Ashley Kirkwood wants to help Black women entrepreneurs make more money. The author and lawyer is also the CEO of Speak Your Way to Cash, which was created to facilitate growth for Black women-owned businesses.
At the Traffic, Sales and Profit Conference, Kirkwood spoke with rolling out and revealed just a few tips for fellow Black women entrepreneurs.
What are you looking forward to accomplishing in 2023?
Speak Your Way to Cash is looking to help more Black women experts expand their voice, master the stage and sell more services. I’m very excited about our mission to do that.
What are three ways Black women can expand their voices today?
Three ways Black women can expand their voice and master the stage in order to sell more services, one would be getting in the press. Getting as much media attention on your vision as humanly possible. Not just stories about you, but stories about your vision for changing the world and how your services can make that happen.
The second way [would] be to sell your services more often. Literally mastering old-school timeless sales strategies like cold calling, cold emailing and hosting events to sell from the stage. Sharing your one message with a group of people at one time to lead them to a buying decision is a great way to figure out who you should be serving and how you can serve them en masse at a faster pace.
The last thing they can do is believe in their services as much as they believe in their name. When someone asks me my first name, I don’t stutter, it’s actually right. Sometimes when I ask people about what they do or what are their products or services, it’s like, “Oh, I do this, or I do that.” But you need to believe in the power of your services to transform someone’s life the same way you believe your name is what it is.
There is really no better way to sell more than to believe more in the definition of sales to me and my company. What we tell our clients is sales is a belief transference. If you believe, you want so much belief that it’s overflowing so your clients are full of belief about what to do. You can give them some of that belief.
If you do those three things, you will sell more services, you’ll be able to impact more and your vision will change the world at a faster pace.
When did you become passionate about this work?
I have always had a passion for speaking. I did my first public performance at the age of 4. I was Miss Cinderella, and my talent was singing. But what my parents saw in me was a talent to perform. That was when I realized the power of getting on a stage, talking to or being before a group of people and making them feel better if they’re feeling down [or] hopeful if they’re feeling doubtful.
