In June 2014, I returned to the United States, rented a car, and visited a total of 42 cities, from coast to coast.
On this “road show”, I presented a simple 2-hour ethics CE class to other enrolled agents in each city I visited. Many times, there were only 3-4 people in the room. All told, I connected with over 200 other EAs as a result of this endeavor.
Why on Earth would I embark on such a journey?
I had several reasons for doing this, but one of the biggest reasons was this: It was the fastest way to exponentially grow my network of tax resolution referral sources.
At first, I was reluctant to do this road show. Another speaker/author from the tax prep world had to talk me into it, as he wanted to host several big, full-day workshops with tax professionals around the country. We did eight of those full day workshops together.
But, I sure am glad that he talked me into it. Otherwise, I never would have done my ethics classes along that route. Never would have met those other EAs. Never would have received the client referrals from them later in 2014 and 2015 — client work that helped fund the launch of my tech startup and funded the purchase of the duplex that marked my return to real estate investing after going bankrupt and losing everything in the 2008 recession.
See, when I made the decision to come back to the United States in the summer of 2014, I did so with the intent of creating long-term wealth, rather than just generating income. Tax resolution is the perfect service to offer if you want to be a globe-trotting expat, and at the time I had a great life in Sydney, Australia. But, while I had a healthy income, I wasn’t generating true wealth.
Fortunately, tax resolution is also a great wealth-building tool. And while I had other lead generation tools — my book, a webinar for consumers that converted well enough, successful direct mail campaigns — the reality is that referrals are the single best source of new clients. Always has been, and always will be.
In particular, referrals from the half a million unenrolled preparers that can’t independently represent clients in front of IRS Collections or Appeals at all…. Referrals from the more than 600,000 CPAs that have zero desire to touch a Collections case… Referrals from the 58,000 EAs that have zero experience with Collections… Referrals from the 1.3 million lawyers in America that will happily refer out this work that isn’t within their specialty… Referrals from the nearly 2 million real estate agents in the US, a small percentage of whom will have a client with a tax lien issue that needs cleared up before they can buy or sell a house… And on and on with other professions that touch the financial lives of consumers.
Why am I telling you this?
Because in our completely revised and updated IRS Collections Representation Fast Start Boot Camp curriculum, I have made major improvements to the very first session of the 16-hour class. While it pained me to do so, I have removed much of the marketing theory from that module, removed the entire conversation about tax lien marketing (which has been declining in efficacy), and replaced it all with a deep dive into generating professional referrals. By focusing the curriculum on this one cost-effective marketing strategy, I’m still able to weave in illustration of the marketing principles I think you need to learn, but in a much more practical manner.
After all, that’s my top priority in these classes: Delivering pragmatic education that you can actually go out and apply the very next day.
To attend this boot camp, taking place next Tuesday and Wednesday, from 8am-5pm Eastern time, head on over to the event page here:
