Read James Malinchak’s featured article on “How I Got Started Speaking at Colleges”.


James Malinchak’s article is reprinted here:

How I Got Started Speaking at Colleges

So, how did I get started speaking at colleges for students and faculty members?

That’s a question I’ve been asked by speakers, authors, trainers, coaches and consultants for years. And, I’m glad to share the information with you.

However, before I do, it’s important for you to learn a little bit of my background. As my friend Jonathan Sprinkles says, “Nobody will hear you until they know you!”

It actually began several years ago after I graduated from college. I had the dream, vision and desire to help college students who were just like me…just an average everyday “˜c’ student. I was what my friend Professor Joe Martin calls a “see your way through college” type of student.

While in college, I was told by several people that I couldn’t land my “˜dream job’ (which was to be a stockbroker with a major Wall Street Investment Firm) because I didn’t have great grades or because I wasn’t the President of certain student organizations on campus. And, I believed what I was being told.

Finally, as my senior year was in full swing, I quickly realized the “˜real world’ was fast approaching and that soon mom and dad wouldn’t be there to cover my bills. It was time for me to start taking responsibility for myself…and, oh, yah…my bills that would start coming due when I got out of college.

Basically, out of fear, I decided I needed to stop listening to all those people who were telling me I couldn’t land my dream job and it was time to start doing something about it. Despite hearing all the reasons why I couldn’t do it, I decided that I would find a way to overcome the fact my grades weren’t the best and that I WOULD land my “˜dream job.’

To make a long story short, because of determination and because of the fact I learned how to “˜package, market and sell myself’ to employers, I was able to land three different job offers, three months prior to graduation, in the city I wanted to live in working for the company for whom I wanted to work.

About a month prior to actually graduating from college, it finally “˜hit’ me. There needs to be a book like this to help students who are just like me; average, everyday “˜c’ students who have the desire to land a particular job but believe they can’t do it because they may not have the best grades.

So, I decided right then and there to write a book to help students. My dream was born!

It took me about three years to finish the book because I knew absolutely nothing about how to write a book. I decided to self-publish the book because no publisher took me seriously. Fortunately, I came across a book that taught me step by step how to self-publish my book.

After months of hard work, I finally did it! I self-published my book! It was an awesome feeling when I received my 1,000 copies. Do you remember that awesome feeling when you finally finished your first book?

I remember like it was yesterday.

However, I also remember the terrible, sickening feeling that started to develop after about a week of getting my 1,000 copies of the book. Do you know what feeling I’m talking about? The feeling of, It’s great that I have my book, but I’m still out the thousands of dollars it cost me to publish the book! All of a sudden, the awesome feeling was nowhere to be found as reality set in as the bills were coming due for the production of the book.

I realized, although it was great to turn my dream, vision and desire to help college students into a book, I was still broke and still had these book production bills coming due. I needed to do something and I needed to do it fast!

Out of desperation, I picked up the telephone book and began searching for any and all colleges within a 50-mile radius. I called professors at these schools and asked if I could speak for their classes. My plan was to speak for free and try to sell copies of my book. And, it worked.

I remember my very first talk was for about 30 students for a professor’s class. I sold 10 books at $10 each and made a $100.

I remember thinking this was great! I only needed to do this another 30+ times and I would be able to pay all of the book production bills.

Although at that moment, it seemed like a good idea, I soon realized it took a lot of time, energy and effort. I needed to do something different as it was becoming a lot of work trying to get professors on the phone, schedule a day and time to speak, and drive all over the state simply to make $100.

I needed help. I needed an easier way.

Then, one day during a casual conversation with a professor, he asked if I knew that schools have certain coordinators who bring speakers to their campuses and even pay them and pay them well. I told him that I had no idea.

There it was…the help I needed…the easier way I had hoped existed was knocking right on my front door.

And since that day, I never looked back and never struggled again.

Speaker James Malinchak, ‘America’s Hottest Young Speaker,’ is the creator of the two top-selling speaker courses, ‘How to Make BIG Money As a Speaker’, and the ‘College Speaking Success Home Study Course’. To learn more about his step-by-step systems and to sign up for his FREE ‘Speaker Tips’ E-zine, visit: http://www.Malinchak.com

*IMNewswatch would like to thank James Malinchak for granting permission to reprint this article.

 

 

 

 

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