How to Book Consulting at Companies (Part 1)

You may not realize it, but the most profitable part of the speaking industry can be training at companies. Every day companies all over the world hire people just like you to train their employees or independent contractors on a wide range of topics. Business Week says it’s a 39.3 BILLION dollar industry, that’s a lot of opportunity!

I started speaking in 2012 and spoke at 36 events that year. That year I made $16,233 from speaking. In 2013 I spoke at 12 events and made $22,000 from speaking.

In 2013 I spoke at less events, but more of those events were private training at companies. I did training at various companies where I lived in Milwaukee as well as companies in London and Paris.

Yes, you read that right. I was able to do training for companies internationally, and they paid all of my wife’s and my travel experiences. Speaking isn’t my passion, but traveling is so I went. My wife and I had an amazing experience!

I know many people who read my blog want speaking to be a part of their business. If you look at most ‘call for speakers’ you’ll see that most events don’t pay speakers. You can find paying events in specific industries, but you’re going to have to do some work to get booked.

For those of you who want to generate some speaking income a little quicker, training at companies can be your thing. I’m writing this on a very exciting day! A coaching client of mine just landed his first contract to do training at a large car dealership. The cool thing is if he does well. he has a chance to train for 20 other dealerships!

In the next couple of posts I want to teach you how to get contracts to speak at companies. I’ve already told you about the why, so now I will teach you the how. My goal is for anyone who reads this to get their first contract within the next month! 

Training at companies can add some nice side income, and if you do it well, it can be your full-time income. I have a friend who trains at companies 360 days a year and brings in some nice income.

1. Start local

I realize you want to travel the world, and see cool new places, but it always starts local. The first time I did any training at a company, it was at a local McDonald’s chain.

There was a man who owned three McDonald’s restaurants in Milwaukee. I would see him all over the city. This was in 2012 when social media was really starting to take off.

I went to his office and presented him with my offer. I didn’t know anything about pricing back then so I signed a contract for $500. It was the first money I ever made from speaking.

You want to start local because that’s where you know people. Local is where you can form a real relationship and have a chance to talk to someone who will listen. You can try to approach a company somewhere else, but it will be a very cold approach.

Local means you know someone who knows someone, and they can get you in front of the right person. You know what’s going on where you live so when you make your proposal, you can make it relevant to what’s going on locally.

Start by opening your eyes a little. What companies are around you that you can get in front of the president or owner? Look for smaller companies at first. It can be a local McDonald’s franchise or a car dealership.  Your aim is to find a place where you can talk to a decision maker.

Homework. Your homework is to make a list of three smaller companies that you can approach to train on your topic in the next two weeks. Email me your list kconstable29@gmail.com

2. Identify a problem

Once you’ve identified a local company that you can approach, what problem are you going to help them with? For me it was social media. I saw that the local McDonald’s franchise had a horrible social media presence.

Their updates were inconsistent and most of their engagement was complaints from customers. I put a presentation together showing the owner where they were missing out. I showed him the problem and offered a solution.

You can identify a problem with a local company in your area. The problem is probably something related to what you teach. If you teach Real Estate, you can train a local company on better ways to do certain Real Estate processes.

I have a client that writes killer copy. He identified three companies where he lived in Georgia. He saw that the companies were spending thousands of dollars on ads with bad copy. He wrote them a campaign, give it to them, and offered to help train their staff.

The campaign generated over $20,000 in new business for the company. They offered him a $5,000 contract for 15 days of training. They told him this is just the beginning! He saw a need, offered a solution, and got the contract. You can use this formula with companies where you live.

This is going to require some thought, but I’m guessing you can identify a problem with a company where you live. Figure out what that problem is and the best way to fix it.

Sadly this is the end of part one. In part two we’ll talk about putting together that presentation, and who to present it too. I hope you use this information to lock in some lucrative contracts that help your dream become a reality. There is so much opportunity waiting for you if you’ll take it.

Do you want speaking to be part of your business? Can you think of a local company to approach? 

P.S. Every week I have four articles featured on large websites. Here is this weeks articles:

8 Unrealistic Expectations Parents Have for Their Kids

Huffington Post (This went viral)

6 Tried-and-True Email Marketing Tactics

Entrepreneur Magazine

3 Ways My Weight Hurt My Sex Life

Mind Body Green

One Mans Quest to Travel to Every Country In the World

(This is my second interview with Chris Guiilebeau)

The Good Men Project