How to Become a Consultant

Don’t stop finding new consulting clients

You’ve landed a few consulting clients. You’re feeling good about life and the money is starting to come in. At this point you have a few options:

1. You sit back and enjoy the good life.
2. You keep marketing to land new clients.
3. You focus to work only with your current clients.

You have to enjoy your life everyday - and I know that sounds cheesy, but it’s true. Life dishes out a lot of downs so you better enjoy the ups as well to keep you balanced.

What you really need though is a combination of number 2 and 3.

Always Have a Plan B
Even if you have all the clients you can handle you should continue marketing your services. You don’t have to do it to the extent you did when you had no clients, but you still want more.

Here’s why: at one point, and often when you least expect it your clients will want to end the project. Sometimes this happens slowly, other times they’ll all do it at the same time, and that can put you in a challenging situation.

By lining up new prospects on an ongoing basis you mitigate this risk. It’s the smart move.

The better you treat your clients the longer they’re likely to be clients and that’s why number 2 and 3 go hand in hand. The two together set you up for smooth sailing.

How to Become a Consultant - Part 6: Client Relations

Now that your marketing has paid off your busy working with your new clients.
At this point many consultants fall into a trap - they don’t take good care of their clients.

• They say they’ll call on a certain day or time - and they don’t.
• They schedule a meeting - and they show up late.
• They promise to send materials over - they never do.
• And most frustrating for clients…
• They don’t show any on going progress.

Your clients are your business. Without them you’re screwed. So treat them like gold.

A basic level of professional communication will set you levels above your competition.

Do what you say your going to do - follow through.

Give your clients gifts or do something to show that you appreciate their business from time to time.

Sure all this takes extra effort, but I’ll tell you it’s worth it. Most of my clients are clients not for weeks or months, but years. There is a reason for that. And it’s all about delivering as promised and treating your clients like you care for them and appreciate them.

Sell More Consulting Services by Selling Less

How can you sell more consulting services by selling less? There is a way … and I’m going to tell you what it’s all about.

You walk into a meeting with a prospective client. You show them your fancy brochure that lists all the services you offer. Maybe there’s 5 or 10 different consulting services you can provide.

To the consultant this makes a lot of sense. “I can offer all these great services, pick one, pick two, heck, choose them all.” There is a problem…

This approach doesn’t work.

The human mind can only keep focused on one or two, maybe three, points of information at any given time. By trying to sell more initially, you’re actually hurting your chances of making any sale at all. (more…)

Public Relations - New Ways of Getting SEO Links

Today’s guest post is written by one of our guest authors, Zeke Camusio of The Outsourcing Company. Zeke is a web consultant that specializes in SEO and today he talks about getting links to your website through, networking,  self promotion and public relations.
>> Read Zeke’s full bio here

They say a picture is worth more than a thousand words. This old adage has been proven true many times, however there’s another that is especially true in the age of networking and mass marketing: personal presence is rare and appreciated.

Networking events have been used for decades to attract attention to new products and services, re-launch existing products or advance a certain idea. There are many enterprises that have made a living from this activity, as people looking to find an audience for their product sometimes do not have the resources to put together an event around only their product. Networking companies have therefore catered to smaller firms by signing them up to a business networking association or group, and putting together people with similar interests by giving each a chance to present their company and products. (more…)

How to Become a Consultant - Part 5: Finding Clients

Here’s the fastest way to get consulting clients - know people. The more people you know the more people you can approach and tell them about what you’re doing. It’s a simple conversation approach but sooner or later someone will know someone, or maybe even a family friend will be a potential client, and you’ll have landed your first deal and have really become a consultant.

But what if you don’t know anyone? What do you do? Well, there are many approaches you can take, some will depend on your industry and others on your budget - if your questions aren’t answered in this post just leave your question in the reply area and we’ll see if we can help.

Landing new clients is all about marketing. Here’s what you need to know:

1. Find the right clients.
2. Get your message in front of them.
3. Make them an offer that is hard to refuse.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 over and over again.

This may sound ridiculously simple to you, but it works. Let’s break down each of these 4 steps in more detail. (more…)

How Consultants Deal With Sceptics

There’s no doubt that you’ll encounter more than your fair share of sceptics. You know, the people that don’t believe what you have to offer has any real value.

Most people are sceptical. That’s why much of the advertising we encounter has little to no effect. So how do you cut through the clutter and prove you’ve got the skills to get the job done?

Here are 3 suggestions on how to approach this:

1. Fish in the Right Pond
Some potential consulting customers will have little to no experience or interest in having someone like yourself help them with their business. Hey that’s fine. You can try to point them in the right direction, but if it becomes pretty clear that they’re not going to give you the time of day, move on.

There are plenty of business owners and company employees that understand they need help and are just waiting for the right consultant to come along. Target those people.

2. The Proof is in the Pudding
Give concrete examples of how your services and involvement has helped generate results in one form or another.

If you can paint this picture in terms (more…)

Consulting Less: A True Client Horror Story

During my years running a brand and marketing business and consulting in Japan I had my share of challenges. One that I remember, and in particular found quite tough at the time, also provided a great lesson I’d like to share with you.

It all started when we just landed a big contract from a large advertising agency. They hired us for our expertise and to help their Japanese client communicate their advertising messages more effectively to their global customer base.

The project started off well. In fact, I was told that our contract may double in size as a result of the initial work we did.

But the good vibe didn’t last too long.

Not long after, the agency took a sharp turn and decided they wanted to completely control the direction of our work. (more…)

Guest Post - Consulting using Twitter

Today’s Guest Post is by Susan Varty of Wordtree Consulting in Toronto. Susan is a writer, communications consultant and college professor. If you are in the Toronto area, you may be interested in signing up for her new 1-day course she’s offering: Hands-on Twitter course: Reaching decision-makers.

Do you watch television? What channels interest you the most when you turn it on? Do you still listen to the radio?

What if there was a station for every person with an Internet connection? What if you could chat with conference attendees without traveling - or even paying for the conference?

That’s Twitter. The only difference is that you have the ability to interact and connect personally, immediately - unlike television and radio.

This new medium is starting to become the norm for business people - and if they haven’t already thought about it - they are now.

Of course, consultants like you are often on the front lines to answer “social media” questions even though you may not have signed up for that role.

But more and more mediums are becoming important in the search for harder-to-find revenue dollars. Staying informed, aware, and being able to advise your clients appropriately has become almost a 24/7 job. More and more businesses are embracing online culture, low-cost/no-cost marketing, and tapping into word-of-mouth potential.

Working in an “offline” culture, your clients may say they don’t get it - and say they never will. As consultants, it’s one thing to agree, another to challenge. The most valued customers usually appreciate a fresh perspective and that’s probably why they hired you. Don’t let them miss these opportunities to engage their customers online. Educate yourself, learn the new mediums. We still use the phone, television, radio, photocopiers, books - why not give yourself the edge in this new decade? The “free factor” and its ease-of-use makes Twitter seem trivial. Think again.

You Want It? Go Grab It!

Gary Vaynerchuk just posted a great little video about making things happen. The lesson he’s sharing can be applied just as easily to jumping in and becoming a consultant, growing your business or even to your personal life.

That lesson (see Gary’s video here) is, if you really want something, stop thinking about it so much and go out and grab it.

I think all of us at one time or another (maybe sometimes too often) over think situations, try to get more and more information…which means it takes us longer to actually get what we want.

In life and in business, doing rather than saying or thinking is what ultimately gets us the result we’re after.

So go on, if you really want something, this is the time to go  grab it.

What are Your Business Goals for 2010?

Sitting here on this Sunday morning a few days before the new decade begins and making lists of my education, business, and consulting goals for 2010. One big thing for me is I’m moving back to Vancouver, Canada (My Hometown) after doing business and living in Japan for over 3 years. That alone will be a big change but something I’m very excited about and looking forward to!

Below are a few goals that I have set for myself related to business and consulting, do you have any similarities?

In the comments below I’d love to hear what kind of things you folks are hoping/planning to improve on or work on in 2010? But first here’s mine…

1) Social Networking - In 2009 I really started to see the power of social media and networking. I have now become a big fan and user of both Twitter and LinkedIn for building consulting and business connections online. The key things I want to work harder on is a) nurturing relationships and connections after I make them and b) spend more time (more…)

How to Become a Consultant - Part 4: Project Planning

This is one of the most overlooked areas for new consultants. They focus on creating a website and logo, they get business cards printed, they set up their office space and they give themselves a catchy name.

Then they go out and find clients. But there’s one big gap in this plan.

Don’t Follow My Approach
What are you going to do when you get a client? When I first got started as a consultant I just winged it. I went in and figured things out. But I don’t recommend that approach.

You don’t need to plan out a hundred page system for your clients from day one - that would surely be a waste. But you should have a written plan of how you can help the clients you get. (more…)

Consulting proposals: A Waste of Time?

There’s a lot of focus on writing effective consulting proposals. You’ve likely signed up for our Consultants Toolkit list and received this guide.

But these proposals aren’t always as important as people often make them seem.

In fact, they can often be a waste of time. And I’ll illustrate this by telling you a true story from my early days as a marketing consultant.

Size Doesn’t Matter
I connected with a large international manufacturer. This company was doing some great things and seemed to have a strong product.

The president of this company was interested in having me consult for them to assist with making their online lead generation system more effective. (more…)

Consulting Success: How badly do you want it?

If I randomly lined up the first 10 consultants I could find and asked them what’s blocking their path to success here’s what they’d say:

• 4 of them would complain loudly about how other people have either got in their way or haven’t helped them enough.
• 2 would somberly say they had personal reasons that kept them from doing their best.
• 3 would raise their voices and tell me their working on it, they need access to more books, courses or training.
• And the 1 would, in quiet and confident voice, tell me “I’ve already made it a success!”

Is this based on some $5000 survey data? Nope. Have I lined up 100 consultants, 10 at a time and asked them this question? No siree. So I must be feeding you a load of rubbish, right? Could be. But I don’t think so.

I’ve worked and advised enough new business owners and consultants to know, while these numbers may be off a bit here or there, for the most part they’re on point. (more…)

The Power of Getting Out

Many independent consultants do much of their work in silos. They travel from their own office to their clients’ offices and then back again. Not getting out is not a good thing.

The situation is compounded when we consider that most consultants work from home offices. There is definitely nothing wrong with this, in fact it’s been my preference for many years…but this lack of face time and relationship building can hurt your business.

Here’s why:
When you get out and go to networking and other such events you meet people. Maybe one day you’ll be able to refer business to them and they’ll be able to do the same for you.

Strange things happen when you’re out there. The more time you spend connecting with people the more connected you get. Sounds straightforward, right?

Ever been at a party, you’re getting tired and thinking of heading home. But instead, you decide to stay for just a bit longer, and you end up meeting the most interesting person you’ve spoken to all night.

I don’t know how the above situation works, but I’ve encountered it several times at all kinds of events. And it’s not just at events, this kind of thing happens everywhere.

Again, it comes down to getting out there and connecting. (more…)