And my speech was a doozey. Or so I thought. But, when I finished, there were only two people awake in the room. The chairman of the activities committee, and me.

Writing a speech takes a special skill. And, there are very few guides to writing your own. It’s such a hard skill, over at Instant Practice Builder I have one person dedicated to speechwriting the free speeches that members get. I wouldn’t even think of doing it myself.

I was just checking in and reading Margaret Grisdela’s blog at the Rainmaking Club, and she was discussing how strong rainmakers don’t experience a downturn, despite the condition of the economy.

As Margaret so aptly put it, it’s much easier to build your business in a growing economy, than it is in a downturn. Yet many skilled rainmakers continue to bring in new business despite the economic conditions.

Why? The main reason is that even in a downturn economy, some people are still looking to retain professionals.

Why is it that the legal and medical professions seem to have such a proliferation of niches and specialties, while the accounting profession in general professes it’s ability to handle everything?

I know there are dozens of credentials that branch out claiming to be specialties, such as the Certified Internal Auditor, the Certified Fraud Examiner, the Enrolled Agent, the Certified Management Accountant, to name just a few. But few, other than maybe the Enrolled Agent and the Certified Fraud Examiner seem to have gathered any real traction in the mind of buyers of services.

“You can trust me.”

Famous last words from every con artist I’ve ever met, and a sure-fire way to lose my trust, and most anyone else’s.

Trust is so important and so misunderstood that there are over a half-million books on the subject on Amazon, over 300 million sites listed on Google, and the one-rhetorical phrase used by that con artist.

What does it take to be a successful practice builder?

After you have established your goals and laid out your plan of action for reaching your goals, one of your next steps is to take control of yourself.

Remember all those guys in school who were so proud of their imagination, and were so quick to deprecate the plodders and the planners? Well, let me bring you back to reality with a corollary to the story of the tortoise and the hare. Consistency trumps all.

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?”

Because they could not advertise, these “Rainmakers” used the skills lawyers are trained to use, writing and speaking. This came naturally; those lawyers are trained to write, things like briefs and contracts, and to speak, especially when arguing a case.

Financial professionals, such as accountants, were not so lucky. Their college training focused on how to add and subtract. Harsh as it may seem, accounting rules are basically rules of when to add and when to subtract from one side of the ledger to the other.

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.

What are clients looking for?
Determine what a prospects needs are, supply it and you’ll be successful, right? It’s what every sales manual you’ll ever see, that doesn’t cover the basics of Rainmaking skills, will try to tell you. Find a need and fill it.
But, you’re in a profession, licensed or not, and what [...]