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Small-business consultant wants to help clients growBy ELIZABETH FREEMAN Post-Dispatch01/27/2003 12:00:00 AM 12:00 AM

Name: Lois Creamer.

Age: 52.

Job: Creamer is a small-business and speaking consultant. "The consulting part of what I do is called Book More Business," she said. "The speaking part of what I do is called Fast Forward Selling. Both are congruent to the other.

"I work with business people who want to grow their business. The selling part of what I do is very niche, with small business owners, almost totally, and many of those are professional speakers who are looking to increase their speaking practice.

"The speaking part of what I do came as a result of my consulting. The National Speakers' Association - the national association for professional speakers - started inviting me to speak to professional speakers at their chapters all around the country. I don't do anything with writing speeches or presentation skills - it's about getting more bookings and making more money.

"I'm in the intellectual property business - I help people grow their business using their intellectual properties."

Creamer has been her own boss since 1998. The business phone is 314-822-8225, and Creamer's business Web addresses are: www.bookmorebusiness.com and www.fastforwardselling.com.

Duties: "I help people look at other revenue streams. Speaking is something you have to absolutely embrace, and it's not something I talk anybody into. But I like small-business people to consider speaking as a tool.

"I mostly work with small-business people and entrepreneurs in the speaking part of what I do. My sales programs with business are designed for people who hate to sell but need to in order to eat."

"The biggest name client I've had in the speaking business is Jack Canfield, the chicken soup guy, who really hired me to look at other aspects of his business beyond the chicken soup. He is writing a new book called 'Success Principles' and wants to include my work on how to position yourself for success in the marketplace. His business is Jack Canfield Enterprises out in Santa Barbara, Calif. He's also sent me a lot of business and is a real generous spirit."

Hours: "It varies a lot. It's hard to say, because when I'm home, I have a home office I work in. But I do travel a lot. I go to my clients and a lot of my speaking clients are all over the country and Canada. When I'm traveling, it's close to 24 hours a day. It takes more time to travel now than it did before 9/11. I would say it's something between 40 and 80 hours a week."

Equipment: "I use a laptop computer that I travel with, and I use PowerPoint in my speeches as well as an LCD projector and a microphone. In my home office I have a computer, a scanner, and a telephone head set and a fax."

Dress: "I wear my sweats when I'm working at home and no one can see me, which is a big benefit. When I'm working with a client I dress up in a business suit. Part of what I do is to create and carry out a perception of expertise. I dress the part."

Experience: "Right out of college I worked for a Fortune 500 company in St. Louis in sales. I worked there for a number of years and then went to stay home when I adopted a baby.

"Later, I fell into working part-time with a professional speaker who hired me to increase business. That's how I found out that there was an industry called professional speaking. I was successful at that and that's what gave me the idea to work with professional speakers.

"I literally sat down at my computer and wrote the book that I use to work with professional speakers. I also have a business manual that I wrote and self published called 'Working Smart, Not Hard.'

Education: "I went to Meramec Junior See Consultant, Page 5 College my first year. My parents had a four kids in college at the same time, and I was the last of four. Then I went to University of Missouri in Columbia and left toward the end of my junior year. My father died and finances were difficult. I was very close to a degree in, of all things, history and education. I attended Meramec 1969-1970 and I was at the University of Missouri 1971 to 73 or 74."

Benefits: "As an entrepreneur, I pay for everything, including my own health care. I make my own schedule, which is great as a working Mom. I pick and choose what I do. If someone wants me to come to Bismarck, North Dakota in January, I might not want to do it. And there are no limits on where I can go with this. It doesn't take a large amount of working capital to get up and running, and I wake up every day wanting to go to work."

Pay: "I consider myself a journeyman speaker, and most people in my range may make anywhere from $50,000 to $150,000 per year. Out of that we have to pay our own medical, retirement, and that is also before expenses You can get by without a lot of fancy equipment, but I'm also into creating perceptions, so I have to make sure that I have all the things my clients need me to have in order to do a great job."

Hobbies: Reading. "I do a lot of reading and writing. Actually, writing has become a hobby since I started my own business. I enjoy walking and love going to the theater."

What she likes best about her job: "I feel like I'm on a track for life-long learning. I work with some of the most interesting people in my consulting with speakers. They are interesting people who have fascinating stories to tell. In my sales work, giving people a way to sell comfortably is fun. I'm not pushy, and being able to give people some tools to sell in a relational kind of way allows me to get a real kick out of that."

What she likes least about her job: "Probably, on some days, it's travel. Travel has just become more cumbersome. I also don't like some of the administrative stuff associated with running a business, but I do it anyway."

Do you know someone - maybe yourself - who has an interesting job and wants to tell others about it? Send suggestions to Business News, 900 North Tucker Boulevard, St. Louis, Mo. 63101, or fax them to 314 340-3060. You also can e-mail suggestions to ajackson@post-dispatch.com

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