Directories should be a part of every consultant’s marketing strategies. The secret is to be listed in the right directories – those used by potential clients. So give some thought to where you might look to find someone like yourself.

Most directories provide search capabilities (expertise, location…), so consider your search categories. If you don’t see a good match, contact the directory owner and suggest a new category. This is particularly important if you serve a narrow niche.

Directories alone, however, are not enough. They are just a starting point, so you need to have other pieces in place. A web site is ideal, since most directories allow only minimal information.  Be sure to include your web address and e-mail in the listing.

Don’t have a web site? Set one up — even if it is a single page. Nowadays, a phone number is not enough — most people want to check you out before initiating contact.

The good news is that many directories are inexpensive or free. So where are these directories, and how do you get listed? Here are several options:

• Professional organizations – Good for visibility with professional colleagues, which often lead to referrals. Most have on-line directories, although some still offer printed directories. Often free, but may include a nominal annual charge.

• Trade magazines – Good for visibility with potential nationwide clients. Most have on-line directories, and some include printed directories as part of annual Buyer’s Guides. Often free, but for a nominal charge you can often enhance your listing. If offered, I recommend doing so.

• Civic/business organizations – A good choice if your clientele is primarily local, such as legal, accounting, architecture, etc. Examples are Chambers of Commerce, Business Round Tables, etc. You may want to participate in the organization for even more visibility.

• Technical answering services – For years, we’ve belonged to Intota (formerly Teltech),  an organization that connects businesses with peer recommended experts. Over 10,000 experts in the science, engineering, medicine, regulations, and business. Free for consultants, and you even get paid to answer simple questions (which often lead to longer consultations.)

Finally, directories are best used in conjunction with other lead generation methods, such as web sites, professional activities,  articles, presentations, etc. In fact, our experience has shown that multiple methods multiply your success.

© 2013, https:. All rights reserved.

Not my favorite approach, but when times are desperate…

I’m with luminaries like Alan Weiss, Howard Shenson, and Perry Marshal on this method. Much better to have potential clients call you, rather than the other way around. As Shenson once said, your marketing goal should be have clients clamoring for you.

Think about it. As a professional, does you doctor call you to see if you want to buy a penicillin shot today? Does your lawyer call you to see if you want to buy a will today? No, they create both the credibility and visibility so you will first call them.

But there are times when cold calling can help. If you are just starting out, for example, you could (and should) call everyone you know to announce your new business. You can ask if they know anyone who might need your services. Just don’t push your services on them — if interested, they will let you know.

One important suggestion. Don’t rely on e-mails alone for the initial contact. Most of us get a hundred or more cold-call e-mails every day, and we are all good at zapping them to the delete folder. That is, if the spam filters don’t catch them first.

Consider a personal letter. No, snail mail is not dead, and a well written personal letter will stand out. Use it to break the ice, and then follow up with a personal phone call. I think you will be pleased with the results from this two step process.

Pick a number – say 20 per week – and work your way through your list. It is said that most of us know around 200 people. Make 4 calls per day, and in ten weeks you’ve personally contacted all of them. If lucky, you may even have snagged a project.

But don’t stop there. If you publish a newsletter, ask to add them on your list. You’re not publishing a newsletter? Well, time is a wasting. Consider a short e-mail letter. Now that you’ve made the personal contact, the e-mail follow up is fine and very inexpensive. You want to keep in touch.

Technically, the cold calls above are really warm calls. Since you already know the person, you have a reason to call. But what about complete strangers?

This is where targeted cold calls can work. For example, you just read that the XYZ company just won a contract where your area of expertise could help. Get on the phone and find out who would be a good contact. Check out your contacts on LinkedIn too.

When you find the right person, give them a call or send a letter. But do your research first.  Don’t waste their time “exploring what keeps them up a night” or other similar nonsense.  Rather, offer some ideas or examples of how you have helped others. After all, that is what consultants do.

Here are two examples of cold/warm calling...

The first is Dr. Gary Blank, a fellow consulting engineer. He tells a great story of how he quickly transitioned from corporate employment to full employment as a consulting engineer.

When told of an impending job change, he decided it was time to hang out his consulting shingle. Highly motivated, but not sure where to start, he sent out personal letters to everyone he knew.  Within a month he landed his first project.

Dr. Blank shared that story many times with prospective consulting engineers through his activities with the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Consulting Engineers Network. As a result of his hard work and visibility, he was recently elected the President of IEEE-USA, a capstone to his fulfilling career.

The second is Your Truly. Thirty five years ago as a young sales engineer, I tried a similar approach with some success. Involved with the launch of a new design system, I scoured the want ads (remember those?) for companies seeking design engineers who might use our system.

It only took a few minutes of searching every week, followed up by a short letter with a brochure, and later a phone call. Although not my main source of leads, it did result in a couple of sales. Not only that, my boss even commended me in my next review.

Finally, most people shy away from cold calls. But highly targeted cold calls work, with both acquaintances and strangers. They work best when you first warm them up, and they can be very effective when you start out.

© 2013, https:. All rights reserved.

If you like teaching (Lead Generator #11), you may consider developing and presenting your own materials.

Due to the considerable start up efforts, however, I don’t recommend this for brand new consultants. Other marketing methods usually provide faster results with less work and money. This is an excellent method to consider, however, after you become established.

We started offering our own seminars at about five years as full time consultants. By that time, we had established ourselves, and were ready to expand the business. Had we tried much earlier, I’m not sure we would have been successful.

It has worked out well. Since 1992, we’ve trained over 10,000 students in our engineering specialty through a combination of public and in-house classes.

The training business nicely  complements the consulting business. Many students become clients, and many clients bring us in to train their colleagues.

But our success was not immediate. We experimented with both content and promotion. After several iterations and a few setbacks, we finally got it right.

So don’t be disappointed if your success is not immediate — one reason why I don’t recommend this as an initial marketing method.

Content

Most training seminars today run ½ to 5 days, with 1-2 days very typical. Longer than a webinar, but shorter than a class. Unlike classes, most seminars are done in a single session — a short cram course where students can focus on the subject alone.

We have found that shorter is better — a major concern is often time away from the office, not the not the dollar cost of the seminar.

Thus, the content needs to be focused and precise.  Most of our seminars range between ½ and 3 days, with 2 days being the most popular for our topics.

The content should also be tutorial. Like writing articles or white papers, your goal is to transfer knowledge, not to impress your peers. Think “How to Tell Time” –-NOT “An In-depth History of Clock Making.”

Thanks to the Internet, there is a trend to offer seminars/workshops on line in one hour chunks. In those cases, it starts to look like a traditional class. Another trend is to record seminars on audio or a DVD.  Like traditional seminars, a lot of effort is still required.

Development

The development time can vary widely, depending on how well you know your material.  Maybe you taught classes or wrote a book based on your expertise, so you already have plenty of content and ideas. But there is still a LOT of work to get to a finished product.

Rest assured, it will take much more time than you thought. And plan on spending more time editing and polishing than on developing the content in the first place.

We’ve seen various rules of thumb over the years. For technical training, we assume  5-10 hours of development per hour of class time. That means a ½ day workshop could take a week from start to finish, and a two day class can easily take up to a month.

Promotion

The next big hurdle is the promotion. Typical techniques include direct mail, e-mail, advertising, and more. No, it is not enough to build that better mousetrap — you need to promote it too!

As part of your promotion, you also need a plan for registration and payment. There are a number of on-line services that can help here. There are also plug-ins for your web site. We’ve used both methods with good success.

One way to ease the efforts is to find a sponsor. The good news is that the sponsor handles all the promo/registration details. The bad news is that you end up splitting the proceeds.

In some cases, you get nothing except the exposure. This is typical for trade shows.

We’ve partnered several times. Our most successful is a 20 year partnership with an electronics  manufacturer. They have been a joy to work with. We recently partnered with a training firm that specializes in military/defense systems, which complements and does NOT compete with our main partnership.

Going alone is the most challenging. If you do so, expect to spend some serious time and money on this. (See barriers to entry.) It can be done, but going alone is NOT recommended for new consultants.

Fulfillment

The final hurdle is the fulfillment. In addition to the presentation, you need to prepare materials and handouts.

If going alone, you’ll need a venue. Will you use a hotel? What about meals and refreshments? What about A/V? Don’t assume anything, and double check everything.

Most of this work needs to be done well in advance, and often involves financial commitments and risks. Be prepared for nonrefundable deposits and guarantees. We’ve had a few failures that cost us thousands of dollars. Try to minimize your risks.

In closing, seminars and workshops can be effective marketing tools. They can also nicely augment your consulting business. But the hurdles are there, so proceed with caution, particularly when just starting out. Don’t fret –there will be plenty of opportunities after you are established.

More examples and information on our seminars at www.emiguru.com. 

© 2012 – 2016, https:. All rights reserved.

Teaching can be a great lead generator. It is how I got started in consulting over thirty years ago, and it continues to a nice source of business and income today. Here are five good reasons to consider teaching.

1 – You can begin right away. You don’t need to do extensive marketing or build a customer base. Just check your local university, junior college, or adult education program. Many are begging for consultants (or potential consultants) to share their real world experience, and would love to add you to their catalogs.

2 – Gives you immediate credibility and visibility. Teaching a class implies you know what you are doing, and that you have been vetted by the teaching organization. Of course, you do need to deliver, but if you have the right experience, you are already on the right track.

3 – You can make a few bucks. You won’t get rich teaching, but you can make this marketing method pay for itself, and help support your other marketing efforts.

4 – Develops your presentation skills. This is a very important skill for consultants, and there is nothing like practice to improve those skills. (With over 200 classes under my belt, I’m still learning…)

5 – Showcases your knowledge and experience to potential clients. No, don’t do a hard sell, but if they need more help, you’ll be among the first they will ask. After all, presumably you have already helped them through your teaching.

This marketing method is ideal for potential or part time consultants. Teaching a class presents a very low threat to your employer, and even enhances your value. Along with skills and experience, you’ll be seen as someone with initiative to improve both yourself and your students.

Teaching is how it all began for me. My business partner was already teaching an adult evening class at a local vo-tech (vocational technical school), and recruited me to teach a class. These were introductory electronics classes, so as electrical engineers we were pretty well qualified.  The real challenge was to keep it simple.

Even so, at first  I wasn’t sure. I’d never taught, but it sounded interesting. Besides, the school was in a bit of a panic, as the instructor for my class had to back out at the last minute due to health problems. So I jumped in, and have never regretted it.

The teaching assignment led to several interesting projects, which only served to whet our appetites for consulting. For several years, the school was our primary client.  And yes, we got paid for these extracurricular projects.

• Our first project was to clean up the adult electronics curriculum for the vo-tech. The classes were disjointed, and they wanted to make them more cohesive. We identified several new classes to fill in the gaps, and even recruited engineering colleagues to teach them. Both the school and our colleagues were delighted.

• A big project emerged to develop a two year program on printed circuit board design.  Unknown to us, the school had received a state grant, and needed someone to do the technical work. It turned out to be a lot of work, but the grant was generous enough that we made a very nice  profit on the project.

• Another interesting project was to develop a seminar on how to select a business computer. This was when the IBM PC first arrived, and the local business community was hungry for unbiased advice. The school wanted to do a semester class, but we suggested a three hour seminar instead. This was quite successful, and gave us or first experience with focused seminars.

• The classes started to generated external consulting. Our first independent project was helping  select a computer system for a local medical society. The clients had attended our computer  seminar. Other similar projects followed.

As a bonus, the teaching experience gave us the confidence and the skills to offer our own seminars and workshops some years later as full time consultants. These eventually became a significant part of our income. (We have now trained over 10,000 students in our technical specialty, greatly enhancing our client base.) But without the early teaching, we might not have done it.

So where do you start? Check out your local adult education programs (colleges, junior colleges, libraries, etc.)  They make it simple for you, as they provide the venue and do all the marketing.  They may have prepared classes they want taught, such as introductory accounting, business law, web design, computer programming, etc. They may also have some elementary training for new instructors.

Another option is for-profit training companies. These companies often use contract instructors to deliver their materials. Most are also open to new classes if you are ready to develop your own materials. Keep in mind, thought, that this can turn into a lot more work than expected. Nevertheless, if you have a topic you feel strongly about, this can be a good option.

Can you do this? Yes, if you have the interest and experience. I had a speech class in college and hated it, but when I started teaching basic electronics, I was amazed at how easy and fun it was.  The latter is important — there is no thrill quite like seeing the “light go on” when a student “gets it.”

Finally, keep it simple. Stick to the basics. You are not trying to impress your peers — rather, you are trying to convey introductory information. If your students want more advanced information,  they may eventually turn into clients. But if not, you’ll still have the satisfaction of helping someone learn more about your subject.

In closing, consider teaching as a potential stepping stone to your own JumpToConsulting.

P.S. – What about your own seminars/workshops/webinars? Another variation on teaching, but much more work up front. As such, generally not recommended until you are establisehd.  We’ll cover those in more detail in a  future post.

© 2012 – 2013, https:. All rights reserved.

Need some immediate exposure? Is your market primarily local? Do you serve a niche market that is tightly focused? Big trade shows – local or otherwise – too expensive?

All good reasons to start your OWN local mini-trade show.

We did this in 1986, just prior to launching our engineering consulting business. Like most startups, we did not have much cash and we needed to gain exposure. We needed to make a splash — FAST — to let people know we were in business.

So, we cooked up the First Annual Minnesota EMC Event, realizing there might not be a second one. It made the splash we wanted, and all these years later, the show is still going strong. In fact, the show has outlived several much larger trade shows in the Minnesota market.

And, it was easier than you might think.

• First, we checked with a local with a local hotel, and they quoted us $300 for a room for a late afternoon/evening (4-7 PM) meeting. But get this — the room was FREE is we bought $300 worth of food. It was amazing how much food you could get for $300 in 1986!

• Next, we invited five local vendors to join us, which now reduced our share of the hotel cost to only $50. We also leveraged all of our local contacts. We then printed flyers, and mailed them out to members of our local professional organization, adding another $100 or so in costs. (Today you could use email.)

• The result? Over 100 people showed up for our glorified cocktail party. And we now had a bunch of fresh leads, plus several vendors who would recommend us.

• As an aside, we did not provide alcohol. No moral issue — rather it kept costs down and limited our liability against somebody imbibing too much.

We considered the show such a success that we did it again the following year. Only this time we joined forces with a local test lab (one of the original vendors), and turned it into a full day show, complete with speakers and about 20 vendor exhibits. With over 200 people this time, we dubbed it an even bigger success.

By the way, 100 or 200 people at a trade show may not sound like much compared to the big shows, but the attendees were very focused on our engineering niche. The vendors agreed — one even landed a multi-million dollar contract as a result of the second show.  Needless to say, they became one of our most ardent supporters.

The show continued over the years. In addition to the local visibility, it also enhanced our national visibility as our vendors recommended us to their larger markets. I should add many vendors became our friends.  We always look always look forward to seeing them at our local show, along with larger national symposiums.

We no longer run the show, but we actively support it.  Several local firms with administrative staffs now cover the very important detail work to make it a success.

But it all started with about $150 our of our pocket, and a little bit of work!

One final comment — we did not do this to make money, but rather to simply market our practice.  Although we charged the vendors a modest amount (attendees were free), our goal was simply to break even.  In recent years, a modest attendee fee was added to cover some of the costs. Had we become greedy and tried to “monetize” the show in a big way , I’m not sure it would still be around.

So, if you need a jump start for a local market, consider starting your own local mini-trade show. Keep it simple — keep it inexpensive — and keep it fun.

P.S. Click here for info on the latest Minnesota EMC Event.

© 2012 – 2016, https:. All rights reserved.

Done properly, trade shows are a great way to generate leads. Done poorly, they can be a tremendous waste of time and money.

Trade shows represent a unique opportunity for both networking (one-on-one) and/or gaining exposure (one-to-many). And unlike most other methods, trade shows can be very personal. Where else can you spend a few days and be in contact with so many industry leaders, influencers, and potential clients?

A trade show is a business opportunity, not a boondoggle. Corporate employees often see a trade shows as a company paid vacation. As a small business person, however, you simply can’t afford that. Rather than goof off, you need to WORK the trade show. Here are some recommendations:

1. Decide who you want to meet. Industry leaders often attend trade shows. So do influencers, like magazine editors. Want to write for a magazine?  A trade show is an excellent way to make the initial contact. Certainly more personal than a query letter. If you really want to meet someone, make a “date” for breakfast, lunch, or even just coffee.

2. Volunteer to participate. This is a good way to meet the “movers and shakers” in your community. Your help will be appreciated, and you will be remembered.  Just be careful not to bite off more than you can chew, particularly when starting out. As the old saying goes, do a little — do it well — you’ve done a lot.

3. Support the tutorials. If you present, make it a tutorial session rather than a formal paper.  Tutorials expose you to the “newbies” most in need of your services. While others are busy trying to impress their colleagues, you’ll be in front of  potential clients.

4. Visit the vendors. Ask about new products and services in your industry. Don’t spend all your time in technical sessions — you can read the papers later. Furthermore, vendors can be a great source of recommendations to potential clients. I always enjoy my time with vendors.

5. Attend the social events. Remember, “all work and not play…” Besides, this is a great chance to meet people on an informal basis. That includes hitting the bars. Even if you don’t drink, you’ll often find interesting discussions going on — particularly later in the evening. (Offer to buy a round and you will be most welcome to join in.)

6. Exchange business cards. Yes, I know they may see old fashioned in our electronic age, but trade shows are all about live personal contact. After the show, send an e-mail or note to those of interest to you. Invite them to join you on LinkedIn — add them to your data base. Don’t just throw the cards in a pile.

Remember, leads are the lifeblood of the consulting business. No, the world is NOT going to beat a path to your door — you need to light the way. Too many consulting businesses have crashed while waiting for business to walk through the door.

PS- Been a little lax here is going through my list of 20 lead generators. We’ll work on picking up the pace.  In the meantime, any topics you would like to see?

© 2012, https:. All rights reserved.

Speaking can be a good lead generator, as long as you are in front of the right audience. The secret is to identify your ideal clients, so you don’t waste your time in front of the wrong groups. Focus on your target niches — specialty, geography, industry, and type of business (B2B, B2C, B2G)

Speaking (like writing articles) is something you can do prior to launching your consulting firm. If you speak about your existing specialty, it likely won’t be seen as a threat to your employer.  In fact, it may enhance your perceived value.

Keep the topics simple and tutorial. Like magazine articles, you are not trying to impress your peers — you are trying to show potential clients how you might help. Here are a couple of examples of focused yet practical topics – both professional and business:

• Professional -An accountant talking about estate planning

• Business – A marketer talking about LinkedIn for lead generation

OK, you’ve convinced me. Where can I speak?

• Professional groups – Local society chapters are always looking for speakers, and are a good place to start. Symposiums are also good, but focus on the “tutorial tracks.” Leave the advance topics to the academics.

• Business groups – For business topics, local organizations like the LIONS, Rotary, and Chamber of Commerce are also hungry for speakers.  Once again, focus on helping those who might actually need and buy your services.

Your talks (professional or business) must be informative and entertaining. Make your talks interesting. Whatever you do, don’t make them salesy.  A good test is to ask yourself, “Even if we never do business, has the talk been helpful?”

If you are really good and enjoy this, it might even lead professional speaking. Many leading consultants make thousands of dollars a year as speakers, doing keynote addresses, etc. Don’t expect to achieve that overnight – you need to earn your stripes. But even if you never make it to the paid speaker ranks, the business you bring in can make it worthwhile.

What to talk about?  Something of interest to both you and your audience.

• Keep it basic. Think tutorial — you’re not doing a college lecture.

• Keep it short. 20 -30 minutes for a lunch meeting.  30 minutes to an hour for a professional meeting. If an hour, make sure there is some technical meat in it.

• Keep it simple. Three things to…  Top five problems…  Four ways to approach… New regulatory impact of …  How to avoid… Understanding the mysteries of …

• Recycle. Did you write a  magazine article or publish a paper? Turn it into a talk. Add some overheads and you are good to go.  Don’t overdo it, though — we all know about “Death by Powerpoint.”

Your first talk.. Here are some last minute thoughts..

• Practice, don’t wing it. Have a friend (or better yet, a group of friends) critique it. Time it to make sure it doesn’t run too long. Then practice it again until you feel confident.

• Going live. If you are like most of us, there may still be butterflies.  Perfectly normal, don’t worry about it. In fact, I get worried if there are not butterflies — that is when thing usually turn sour.

• Prepare an introduction for your host. Type it out, but keep it brief. No life history. Should be deliverable in about 30 seconds.

Unsure of your skills? Try Toastmasters. Although not a Toastmaster alum myself, several colleagues have praised the organization. I developed my “platform skills” through in-house presentations and teaching technical classes. We’ll talk about the latter in a future post.  Like sports, the more you practice, the better you get.

My own experience. Although I’ve now done hundreds of talks (and taught over 200 technical  classes), I did not start out as a natural speaker. In fact, I took a speech class in college and absolutely hated it!

Later, I discovered that  when I was interested in a topic, I could easily talk about it.  It wasn’t a speech — rather, it was a conversation with a friend or group of friends. The goal was not to impress, but rather to convey information. It does get easier with time — I promise.

A favorite talk was for the Society of Women Engineers many years ago as a sales engineer.  As the only man in the room, it was an eerie feeling to say the least.  Remember, engineering is still a male dominated profession.  (But I am delighted to see that is finally changing a bit..)

So, I began my talk with “I’ve been trying to figure out why I feel so different here. Then it dawned on me — I’m the only person in the room with no hair… “ They roared. A little self deprecating humor can go a long way. For several years, I would run into attendees at that meeting. One even became a client after I launched the consulting practice.

In closing — speaking can be a very effective way to and generate leads and business, and can  generate new friends as well. Both have happened to me.

Comments or questions?

© 2011 – 2019, https:. All rights reserved.

Will writing a book help your consulting practice?

In my experience, yes! But it is a lot of work, and not something I recommend to those just starting out. Unless you have materials already (such as class notes or a bunch of research), better to start small and consider a full blown book when better established.

Still, there is no doubt that a published book is a huge marketing asset. Alan Weiss, author of Million Dollar Consulting (plus 31 other books ) calls a book the gold standard for credibility. I agree. When our first book hit the streets almost 20 years ago, we immediately went from a local consulting firm to one with nationwide recognition.

Before beginning a book, you need to decide if you seeking profit or seeking visibility.  Unless you are a NY Times Best Seller, you will unlikely achieve both. Ask any author — most books never make enough money themselves to justify the time and effort. The real payoff for consultants is in the additional business.

Three ways to publish: Prior to the Internet, virtually all books were printed and sold through bookstores or catalogues. Although you might be the author, you still needed a publisher to print and distribute your work. Today, of course, that has all changed.  Here are three popular avenues:

• Print – Commercially published –  Generally confers the most status (with a recognized publisher) with the least direct profit. It also likely involves the most work (rewrites, proofing, indexing, etc.) with the longest time to market. Since this is the most complex, you may want to engage a literary agent. Ask existing authors for recommendations.

• If you can pull this off, it can vault you to the top. Although usually a poor strategy when starting out, it often makes sense after a few years in business. On the other hand, an engineering colleague wrote a comprehensive technical book while employed. When he retired, this quickly launched his successful consulting practice and his book is still his main marketing vehicle.

• Print – Self Published – Provides medium to low status but more direct profit. Still a lot of work with a medium time to market. A word of caution — beware of the “vanity publishers” that prey on hopeful authors. For self published books, you don’t need a literary agent, but proofreaders and other support may be helpful.

• If you are already well known, this may be a good approach. Thanks to “print on demand” and Amazon, you can even handle your own production and distribution. I know a successful business consultant who uses this approach. He sells his book on his web site, and also on Amazon. He prints them as he needs them, usually a dozen or so at a time.

• E-Book – Self Published – Provides the lowest status but potentially the most direct profit. It has the lowest status (anybody can do this — no vetting by a recognized publisher) but can provide the fastest time to market.

• This is a good approach when just starting out. An added advantage is that E-books are not expected to be as comprehensive as a printed book. As such, you can turn out an E-book pretty fast. Many bloggers supplement their content with a series of E-books. Most are pretty basic, but sell well at low cost and high profit.

Sources of materials: So you’ve decided to write a book. Where do you get the materials? With a 200 page book, you may be looking at upwards of 100,000 words, but even a shorter E-book could be 20,000+ words. Recycle! If you are considering a book, you have probably written other materials that can be reused.

Using existing materials makes a lot of sense. Just be sure they are your materials and you are free to use them. Whatever you do, don’t plagiarize! Here are several sources:

• Articles and white papers — These can be excellent book resources. You’ll probably need to expand certain areas, and you’ll need to tie everything together in an organized manner. We used this approach in a specialized book for the medical design community, based on an earlier series of magazine articles.

• One caveat. In order to repurpose magazine articles, you’ll need to either obtain a copyright release, or retain the subsequent publication rights in the first place. With white papers, that is not an issue since you are the original publisher, unless you have assigned the copyright.

• Blogs and newsletters – These are also excellent resources for a book. Since blog posts and newsletter articles are generally shorter than magazine articles or white papers, they may require additional work to incorporate into a book.

• On the other hand, even leading authors today often publish collections of their blog postings. Just organize them into sections, and add an introduction. Once again, if you own the copyright, you are free to repurpose your materials. Many readers appreciate having these collections all in one place.

• Class materials – If you have taught a class on a subject, you already have notes (and most of the words in your head.) You also have the benefit of past questions, so you know your reader’s likely concerns.

• You could even record a class, and have your lectures transcribed. You would still need to polish things, but much of the original work would already be done.

Personal experience –  My business partner and I currently have three books under our belts. One was commercially published, one was first published as a magazine supplement, and one was a series of columns turned into a book.  Both self published books were later turned into an E-books. People were asking for digital copies, so why not?

Our books were based on class notes, magazine articles, our newsletter, and a column for a specialty newsletter. The self-published books are for sale on our web site, while the commercial book is available from a publisher specializing in technical books.

All three books have been very helpful in establishing both our credibility and visibility. They didn’t happen overnight, so don’t feel you need to do everything at once.

Publishing books is more a marathon than a sprint — stay with it for the long haul. Comments or Questions?

© 2011 – 2016, https:. All rights reserved.

Do you need a  website, particularly if you are just starting out in consulting?

YES! Just like you need business cards, letterhead, envelopes, and some sort of brochure. Not only does a web site (and other simple collateral) provide information, but it shows that you are serious about being in business.

Think of your web site as your on-line ambassador, spreading good will about your practice.  Although passive, web sites are often combined with a blog and newsletter to make them more active marketing tools. All three can increase your visibility/credibility.

One important caveat. Make sure your web site (and blog/newsletter) appear professional. A sloppy or poorly maintained site can do more harm than good.

If you don’t feel comfortable doing this yourself, hire a web/blog designer. Thanks to advanced technology, web designers are relatively inexpensive. Your time is valuable, and you probably already use other professionals like a lawyer and accountant.

I hired a web designer for both this blog and our engineering consulting website (www.emiguru.com), and I’m glad I did. He saved me much time and frustration, and the final product was much better than I would have produced anyway. (Thanks, Sunil!)

Another caveat. Don’t count on your web site to get the phone ringing off the hook. A web site alone is passive. You still need to pursue active marketing, such as articles, networking, speaking, direct mail, and more.

As mentioned in an earlier post (20 Ways to Attract Clients), getting leads is like fishing — the more lines you have in the water, the more bites you will get.

Finally, don’t worry about the numbers. For many web sites (and blogs,) counts become a matter of pride. Am I getting more traffic than yesterday? More than my competition? But as a consultant, do you really care?

You are not an on-line marketer hawking the latest gimmick —  rather, you are a professional making your presence known to those who might benefit from your expertise. You are a niche player, not a jack-of-all trades.

Getting started. Here are some suggestions for your web site:

• Register your own domain. Yes, it may cost a few dollars over using a free site, but your own domain makes you look serious and professional. While you are at it, register the same name with similar extensions (.net, .org,  .info, etc.) This prevents squatters from setting up a similar site. Had this happen some years ago,  and it was expensive to resolve (lawyers and all…)

• Provide contact information. One of my pet peeves is having to hunt for address, phone, or e-mail information on a web site. On every page, you should have either a Contact button or your full contact information. You also need a Contact tab at the top of the page with full contact information (including an e-mail form). Make it easy for your visitors to contact you!

• Make the site easy to navigate. I prefer tabs across the top of the page, with a few simple sidebars. A simple site map can be helpful. For an initial web site, you only need a few tabs, such as Home, About, Services, and Contact. I like to augment those with Welcome, FAQ, and Resource tabs. The latter provide both a personal touch and additional information. However, don’t get too carried away — keep it simple.

• Consider a combined blog/website. With static pages and a blog platform, you can have both.  If you don’t want to blog right away, just make all the pages static. You can easily add a blog later, and all the tools will be there. This site uses WordPress (with a custom theme), and I am very pleased. WordPress is widely  popular, and has an almost endless variety of “plug-ins” for future expansion and features. (See my earlier post on Blogs.)

• Consider adding a newsletter. Building a client list is crucial to building your business. We’ll cover this in more detail in a future post, but adding a newsletter to your web site is a quick way to start gathering names. You can purchase “plug-ins” or use external services (AWeber or Mail Chimp) to facilitate this. I must confess that I haven’t done much with a newsletter on this site (plans are brewing), but have found a list to be very effective on our engineering consulting website.  (See my earlier post on Newsletters.)

As your business grows, you’ll likely want to add other features to your web site. The possibilities are almost endless, but make sure anything you add is useful to your clients. Don’t do it just because it is the latest “cool” thing to do.

For example, here are some extra features we added to  www.emiguru.com when we updated last year. This represents the current status, but as a “work in progress”, more updates are coming.

Incidentally, the consulting web site runs on Joomla rather than WordPress, as it is a bit more complex.  (As an aside, I’ve found both Joomla and WordPress easy to maintain.)

• On-line Store – Three books, and a software product we developed. One of the books was out of print, so we offer it as an E-Book. Linked to Paypal and e-junkie for payment and fulfillment.

• On-Line Registration – Allows sign-up and payment (Paypal) for our public seminars and webinars. Works well, and has simplified business.

• Blog – Short technical articles of interest to our readers.  The blog postings are now mirrored on an industry publication, giving us wider exposure.

• Resources – Past newsletters (20 years worth) and a detailed technical bibliography of publications, web sites, and other resources unique to our niche. Considering more stuff in the future. The goals — help our clients, and keep them coming back.

So, make a web site a high priority if you are considering a JumpToConsulting. You can start out simple, and grow it as needed. Finally, get some professional help — don’t try to do it all yourself.  After all, as a  consultant, that is what you are advising your clients to do.

Comments or questions? I’d love to hear from you.

© 2011 – 2016, https:. All rights reserved.

Professional organizations offer a ready made network of friendly potential clients. The secret is to be an active participant, not just a passive member. As an added bonus, these organizations can help dispel the loneliness that often accompanies consulting, particularly for solos.

Most technical professions (medicine, law, accounting, engineering) have well established organizations. They may be national, or even international. They often host national symposiums where you can meet professional leaders, as well as the ever important vendors.

Don’t overlook the latter. While vendors may not be prospective clients,they can be very effective recommenders. Thus, it is usually in your best interest to cultivate contacts among the vendors serving your profession. Finally, as salespeople, most are friendly and gregarious — I’ve always enjoyed time spent with vendors.

Professional organizations exist for general business, too. Many focus on specific disciplines (sales, marketing, purchasing, etc.) Like the technical professionals, they often host national symposiums with presentations by business thought leaders.

While one can become active at the national level in either type of organization, your immediate efforts may be better spent at the local level. The reason — less politics, and more direct contact with actual potential clients. This is particularly helpful if you are targeting a geographical area, such as your own backyard.

We’ve had very good results with this strategy. Here are two examples:

• When we started out, we volunteered to edit a regional newsletter for our professional organization when the position vacated.  As it was a bit of work, the local leaders were happy to have some new volunteers.

• In addition to editing the newsletter, one of us needed to attend monthly board meetings.  What a great way to network! When our local power utility had a serious interference problem, one of the board members immediately recommended us. Why? To her, we were a known and trusted consulting firm.

• When I moved to Phoenix, the local professional chapter had been inactive for many years. A colleague and I decided to reactivate it, and hosted a couple of meetings at a Mexican restaurant –always popular in Arizona. We were soon joined by a third “conspirator”, and the chapter was off and running.

• We are still active many years later. Not only has this affiliation resulted in several significant projects over the years, but I also made several new friends through our common technical interests.

The best part of all this is that you can begin doing this today. Furthermore, your employer will not be threatened or upset, but will likely be delighted by your initiative. And even if you never make the JumpToConsulting, the professional contacts you make through your professional organization will only help your career.

Finally, you’ll be doing some good. As my father always said, “Cast your bread upon the waters…”  To receive, you first must give.

PS – Posts may be sparse over the next month, due both to business and a medical issue with a hand that needs to heal.  Hope to pick up the pace again in May.

© 2011 – 2020, https:. All rights reserved.

Newsletters are effective lead generators when you already have a list of  past business contacts. What? You don’t have a list? Well, I guess we need to talk about that real soon. Until then, read on.

Newsletters are a great way to stay in touch, and to remind people you are in business. They are particularly useful when clients need you on an occasional basis. In those cases, you want to be top of mind when the next need arises.

Newsletters can be printed, digital, or both. Most are short, typically 1-4  pages. For printed newsletters, the format is often fixed, while digital newsletters are more flexible. Digital versions,  of course, are cheaper as they have virtually no printing or distribution costs.

As a result, digital newsletters are very popular, and are often used as list bait on blogs and web sites. This can be effective in further developing your list. The key to success is to make sure your newsletter is newsworthy for your readers.

If  you don’t feel up to publishing your own newsletter, prepared ones can be purchased. For example, my accountant sends a newsletter with general business and financial tips. He does not write it, but his name and company information appear on the masthead.

Incidentally, my accountant’s newsletter is printed. I like that, as I can take it with me and read it on the next flight to somewhere. After I’m done, I often pass it along to others. Of course, his name gets passed along as well. No, print media is NOT dead.

Here is my own newsletter story. After about two years in business, we realized we needed a way to keep in touch with our existing clients in a proactive way. So we started a newsletter for our friends, clients, and colleagues. Since this was pre-Internet, the newsletter was printed.

We decided to publish it four times a year. The pleasant surprise was that every time it hit the streets, the phone would  ring with a new job  or two. The newsletter was actually paying for itself! How great is that?

Over twenty years later, we still publish it, but now only twice a year. We eventually went electronic, giving readers the option to receive it by snail mail. The current split is about 50/50, so don’t dismiss printed versions. Although a bit expensive, we feel it is worth it.

We experimented with format, and settled on a formula. That made it easier to write, as we now just  “fill in the blanks.”  We decided on four pages.

Click here  to see archived past copies – great for credibility!

• Front page – Short introduction, upcoming industry events, and a paragraph or two on some item of interest, often about our services.

• Pages 2 and 3 – First, a focus article, much like a blog post. Second, brief items of interest such as a book review or perhaps a client question (sanitized of course.) Third, some tidbits (Bullets) and finally, some “engineering humor”.

• Page 4 – Summary of our services, contact information, and a copy of a business card advertisement we run in the technical magazines. As the newsletter is folded, half of page 4 is for addressing.

Finally, you don’t need to wait to try a newsletter. As mentioned other places, I started two newsletters as a Sales Engineer in the big-corporate world. Both were targeted at my customers, who liked them and gave me positive feedback. They also let me work out the kinks for my consulting newsletter.

As an aside, when I offered these newsletters to our corporate marketers, they were rejected. Both cases of NIH (not invented here), I suppose. But that also reinforced my belief that most big company marketers are not entrepreneurs, and often do not fully understand the sales process. One of the reasons I made my JumpToConsulting.

Not to be too harsh, but if you are with a big company, you may want to divest yourself of many of your big company ideas before you make your JumpToConsulting.

Questions or comments?  I’d love to hear from you.

© 2011 – 2016, https:. All rights reserved.

A blog can be an effective way to generate leads, particularly if you enjoy writing and are willing to do so on a regular basis.  A well written blog also enhances your credibility and visibility. But the best reasons for starting is business blog are that you can do so immediately — and even at no cost!

Thanks to services like Blogger and WordPress, you can be on the air within minutes. No need for web designers or Internet hosting when starting out. Sure, as your blog grows, you may want to upscale and have your own URL, but there is no reason that you can not start blogging right now.

Don’t expect immediate results — it takes time to develop a following. While a published magazine article will reach thousands right away, it will much longer to reach that many readers with a new blog. Most successful business bloggers were at it for several years before things really took off. But when they did…

A well written blog, however, often leads to magazine articles (both digital and print) giving you wide exposure. Editors are constantly on the prowl for good content, so your blog is also an on-line portfolio. Don’t be surprised to be invited to contribute to leading magazines. You can even recycle your posts — most editors today no longer insist on original unpublished content.

Here are three examples from right in my own backyard in Arizona:

Escape from Cubicle Nation. Pam Slim started blogging about six years ago. As a new mom and a successful training consultant, she wanted to spend less time on the road, so she decided explore “life coaching.”  It took a while, but her blog led to guest postings and magazine articles. Those eventually led to her best selling book. (Click Here)

StartUp Processionals. Marty Zwilling started blogging about two years ago. As a recent retiree and successful serial entrepreneur, he wanted to share his experience and help others just starting out. In less than two years, his blog led to articles in the Wall Street Journal and Forbes, where he now has a regular column. He just published an excellent book for entrepreneurs. (Click Here.)

EMI-GURU. In addition to JumpToConsulting, two months ago I added a blog to my engineering consulting web site. I then explored mirroring the blog on a leading technical magazine. They added it to their blogroll, but just asked if I would consider being a columnist instead, using the same materials. Honored, I said yes.  (Click Here.)

What about blogs versus web-sites? I recommend both for consultants. While a blog is dynamic,  a web site is static. The latter is important for details like your capabilities, biography, etc.  Thanks to static pages, platforms like WordPress even lets you combine the best of both worlds. For a simple web site, this can work quite well.

As your blog or business grows, you’ll eventually want to consult with a web designer. Good news — the content is not lost. You can always import the contents of your old blog into a new one. We’ll explore web sites in a future post.

So where do I start? There are dozens of  books and blogs with advice on blogging. Here are three I have found particularly useful:

ProBlogger – Darren Rowse blogs from Australia to a worldwide following. He started out blogging about photography, but it grew into a blogging mini-empire. He sells an excellent e-book — 31 Days to Building a Better Blog. About $20.

Art of Non Conformity – Chris Gullibeau shares his blogging experiences in another excellent e-book — 279 Days to Overnight Success. FREE.

Geeks on Tour – Jim and Chris Guld tour the country in their RV helping fellow RVers (mostly retirees) understand and use all the neat stuff on the Internet.  Join them for $39/year and have access to their library of simple video tutorials. They will show you how you can begin blogging with Blogger in under an hour.

So, if you are thinking about making the JumpToConsulting, start thinking about how to use a blog as a marketing tool. Setting one up is easy (and can be free), but you need to feed it good content on a regular basis to make it a success.

See you in the blogoshpere!

© 2011, https:. All rights reserved.