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Marketing Your Consulting Business

At this point you should have taken care of the basic necessities of business. You will have decided on a business model, drafted a business plan, secured initial funding, established a work environment, and are now effectively ready to do some business. Now your mission is to find some business.

Even if you have built an ultra efficient state-of-the-art home office, polished your image with the finest of Armani suits, equipped your self with the newest cell phone, PDA and laptop, and drafted the most exemplary of business plans, you are not going to go anywhere in the business world without some entities to do business with.

Establishing your clientele can be the most time consuming and intellectually challenging part of the consultant business. There are many issues and approaches to consider, and like many other challenges in life, there is no one single way to go about it. Everyone will have their own methods for acquiring business that will work well for them, but most businesspeople will agree that taking a multi-tiered or multi-pronged approach is the best way to go about it. That is, don't "put all your eggs in one basket", so to speak, when approaching the marketing issue. To be successful, you will need to do "a little bit of this" and a "little bit of that" as they say.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. Networking. At the onset, this is the absolute most effective element there is to getting new clients for your consultancy, bar none. The old saying "it's not what you know, it's who you know" may not be completely accurate when it boils down to long-term success, but it certainly rings true when beginning a business. You will want to get the word out about your business in an up close and personal manner as soon as possible. TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW that you are starting a business and tell them EVERYTHING ABOUT THAT BUSINESS. Now, of course, the art here will be striking a balance between self-promotion and annoying everyone in your Rolodex (or your PIM client for the tech-set). Start by letting friends and family know what you are up to. Feel free to "practice" on them, as they will be your most forgiving audience.

2. Word of mouth/referrals. Once you have started getting some business rolling in, Word of mouth/referrals is an excellent source of generating more business. Happy clients are bound to want to refer you to other businesses that could use your talents, so be sure to keep your clients happy. Don't hesitate to ask for referrals of your current clients to other individuals and entities that may be benefited by your services. You'll be surprised; some of the most popular marketing campaigns in the history of marketing have been through grassroots, word of mouth campaigns. When Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniack were first starting Apple Computer in their garage in Cupertino, some of the best (and only) marketing they had access to was the word-of-mouth of dozens of satisfied customers who were amazed at the quality of their work, you can make this type of testimonial marketing work for you. One excellent way to maximize from the benefits of this type of marketing is to facilitate communication between your past/current clients to potential clients. For example, if you have a web site for your consultancy, it is a great idea to have a place for your customers to leave feedback that can be publicly on your portfolio page(s). You can also have your clients fill out standardized forms and keep some testimonials on record to how potential clients through a variety of media, including print, TV, web and radio advertisements.

3. Advertising. Although it can be costly in some forms, advertising is perhaps the most common form of marketing and self-promotion. Television ads and full-page spreads in mainstream publications will most likely be out of your reach (unless Donald Trump is funding your consultancy), but there are plenty of other more affordable options out there. Like we have mentioned before, it is all about getting more "bang for your buck", so it will be in your best interest to maximize on your advertising dollar. Advertising in local magazines or the local newspaper can be cost effective when addressing certain demographics. Purchasing a short prime time spot on the radio is another method, but costs several orders of magnitude more than print to get across its message. When done properly, radio can be an awesome advertising vehicle (just ask Howard Stern).

Perhaps the most significant "bang for your buck" outlet for your advertising dollar is the web. Web sites are very affordable (even free if you know what you are doing). A web site is an excellent method of advertising because you can attract many entities on a global scale (a little search engine optimization can garner 1000s of page views a day) and you can reach the widest audience possible (potentially, anyone with an internet connection). Be sure to print up a healthy portion of business card and in addition to land-line telephone, mobile phone and fax numbers make sure the URL (uniform resource locator) for your web site is displayed prominently on the front of the card.

4. Cold Calling. This is usually everyone's least favorite method of marketing. "Cold calling" refers to the practice of calling a company or individual "out of the blue" with the intent to sell them on your services or business. Cold calling is so popular because all you need is a phone book and a telephone. If you are a computer consultant, all you need to do is pick up the phone and call every tech-related company within driving distance and in an attempt to sell them you spiel. It is recommended that you establish a format or basic outline to use for every call. If you find that you have success using a particular method, it's a good idea to make a note of your success so you can apply similar techniques at a later time. The key to cold calling is to be as articulate and as observant as possible. You will need to be able to express your level of skill and talents while simultaneously convincing the person on the other end why they need someone like you.

The goal of a cold call is not to get a job, but rather simply to get your foot in the door. A cold call, which leaves you with any more information than you started with, is a successful cold call. Leaving a cold call with an actual job offer is nearly unheard of. What you are actually aiming for is the opportunity to meet in person with the individual responsible for hiring consultants for the company, but there are a variety of successful outcomes for the cold calling scenario, such as getting more information that you otherwise would not have had (phone numbers or other information regarding potential clients, etc.), or learning more about the organization you are trying to woo into a transaction with you. The more you learn about the particular subject of a cold call, the closer you can get to…

5. Warm Calling. Warm calling is similar to cold calling, but instead of contact completely new entities, you are either re-calling past cold calls that have given you more information regarding their business details, which will afford you an easier time turning a phone conversation into a workable potential client meeting OR you are calling entities for the first time since another third party has given you information regarding the called. So-called "warm" calls are much more desirable that "cold" calls, as the warm variety does not have the same uncomfortable "breaking the ice" factor that you have when doing the coldest of cold calls. Furthermore, if you have more information regarding the business structure of the called party, you have a much better chance of directing your call to individuals in a position to give you business.

6. Volunteer. In the beginning of your consultant career (and, indeed, potentially throughout your career), you may find it necessary and/or useful to give away your talents for free. This can be frustrating, but there are MANY benefits to this approach. For starters, EVERYONE likes to get something for free, and the recipient of your good will is much more likely to pass on a positive reference or otherwise provide free word of mouth advertising. In addition, if you are an advertising or marketing consultant (or, indeed one of many different types), you may use volunteer work as a "portfolio piece" which is another way to draw in more customers. Perhaps most importantly, by working in any capacity, even a free one; you will be exposed to a myriad of potential clientele within the industry of your choice. All things considered, volunteer work - when executed properly - can be a win-win situation.