Start a Transparent Speaker and Trainer Bureau

1. 1

   Choose a lane instead of a category

   Not speakers. Speakers on one subject or for one industry: safety culture for heavy industry, financial services compliance, healthcare leadership, manufacturing operations. A narrow lane means buyers can tell whether you are any good, your marketing writes itself, and your roster of fifteen looks deep rather than thin.

2. 2

   Write the split into the agreement and publish it

   State the commission percentage, state that the fee quoted to the client is the fee reported to the speaker, and state exactly which costs are passed through at cost. Put it on your website. This is not a marketing line, it is a contractual commitment, and speakers will test it by asking to see a client-facing quote.

3. 3

   Sign twelve to twenty speakers you can genuinely sell

   Every one needs real video of them in front of a real audience, a clear subject, a stated fee range, and availability you can actually check. Resist signing anyone who impresses you but whom you cannot picture pitching to a specific buyer next week, because an unsellable roster is worse than a small one.

4. 4

   Build the back office before the first booking

   A speaker agreement, a client agreement, deposit and payment terms, a cancellation and postponement clause, a travel policy, a process for collecting tax paperwork before any payment goes out, and a system for certificates of insurance. Every one of these gets built badly under time pressure if you wait for a live deal to force it.

5. 5

   Sell to the buyer, not to the speaker

   Your customer is the event producer, conference organiser, association programme chair or learning and development lead. Learn their planning calendar, which typically runs six to twelve months ahead, and get into it early. Speakers will come to you once buyers do, and never reliably the other way round.

6. 6

   Add the trainer roster and sell the day after the keynote

   The same buyer who needs an opening keynote frequently needs a workshop for a smaller group the next morning, and a keynote speaker is often the wrong person to deliver it. A vetted facilitator roster turns one booking into two, doubles the value of every buyer relationship, and fills the calendar in the months when conference season is quiet.

7. 7

   Capture the outcome of every event and use it

   Audience feedback, the organiser's own verdict, and whether the buyer rebooked. This is the evidence that lets you place the same speaker with the next buyer without discounting, and over time it is the only thing that distinguishes you from a directory with a phone number.

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Best for: People with a real network on the buying side, meaning event producers, conference organisers, association staff or corporate learning leaders, who would rather run a business on relationships and paperwork than on a database of names

Not for: This is not for someone who wants to be near the stage. The job is contracts, deposits, tax forms, rebooked flights and chased invoices, and the speaker gets the applause while you get the phone call at eleven at night about a cancelled connection. If the administration bores you, the roster will not save you.