turns around to say s/he no longer wishes to continue – AFTER you’ve been expending your billable time and energy to work on the project?
In case you’ve never experienced it, I can tell you that it DOES happen!
You can argue and protest that s/he needs to pay for your time/effort expended. But the truth is you would NOT be able to force him/her. You would basically be at his/her mercy, and most likely have to accept whatever you are given!
Now, I can hear some people saying a formal contract would prevent that from happening.
That’s probably true. But clients do fail to fulfill contract obligations too!
Also, if truth be told, many times, a lot of things are done based on a “gentleman’s” agreement – especially when one is a solo act, dealing with a small or medium sized client company.
Most people do not bother with too many formalities.
My painful past experiences from my early startup years influence the views I have on this topic…
Those encounters made me choose passive income generation, over active pursuit of LIVE client projects as a major vehicle for getting remunerated for solutions I offer.
On several occasions before I got wise to their antics, I found myself being taken advantage of by seemingly “nice” clients, due to my naivety.
One example: When a CEO old enough to be your father, promises to pay you once you finish making the requested additions to the custom application you built for him, you tend to believe him.
Especially here in Africa, doing business with people who are older than you can prove dicey.
Booby traps based on the African culture’s requirement that you show “respect”, can make you prone to exploitation!
I’ve talked about this in several past articles, so I won’t dwell on it here.
Suffice to say that after I got screwed over by a number of unscrupulous (older) persons, I began putting my foot down, and rejecting “promises” from their likes.
That did not earn me accolades, or goodwill with most of them. I still recall being told by one such much older person/CEO, that I was too ambitious for my own good
He argued that my insistence on a 70% advance, despite the fact that he had given me his word as an older person from my tribe, showed that I lacked respect.
For all I cared at the time, he could have been speaking Greek…!
This was a man, who the staff had conversed about in my presence, before he arrived that day, that he had refused to pay salaries for the last month, 2 weeks into the new month. Yet the past weekend, he had thrown a big party for his son’s birthday – and made some of the staff serve the guests!
That bit of news from the grapevine, was not the only one I heard. And it helped me quickly realize I needed to be proactive in dealing with him.
We eventually parted ways with him saying I could NOT go far in business, because I was (according to him) “rigid”!
Well, like I said before, I never let anything people like him say bother me.
However, as the years went on, I realized the “mental martial arts” one had to engage in, to get paid for work done, was wearing me out.
So I began to think of ways to do what I LOVED doing, without worrying about getting my advance, or my balance.
Over time it occurred t me that my best bet would be to reduce the need to do work that required such interactions. I eventually settled on creating solutions based on market need I identified, and then promoting them for sale to a pre-qualified target audiences.
It took me time to perfect the process. Also, as is often the case with everything else in life, there was a period of trial and error, until I got it right.
Today, I am much better off…!
Potential buyers simply reach out to me and I tell them the price for the product they ask about. Most times they go ahead and pay up, and I deliver it to them.
In some cases, a few people still try to “negotiate”. But it’s never like what obtained in the past. Most times I simply make them a counter offer, with some promo incentive.
When it has to do with delivering a service (e.g speaking/training or custom Excel-VB software development), I simply send formal correspondence stating the terms under which I do such work.
Among other things, it spells out a 75% advance payment requirement, BEFORE I can accept to do the work – be it to give a talk, provide training/coaching or to develop an app.
If the prospect says that is not acceptable, I may be willing to accept a lower advance – to a minimum of 60%. Sometimes I throw in some incentives to make my terms more palatable.
But how far I am willing to go, often depends on what I SENSE is the degree of sincerity.
If I perceive there is some ulterior motive, or scheming going on, I get VERY formal and stick with my template.
Below is a quote I always use to remind myself that I am NOT being “bad” by putting my foot down that way.
“Don’t confuse my personality with my attitude. My personality is who I am. My attitude depends on who you are.” – Frank Ocean
If anything, this has turned out to be an intelligent act of self preservation that has helped me relentlessly GROW my income/brand to what it is today!
In other words, it has helped me avoid getting used and dumped in dealing with all sorts of people in MANY different industries I have served clients/buyers as a solo entrepreneur.
Interestingly, I have seen much bigger operations, whose decision makers failed to adopt a similar strategy, get BADLY exploited as a result.
There was one case in which a CEO agreed to deliver MANUFACTURED products to a (manipulative) distributor in another state, on credit – and then have to wait over a year to get paid – at the buyer’s convenience!
For some strange reason, this CEO lacked the courage to ASK for advance payment, when his very demanding distributor asked for supplies.
At a point he was borrowing from the bank to cover the factory’s cash flow needs – while waiting for buyers to pay up!
To me, it makes no sense to operate that way – especially when you’re selling physical products that have production costs!!
Now, for those of us who sell intangibles like services and digital products, potential losses that may arise from selling on credit are FEWER…BUT they will NOT be less painful!
I see too many service providers who don’t get it. Some tell me they have no choice – especially when dealing with government and large companies.
Well, that’s why I resolved years ago NOT to approach large companies or government organizations for work. At least not out here.
I simply will NOT do work and have to incur expenses to endlessly chase payment for work done – which is what I see MANY who work for such organizations being forced to do.
Don’t get me wrong…
I CAN work without getting an advance – BUT that is IF I TRUST that agreements reached will be honoured. That payment will be made as when due (e.g like when I provided one-on-one Advanced MS Excel coaching for the National Distribution Manager of a popular multinational telecom company in 2004: I got my cheque and cashed it without problems).
The problem is that out here, in my part of the world, there tends to be lost of scheming and deception.
Most people in charge of decision making in such organizations often have bad habits of doing things wrongly.
And service providers suffer the brunt of it most times!
Product sellers can at least make a case for their products to be returned to them if payment is not forthcoming: But service providers cannot!
That’s the thing many service providers out here sometimes seem to forget.
Once you have GIVEN out a service, you cannot take it back.
For instance, once you conduct a training or coaching session, you will NOT be able to UNTRAIN or UNCOACH those you have trained or coached!
So, if you failed to get a decent amount of your payment in advance, before going ahead, and something unexpected happens to the client company (or the decision maker), you may find yourself without payment!
The client company could go bankrupt, or change ownership for instance. Or the person who hired you could get transferred, or even fired!
In other words, if you have money to collect, the above can put your ability to collect at risk.
I know one is not supposed to think negative – but successful business people habitually think/act proactive. They observe, anticipate and project intelligently.
Apart from your physical/psychological efforts, let me also note here that there is a spiritual dimension you will be wise to pay good attention to…
If you tune in to your Creator (by learning to LISTEN to the small guiding voice inside you), there’s a good chance you WILL be better equipped to sense those with naughty motives.
You will know when you need to insist on a considerable advance BEFORE you start work on a client project. That way, if anything does go wrong, you will not be left high and dry, with nothing to show for your efforts.
Imagine how stupid you would sound telling your wife and kids that you get paid almost nothing for the talks they saw you going out to give, over a 4 week period?!!!
It happened to me.
I tell audiences at my LIVE events that true story from 2002 (my startup year). It was a most painful experience.
Don’t let the same thing happen to you!
Develop the habit of requesting at least 50% of your payment in advance.
Don’t let any prospective client tell you it’s not “nice” to be so fixated on money, or that s/he does NOT know you enough yet…or that you’re not being fair by being unwilling to trust him/her…
Final Words: Let Frank Ocean’s quote guide you…
“Don’t confuse my personality with my attitude. My personality is who I am. My attitude depends on who you are.” – Frank Ocean
I regularly use the wisdom from Frank’s quote to tactfully rebuff prospective client’s attempts to make me accept (what I consider) risky and/or unfair terms proposed to me.
Years ago I learned to walk away from offers made by people I “sensed” had such ulterior motives, but to always do it politely and tactfully.
I have never had cause to regret my actions anytime I have done so.
And when some tried to insinuate that I was “arrogant” or “inflexible”, I simply replied by expressing sentiments similar to Frank Ocean’s!
My parting message to you is therefore this: Don’t let clients or prospects push you around with unfair terms for work they claim they want you to do.
Think and act like a professional in relating with anyone who indicates interest in doing business with you.
Assert yourself and insist on being treated with respect:
For instance, when you insist on a reasonable advance payment, it will make a statement that you are CONFIDENT, and also that you KNOW your worth!
If they say they want to hire you to “help you” – politely remind them that you WILL deliver VALUE to them, that will justify the remuneration you request.
In other words, let them know that they are not doing you a favour!
What’s more, YOU ARE NOT their employee…
If you go around simply “taking orders” (i.e accepting what clients ask, even if it’s unfair to you)…you’ll do yourself a lot more harm than (if at all ANY) good.
You have been warned!
PS: Everything I’ve said above is based on experiences I’ve had (and continue to have) in MY part of the world…
It goes without saying, that the situation in YOUR society may differ.
If that’s the case, do what you know works.
I wish you well.
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This newsletter (which I use to promote Burt Dubin’s Speaker Mentoring Products/Services) serves
experts-who-speak. Starting – Monday 13th April 2015 – it MORPHED in name and content served, to a 2 part Speaking/Web Marketing IDEAS newsletter, to better serve them.
You just read the “Public Speaking IDEAS” part above. What follows below is the “Web Marketing IDEAS” part.
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Burt Dubin works with people who want to be speakers, and with speakers who want to be masters. Click here to visit his website NOW and submit a contact form message telling him what challenges you’re facing, and how
you’d like him to help you. Tell him I sent you, and you’ll get a pleasant surprise offer from him.
Burt Dubin’s monthly Speaking Biz Strategies Letter
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2 of 2: WEB MARKETING: To Achieve Sustainable Success, Closely Monitor News About Current Affairs and
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“If you want to achieve sustainable success in business (especially in a volatile market place like Nigeria), it’s in your best interest to develop interest in
current affairs and politics, because those are the two key ingredients that really keep this country from having a stable sociopolitical climate.
And for as long as that stable sociopolitical climate does not exist, every person running a business will probably have to sleep with one eye open.” – Tayo K.
Solagbade
It’s FREE for all my Web Marketing/farm business clients, and ALL members of my Inner Circle as well as for ALL subscribers to THIS newsletter.
If you are not yet ANY of the above, just send me a message here to let me know.
If you want me to send you the full MP3 recording, just say so in your message.
NB: If you’re already a client or subscriber, email me via tayo at tksola dot com and let me know you want it
Alternatively, click here to request the FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD.
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Question: But who is Burt Dubin, and why do I (Tayo K. Solagbade) think you should you learn from
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Answer: Burt is a 3 decade veteran in the professional speaking business. After achieving top level cross continental success as an
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Full Disclosure: I represent Burt as Sole Agent for his products/services, which means if YOU buy from him, I get paid.
But that’s NOT the main reason I represent and recommend him. I have benefited in many ways by learning from Burt. Through his writing, his audio recordings,
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Before we teamed up in 2011, I’d been studying his work and adapting it to succeed in my work from way back in 2002. It does not matter what part of the world
you’re in. If you know how to adapt them to suit your peculiar local needs, Burt’s ideas and strategies WILL work for you. I am living proof of it!
That’s why I never tire of CONFIDENTLY recommending him to others.
If you need help putting the ideas shared above to use, let me know HERE.
in.
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Learn about Burt Dubin’s speaker mentoring products (books, audios etc) below…
If you need help purchasing ANY of Burt’s products (like “Presentation
Magic”), call me on +229-66-122-136 (in Benin Republic, my base) or +234-803-302-1263 (in Nigeria) or email tayo@tksola.com
Have a great week :-))
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Useful Resources for Speakers
177 Wow! Wow!
Showmanship Stratagems
Discover these secrets of making your programs more interesting and valuable to your clients and audiences now.
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A live example, including a complete audio recording of a program Burt created from scratch–on a topic he knew nothing about and never, ever presented before!
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more information
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Discover how you can produce a precious memento of you and your program. Capture over 44 model pages you can easily adapt for your use. Engage proven principles that add value to the experience of sitting at your feet and learning from you.
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NEW: Speaking Ideas: 25 Articles and True Stories for Experts Who Speak and Those
Aspiring (Volume 1)
Download above PDF
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NEW: KUKURU DANGER™: 5 True Stories
About the Adventures – & Misadventures! – of a School Age Child Trying to Find Purpose in Life
Download above PDF
“(Tayo Solagbade) is amazing and I think he is going to produce some impressive results online…” – click here to read full comment by Patrick Meninga (US based 6 figure income blogger who gained fame for building a $2,000 per month adsense website and selling it for $200,000).
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“Tayo, I honestly believe you are one of those who will succeed at anything he does. Your commitment and effort has been outstanding….Thanks for all your hard
work since I’ve been here – you will be sorely missed. I don’t need to wish you good luck, you have the ability to make your own luck. – Andy”(R. Jones)*
*Operations Manager, Guinness Nigeria Plc Benin Brewery, December 2001 (Handwritten comments in farewell/xmas cards sent to Tayo Solagbade following his resignation to
start his own business).
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