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When to Increase Your Speaking Fees

New year, new speaking fee? Well, January might not be the best time to increase your fee.

Getting booked

Marketing

Public speaking

Andrew

Davis

Partner, Speaking Business Thought Leader

minute read

Published on

December 16, 2024

Tracking your unique speaking-business data can help you identify the triggers that show you when to increase your speaking fees.

As the new year quickly approaches and you think about your speaking goals for 2025, earning more and increasing your quotable fee probably come to mind. After all, you’re a fantastic speaker, and you want to be paid high fees. You’ve worked hard to craft your speech and you’ve rehearsed it to make it stage-ready.

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After doing thorough market research to calculate your speaking fee, a new question arises: When is the right time to increase my speaking fee?

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Many speakers might think that once you hit a certain number of speeches you can increase your fee. "Well, I've spoken twelve times, so I'm going to increase my fee by $2,000." However, there’s no magic number of speeches delivered that will show you it’s time for a price bump.

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Others might think that the beginning of a new year is the perfect time to increase fees. This could work—depending on your speaking calendar and busy seasons—but most of the time it’s not so cut-and-dried.

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You see, the truth is, there’s no one right time to increase your speaking fees. Your fees increase as your speech improves and the value of your speech in the marketplace rises.

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Find the Sweet Spot

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Every year, when I sit down at my desk to write a new speech, I’m starting from square one. Even if my new speech is filled with visionary ideas, groundbreaking new frameworks, and hilarious jokes, at the beginning of the year, my speech has zero demand. Zilch. Nada.

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Because remember, event organizers aren’t buying you, the speaker. They’re buying your speech. And a speech that’s new and unproven doesn’t yet have value in the marketplace. No matter how many previous successful speeches you’ve crafted and delivered, each new speech starts with zero value.

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Your goal, as you iterate and improve your speech, is to find that sweet spot where your fee reflects your value and meets market demand.

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Logically, the quotable fee for my new speech is always much lower than those of my other speeches. Now, this isn’t a bad thing. It’s completely normal, and it’s how almost every referable speech starts out. You see, a lower fee means I can win more gigs, gain momentum, and iterate the speech until it takes off.

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When the speech’s value in the marketplace increases, I can raise my fees. Maybe it’ll take three or four months to build enough value to increase my fee. But as I track my inquiries, wins and losses, I start to see patterns in the data that show me that it’s probably time to increase my fee.

Full Transcript

Don't

assume your new speech will automatically earn the same fees as your previous speech.

always remember: Event organizers aren’t buying you, they’re buying your speech.

Four Green Flags for Increasing Your Fees

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As you systematically track and analyze your speaking-business data, you’ll be able to identify trends and patterns, make smarter decisions that refine your sales process, and constantly improve your negotiation strategy, content, and pricing.

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Using real market feedback, you’ll be able to watch for the green flags that show you it’s the right time to increase your fee. There are four specific green flags you can start looking for today; when these pop up in your speaking business, you’ll know it’s go time.

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#1 You’re consistently earning stageside leads.

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Every new speech takes time to develop and mature into something truly remarkable. At first, your speech won’t bring in high profits (in fact, it might not bring in any profit at all). But as you continue to iterate your speech, it will increase in momentum and value, and you’ll start to earn stageside leads.

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What are stageside leads? Well, stageside leads are speaking inquiries from people (usually audience members or event attendees) who approach you immediately after your speech. They’re immensely valuable because they’re usually the fastest-closing and highest-paying types of leads.

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Stageside leads are the lifeblood of your speaking business. And they’re a clear indicator that your speech is working and audience members are finding value in your message.

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As your speech starts earning more stageside leads, you’ll know it’s time to increase your fee.

Don't

track every stageside lead you earn at your gigs.

#2 You’ve branched into a new fractal.

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Fractals are smaller branches of a large industry. For example, within the real estate industry you could branch into a huge variety of fractals: brokerage, lending, property management, construction, software, and more. And each of those fractals can be broken down into smaller, more specific fractals as well (Michael Port and I go into this in more detail in our book, The Referable Speaker).

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For example, if you’re used to speaking at conferences in the real estate industry, earning a stageside lead for a brokerage event can unlock a whole new fractal of possibilities. Since it’s a new sphere and audience, it actually makes sense to lower your fee to win the gig.

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Why? Because breaking into a new fractal can unlock new speaking opportunities with a new audience—and you can increase your fractal fame in that area. Soon, you’ll earn stageside leads to more and more brokerage events. As you do, you can slowly increase your fee with each new event you speak at.

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Your fractal fame will grow, and who knows? You might even become the go-to speaker for that industry (as well as find more and more fractals to branch into as well).

Don't

be afraid to lower your fee to branch into new fractals.

slowly increase your speaking fee as your fame and speaking experience in that fractal grow.

#3 You’ve found your calendar’s hotspots.

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Why are hotel prices almost always more expensive during holiday weekends and summer weeks? Because the hospitality industry knows the power of seasonal pricing. And as a professional speaker, you can do the same.

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When you start to track all your speaking gigs and inquiries, you can analyze your speaking calendar and find the months and weeks of the year that have higher demand than the rest. During your hottest months, demand is high, and supply is limited (after all, there’s only one you!). This is your opportunity to raise your rates and take advantage of seasonal pricing.

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When you know exactly what time of the year you have the most demand, you can confidently quote a higher fee than usual or even attach a premium to those specific weeks of the year. This will allow you to maximize your revenue without burning yourself out by overbooking.

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#4 Your worldly fame suddenly skyrockets.

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There’s one element that can cause a HUGE increase in your speaking fees—and it can sometimes happen almost overnight: achieving the X-factor and becoming famous.

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Maybe your book hits number one on the New York Times bestseller list—and stays there week after week. Maybe your TED talk gets millions of views and breaks a record. Perhaps your signature bit goes viral across social media.

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People start talking about you—and can’t stop. You get invites to come speak on talk shows, podcasts, and the news. Your phone starts ringing nonstop with event organizers begging you to speak at their events. You’re famous.

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If your worldly fame suddenly skyrockets, it’s time to increase your fees. After all, fame has a huge impact on the demand for your speech. In fact, you might even be able to double your fee (remember, worldly fame is the most powerful FEE Factor).

Don't

raise your fees without rhyme or reason.

look for these four green flags in your speaking business to know when it’s the best time to increase your quotable fee.

Track Everything (Yes, Everything!)

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The common thread that runs through each of the four green flags—and makes each one possible—is tracking your speaking-business data.

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Most speakers only keep track of the basics—the event name, date, place, and event-organizer contact information. If that sounds like you, you’re not alone. But there’s so much more you should be keeping track of. In fact, there’s at least 64 simple data points every speaker should track to maximize their speaking-business success.

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Because when you know your numbers, you’ll know when to increase your fees. But not only that—negotiation will become easier, you’ll make better business decisions, and you’ll be able to set more accurate and realistic goals (and achieve them faster).

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Start tracking your numbers. And start now.

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Just begin with the basics: Use a simple spreadsheet to list all your inquiries, dates, quotable fees, and whether or not you won the gig. Over time, this information will reveal patterns and you’ll be able to calculate win percentages. You’ll quickly identify the green flags and use them to increase your revenue.

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Because when you're keeping track of everything in your speaking business, you'll know exactly when to raise your fees (and by how much). And your event organizers won't bat an eye.

Don't

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Four Green Flags for Increasing Your Fees

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#1 You’re consistently earning stageside leads.

‍

Stageside leads are the lifeblood of your speaking business. And they’re a clear indicator that your speech is working and audience members are finding value in your message.

‍

As your speech starts earning more stageside leads, you’ll know it’s time to increase your fee.

Dont

track every stageside lead you earn at your gigs.

#2 You’ve branched into a new fractal.

‍

Your fractal fame will grow, and who knows? You might even become the go-to speaker for that industry (as well as find more and more fractals to branch into as well).

Don't

be afraid to lower your fee to branch into new fractals.

slowly increase your speaking fee as your fame and speaking experience in that fractal grow.

#3 You’ve found your calendar’s hotspots.

‍

#4 Your worldly fame suddenly skyrockets.

‍

There’s one element that can cause a HUGE increase in your speaking fees—and it can sometimes happen almost overnight: achieving the X-factor and becoming famous.

‍

Don't

raise your fees without rhyme or reason.

look for these four green flags in your speaking business to know when it’s the best time to increase your quotable fee.

Track Everything (Yes, Everything!)

‍

The common thread that runs through each of the four green flags—and makes each one possible—is tracking your speaking-business data.

‍

Start tracking your numbers. And start now.

‍

Because when you're keeping track of everything in your speaking business, you'll know exactly when to raise your fees (and by how much). And your event organizers won't bat an eye.

Don't