One of the worries that most new bookkeepers and accountants have when they start trying to start a speaking program as part of their practice building is how to get speaking engagements.

Unlike making a cold sales call, making a cold call on an organization or club is a piece of cake. Most all activity directors or meeting coordinators are starved for ideas about what to do or present at their next meeting. Think about it, they’re human just like you and they’re limited by their exposure and experience.

You, on the other hand, are not trying to “get something form them,” you are solving the problem of what to do at the next luncheon or dinner meeting.

If you’re a typical bookkeeper or accountant trying to build your practice using the traditional methods of networking and referrals, you’re probably struggling day after day and not getting the results you need.

Your competition has probably already positioned themselves in your community as the small business “expert.” You see their name in every seminar announcement from the local community college, or in the newspaper as a speaker at almost every Rotary or Kiwanis club meeting. And you wonder how they did it. How did they position themselves as the “expert?”

There are clubs and organizations in your community who actively seek speakers for their meetings and community activities. Organizations like community colleges, the local SBDC (Small Business Development Center) and chambers of commerce all seek outside speakers to fill their programs.

If you can give a good presentation, then your time as a volunteer speaker to these clubs and organizations will return practice development dividends far in excess of any other marketing activity you do, with the possible exception of writing articles and books and getting published.