Marketing Your Consulting Services.pdf - epiheirimatikotita.gr

THE ABCs OF MARKETING
So what’s a consultant to do? Well, unlike the consultants that you heard about at
the beginning of the chapter, you do not wait until your business is in trouble to
market—after you’ve lost your key client, after your sponsor has left the company,
or after the market goes south. You must plan ahead. You must have a marketing
plan in place.
Must it be a time-consuming, difficult process? The answer is “no.” It can be
as easy as ABC. To be successful you must have assessed your situation, built a
client base, and contacted potential clients. I call these the ABCs of Marketing.
With these in place you will safeguard yourself against the potential perils of owning
your own business.
Let me introduce each of the ABCs here, as shown in Figure 1.1. Following this
chapter, the book is organized in four parts. The first three sections correspond
to the ABCs of marketing and will expand beyond the description I provide here.
They will also present practical implementation plans for each phase. The fourth
part of the book introduces additional support.
C
Contact
Potential Clients
Figure 1.1. Marketing ABCs
A
Assess
the Situation
B
Build a Potential
Client Base
Marketing: What’s It All About? 11