Melinda asks,
I’m a private counselor trying to get my name out there to people. I’ve called the counselors at my local high schools and offered to do free workshops on campus for their students but they barely take my calls. I don’t understand why they’re so reluctant to let me in when I’m not even going to charge anything. Isn’t that a win-win? How can I get them to see that I'm not a scam artist?”
It’s a fair question, Melinda. But think of it this way. If you got a call from someone you’d never met who said,
“My name is Kevin, and I’m a great cook. Really, I am. How about you invite 20 of your closest friends over to your house for a dinner party and I’ll cook the meal. No charge.”
Would you do it?
Most people wouldn’t let a stranger into their house to cook for their friends. What if the cook never shows up? What if the meal is terrible? What if he’s rude to your guests, or leaves the kitchen a mess, or undercooks the chicken and everybody gets sick? Sure, it could be great. But it could also be a disaster that would make you look bad to all your friends. And while you didn’t pay any money, you did invest your time and reputation. That’s just too much risk to take on a stranger. And that’s how high school counselors feel about inviting their student community to a workshop given by someone they’ve never met.
But why do you need to do the workshop at a high school? You could take an ad out in a local community paper and organize the workshop yourself. You could ask your closest friends who know and trust you to pass along the invitation to their friends with high school kids. If it worked, you could do a series of workshops covering different topics so the people who’d seen and enjoyed your presentations could come back for more.
If your workshops are *great*, people will tell their friends. And if you eventually presented at an annual conference in your area, your local high school counselors could see you in action. You could introduce yourself and enjoy some mediocre conference food together. Then you wouldn’t be a stranger anymore. And then they’d take your calls.
Thanks for your question, Melinda. If you've got a question of your own, email me at blog [at] collegewise [dot] com. If I pick yours, I'll answer it here on our blog.