Treating Speaking as a Business

Is what we do a business, or is it a ministry?

It’s a constant struggle, isn’t it?

It’s interesting how often Christians see these two things in dichotomy. We think that if it’s a ministry, it can’t make money and we can’t use it to feed our families. It has to be something that we do totally altruistically. Our jobs, on the other hand, are our businesses.

I think this is a false dichotomy, because Jesus never encouraged us to partition off the different pieces of our lives. Whatever we did, we were to do it for Him. So if you speak, you speak for Him. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t make money at it, especially because most of us do need to get an income from somewhere, unless you happen to be blessed with a rich inheritance or something.

Paul is also clear in 1 Corinthians 9:14 where he says: “In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.” Why? Because if we receive our living from it, we’re able to dedicate a lot more time and energy to it. If it’s simply a hobby, or something that we do for free, then we have to spend a lot of time at a different job that actually pays the bills.

Of course there may be times when we speak for free, especially when we’re starting. We have to always be open to the Spirit. But I don’t believe that ministry and business need to be separate. I think ministries work best when they apply sound business principles about getting the word out there, budgeting for marketing, not going into debt, and trying to be sustainable. I have seen many ministries crumble because they focused so much on serving that they weren’t able to sustain it. They spent too much money, gave too much away, and then they burned out.

So this Monday, I want to help you treat your speaking like a business. I don’t think your speaking ministry will grow unless you apply sound, godly business principles. And so I’m hosting a teleseminar at 9pm EST on Treating Speaking Like a Business. We’ll cover:

• Time Management: How do we balance training, speaking, and marketing?
• Online Marketing: What do I need? Who do I talk to? How do I network?
• Fee Schedules: How much do I charge? And how do I bring up the subject?
• Promotional Materials: What do I need? How much should they cost?
• Giving a Professional Air: Helping others take you seriously
• Goal Planning: How can I measure progress?

You won’t want to miss it! I’ll talk for about an hour, and then I’ll take whatever questions you can throw at me! And teleseminars are really easy. You can listen online, where you can also type in questions for me in a chatbox, or you can call in with your phone if you don’t have high speed.

Don’t miss this! It’s only $10, and you will earn that back many times over as you learn how to set fees properly-and market to find bookings that will pay those fees!

You can find the audio download here.