There is a reason I saved advertising for last — because (IMHO) it is just not that effective for consulting practices — particularly when starting out.

Yet advertising is the first thing many newbies want to try. After all, Proctor & Gamble uses it to sell soap, and General Motors uses it to sell cars. We’re bombarded by ads every day, so it must be the way to go, right?

Two problems with this thinking.  First, you’re selling a service, not a product. Second, you’re a small business with limited resources, not a huge conglomerate with deep pockets. Incidentally, we’ve seen large company refugees struggle with this transition.

So forget about radio/TV, newspapers, and national magazines. While you’re at it, forget about on-line consumer-oriented stuff like AdWords or PayPerClick. Think like a doctor, not like a car dealer.

Nevertheless, some advertising should be in your marketing mix. The secret is to rule out “mass market” advertising, and focus on “niche market” advertising. You’re not trying to build brand awareness for a new toothpaste — rather, you’re trying to attract the right clients to your services.

With that in mind, let’s look at some adverting methods suitable for consulting. They combine focus with direct response. Consider both printed and on-line versions of these methods.

–Space ads – Place small ads in specialty publication read by your potential clients (not necessarily by your peers.) For example, if you are an engineer looking to provide expert witness services, advertise in legal magazines, not engineering magazines.

Unless they are potential clients, avoid academic publications that are read primarily by researchers. We once made this mistake, and all we attracted were inquiries from recently minted PhDs looking for employment.

Example – We run “business card” ads in two specialty publications that serve our niche. Not every issue — usually the annual buyer’s guide and the trade show edition. If we have an article appearing in the magazine, we run a space ad in that issue too.

–Directories – Pick directories that will be checked by potential clients. Some directories are run by magazine publishers, and others by trade/professional/business organizations. Consider both types.

It is usually best to avoid generic directories such as the yellow pages, unless your market is local. When we once ran a yellow page ad, we got inquiries from copier salesmen — but no business leads.

Example – We are listed in several directories, both print and on-line. Some are free, some have a nominal charge. When offered, we pay a premium for highlighted listing.

–Direct mail – Use targeted lists, including your own. Make it response driven. Include an offer for a white paper, newsletter, etc. Avoid fluff letters that sound like press releases. If you don’t have a call to action, don’t mail it.

Consider a mix of e-mail and snail mail. The former works better for high volume and repetition (such as mailing newsletters). The latter works better for low volume messages, and may have a bigger impact. Sometimes a “real” piece of mail stands out. If using e-mail, make sure you are not spamming.

Example – We’ve used targeted direct snail-mail for 20 years for our classes. Some years we’ve sent out over 100,000 mail pieces. The is not cheap. Years ago the response rate was 1-2%, but has since dropped lower, so make sure it is worth it. While e-mail may be cheaper, our response rates have been even lower yet.

Finally, consider advertising “air support” for your other marketing efforts — NOT your primary method for lead generation. Don’t put all your lead-generating eggs in the advertising basket!

P.S. This concludes the series on “20 Ways to Generate Leads.”  The next series will be “Seven Steps in Selling,” with a focus on selling consulting services.

© 2014, https:. All rights reserved.

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 your name out there all year. I’ve been the recipient of desk planners and pocket planners, and appreciated them both. And when using them, I was always favorably reminded of the calendar donor.

While we’ve not given out calendars ourselves, we have used two other gimmicks with success. Both are useful, and one even includes a bit of humor. Neither is expensive, and both are keepers — having a much longer potential life than calendars.

Useful Bits of Information (UBI) – This is a three fold mini-brochure that fits a shirt pocket. The inside panels contain several tables of engineering information relevant to our business, while the outside panels brief descriptions of our services and backgrounds. Most important — both sides contain our full contact information.

Our fellow engineers love stuff like this (and we do too.) While our business cards may get tossed, UBI may be saved for years. If/when a need for our help arises, the contact information is readily available — including our toll free 800 number.

UBI was conceived many years ago as an inexpensive handout for talk at a trade show. When people began stopping us in the halls to get their own copy of UBI, we knew we had a winner. We now hand these out with our business cards, and also in our classes.

To date, several thousand UBIs are out there, silently marketing our services while helping our engineering colleagues.

EMI-GURU Button – This is a two inch metal button one can wear. It is bright red, like the Staples “Easy Button.” Since we were first, we’ve often joked that Staples must have copied US :-).

Our fellow engineers like this too. After all, who doesn’t want to be a guru? Like UBI, the button gets saved. We’ve even seen them pinned on cubicle walls – advertising our services to other engineers at the same time. More silent marketing.

A narrow white border has both our web site (WWW.EMIGURU.COM) and our toll free phone number (1-888-EMI-GURU.) As an aside, ALWAYS include your contact information on ANY marketing materials.

The button was conceived as a handout at a show to announce our website and phone number. Like UBI, we knew we had another winner when people were stopping us in the halls. Appreciating the humor, we even had several of our friendly competitors wearing our button.

Incidentally, the button was instrumental when we trademarked “EMI-GURU”, as it established legal proof of the use of our trademark. Or so our lawyer explained. We also pass out the buttons in our classes, making our students “deputy EMI-GURUs.” Good fun.

So don’t overlook gimmicks, but do make them useful or fun. Most important, they can generate leads when you least expect it!

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“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 (joint projects), or a combination of both. We’ve done all three over the years with success.

-Marketing – Use joint efforts to promote your businesses. These can be simple, like cross referrals on web sites or guest blog posts. They can be more sophisticated, like forming a group to provide cross marketing. An example of the latter is the Forensic Group, a local engineering group in Arizona who help each other as expert witnesses.

-Production – Call in colleagues for help. Maybe you get the huge job, but can’t handle all of it or don’t have all the necessary expertise. A common example is the remodeling contractor. While the contractor may do much of the work, he/she calls in preferred plumbers, electricians, or concrete finishers to take care of special tasks.

-Combo marketing & production – Think temporary  partnerships. That means the relationships don’t need to last forever, but they do need to benefit all parties involved. These are often complimentary businesses, but can even include friendly competitors.

Here are several examples of successful collaborations for us:

• Teamed with TUV Product Service (a local test lab) on a mini-trade show. Started in 1986, the annual Minnesota EMC Event is now 26 years old. It was our fist collaboration, and gave both firms great visibility in our local MN market.

• Teamed with Tektronix (a large test equipment manufacturer) on public training seminars. Started in 1993, this successful partnership is now 20 years old. This gave both firms national visibility in our specialty.

• Teamed with EDN (a major engineering magazine) on a 100 page design guide. Not only did we write all the content, but we helped solicit the advertisers. As a result, it was highly successful for the publisher. And with over 130,000 copies, it gave us worldwide visibility and credibility. The guide eventually became a book, which we now sell on our website and hand out in our classes.

• Teamed with a consulting colleague on a specialty web portal. This turned out to be a poor fit for our consulting businesses, but it was good fit for a magazine publisher who subsequently purchased it. For the publisher, it was a make or buy decision, and we had already done the heavy lifting.

• Most recently teamed with the Applied Technology Institute on a specialty class. ATI specializes in technical training programs for the military/aerospace market. We tailored an existing in-house class for their market, plus they promote our existing public classes. Definitely a win-win for both firms.

Don’t want to mislead you — all of the above involved substantial efforts. Yet they have all paid off rather nicely. As with most marketing efforts, be prepared to a lot of work.

Here are some additional do’s and don’ts on collaboration:

• DO seek a win-win-win – You must benefit, your partner(s) must benefit, and your clients/customers must benefit. The benefits need not be purely financial. Increased visibility alone may justify collaboration, particularly when you are starting out.

• DO get something in writing – We prefer a memo of understanding. You don’t need a formal contract (which may mean lawyers), but you do need to document the relationship and expectations This is particularly true if money is involved — who does what, costs, and profit splits.

• DON’T call up and ask for overflow  business – This is begging, not collaboration. We occasionally get these calls, and frankly find them rather annoying. Bring something to the party first.

Finally, collaboration allows small firms to leverage their strengths and multiply the results. Just make sure there are benefits for everybody!

PS – Fellow Arizona blogger Pam Slim (Escape From Cubicle Nation) offers a nice on-line class on collaboration. Check it out here.

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