Become a Successful Consultant
Become a Successful Consultant
Share Your Expertise for Mutual Profit
About the Book
Is it time for you to become a consultant? You have expertise that potential clients need. However, you might not know how to create a business that will work for you.
In this book, you’ll learn how to:
- Define your success, so you can stay true to your values and create the life you want.
- Create a resilient business model.
- Help your clients discover you through your expertise.
- Write winning proposals with value-based fees.
- Manage the client relationship.
- Create and manage your intellectual property
- Adapt and evolve your business over time.
And much more.
Whether you start now or prepare for the future, you can become a successful consultant.
About the Author
Table of Contents
-
- About this Early Release
- Acknowledgments
-
Part 1: Prepare for Your Success
- 1. Define Consulting
-
2. Define Your Success
- 2.1 See the Benefits of a Successful Consulting Practice
- 2.2 Define Your Why
- 2.3 Who Are Your Ideal Clients?
- 2.4 What Work Will You Choose?
- 2.5 Define Your Personal Values
- 2.6 What Does Success Look Like For You?
- 2.7 Assess Your Attitude
- 2.8 Now Try This to Define Your Success
-
3. Define Your Unique Value
- 3.1 Understand Your Skills
- 3.2 Non-Technical Skills
- 3.3 Inventory Your Skills
- 3.4 Articulate Your Value
- 3.5 Assess Previous Employee Work
- 3.6 Assess Previous Consulting Work
- 3.7 Choose Which Skills To Reinforce
- 3.8 Maintain Your Self-Esteem
- 3.9 Define the Problems You Solve
- 3.10 Now Try This to Recognize Your Value
-
Part 2: Discover and Serve Your Clients for Mutual Profit
-
4. Define Your Business Model
- 4.1 Define Your Consulting Strategy
- 4.2 Define Your Driving Force
- 4.3 Your Expertise Drives Your Business Model
- 4.4 Define Your Products and Services
- 4.5 Offer Products and Services Based on Your Desired Consulting Role
- 4.6 Are You a Contractor or Consultant?
- 4.7 Create Multiple Income Streams for Resilience
- 4.8 Build Resilience into Your Business Model
- 4.9 Assess Your Business Model Over Time
- 4.10 Now Do This for Your Business Model
-
5. Help Clients Discover You
- 5.1 Create Consistent Content
- 5.2 Consistent Content Helps People Remember You
- 5.3 Showcase Your Expertise in Multiple Ways
- 5.4 Your Soaker Hose Requires Consistency
- 5.5 Select Your Mix of Marketing Activities
- 5.6 Consider Active Marketing
- 5.7 Create Your Marketing Plan
- 5.8 Consider This Marketing Plan Template
- 5.9 Social Media Rarely Attracts Clients
- 5.10 Handle Social Media Harassment
- 5.11 Make Time for Consistent Content Marketing
- 5.12 Build Relationships Across Your Network
- 5.13 Now Try This to Create Consistent Content Marketing
-
6. Showcase Your Expertise to Attract Clients
- 6.1 Show Your Expertise in Your Newsletter
- 6.2 Use Your Blog to Attract New Readers
- 6.3 Showcase Expertise in Other Writing
- 6.4 Showcase Your Expertise as a Speaker
- 6.5 Interplay of Speaking, Writing, Consulting
- 6.6 Public Speaking and Writing Makes You an Expert
- 6.7 Write a Bio to Attract Clients
- 6.8 Write Your Bio to Connect
- 6.9 Draft Your First Bio
- 6.10 Now Try This to Showcase Your Expertise
-
7. Build the Client Relationship
- 7.1 Create Empathy with Your Client
- 7.2 Recognize Your Buyer
- 7.3 Learn with a Discovery Call
- 7.4 Explore Possibilities in the Discovery Call
- 7.5 Advise the Client
- 7.6 Gain Agreement Before You Write a Proposal
- 7.7 Explore Alternatives
- 7.8 Decline the Work
- 7.9 Respect the Client
- 7.10 Now Do This for Your Client Relationships
-
8. Create Successful Proposals
- 8.1 Start with This Proposal Template
- 8.2 Use Time as Your Advantage
- 8.3 Fix Common Proposal Problems
- 8.4 Decline the Work When It Doesn’t Fit
- 8.5 Create a Retainer Agreement
- 8.6 Track the Proposal Process
- 8.7 Gain Awareness of Organizational Changes
- 8.8 Only Start Work With a Purchase Order
- 8.9 Now Try This for Proposals
-
9. Set Reasonable Fees
- 9.1 Money Creates Freedom
- 9.2 What’s Your Time Worth to You?
- 9.3 Value Your Time
- 9.4 Value-Based Fees
- 9.5 Higher Fees Mean Better Clients
- 9.6 Set Fees for Writing and Speaking
- 9.7 Negotiate With Companies for Speaking Fees
- 9.8 Now Try This to Set Your Reasonable Fees
-
10. Maintain an Ongoing Client Relationship
- 10.1 The Client Does It Wrong
- 10.2 The Client Has Conflicting Goals
- 10.3 Someone Wants to Change the Engagement
- 10.4 Please Tell Management for Me
- 10.5 You’re Working at the Wrong Level
- 10.6 You Decide to Fire the Client
- 10.7 You Want to Add More Work in This Engagement
- 10.8 Ask for a Referral
- 10.9 Follow Up to Check on Progress
- 10.10 Now Do This to Maintain Your Client Relationships
-
11. Manage Your Intellectual Property
- 11.1 Read All Contracts
- 11.2 Understand Your Property Rights
- 11.3 License Your IP
- 11.4 Repurpose Your Content
- 11.5 Now Try This to Manage Your IP
-
12. Collaborate with Other Consultants
- 12.1 Refer Other Consultants
- 12.2 Write With Other Consultants
- 12.3 Speak With Other Consultants
- 12.4 Deliver Client Work with Others
- 12.5 Create a Partnership for Specific Outcomes
- 12.6 Agree on a Contract
- 12.7 Collaboration Traps
- 12.8 Now Try This for Collaboration
-
4. Define Your Business Model
-
Part 3: Create Work Systems for Success
-
13. Manage Your Money
- 13.1 Understand Cash Flow
- 13.2 Manage Your Income Streams
- 13.3 Track Revenue, Not Units
- 13.4 Write the Checks Yourself
- 13.5 Decide How You Will Pay Yourself
- 13.6 Don’t Let Your Clients Manage Your Money
- 13.7 Evaluate Requests for Your Work
- 13.8 How I Think About Hiring People
- 13.9 Now Try This to Manage Your Money
-
14. Maintain Your Health
- 14.1 Start Your Business with Money Health
- 14.2 Enlist Your Family for Support
- 14.3 Build Your Symmathesy Support System
- 14.4 Plan Your Physical Health
- 14.5 Assess Your Emotional Health
- 14.6 Now Try This to Manage Your Health
-
15. Manage Your Calendar
- 15.1 Manage Your Actions
- 15.2 Work in Short Timeboxes
- 15.3 Manage Unplanned Work
- 15.4 Plan with Your Board and Calendar
- 15.5 Reflect Daily on Your Work
- 15.6 Reflect Weekly on Your Work
- 15.7 Schedule Time to Learn and Market
- 15.8 Now Try This to Manage Your Calendar
-
16. Start Your Business
- 16.1 Define Your Web Presence and Email
- 16.2 Create a Minimum Website
- 16.3 Select an Email List Provider
- 16.4 Start your Social Media Presence
- 16.5 Decide on a Business Phone Number
- 16.6 Open a Business Checking Account
- 16.7 File Appropriate Business Paperwork
- 16.8 Create Your Organized and Comfortable Place of Business
- 16.9 Assess Your Insurance Needs
- 16.10 Use a Printer with Scanner Capabilities
- 16.11 Print Business Cards
- 16.12 Spend as Little as Possible on Infrastructure
- 16.13 Recognize Consulting Business Traps
- 16.14 Now Do This to Start Your Business
-
17. Adapt and Evolve Your Successful Practice
- 17.1 Recession-Proof Your Business
- 17.2 Decide What and When to Change
- 17.3 The Market Decides When You Change
- 17.4 Beware of These Consulting Traps
- 17.5 Trap: You Need to Take Credit for Your Clients’ Successes
- 17.6 Trap: Anyone Can Consult
- 17.7 Trap: You’ll Replace Your Salary Fast
- 17.8 Trap: You Need More Money
- 17.9 Trap: You Work for Money, Not Satisfaction
- 17.10 Trap: You no Longer Respect Your Client’s Problems
- 17.11 Evolve Your Practice Purposefully
- 17.12 Consulting Is Not for You—Yet
- Annotated Bibliography
- More from Johanna
-
13. Manage Your Money
- Notes
About the Publisher
This book is published on Leanpub by Practical Ink
Johanna Rothman's books on leanpub. Practical, frank, and often humorous tips you can put to work right now.
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