Julie Austin: 3 Innovative Ways Speakers Can Make a Living in the New Economy

Julie Austin is a speaker, author, entrepreneur and inventor based in Los Angeles. She is one of the very few women innovator speakers. Her patented product, Swiggies (wrist water bottles), have sold in 24 countries. Julie is author of the book “The Money Garden: How to Plant the Seeds for a Lifetime of Income”. Currently she is the CEO of Speaker Sponsor. Her stage fright moment The very first time she was paid for speaking it was at a learning center. When onstage she forgot the name of the company. Among the audience, the CEO was standing with arms folded looking at her. Luckily, she saw a big banner of the company with the name. Julie recommends beating stage fright with humor. In this particular experience she improvised, joking about a teddy bear that was on the stage and that broke the tension and she found her way to continue. How Speaker Sponsor started Julie has friends who used to be paid 10,000 USD to speak somehow easily. Now the same speakers are being asked to speak for free. Things have changed a lot. She was also asked to speak for free at conferences, and one day she decided to ask a meeting planner, “What if I get my own sponsor?” They agreed, and that’s how she got paid. Then friends asked her how to do it. Later the idea evolved to Speaker Sponsor, an online platform. 3 Innovative Ways Speakers Can Make a Living in the New Economy Julie recommends three ways: 1. Sponsorships. Focused not on big companies (e.g. Coca Cola, Nike), but in the millions of small businesses. The opportunity is in small business sponsorship. 2. Crowdfunding. Many speakers have a cause topic, such as animal rights, poverty, etc. Those speakers can get donations from the public to go out and speak. 3. Grants. Typically with narrow focus, some organizations offer, for instance, grants to college students. You have to seek them out. Favorite quotation “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” — Helen Keller Recommended book Cashflow Quadra...