Ever since Benjamin Franklin praised the virtues of frugality and industry in Poor Richard's Almanac in 1732, a host of inspirational writers, motivational speakers, and self-help gurus have appeared on the American cultural landscape to preach the gospel of success through self-reliance and thinking optimistically.  Books such as the Horatio Alger novels, Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People, Norman Vincent Peale's The Power of Positive Thinking, and Thomas Harris's I'm OK, You're OK  have sold millions of copies and left their marks on American popular culture.  What's more, the authors of these books have often doubled as public speakers, traveling around the nation promoting their messages in a style that is borrowed partly from salesmen and partly from preachers.

There are literally thousands of professional lecturers in the U.S.  Over the past decade, the number of speakers on the lecture circuit has more than doubled, according to the National Speakers Association (Tempe, AZ).  The N.S.A. promotes and trains its members, whose median income from speaking engagements in 2000 was $55,000 (down from $73,000 in 1997).  This was nearly double the 1990 figure of $30,000.  Marketdata estimates that the U.S. talk circuit is probably worth in the neighborhood of $1 billion overall, counting all types of speakers.

Lecture agencies claim that there are 5,000+ professional speakers in the United States today.  Most have limited earnings, with maybe a few hundred that are doing extremely well.  There are only about 20 that do exceptionally well, earning $1 million/year or more.  This chapter focuses on and provides in-depth profiles of some of the more well-known of this select group of motivational speakers.

Typically, leading booking agencies get about ten unsolicited tapes a day from would-be-speakers.  Most of these wannabees get nowhere.  Those who make it to the top typically have a best-selling book or hard-to-beat television exposure to their credit.  (Nowadays, exposure on Oprah Winfrey is particularly critical.)  They include Stephen Covey, author of  The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, who earns $75,000 a day; Les Brown, a former talk-show host, who charges $20,000 to speak to corporate audiences; and Tony Robbins, an infomercial king, who charges $125,000 a day.

The yearly speaking circuit is basically a nine-month schedule.  December and January are slow due to the holidays, and few events are scheduled during these months.  The summer months of July and August are also slow, due to summer vacations.

The Top Speakers

Following are the top U.S. motivational speakers and their companies:

Information about the top speakers (especially their income) is not as easy to find as one would think. Marketdata attempted to quantify just how big some of the biggest names in the business are, in our last 2001 study. However, admittedly, our list just covered the biggest of the big—the Tony Robbins of the World.

Our research for this study involved partnering with a company named Self-Improvement Online, which happens to be the creator and operator of the largest, most authoritative self-improvement “portal” on the Internet today (www.selfgrowth.com). David Riklan, the head of this company, performed exhaustive research, resulting in a new book entitled: Self-Improvement: The Top 101 Experts That Help Us Improve Our Lives, by David Riklan.

This is an extremely valuable resource that brings together in one place the biographical information about the top gurus in this field, their headquarters address, a list of the books and other products they’ve produced, and how the consumer typically gets started with their program. This is currently sold as an electronic book, for $27, at their website.

Profile of One of the Leaders

ANTHONY ROBBINS

Note: Much if not all of the  information for the following expert’s profile comes from Self-Improvement Online, Inc., Marlboro, NJ (www.selfgrowth.com), from their book entitled: Self-Improvement: The Top 101 Experts That Help Us Improve Our Lives, by David Riklan

Anthony Robbins Quick Facts

Main Areas:             Empowerment; Personal and Business Success

Best-Sellers:                 “Unlimited Power”; “Awaken the Giant Within” (over 1 million copies sold)

Profile:                           Author; Speaker; Entrepreneur; Business Leader

Corporate Affiliation:         Anthony Robbins Companies

Non-Profit Affiliation:         Anthony Robbins Foundation

 Anthony Robbins Biography

Anthony Robbins is an authority on the psychology of leadership, negotiations, organizational turnaround, and peak performance.  He has impacted the lives of nearly 50 million people from 80 countries with his public speaking engagements and live appearances, along with his audiotape products and best-selling books like Unlimited Power.  He is called upon by leaders from all walks of life, including presidents, CEOs, athletes, and entertainers. 

Anthony Robbins is a writer and motivational speaker who has been called "America's results coach" and the "Mahatma of motivation."  In fact, Robbins was probably the most successful of the motivational speakers of the late 1980s-early 1990s. He continues to be a major force, one of the biggest names on the self-improvement circuit.  However, his infomercials (Personal Power and Personal Power II) have not been among the top ten in the past five years, and he is not quite as visible, at least on TV, as he used to be.  Rather, the majority of Robbins’ revenues today are derived from his one-day public seminars  and smaller multi-day programs.  He runs about 30 of them, at his resort in Fiji and on the east and west coasts of the United States. Robbins founded and runs 12 companies. In the past two decades, Robbins has written five motivational self-help books, which have been translated into 14 languages. 

He has spread his message by: books, CDs, computer software, infomercials, seminars, and audiotapes—a truly multi-media empire. He also has a franchised practice-management company for health-care professionals such as dentists and chiropractors.  He has also advised Fortune 500 CEOs, members of two royal families, President Bill Clinton, and professional athletes such Andre Agassi and the Washington Wizards.  Robbins speaks before audiences at packed sports arenas and concert halls across the country.  His speaking engagements, unlike those of more sedate self-help gurus such as Deepak Chopra, often take on the characteristics of a rock concert.

He started privately-owned Robbins Research International in the early 1980s, and via infomercials, best-selling books, audiocassettes, and motivational seminars for both corporate and public audiences, has built a tidy empire of ventures estimated to gross more than $70-80 million at its peak in 2000. 

He has been honored by Accenture as one of the “Top 50 Business Intellectuals in the World” and by American Express as one of the top six business leaders in the world to coach their entrepreneurial clients.  A much sought-after speaker, he has addressed such distinguished audiences as the British Parliament and Harvard Business School. 

Robbins was one of the founding strategists in the creation of the Presidential Summit for America’s Promise, which has helped generate over 2 million mentors for young people throughout the United States.  His non-profit Anthony Robbins Foundation provides assistance to the homeless, elderly, and inner-city youth, feeding more than one million people each year through its international holiday, “Basket Brigade.” 
 

The Best Way to Get Started with Anthony Robbins

If one thinks of Dale Carnegie as the grandfather of 20^th century Self Improvement movement, then Anthony Robbins is his successor.  Robbins has a tremendous ability to excite people and motivate them to action.  And Self Improvement is, in many ways, about taking action.  Robbins’s main focus is helping us achieve peak performance.  He shows us effective strategies and techniques for mastering our emotions, our body, our relationships, our finances, and our life, and he provides step-by-step programs, teaching the fundamental lessons of self-mastery.

To gain an understanding of Anthony Robbins, you need to listen to him speak, either on tape or by going to one of his live events.  He has written several very successful books, but his true power comes in is ability to captivate an audience with his spoken words.  If you are looking for an easy way to get started, I would recommend listening to one of his audio tapes, either Get the Edge or the Personal Power II program.  One quick way to actually see Tony is to watch his infomercial for Get the Edge, which is his newer program. 

Prices for Robbins products vary widely, from under $100 for some of his books, CDs or tapes, to $695-995 for 3.5-day events all the way up to $12,000+ for his Master University program. 

Personal Coaching Services

Marketdata has learned that Tony Robbins has been in the personal coaching business for 5-6 years. Of course, the coaching is not directly by Robbins himself, since he’s so busy with other ventures, but by trained coaches working for him. These are people that are required to have been coaching for at least three years, and who are accredited by one of the coaching schools in the U.S. Coaching is performed by phone, and a typical coach has 50-60 clients. They work full-time.

There are three levels of coaches: 1) master coach, 2) lead coach, and 3) elite coaches. Robbins has about 60 coaches in total, with 5 master, 5 lead and 50 elite coaches. Each one has different fee structures. Master coaches charge $5,760 for a year’s coaching of 36 sessions that last 30 min. each. There is a 6-month plan for $3,240. The elite coaches are more affordable to the masses. They charge $3,360 for a year’s work (36 sessions), or $1,890 for the 6-month plan.

Contact Information

ADDRESS:          Anthony Robbins Companies
9888 Carroll Centre Road
San Diego, CA  92126

PHONE:              800-445-8183

EMAIL:               tony@tonyrobbins.com