As my term as president of Women in Consulting comes to an end this week, I find myself reflecting on all the incredible experiences I’ve had throughout the last two years.

We celebrated our 10th anniversary in 2008 with not only a gala event, but a new look & feel for our website and a new blog. In 2009, we expanded our social media presence to include LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

We expanded the reach of our organization, with strong and vibrant satellite groups in San Francisco, the East Bay and North Bay/Marin, as well as the South Bay and Peninsula.

We created a mentoring program and offered workshops to help consultants grow profitable businesses.

We expanded our Leaders Network to provide a venue for seasoned consultants to meet and exchange thoughts and ideas with their peers.

We expanded our profile in the community–partnering with a wide variety of organizations and associations, including the Silicon Valley American Marketing Association, the Association for Strategic Alliance Professionals (ASAP), FountainBlue, Astia, IMC NorCal, NorCAL BMA, and others.

We provided benefits to our community from groups like People OntheGo, SD Forum, Cubes & Crayons, Vertical Response, MarketingProfs, Egnite, WeMeUs, Zoomerang, and PR Newswire. And we continued our partnership with Million Dollar Consultant Alan Weiss and the Society for the Advancement of Consulting.

We held silent auctions to benefit Girls for a Change and collected donations for the Georgia Travis Center in San Jose.

Not only did we offer a top-notch set of outstanding speakers for monthly programs, but we launched teleseminar and webinar programs as well.

We continued to offer outstanding value to members and affiliates through our renowned mail list and other resources.

In fact, through the worst recession in nearly a century, we grew our community to be nearly 500 strong–with our ranks of full members swelling by nearly 40% this year.

And we did all this as an entirely volunteer run organization, with over 100 consultants taking on pro bono consulting roles for WIC.

Why, in a time when many organizations are struggling or even closing their doors, is WIC thriving? Because in addition to everything I’ve already mentioned, one of the most important things WIC provides is a strong, collaborative community–a place where consultants can come to learn as well as to socialize, to build their businesses as well as to connect with colleagues, to share experiences and develop referrals, to grow as individuals as well as part of a bigger whole.

For all of these reasons I feel extremely lucky to have had the privilege of guiding this organization over the last two years. And I feel extremely confident in turning over the reigns to the extremely capable and passionate Avery Horzewski to take WIC to the next level.

Thank you to all of you who are a part of WIC. WIC is community and I am grateful for the opportunity to work with each and every one of you. Here’s to more wonderful WIC happenings in 2010 and beyond!

Many of our members and affiliates know WIC through our virtual offerings: our community, member and off-topic lists, our teleseminars and webinars, etc.

For those of you who haven’t been to one of our regular monthly meetings, here’s a big secret. You’re missing out on one of the best features of WIC.

Monthly meetings are held on the third Thursday of the month, alternating between Quadrus in Menlo Park and Michael’s @ Shoreline in Mountain View, every month except December, when we have our annual gala holiday party at a location to be announced. Check the website for the schedule.

Some people come to these meetings for our outstanding selection of speakers, which in the past has included such favorites as Million Dollar Consultant Alan Weiss, speaking dynamo Patricia Fripp, marketing maven Robert Middleton, speakers on a wide variety of topics like closing business (an important focus!), as well as panels of experts on blogging and social media, corporate clients, and trends in consulting. Then there’s our special Members-Only June meeting, which focuses on the results of our annual Consultant Compensation survey. We always have a capacity crowd for that one.

Others come for the great networking and connection with the WIC community that happens at each meeting. We have both informal and formal networking time, which gives you a chance to meet new people in the WIC community and reconnect with old friends and colleagues.

Still others come for our well-known Silent Auctions, where we offer you the chance to bid on a variety of fun and creative prizes, including food and goodie baskets and unique services. This year we’ll be holding two Silent Auction events: April, at Quadrus, and September, at Michael’s.

WIC members have the option to buy a discounted annual meal pass, which includes 11 dinners, or to pay for only the events they want to attend. Affiliates and guests can purchase a seat for any of our events, except the members-only compensation survey meeting in June and the holiday party in December.

Because I feel so strongly about the value of our monthly meetings, I’m making a special offer to non-WIC members. If you are not already a WIC member and you have not attended a monthly meeting, I’d like to invite you to attend one meeting as my guest.

To take advantage of this offer, email me at linda@popky.com and tell me which meeting you’d like to attend. June and December meetings are available to members only, so you may want to choose to attend  in April and May so that you can consider joining WIC before June.

Hope to see all of you at a WIC meeting soon. Our upcoming speakers are exciting. Check out the website for more details!

Many people think of WIC for our renowned email list and our monthly meetings (third Thursday of the month, 6pm, alternating between Menlo Park and Mountain View).

But consultants from all over the Bay Area are discovering another side of WIC–our regional satellite meetings. These meetings are held regularly in the South Bay (Los Gatos), the East Bay (Walnut Creek), San Francisco, and the Peninsula (Belmont). They’re less formal than our full monthly meetings and many people find both the locations and the alternate hours a convenient way to stay connected with WIC members.

Here’s a short summary of each:

• South  Bay – Lunch meetings, held on the second Mon. of each month (except July) at the Los Gatos Lodge. These usually feature a short presentation by a guest speaker, but have also included best practices discussions and networking events. The holiday lunch is not to be missed!
• East Bay - Lunch meetings, held on the second Wed. of each month at the Pyramid Ale House in Walnut Creek. Meetings feature a short presentation by a guest speaker or networking discussions.
• San Francisco – Evening meetings, held on the fourth Wed. of each month at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel. These include appetizers, networking and a guest speaker.
• Peninsula – Quarterly lunch meetings, held on the first Tuesday of the third month of the quarter at Caprino’s in Belmont. No speakers–this is strictly a relaxed networking get together.

And, coming in 2009…we’re hoping to launch a North Bay/Marin satellite. If you’re north of the Golden Gate and would like to participate in this group, please contact Suzanne Syklara, North Bay Satellite coordinator, or Ann Evers, our Satellite Chairperson.

Here’s the best part about satellites–you don’t have to “belong” to one to attend (though WIC members receive discounted rates for all satellite events). You are welcome to attend any or all of our satellite meetings. So if you find yourself in the East Bay on the second Wed. of the month, come on down and join us–our East Bay team will be glad to have you.

Linda

Join me at Keypoint Credit Union in Santa Clara on Wednesday evening Februrary 25th from 6 – 8pm for a free seminar about how nonprofits can use marketing to promote and grow their organizations.

In this tight economy, all the concerns of nonprofits — recruiting volunteers, fundraising, building awareness and delivering programs to key constituents — become just that much more complicated.

We’ll be sharing proven marketing and branidng techniques that can be applied to any nonprofit — big or small.

This seminar is being held in conjunction with the American Enterprise class project at Homestead High School in Cupertino, CA.

There’s no charge, but reservations are required. More information.

Our WIC community now numbers over 400 consultants, stretching beyond the Bay Area to locations all around the US.

Some of our members and affiliates are very effective at leveraging the power of WIC to build and grow their businesses. I’d like to share a few observations regarding those that are most successful.

Many people come to WIC because of the incredible power of the WIC community list. At least several times a day someone posts a question to one of our lists and receives numerous replies with suggestions and ideas in response.

How can you best use the WIC lists?

• Be aware of the rules and regulations regarding the lists. These are posted on our website and a reminder email is sent to community members each month. To summarize, no back-and-forth discussions, no self-promotion, no reply-to-all, no off-topic discussions (except on the off topic list, of course), and above all no discussion of pricing or rates.
  
• Be aware that we police all of our lists all of the time. Any time one of our rules is violated, a private email is sent to the poster. We know people are busy and everyone makes mistakes, however we also know that all the people reading the list expect that we run a tight ship. We’ll warn you once, reprimand you the next time, then remove you from the list for a third violation. Caveat posters.
• Keep your question simple and succinct. The shorter your email the more likely it will be read and responded to.
• If you’re the questioner, you’re expected to summarize and post the responses received in a timely fashion. Include the names of the people who made the referrals, *unless* they’ve specifically asked you not to do so.
• If you’re responding to a post, you’re expected to only refer people or firms you would feel comfortable using yourself in a similiar situation.
• Those who respond to an inquiry are expected to follow WIC’s rules about responding to the poster with input rather than forward the post to other lists.
• When making a referral, include either email or phone contact information, or both if possible.
• If you are referring a friend or colleague, please make sure they are aware of our list policies and respect them as well.
• Be aware that the number of responses to a posting can be quite lengthy and it may not be possible for the poster to respond to all of them. Don’t take this personally!
• Read the post carefully to see what is actually being asked for. At times the poster will tell you they are posting on behalf of a colleague which means they likely don’t have additional details about the situation. They certainly won’t appreciate being contacted multiple times by individuals trying to sell their services to the poster, or calling to find out when they should expect to hear back if they will be hired for this opportunity. (Both these situations actually happened to me recently.)

Following these suggestions will make the list posting experience more positive for everyone involved.

Look for other tips on how to get the most out of WIC in future posts.

Linda

This past week I had the opportunity to attend a Town Hall meeting of the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) in San Francisco.

The NWBC is a bipartisan federal government council that serves as an independent source of advice to the President, Congress, and the SBA on ecomoic issues of importance to women business owners.

Thursday’s session was attended by about 200 women from across Northern California. Many of these were sole entrepreneurs (solopreneurs) themselves. Others, like myself, were representing various organizations and resources for women business owners.

The energy in the room was quite evident — coming on the heels of the election Tuesday, there is new hope for change in Washington, though this is tempered greatly by the understanding that in a serious economic crisis, many other issues take a lower priority.

It was wonderful to see many members of the WIC community in the room, and to connect with many women who were not aware of WIC but would be good candidates to join our community.

The discussions focused on Access to Capital, Affordable Health Care, Procurement, Education & Workforce Development, Taxes, and Microenterprise. I asked the WIC community for input as to their top issues.  By far, the biggest issue for our members is access to affordable health care (or, in some cases, access to ANY health care at all). I presented our issues to the breakout group on this topic, and many others share our concerns. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers to fix this problem (or it would have been fixed long ago). However, there are several groups, including Small Business Majority and NAWBO, who are floating trial proposals. I’m looking forward to learning more about these and will share what I think are relevant points to the WIC community.

Other issues brought up by the WIC community revolve around taxes, excessive paperwork required by small businesses, and access to capital. I raised these issues as well in the Microenterprise session, as that breakout was focused on businesses whose profiles are very much like our members.

All-in-all, it was an informative day and it was great to see so many successful women focused on how to help other women be successful.

As president of WIC, I’m committed to remaining engaged in these types of discussions, so that the needs and concerns of our members are articulated and brought forward amongst our peers. Please feel free to add your comments to this blog, so that we can continue to stay on top of your issues as business conditions change and evolve.

Regards,

Linda

Today, the first Tuesday in November, is Election Day in the US.

As consultants, whether you support Obama/Biden or McCain/Palen, there is only one horrible mistake you could make today. Read my post on the Invincibelle blog to find out what that is.

Million Dollar Consultant Alan Weiss, a WIC partner and advisor, today hosted a teleconference to help consultants focus on how to thrive in this turbulent economy.

Among his key points:

• Changes in demographics provide opportunities for consultants today
• Changes in perceptions provide opportunities for consultants today
• Markets that are insulated from recession and economic turbulence provide opportunities for consultants today
• Unexpected events provide opportunities for consultants today

See a pattern here? Alan’s point is that good consultants who are focused on providing value to their clients are even more valuable in an uncertain economy. What’s important is that as consultants we may need to alter how we look at the world, how we define our target markets, or what services and offerings we provide.

We need to be more aggressive about telling our clients and prospects about what we can do for them and how they can use us. We need to be proactive about asking for referrals and we need to take this opportunity to make sure that we are seen as thought leaders. Most importantly, we need to work hard to exude confidence. “The more you give the appearnce of confidence, the more attractive you are to clients,” according to Alan.

This one-hour teleconference was jam packed with useful tips and suggestions for being effective and succeeding in the current economic climate. MP3 recordings of the teleconference are available directly from Alan for $150. Email him directly, alan@summitconsulting.com for more information.
Linda

Wondering how much you should worry about closing business in this economy? Read this article by Stanford Business School professor Jeffrey Pfeffer  for a different point of view on today’s business climate.

The Crisis Facing Business: Succumbing to the Madness of the Crowd

I’m asked this frequently: I’m new to consulting. I’ve got a lot of experience in my field, and I know I can be a good consultant, but I don’t know where to go to find consulting assignments.

There are four key things you should have to get consulting assignments:

• People need to know you’re out there and available to them
• Your services have to fit a client’s need
• You need to provide good value for what you offer
• Potential clients need to feel confident in hiring you

In other words, clients won’t hire you if they don’t know about you. They also won’t hire you if they don’t have a need for your services, no matter how good you are.

If they do know about you and have a current need, then they have to feel that what you’re offering is at a fair value to them and that they can trust you to provide what you say they will.

What’s important is also what’s not on this list:

• It’s not all about you.  It’s about them. Your experience is only valuable if it’s relevant to the client’s needs. Most clients wouldn’t hire a consultant without relevant experience, but they also don’t hire the person with the longest resume either. They hire the person who they think can meet their needs.
• It’s not all about Google. Yes, clients will Google you to learn more about you, but that’s after they’ve learned about you. This is a relationship business. It’s highly unlikely that a client will hire a consultant just by googling “human resources consultant” or “marketing strategy.” It’s important to build a strong online presence, but don’t count on AdWords or search optimization to bring you new clients.
• It’s not about low cost. You need to provide a fair value for your services, but clients don’t necessarily hire the lowest cost consultant around: they’re afraid they’ll get what they pay for. You need to price your services so that you provide good value to the client at a price level that fairly rewards you for the results you provide.We still see some consultants who price on an hourly or daily basis, but the Annual WIC Compensation Survey has shown us year after year that the consultants who are in the top 20% of respondents are much more likely to use value or project-based pricing and not hourly or time-based pricing.

How do you make clients feel good about hiring you?

• Be able to show them the results you’ve achieved for other organizations (without revealing any confidential information of course)
• Provide testimonials from satisfied clients
• Ask clients for referrals.

Need more information? Stay tuned to this blog for more tips and ideas. Check out our ongoing WIC programs and events too.