A “side hustle” is a great way to try out consulting, without having to leave your day job. That is exactly what how my late business partner and I started our engineering consulting firm almost 40 years ago. Read about our side hustle here.

As such, it is a pleasure to share a brand new resource – Side Hustle School – by Chris Gullibeau. Starting January 1 this year, Chris will deliver a brief podcast every day (for 365 days) with ideas, encouragement, and and success stories. Best of all, it is FREE!

If you are hungry for more from Chris, he will be taking Side Hustle School LIVE on the road to selected cities. For a nominal fee, you can spend a couple of hours with this delightful and very successful entrepreneur.

Or for more FREE ideas, visit his long running blog The Art of Non-Conformity.  

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Chris several times. He and my fellow Arizonan Pamela Slim are two of my favorite Internet people. Chris and Pam stand out for their integrity and passion to help others — particularly those wanting to make their work lives meaningful and rewarding.

Here is some more background on Chris:

• Author (The Art of Nonconformity, The $100 Startup, and Born For This)
• Long time blogger at The Art of Nonconformity
• Founder of the annual World Domination Summit now in its seventh year
• Volunteer for several years on a hospital ship in Africa
• Visitor to EVERY country in the world by age 35

By his own admission, Chris is unemployable, and always has been. He had a head start on me — I didn’t become unemployable until I made my full time JumpToConsulting in 1987.

But that jump started years before with my own personal side hustle!

P.S. Full Disclosure — I get NOTHING from Chris for posting this, other than the satisfaction of sharing this great resource. Listen, learn, and enjoy!

© 2017, https:. All rights reserved.

Pamela Slim’s second book nicely complements her first book (Escape From Cubicle Nation), and it greatly enhances her own personal Body of Work.

If you’ve been reading my blog, you already know I’m already big fan of Pam – blogger, career coach, and fellow Arizona desert dweller. Plus her husband is Darryl – how could you NOT like somebody married to another Daryl? 🙂

Her first book focused on making the jump to small business. But unlike most business books, she also addressed the emotional side of starting a business – the fear, uncertainty, and even how to tell your spouse and/or family what you really want to do.

Her second book examines at a much wider range of career options – as entrepreneurs, corporate employees, non-profits, and more. The focus here is on finding your own way and creating your own story.

As Guy Kawsaksi says, “”Pam Slim shows you how to thrive by building a body of work out of your experiences, knowledge, and accomplishments… (leading to) fulfillment, joy, and inner peace.”

But it is more than philosophy and touching success stories. The book also includes work sheets and exercises to help you figure out how to develop your own personal body of work. (Nicely complements the classic What Color Is Your Parachute?)  Good nuts and bolts stuff from an accomplished author and career coach!

Body of Work, by Pamela Slim
Potfolio/Penguin – 2013 – ISBN 978-1591846192
www.escapefromcubiclenation.com

P.S. After reading Pam’s new book, I reflected on my own Body of Work. Or more precisely, Bodies of Work.

Body of Work I represents my engineering career – at least the past 30+ years as a consulting engineer. It includes writing three technical books and over 200 technical articles (co-authored with my business partner), training over 10,000 engineers, and solving/preventing hundreds of engineering problems.

All aimed at improving electronic products and systems across a wide range of industries. As I look back on my consulting career, it is very satisfying.

Body of Work II represents the JumpToConsulting project – still very much a work in progress. The blog continues to grow, and plans are in place to share more information/ideas in more ways with those interested in starting/building/managing a professional consulting practice.

I’ve already been privileged to help several aspiring consultants begin their journey into the wacky world of consulting. That too is very satisfying-and thanks for riding along!

© 2014, https:. All rights reserved.

Been a while since I did a resource review. For this month, I’ve selected the Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. It seems appropriate, since happiness (as in job/career satisfaction )is a common goal for those making a JumpToConsulting.

Recently picked this book up at the Omaha airport (Go Huskers…) Although vaguely aware of the book and her accompanying blog, I’d never read her materials. What a pleasant surprise! And a bit inspiring too, as it got me off the dime regarding what I wanted to focus on next.

A successful writer with a loving family, Gretchen was already reasonably happy. But one day (while riding a bus) she had an epiphany summarized as “The days are long, but the years are short.” Was life passing her by, and was she enjoying the journey as much of it as she could?

So, she initiated the Happiness Project, a year long effort which she documented in a blog and later as a book. To avoid being overwhelmed, she picked twelve topics and focused on one topic per month. Certainly better than making twelve New Year’s Resolutions and giving up by mid-February.

She measured and recorded her progress, using Benjamin Franklin’s methods as a model. Equally important, she supplemented her personal experiments with in-depth research. This ranged from modern psychology to the wisdom of the ancients.

The result — a delightful and thought provoking journey of self discovery, with a range of  ideas we can all put into place as applicable. Two that resonated with me were “Do what you TRULY like, not what you think you should like,” and “Be Yourself.”

Both good advice if/when you make your own JumpToConsulting.

The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin
Harper, 2009
ISBN-10: 0061583251
ISBN-13: 978-0061583254
www.happiness-project.com

PS – Gretchen just released a sequel titled Happier at Home. Haven’t read it yet but plan to soon.

© 2012, https:. All rights reserved.

Chris Guillebeau’s latest book (The $100 Startup) contains a wealth of information for anybody considering the jump to ANY small business (not just consulting.) It is a mix of inspiration and real-world examples backed up with proven business advice.

This is Chris’s second book. The first, the Art of Nonconformity, encourages people to follow their passions and live their lives with gusto. But it is not just talk — Chris actually lives that way.  In addition to starting several successful businesses along with a very successful blog, he is but a few countries from personally visiting EVERY country in the world. All this at under 35 years old!

The $100 Startup, however, is not about Chris nor his latest adventures, but is based on real business research. This book details 50 case studies on successful micro-businesses started from modest investments (many under $100.) The case studies were derived from a survey Chris conducted of over 1500 people who, like Chris, have built businesses earning $50,000 year or more. (Yes, some were even consultants.)

In addition to the success stories, the book is loaded with useful charts, checklists, and other tools to help you start your own business. All practical nuts and bolts stuff. The stories or tools alone would make the book worthwhile, but couple those with his insights and advice, and you have a winner.

Two thumbs up! (Enjoyed is so much, I actually read it through twice.)

The $100 Startup, by Chris Guillebeau
Crown Business, 2012  (Available May 8, 2012)
ISBN 978-0-307-95132-6
book website: 100startup.com
blog website: chrisguillebeau.com/3×5/

P.S. – Chris  does address consulting in his book, and even includes an Instant Consultant Biz template (pages 43-44), which is also available for download.

© 2012, https:. All rights reserved.

Here are four web sites that specialize in consulting which you may find useful. I’m sure there are more — please let me know if you have favorites to share.

–Summit Consulting Group – www.summitconsulting.com– Alan Weiss, Ph.D. – Focus on taking successful practices to the next level. Strong emphasis on management/business consulting. Dr. Weiss is the author of Million Dollar Consulting (see my review) plus over thirty other books on consulting issues.

This content rich web site includes a blog, free newsletters, forums, and much more. Wide range of products/services ranging from books to workshops/seminars and personal mentoring.

A product I’ve enjoyed this past year is the Friday Wrap, a weekly 15 minute audio program supplemented with a monthly video. I consider it a weekly tonic on the business of consulting.

–Rain Today – http://www.raintoday.com/ – Michael Schultz and John Doerr – Focus on sales/marketing of professional practices, both management and technical. Appear to be expanding their reach beyond consulting, as they recently added a sales/marketing program for business entrepeneurs. Schultz and Doerr are the authors of Rain Making Conversations (see my review).

Web site is membership based, with some free articles from a wide range of authors, but a lot more information for members. The latter include webinars, case studies, and more. They also offer a detailed class on selling professional services, plus research reports.

I belong to their membership site, plus attended the on-line sales class for consultants. Found it useful and got some new ideas. The class was an on-line version of their popular two day live class.

–Business Consulting Buzz – http://www.consulting-business.com/ – Michael and Sam Zipursky – Recently stumbled across this web site, although it has been around for several years. Focus on business/management consulting for both beginners and existing practitioners.

Products/services are primarily on-line, and includes an introductory course/workbook for a nominal price. I recently purchased their series of audio interviews of successful consultants and found them useful and interesting.

–Jumptoconsulting – https://www.jumptoconsulting.com – Yours Truly – Focus on starting a consulting practice, with an emphasis on “geeks and boomers”. As a consulting engineer and a baby-boomer, these are two demographic groups to which I belong.

About to complete my first year of this blog. No current products, but some plans are brewing. Stay tuned…

Took a break… If you have been following this blog, you noticed a lack of activity this past month. The schedule got busy between business commitments and a road trip, but the dust is finally starting to settle. Been busy writing, however — a technical blog, a magazine article, and soon another company newsletter. Still, hope to be able to dedicate more time here.

Thanks… Appreciate those who have contacted me regarding the JumpToConsulting project, and am glad to know you’re finding it useful. Please keep me posted on your progress, and Happy Thanksgiving to all!

© 2011, https:. All rights reserved.

For this month,  I’ve selected What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard Bolles.

Updated almost every year since it was first written in 1970, this is often recognized as the Bible of job hunting. The analogy is certainly appropriate, as the author is an ordained Episcopalian priest.

The catalyst for writing the book was his own job loss in the 1960s. Rev. Bolles soon landed on his feet with another job, which included counseling campus ministers looking for jobs. To facilitate those efforts, he did some research and wrote a guide he initially distributed free of charge. But the guide caught on, and to date, the book has sold over 10 million copies!

Although focused on finding a new job, the book also addresses changing your career. The book contains a number of exercises that should be useful to anyone considering the JumpToConsulting. Things like where would you like to live, what would you really like to do, etc.

He even includes a chapter on starting your own business.  No fluff, either, just lots of “nuts and bolts” advice.  All delivered in a manner you might expect from a caring pastor.

In 1978, he wrote a companion book,  The Three Boxes of Life and How to Get Out of Them: An Introduction to Life-Work Planning. Since then he has added another dozen or so to his arsenal.

Rev. Bolles also has a web site, and he periodically offers a five day workshop at his home in the San Francisco Bay area. At 82 years young, he is still going strong.

Although I’ve not met Rev. Bolles, I am an avid and grateful fan. His book certainly came in handy when I lost my job in 1982, and later when I finally got serious about making my own JumpToConsulting.

What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard Bolles – Ten Speed Press, 2011
ISBN 158008267X
www.jobhuntersbible.com

Update: It is with regret I report that Rev. Bolles passed away in 2017 at 90.  But his legacy lives on… 

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

This resource review covers three books by best selling author Guy Kawasaki.

The original intent was to review his latest book, Enchantment. But after reading it, I decided to include two more books: The Art of the Start, and Reality Check. These three nicely combine both the practice and the philosophy of starting businesses.  They are recommended for anyone contemplating a business — consulting or otherwise.

Guy is an entrepreneur supreme. He started as a technology evangelist at Apple, and was very instrumental in the success of the Macintosh. Later he co-founded Alltop.com (an on-line magazine rack) and Garage Technology Ventures (a venture capital fund.) Along the way, he wrote ten books. In his spare time (???), he plays hockey and enjoys life with his wife and four children.

Guy also graciously shares his insights and experiences. When I mentioned him in a previous blog post, he responded with an offer of his new book, Enchantment, just hot off the press. When it arrived, I couldn’t put it down — it was truly enchanting!

Having already read Reality Check, I then decided it was time to read the Art of the Start too.  It had been on my “To Read” list for a while anyway. Glad I did. Here are my comments on the three books:

• Enchantment is about changing hearts and minds to create an affinity for your products or services. The early chapters address issues such as likeability and trustworthiness, followed by chapters with practical marketing information. Finally, you don’t need to be on our own — he even includes a chapter on enchanting you boss — and more. A quick and worthwhile read.

• The Art of the Start is a practical guide for anyone who wants to start anything. While the sections on pitching and raising capital are not directly applicable to consulting startups, the details on branding and rainmaking are very relevant. Good business advice for any small business.
  

• Reality Check focuses on critical strategies for startups, with chapters on innovation, marketing, selling, communicating, competing, and even beguiling. While much of the focus in on product firms, the lessons are applicable to service firms too. Almost 500 pages of great stuff.
  

As you may have noted, his books are aimed at small business startups in general, not service firms in particular. The details on marketing and sales, however, are invaluable for anyone  considering a JumpToConsulting. Remember, this is the Guy who put the Macintosh on the map against some pretty stiff odds.

Guy also shares his expertise on line through his blog at the AMEX Open Forum. Visit his home page at www.guykawasaki.com for a link to his blog and other resources. I’ve not met Guy, but certainly look forward to meeting him in the future.

All three books by Guy Kawasaki:
-Enchantment – 2011- Portfolio/Penguin – ISBN 978-1-59184-379-5
-The Art of the Start – 2004 – Portfolio/Penguin – ISBN 1-59184-05602
-Reality Check – 2008 – Portfolio/Penguin – ISBN 978-1-59184-394-8
www.guykawasaki.com

© 2011, https:. All rights reserved.

For this month’s resource review, I’ve selected Rainmaking Conversations by Mike Schultz and John Doerr. This brand new book describes a sales approach based on their proven RAIN sales model. Well written, this book should be on every consultant’s bookshelf (after reading it, of course.)

The authors are co-founders of the Rain Group, a sales training and sales performance improvement company. Their customers include professional service firms and other companies that sell complex products and services (technology, pharma, medical devices, etc.)

As such, they certainly understand the unique challenges of selling intangibles like consulting. They also co-authored Professional Services Marketing, which nicely complements Rainmaking Conversations.

Incidentally, if you are brand new to consulting, rainmakers are those who generate new business. In large firms, a few rainmakers often bring in most of the business for everyone to work on. In a small practice, however, everyone needs to be a rainmaker!

This book uses their RAIN model that shows you how to:

• Build trust right from the first contact (R – Rapport)
• Uncover both problems and dreams (A – Afflictions/Aspirations)
• Make the economic case for purchase (I – Impact)
• Paint a vivid word picture for the future (N – New reality)

The book emphasizes sales conversations, not manipulation. In short, selling consulting should NOT be like selling a used car — but rather like talking to a friend or colleague. When placed in that context, selling consulting services can even become enjoyable. (It is for me…)

In addition to the books, the Rain Group has a strong on-line presence. They host a couple of free blogs and a fee based membership web site . The latter offers numerous reports, white papers, webinars, podcasts, and other useful resources. The current annual fee is $299, and is well worth it.

The Rain Group also offers a two day seminar based on the RAIN sales model. Last year, they turned their popular seminar into an on-line class, complete with forums and monthly workshops.  If you like the book, you may want to consider their on-line program for even more depth.

One caveat for geeks – the book focuses on business consulting rather than technical consulting. As such, RFPs (Requests For Proposals) are not covered.  RFPs are often mandatory for technical consultants (like engineers and architects) who deal with government agencies (local, state, and federal.) Certainly not a show stopper — the rest of the material is excellent.

I recently met Mike Schultz (loved the bald head), and have been a RainToday member for a year. I also took their on-line selling class and enjoyed it. After 23 years of consulting and 10 years in high tech sales and marketing, I still picked up some useful ideas.

The books and other services by the Rain Group are highly recommended.

Rainmaking Conversations by Mike Schultz & John Doerr
John Wiley & Sons, 2011 – ISBN-978-0-470-92223-1
RainToday.com –  RainMaker Blog – Rain Selling Blog

© 2011, https:. All rights reserved.

For this month’s resource review, I’ve selected Million Dollar Consulting by Dr. Alan Weiss. Having now written 32 books on the subject, Alan Weiss is no doubt a guru on consulting. Anyone considering consulting should read what he has to say.

His materials are based on his own experiences of starting and running an international management and organizational development firm. As the book title implies, he has consistently produced over over $1 million/year in revenues. Although his background is in management consulting, his sound advice applies to all types of consulting.

The book contains an abundance of ideas. The focus is on helping existing consultants take their practice to the next level, but he includes advice for beginners too. Be sure and get the latest version (2009), as he has a added new and pertinent information.

In recent years, he started several mentoring programs, such as his Consulting College and other workshops and seminars. Most appear to be aimed at established consultants, so they may not be of immediate interest to those contemplating a Jump To Consulting. The book, however, is an excellent place to start.

I’ve not met Alan Weiss, but I have read several of his books and have followed his blog for the past year. I just recently subscribed to his weekly Friday Wrap series of podcasts and videocasts. Like a good Dutch Uncle, his style can be blunt. I find his ideas useful and thought provoking.

Million Dollar Consulting by Dr. Alan Weiss.
McGraw Hill, 2009  – ISBN-10:0071622101
www.summitconsulting.com & www.contrarianconsulting.com

© 2011, https:. All rights reserved.

For my second resource review, I’ve selected Shenson on Consulting by the late Howard L. Shenson. For over 20 years (mid-1970s to mid-1990s) Howard Shenson wrote books, published newsletters, and conducted seminars that focused on beginning consultants. Before he suddenly passed away in 1994, he was known as the “consultant’s consultant.”

Howard’s materials were based on his experiences with his own individual and group consulting practices.  His background was in marketing, and as a result, he was very strong in that area. He was also very pragmatic.

Instead of  big company techniques like advertising, Howard emphasized methods that at the time were non-traditional — seminars, newsletters, trade journal articles, etc. He focused on niche markets, almost always a good strategy for small businesses.

I first met Howard at a consulting seminar he held in Minneapolis in 1978. At that time, I was just starting to explore consulting. His short seminar reshaped my thinking, and started me on my journey.  I consider him my original consulting mentor.

I’ve used many of his ideas with good success. Even though it may be dated, I feel anything written by Howard Shenson is still worth reading today.

Shenson on Consulting, by Howard L. Shenson. Published by Wiley, 1994. ISBN 0-471-00925-3.  (No web site.)

© 2011, https:. All rights reserved.