Rulon Gardner Named #2 Greatest Individual Sports Upset Ever by Fox Sports

In these tough economic times, wouldn’t it be great to get someone who has done the impossible to motivate your employees? To get them to push past the bleak financial news, the layoffs, the increased workloads and really do something great for your company?

Motivational speaker and Olympic Gold Medalist Rulon Gardner was just named #2 on a Fox Sports list of Top 10 Greatest Individual Sports Upsets Ever–he might be the guy you’re looking for. He was listed behind Buster Douglas and aheah of Yang–who just upset Tiger Woods. Yes, THAT, Tiger Woods.

What makes Gardner’s story so great? Well, for starters, he won a Gold Medal. A pretty amazing achievement in its own right, but when you consider that he won that Gold Medal against 3-time Gold Medalist Alexander Karelin–who had not been defeated in international competition in 13 years, who was nicknamed “the Siberian Tiger,” “the Russian Bear,” “King Kong,” and, my personal favorite, “the Experiment” for his powerfully muscled physique and punishing wrestling style (his signature move was to throw opponents on their head–risking neck and spinal fractures). Still not convinced that this was a David v. Goliath worthy matchup? Gardner grew up on a dairy farm, didn’t win a high school wrestling match in his tiny WY town until his senior year and was shaped like a teddy bear.

Ready to make that booking? Send me an email at DanielleMarquis@marquisathletes.com. Mention you saw this blog post, and I’ll give you a 20% discount.

-Danielle, Owner & Sports Agent, Marquis Athletes, LLC

Saving Money on Motivational Speakers

It’s no secret the economy still isn’t doing well, but I have some ways you can save money on motivational speakers–those I represent, and those you may be considering booking through other bureaus or agents.

• Event Combining-Did you know that we (and many other speakers) offer reduced rates on additional events when a speaker is already in your area? With us, you not only save on travel expenses (in many cases you’ll just be responsible for ground transportation from the last event to yours), but we also book additional events at 50% off if our speaker doesn’t need to stay any additional days to complete your event. Wondering when our speakers will be in your area? Visit our website and check out the client calendar.
• Multiple Event Contracts-If your company, non-profit or school has multiple events coming up where you’d like our speaker, let us know. We’ll negotiate a lower cost per event in return for the guaranteed business. Examples of past ways we’ve made this work for customers is to do multiple corporate events all over the country for one company, do multiple community events all over the country for one major company within an industry looking to get its name out to this target audience, do multiple events on behalf of a parent non-profit organization for its local branches and do a week’s work of school speeches throughout an entire district.
• Virtual Meetings & School Assemblies-Imagine how much money you could save by not flying all of your employees out for a meeting, then paying for their hotel rooms and meals. Our speakers are available for virtual meetings–from your corporate headquarters or their home office. Employees can listen in via conference call or see the event via web conferencing. Conferences may be saved and viewed at the employees leisure, so as not to lose productivity. Ditto for school assemblies–many school districts are cutting back assemblies altogether in an effort to save money. By using this technology, schools can have speakers piped into classrooms when it’s convenient for teachers, thereby saving money and time, but still giving their students the benefits of speakers.

Motivational Speakers for your Financial Services Company

In the current economic climate, your financial services company is probably looking for some motivation. At Marquis Athletes, LLC, we’ve been working with John Hancock Financial Services for years. Rulon Gardner has performed hundreds of speeches on behalf of John Hancock to various financial services companies–Morgan Stanley, UBS, Merril Lynch and others. These events are always well attended because the clients and potential clients want to meet Rulon, and follow up is facilitated by the signed photos and autographed books. If your company is interested in working with Rulon, contact us today at info@marquisathletes.com. We offer long-term, multi-unit discount deals and would be happy to work with your meeting planners to create memorable, profitable events for your clients and staff!

Why You Should Hire Motivational Speakers (even when the economy isn’t doing so well)

Listen, the economy isn’t doing very well right now. I understand. I see the doom and gloom on the news every night, just like you do. You’re probably having a hard time rationalizing why you should spend the money on a top motivational speaker right now–fair enough. We’re all cutting back.

But here’s the thing–at times like these, when the economy isn’t doing well, when your employees are worried about hitting sales targets, these are the times you NEED a motivational speaker. You need someone who can fire up your team, who can inspire with tales of how they overcame adversity. This investment now will pay big dividends for your company’s financial well-being, as well as for your employee’s morale.

Plus, I’m running all sorts of specials right now to lure customers in…just send me an email (DanielleMarquis@marquisathletes.com) and mention that you heard about the specials on this blog, or sign up for our newsletter on the website.

Do Your Clients Ever Do Free Events?

“Hi, my name is John Doe and I’m calling from XYZ. We’re a non-profit/small corporation/school group and we were wondering, do your clients ever do events for free?”

 I get some variation of this phone call several times per day, and the short answer is, “No.” All of our clients are professional motivational speakers, and they have retired from the professional sport they participated in. Speaking is their job, so they charge for it. We have speakers in a variety of fee ranges and certain speakers offer reduced-fee speeches for schools, community groups, etc. but we do not offer free events. Our speakers are excellent and you won’t be disappointed! They are worth every penny they charge.

Would Your High School Athletes Like To “Train With Shane”?

Imagine bringing in an Olympian to train the high school athletes at your school? Olympic weightlifter and Pan Am Games Gold Medalist, Shane Hamman is considered the “Strongest Man in
America” and he is available for weightlifting training sessions with high school athletes in conjunction with his school speeches. Let Shane show your athletes how to make the most out of gym time, increasing speed and power in between sports seasons, or just before practice. This upgrade is available for $500 when a school books a standard school speech for $2,000 plus travel expenses.

Last Minute Specials Calendar

Please visit our online calendar of Last Minute Specials and bookmark the site for future reference. If a client’s name is listed with a green background, it means they are available on that date and we’re ready to negotiate! Contact us, make an offer and let’s make a deal!

This calendar will only show 2 months of specials at a time, so make sure you check back!