Well, another year gone by, and time to reflect. Got this idea from Chris Gullibeau of The Art of Nonconformity. He does this each year, and each year challenges others to do the same. Great idea! So once again, I’ll review three categories: JumpToConsulting (www.jumptoconsulting.com) EMI-GURU aka Kimmel Gerke Associates, Ltd. (www.emiguru.com) Personal (www.linkedin.com/in/darylgerke) But […]
May the joy and the peace of the season be yours, and all the best in 2014! -Daryl & Mary
Generally not in favor of gimmicks here – thing like coffee cups, key chains, T-shirts, etc. Frankly, I’m not sure they are appropriate for most consulting practices. But the RIGHT gimmick can be an effective marketing tool, as long as it is practical and useful. Planning calendars are a good example — and they keep […]
Here is some boomer humor that arrived recently via an E-mail. A C-130 was lumbering along when a cocky F-16 flashed by. The jet jockey decided to show off. The fighter jock told the C-130 pilot, “Watch this!’ and promptly went into a barrel roll followed by a steep climb. He then finished with a […]
“No Man is an Island…” beings a poem by John Donne. Written almost 400 years ago, it is still true today. True in life, and true in your own consulting practice. In this post, we’ll look at leveraging your business by collaborating with others. We’ll examine several facets of collaboration — marketing (lead generation), production […]
That question was recently posted at Consulting Success, a useful blog for aspiring and practicing consultants. While Michael Zipursky recommends offering a guarantee, I don’t fully agree. YES for products. but NO for professional services. Here is my partial reply: As consulting engineers, we do not guarantee our results. Lawyers do not guarantee you will […]
Always love it when a former engineer does well! And Bob Bly, a chemical engineer by training, has done very well as a marketing consultant who specializes in copywriting and related services. Bob also shares his knowledge and ideas through a free e-mail newsletter, which I have received for several years. He has written 80 […]
This recently arrived in my mail box, and I wanted to share it. It certainly made my day! This is from Catherine at ViewThatData.com, who I featured a few months back in an earlier post. Sounds like she is making great progress towards her goals of both occupational independence and financial independence. Hi Daryl, I hope this finds […]
Three rifle volleys, followed by the mournful sound of Taps. The folded flag was presented to his widow, and then it was all over. He was laid to rest among his comrades at Fort Snelling, right next to the Minneapolis St. Paul airport. That seems appropriate for this old B-24 crew member from World War […]
Do you treat all clients the same? That question was posed recently on Succeed, a small business forum on LinkedIn. Always ready to share my opinions, here is the answer I posted there. Like so many have said already, we strive to treat all our clients with respect. But in reality, some clients are better […]
Time for another interview with another successful consulting engineer — Kellie Hedrick, PE, of Environmental Process Solutions PLLC. Kellie is a Civil Engineer and a Registered Professional Engineer (PE), and specializes in wastewater treatment. How about that for a unique consulting niche? She has been in full time practice since 2010, and is located in […]
Here is a reply I posted over at RainToday.com on an article by Michael W. McLaughlin titled “Should You Really Take On That Client?” In my 30+ years as a consulting engineer, I’ve had to “fire” a couple of clients. Like you, I apply the “life is too short” rule to put up with deadbeats […]
This question was posted recently on LinkedIn. Can’t help myself … I just had to jump in… marketing a consulting practice is a favorite topic! I am a CPA who would like to would like to own my own CPA firm, but clients have been hard to come by. Any ideas on a proven marketing […]
Using a sales agent sounds like the ideal method for those who don’t like sales and marketing. Just pay someone else to do it, right?. Unfortunately, nobody cares for your business like you do, so I do NOT recommend this as a primary source of business. To be blunt, if you are not ready and […]
Here is an interesting comment recently posted on LinkedIn that I thought might be of interest: Do You Own a Business or Do You Own a Job? This question was posed to me not long ago. I have often considered whether “I owned a Business or it Owned ME!” But when I was asked the […]
Thinking about consulting, but not ready to go full time? Then consider consulting as a side hustle. You will learn a lot, and it will be much easier if/when you make your full-time JumpToConsulting. First heard this phrase back in 2010 from fellow Arizona blogger Pam Slim at Escape From Cubicle Nation. I’ve sung her […]
Just got this e-mail from “C,” who you have already met in previous posts. We kept her name private, but she is now happy to share some details of her brand new consulting practice. Catherine helps organizations better organize, analyze, and use their client/member databases using mapping technology. This is based on her years of […]
No doubt about it, referrals are a leading source of leads for established consultants. But how do you get leads and testimonials when just starting out? Simple… ask for them! Yes, I know that asking for something scares a lot of people. What if they reject you? Don’t worry — most people won’t. If they […]
Or, one reason I finally became an independent consultant… I chuckle to myself every time I’m reminded of this story. Recently posted this as a reply at Perry Marshall’s blog. Incidentally, Perry is another engineer who broke the corporate bonds and went on to found a very successful Internet marketing business. Thought I was in […]
In my last post, I discussed how consulting eventually led me to Financial Independence. The primary focus was prior to making my JumpToConsulting. In this post, I’ll elaborate on things done at and after my break for freedom. First, I put away a startup stash. This is key, as there is nothing worse than having […]
