By Bill Cates, CSP, CPAE |
I have made millions of dollars licensing my intellectual property to corporations of all sizes, worldwide, and I’m telling you this in the hopes of inspiring you to do the same.
Without question, licensing my intellectual property is one of the primary reasons I’ve been able to build and sustain a speaking-related business that generates over $1M in annual revenue – year after year after year.
My expertise and intellectual property are built around helping professionals and corporations acquire more clients through referrals, introductions from advocates, and developing more compelling value propositions.
Companies pay me money for the right to use my intellectual property to train their sales force (reps and managers). My first licensing deal was with Mutual of Omaha in 1999. They wanted to find a way to get my system into the hands of their reps and managers that was both affordable and efficient (get everyone trained in a relatively short time).
We decided that creating a series of video lessons would be best. In this program for Mutual of Omaha, and almost all my other licensing programs since, a facilitator would deliver the training by playing the video lessons – starting and stopping at predetermined points to hold discussions or practice skills. I developed a detailed facilitator’s guide that made this a very turn-key process.
The beauty of this agreement with Mutual of Omaha was that they didn’t want their brand on the training. They wanted it to “come from the outside.” Therefore, our agreement also stated that I was the sole owner of the content (critically important) and that I was free to sell the training program to anyone else. I was also lucky in that this client put their video production capabilities at my disposal. In exchange for their video production assistance, I applied a discount toward their licensing fee.
My first video-based training program was delivered via VHS tape. (Do you remember VHS?) After a few years, we migrated the system onto DVD. Now, all my video-based training is internet-based. While some folks in our business will create train-the-trainer programs, where the corporate trainers deliver the program, I’ve opted to have all my training delivered through video, and lead by a facilitator. This allows for a more uniform training experience.
Pricing Your Licensing Program
When it comes to deciding what to charge for your licensing program, it’s still the Wild West. There are no rules or guidelines. It boils down to what the client is willing to invest in your training. Generally speaking, the hierarchy of how much corporations will invest in training their employs (from higher to lower) is: 1) leaders, 2) managers, 3) sales reps, 4) customer service reps, 5) support staff.
If you can draw a straight line to dollars – making money or saving money – you can usually charge more.
Printing Money Legally
Why do I call this revenue stream “printing money legally?” It’s simple. I have several licensing deals that are now into their 20th year. Each year, when it’s time to renew the agreement, I simply change the date in the renewal agreement and send it over with an invoice. My cost of sale is virtually zero dollars.
Bill Cates, CSP, CPAE
Bill is a founding member of NSA’s Million Dollar Speakers Group and has sustained a 7-figure speaking business by becoming extremely focused and relevant with his business. He is the author of seven (7) books, as well as a number of corporate video training programs licensed by companies around the world. In addition to being a Certified Professional Speaker, Bill was inducted into NSA’s CPAE Speakers Hall of Fame in 2010.
Bill’s system has been featured in Success Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. And his business success has been featured in Money Magazine.
Bill doesn’t just talk about what it takes to be successful in this business – he’s actually done it!
