Marketing Your Consulting Services.pdf - epiheirimatikotita.gr

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252 3. Share the load. Find someone to partner with. We already mentioned partnering to sponsor an item for a conference. But you can partner in other ways as well. You could co-sponsor an ad or put a brochure together. I partnered with someone else when we wanted to send a direct mail piece to announce our books. We shared mailing lists and split the cost of the printing and mailing in half. 4. Hire cheap labor. Use college students to assist you with everything from doing your market research and developing your marketing plan to designing your website and packing and mailing a direct mail piece. 5. Get your name in print. Write your own public relations articles. Compose a letter to the editor. You can figure out how to obtain that free publicity. 6. Send a freebie. Create a handout of tips. No matter what your specialty, you can identify ten things that would help most of us. If you are an accountant, “Ten Tips to Organize for the Tax Season.” If you are a time management consultant, “Ten Tips to Organize Your Office.” If you are a computer consultant, “Ten Tips to Buying Your Next Computer.” Send your tips to your clients. These tips will help to establish your credibility, and clients are likely to keep them around. They are practically free! 7. Attend a free marketing seminar in your area sponsored by SCORE or SBA or other nonprofit and government organizations. 8. Give a cheap thrill. Write thank-you notes to everyone for everything. The personal note is quickly becoming a lost art. You will be a phenomenon. 9. Write. Take stamps and a stack of client labels on your next vacation. Send your clients quick notes on postcards from your vacation spot. 10. Speak up. Find a way to be interviewed on television or radio. You will find many more ideas in The Business of Consulting and Marketing Your Services: For People Who Hate to Sell. MAKE MONEY MARKETING Marketing is the vehicle to place you and your business in front of potential clients to ensure that work (and money) come through the door. But did you ever consider that you might be able to make money with your marketing tools? As a consultant Marketing Your Consulting Services
the only time you usually make money is when you are working directly for a client, and usually that also means when you are physically on-site. You spend money and time creating marketing tools, but is there a possibility that they could also be sold to make money? Consider the following: Your newsletter could be sold as a subscription. You may already write a newsletter as a marketing tool. People will subscribe to it if they believe it provides valuable information. Your newsletter will succeed if you offer information that is difficult to locate or if you compile it in a way that is useful to your subscribers. This means that you may need to ratchet up the level of sophistication, reliability, and content. It means more work, but it could also mean income. You could become a paid speaker. You may already speak at conferences as one of your marketing tactics. You have many experiences from your consulting work, and perhaps your name can begin to appear on the speaker circuit and you can be paid for these presentations in a different venue. Depending on your expertise, experience, and skills, you could be paid anywhere from $500 to thousands of dollars for one speech. Many companies, clubs, and associations hire speakers for their conferences and special events. If you are interested, contact the National Speakers Association at 480/968-2552 or check their website at www.nsaspeaker.org. You could charge for seminars. If you presently use showcases or demonstrations as a marketing tool, you might ask yourself if these could be expanded to be a full day or two-day workshop or seminar. Advertising to a cold list can be timeconsuming and costly. But if you have a built-in audience with some of your clients, it could be worthwhile to check into this as another marketing tool turned into additional income. You could write a book. You have been writing articles for magazines and journals to ensure that your name is in front of potential clients. Take a look at these articles—even the ones that have not been published. Could they be the beginning of a book? It is rare that you will make a large amount of money on the book unless it is a best-seller. But it will most likely at least cover costs, and it then becomes another marketing tool for you. You could sell a special report. Perhaps you have conducted research and you are using it as leverage to obtain new clients. It could also be a spin-off from an article you wrote, for example, “A Dozen Ways to Increase Your Retail Sales.” If it is valuable enough, clients may pay for it. The price can be as low as $5 or as high as $1,000 or more. Lists, Plans, and Last-Minute Advice: Where’s Your Opportunity? 253
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About Pfeiffer Pfeiffer serves the
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“In her new book, Elaine continue
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“Elaine has done it again—a boo
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Copyright © 2003 by John Wiley & S
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CONTENTS Dedication ix List of Figu
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SEVEN Prospecting in All the Right
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LIST OF FIGURES AND EXHIBITS ONE Fi
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Figure 9.5 Expanding the ABCs: Addi
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xx almost hands-on guidance, she in
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PREFACE It is rare that I am writin
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• I promise to teach you creativi
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One Last Thing I have lots of last-
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xxx Celia Rocks, publicist, thanks
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2 Market Research and Market Plans
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4 receive something to put in a box
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6 it that. Whether you like it or n
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8 add value for your clients? Do yo
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10 6. If your attitude about sellin
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12 A: Assess the Situation Assessin
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14 tools available to you. Try to s
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16 • Start a file of marketing id
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Assess the Situation L part ONE
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22 As mentioned earlier, a marketin
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24 Luick tip . . . Subscribe to the
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26 My customer base suggests that:
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28 Marketing Your Consulting Servic
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30 Luick tip . . . One of the easie
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34 • If you are currently using a
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External Assessment How Do Your Com
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5. How do your competitors’ prici
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Where to Get the Scoop Where can yo
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If you decide that the survey will
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keting, authors Ries and Trout clai
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It doesn’t have to be that diffic
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you are known for and of what you a
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2. Most consultants offer similar s
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54 may start out with a white busin
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56 You may also serve on advisory b
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58 Luick tip . . . If you might use
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60 through your logo. I have had pe
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62 • Produce just enough brochure
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64 Your Bio Sketch If you’ve been
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66 OTHER IMAGE BUILDERS Sometimes t
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Build a Potential Client Base L par
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74 dozens of personal notes, or you
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78 Demonstrations or Showcases Demo
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80 • Once your basic presentation
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82 Considerations: • Select a cau
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84 • Select something that is eas
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86 professions it is appropriate to
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88 Luick tip . . . Three of the mos
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90 Website Your website should be s
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92 • Be sure to check the copyrig
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94 • Be aware of the many variabl
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96 Considerations: • Identify the
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98 Obtaining Information • Reques
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100 “We’re getting ‘around’
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102 reason is so that they will see
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Your Marketing Plan Can You Market
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You could also save time by finding
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Commitment also means that you cont
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What’s the Minimum I Need to Know
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Listen. Listen to whom? Everyone. T
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Exhibit 6.1. Your Marketing Plan, C
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products and services, position, pr
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You need to determine whether you w
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some that require the entire year.
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mail do not work very well for prom
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azine advertising or sponsorships,
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process that ensures you can comple
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one phone call after five months. Y
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Exhibit 6.2. Annual Marketing Plann
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quarter. Contract amount is also li
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6. List your company in free direct
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Prospecting in All the Right Places
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into someone who frankly cannot use
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Exhibit 7.1. Five-Step Prospecting
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Luick tip . . . Examine your mailin
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How can you select another industry
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If you have not conducted this kind
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July 12, 20xx Exhibit 7.4. Sample I
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Letter Mechanics The mechanics of t
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will be in your area next Tuesday o
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How About Results? I enjoy the proc
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tion, a proposed approach, a timeli
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Figure 7.1. Prospecting Is Being a
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Contact Potential Clients L part TH
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164 RAINMAKER? The term rainmaker c
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166 YOU HAVE AN APPOINTMENT—NOW W
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168 Exhibit 8.1. What to Ask Potent
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170 First, it seems too sales-like
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172 for what is working well or for
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174 Ask About Money During first me
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176 • Wrap-up close: Summarize th
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178 After Your Sales Call Follow Up
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180 much will it cost? How long wil
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182 4. The last paragraph of this c
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184 Gerald Weinberg, author of The
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186 do so. The ebb associates visio
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188 service, hot food, and a friend
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190 In Closing As you end your work
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192 One of the most important thing
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194 Individuals at the “take-char
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196 Individuals at the “task-orie
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198 of the styles on both sides of
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200 for someone they met coming in.
Page 234 and 235: 202 tude gives them an upbeat focus
Page 236 and 237: Figure 9.4. Adapt to Your Client’
Page 238 and 239: 206 How Much Time Can Referrals Sav
Page 240 and 241: 208 Build Relationships Figure 9.5.
Page 242 and 243: 210 Exhibit 9.4. Continuously Impro
Page 244 and 245: 212 4. Determine how many of your c
Page 246 and 247: 214 ESTABLISH A WEBSITE What can yo
Page 248 and 249: 216 Your website is the only market
Page 250 and 251: 218 Luick tip . . . If you have wri
Page 252 and 253: 220 MARKETING: TAKE ACTION 1. Visit
Page 255 and 256: Marketing Can It Be Fun? As a consu
Page 257 and 258: Compare and Combine Risk Taking Exp
Page 259 and 260: The year Babe Ruth hit the most hom
Page 261 and 262: Asking “What if?” can be just a
Page 263 and 264: A friend of mine who had never serv
Page 265 and 266: 8. Incubate Remember all those time
Page 267 and 268: Personally I like to sit down with
Page 269 and 270: most were probably unaware that the
Page 271 and 272: Ask What’s Good? and What If? The
Page 273 and 274: The company remembers the first tim
Page 275 and 276: MARKETING AND CREATIVITY: A PERFECT
Page 277: Where to Look for New Ideas Sometim
Page 280 and 281: 248 Do Things Differently Marketing
Page 282 and 283: 250 Marketing Your Consulting Servi
Page 286 and 287: 254 ebb’s THIRTEEN TRUTHS I intro
Page 288 and 289: 256 for your clients, you will see
Page 290 and 291: 258 red to connote power, or making
Page 292 and 293: 260 • Research by September 10
Page 294 and 295: 262 September 30-November 5 • Wor
Page 296 and 297: 264 Goal: Bring in Six New Clients
Page 298 and 299: 266 Now read the letters a second t
Page 301 and 302: READING LIST Beckwith, H. (1997). S
Page 303 and 304: INDEX A ABCs of marketing: descript
Page 305 and 306: your client’s, 153; marketing pla
Page 307 and 308: Learning International, 239 Learnin
Page 309 and 310: Out-of-town clients, 179-180 The Ov
Page 311: 179-180; rainmaker concept of, 163-
Page 314 and 315: 282 Newport News Shipbuilding, Kohl
Page 316 and 317: • Participant’s workbook Contai
Page 318: MODEL A graphic depiction of a syst
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