This podcast was recorded in Powell River, which is a small mill town in British Columbia, Canada. Yesterday I spoke at their Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheon and it got me thinking about looking for and creating your own opportunities.

What do I mean by this?

Pretty much don’t sit back and wait for opportunities to come to you because it could be a long wait and may never come. And I must admit, I have been guilty of this in the past. BUT, about 6-months ago I was planning a family holiday to Vancouver, Powell River and Phoenix for a conference I attend every October, before heading back home.

Chamber of Commerce  

Soon after locking in our dates, I saw an ad in our local newspaper, the Cairns Post, about an upcoming Chamber of Commerce luncheon and the guest speaker was from out of town.

When I saw at the topic I immediately thought, 'I could have spoken about about that', and I know about ten other people in Cairns that were quite capable and qualified to speak on the same subject.

Anyway, after seeing the ad I remembered something I heard a friend say once that made me laugh.

"Even Jesus had to leave his hometown for people to listen to him".

Powell River

So an idea popped into my head. What if I contacted the Powell River Chamber of Commerce and asked if I could speak at their luncheon if they had one.

I sent off an email explaining I had written two marketing books and would love the opportunity to speak and shortly afterwards I received a reply email saying YES, and before too long a date was booked and a luncheon was created.

As I mentioned I did this presentation yesterday and there were about 50 people present, which was a great turnout for a small town.

Big Lesson 

I spoke about one of my favourite subjects, the Six Pillars of Marketing and the feedback from the audience and emails I received later that day were all positive, but more importantly, I learnt a big lesson.

You can’t wait for opportunities to present themselves, sometimes you have to get off your bum and create them yourself.

Now, they could have said NO, but they didn’t, and it made me realise that I should have also contacted the Chamber of Commerce in Vancouver. I didn’t need to worry about Phoenix because I was already locked in to speak.

Think About This

If you enjoy public speaking, you want to get better and gain more experience and you have a message that is valuable and worth sharing with others you need to put yourself out there and see what happens.

Hiding in the shadows waiting to be invited is not going to get you anywhere.

Contact local organisations if they’re available and if you’re travelling out of town, and overseas, contact the local Chamber of Commerce and ask to speak. 

Overcome Fear 

I know not everyone wants to do public speaking and if you had asked me twenty years ago I would have been one of those people as well, but once you understand the opportunities that await you once you know how to control this fear, the better off you and your business will be.

"There are two types of speakers. Those that get nervous before they speak and liars". - Mark Twain

If public speaking terrifies you, start small and talk about something you know extremely well, and build from there.

Other Opportunities 

Creating your own opportunities applies too much more than public speaking. If there are no networking groups in your area or ones that you want to be part of, create your own.

If you want to get together with like-minded people maybe you need to be part of a mastermind group or create your own mastermind group.

Marketing

When it comes to marketing, what are you interested in or better at than anyone else at, and can you develop this into a niche for your business and create new opportunities.

Creating opportunities is only limited by your imagination and if you feel you're lacking in this area, get together with your team, family or friends and discuss this concept further. 

Now go out there and create an opportunity for yourself. 

I hope you get something from today’s podcast and if you have any questions, please send me an email at [email protected]

If You Liked This Episode

You'll also like Make Hay While The Sun Shines

And lastly...

I've added a new event to my Events page that you may want to check out. 

Also, you can Sign up for my newsletter if you want to be kept in the loop about what I'm up to, and believe me; it's a small loop.   

FREE DOWNLOADS:

First 16 Pages of My Book – It’s No Secret There’s Money in Small Business.

12 Secrets to Get More People Through Your Front Door. This was written to get you thinking.