Michael Zipursky
Start as a Specialist, Not a Generalist Ask yourself what it is that you do significantly better than most people. What is your area of expertise? What do people ask your advice and opinion about? Whatever that is, that’s the area of consulting you should be in.
A better approach is to specialize. For example, I specialize in working with consultants to help them develop marketing systems that consistently attract their ideal clients, increase their fees, and win more proposals.
What I can tell you is, without a doubt, specializing and focusing your services is the way to go. Clients want to hire someone when they have a specific need, and if you can position yourself to fill that need with your specialization, you’re more likely to get the job. Choose one area that you can specialize in and make that the focus of your efforts. Your website and marketing materials, even your elevator pitch (I’ll talk more on this later), should communicate your specialty.
Two common ways to specialize are in systems and processes you’ve created or in a specific industry.
Make sure the work you do can be linked to results. By far, this is the most important weapon in a consultant’s arsenal.
Tip: Establish clear and consistent goals with your clients. Make sure they see value in the goal you’ve agreed upon. Also, make it something that you’re confident you can accomplish.
To make the consulting business lucrative, you need to ensure that you’ve shown your clients a clear path for how you will continually help them improve their business and get results. By doing this, your clients become much more valuable to you. Instead of being worth a $3,000 project to you, they are worth $36,000 to you as you work with them over the year.
Take a good look around and see what kind of need exists for the services you offer. Generally, if there are many other consultants in that area, or businesses that offer the kinds of services you do, it means that the market has a lot of opportunity—competition is a good thing.
One powerful way to get your name out there and establish expertise is by answering people’s questions—and doing it for free! As part of your total marketing strategy, answering people’s questions is well worth your time. Social media provides effective ways for you to get out there and communicate your expertise.
Gary hit the wine forums and every relevant website he could find. He answered people’s questions and commented in detailed and thoughtful ways. Guess what happened? People started noticing him. They saw that he knew what he was talking about, and they wanted to know more. He established his credibility, became an authority, and made a name for himself. You can make this work for your business, too. For example, jump in to a LinkedIn or Facebook group and engage with other professionals. Start making a name for yourself.
Checklist: Becoming a Specialist
Checklist: Branding and Your Business
There are several ways you can determine how to set your consulting rates and fees.
A Simple Formula to Help You Set Your Fees Figure out what you want to make per year. If your goal is $80,000, take that number and divide it by the number of hours you have available to work each year.