Stretch Your Tentacles,
Inspire Others to Help and
Achieve Amazing Results
By ROMANUS WOLTER
As I completed a consultation with a speaker, I recognized that she was following a path common to
many of us in this profession. After discovering a
topic she was passionate about, the speaker, without realizing it, had created a small business to pro-
mote and sell related services. She was frustrated because she
lacked the experience to properly get the word out about her
amazing expertise.
The speaker’s Web site and information package provided the
details people needed to hire her. But rather than spending time
developing new topics or writing her long-promised book, she was
constantly researching and responding to requests for proposals.
She knew there had to be a more effective method for promoting
herself, and wanted to discover some non-traditional ways—ones
that felt more natural—to generate leads and close more deals. In
her ideal world, paying clients would contact her before she even
sent anything out.
Inspiring Others to Spread the Word
By using your imagination and a technique I like to call “Octopus
Marketing,” you can make one marketing effort produce multiple
results—increasing returns without increasing effort.
When you hit an octopus on the head, its tentacles stretch and
reach in different directions. As speakers, we can do the same
thing. By leveraging the insight, information and resources of others, a single marketing effort can continuously pay off for years.
The head of the octopus is any person, organization or place that
reaches a large number of your potential customers, which
includes non-profit associations, famous people, and even corporations. You want to inspire such entities to deliver your message to
potential customers—helping spread the word about your speaking topics even when you are not physically present.
