Marketing tips for consultants

Becoming a consultant can be as easy as hanging your own shingle, calling some colleagues to see if you can use the services and put together a contract. But what happens when you run out of colleagues and their projects have dried up? This is a question that asks me every day from consultants who are not only more but those who have been in play for a long period of time. Marketing consultants seem to be very cyclical, when there is plenty of work, then the marketing stops there is no time to get it done. When work is finished, it is a mad rush to try not to spend too much money to still be effective. Unfortunately, being Penny Wise, the consultant may be missing out on a number of excellent opportunities.

The best way to market for consultants is to do it on a regular basis. This is not rocket science, is, however, a matter of being consistent and making a habit of marketing efforts. The best scenario for each consultant is to book for more than 6 months in advance. You may wonder why is it that some consultants are able to do so effectively, while others have periods of drought that can last for months. Those who have dry periods tend to blame everything including the economy, the group membership, to any external source, when in reality only blame themselves.

In reality, the economy plays an important role on how a consultant as well as people who are fired from their jobs and company come into this profession destroy the credibility of legitimate consultant. They tend to lower their prices as they are hungry and there always seems to be so many of them. As a consultant, you can remove a large amount of this type of problem by putting together a marketing plan that extends over your fiscal year. Any marketing plan requires actions that are performed every day or a week minimum.

A typical marketing plan will include going to networking events, writing some articles for newspapers or magazines, to go out and do some evening or lunchtime talks. Whatever you choose, it must be visible and you must show your experience. It happens this effort? Yes, it does, but the rewards are a full pipeline and those peaks and valleys typical of the consultant are minimized.

The problem with most of the consultants is that they usually do not have the marketing skills to put together a plan that will maximize the dollars spent. This is when you should speak with a marketing consultant or someone who can help you put together a plan that is customized to their niche. As a consultant, I help clients put together a plan and a budget to execute the plan, plus a series of action steps. And 'the action steps that are key to make the plan work. So now it's time to start planning, spending, and putting together the action steps....