The federal government is pouring money in to several initiatives to rejuvenate the economy. This is creating many new opportunities for consultants. It certainly helps to have a small business certification, but it’s not required. Following are several key resources you should explore to find out how you can tap into the Recovery Act funds.

Small Business Administration (SBA)

The Small Business Administration (SBA) is committed to helping small businesses get connected with contracting opportunities created from the Recovery Act. SBA’s procurement center representatives are working with federal agencies to ensure that small businesses get their fair share of the prime and subcontracting opportunities stemming from the Recovery funds. The Recovery Act requires agencies to provide maximum opportunities for small businesses to compete for contracts, but it’s important that you understand what to do to apply for these opportunities. The SBA has developed a guide (http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/ca_fresno/ca_fresno_contractingqa.pdf) to answer questions about Small Business Contracting Opportunities in the Recovery Act.

Recovery.gov

At http://www.recovery.gov/, small businesses can get an idea of the areas that federal agencies are targeting for Recovery Act contracts, as well as opportunities at the state and local level. The site also includes information about securing registration and/or certification at the state and local levels.

FedBizOpps and eSRS

Federal agencies are expected to submit program-specific Recovery Act plans with contracting opportunities for small businesses by May 1, 2009. All federal government contracting opportunities over $25,000 will be posted to FedBizOpps (http://www.fbo.gov/). Small businesses can identify prime contractors for subcontracting opportunities through the Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS) at http://www.esrs.gov/.

So what are you waiting for? Get started and share your success with other WIC members!

In any economy – whether up or down – consultants need to differentiate themselves from their competition. And in these challenging times it’s business-savy to sharpen your differentiators.

I find Jay Levinson and Michael McLaughlin’s discussion of differentiators in their book Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants thought-provoking.  I’ve made my own list below — leveraging some of Levinson and McLaughlin’s list (marked “L&M”), adding my own, and categorizing the differentiators.

Your Outcomes

• Results — what quantifiable results have your services delivered to a client? More customers? Significant savings? Etc.

• Testimonials (L&M) — Levinson and McLaughlin recommend getting testimonials from a respected university, think tank, or other institution. I would add getting endorsements from past clients.

Your Services

• Expertise (L&M call this differentiator “category authority”) — what is your specialty? How relevant is it to the client’s needs?Levinson and McLaughlin define a separate differentiator, “Giving Something Away.” This means that you can showcase your expertise when you are in the early stage of a relationship with a new client. For example, giving the client “a complementary seminar, a telephone briefing, or a research report that could benefit a client.” However, you should never discount your services

• Track Record — Is there something in your background and experience that differentiates you? Its breadth? Its depth? Its focus on an industry? Etc.

• Thought Leadership – Are you recognized leader in your field? This can be evidenced in a presentation or a seminar you gave at a conference in your field, or a course you’re teaching at a local university or college, or a book or article that you’ve authored.

• Methods and Approaches — Levinson and McLaughlin put this differentiator on a list of differentiators that do not work because clients expect a consultant to have the right toolkit.However, If you have a unique methodology or approach that produces outstanding results, I would include it as a differentiator. If this methodology or approach has been reused effectively, I think a client would be impressed that the delivery of your service is tested and proven – and also predictable.

Your Personality Traits

• Integrity (L&M call this “honesty”) — they say that clients are turned off by “overblown claims about results.” I would extend this by saying that integrity needs to be reflected in all your marketing and delivery efforts.

What other types of differentiators do you think are significant?

How do you differentiate yourself from your competitors?

Want to get found on LinkedIn – by both potential clients and people who place consultants? To identify good matches for those needs, there are 3 basic paths that are used, depending on the particular needs.

I’ll speak first to the search path itself, and how we as consultants can influence being found. Think of this blog as the beginning of applying some SEO elements to your LinkedIn profile (although LinkedIn’s search functionality is not at the level of Google’s).

The first path is a generalist route, the second completely detailed and specific. The third path is one of referral, and I’ll speak to that last as it is one most of us could construct on our own.

Generalist

In this case they are looking for a general area match. Experience in the same or a similar company, similar job title held in the past, participation in the same trade shows, even graduating from the same MBA program would be examples of using this generalist approach. Typically one of these factors is used – not all.

This search path is often influenced by past experience – such as “I had a good experience in the past with hiring someone from that company” or “I want to find a consultant with an educational background like my own”.

In the generalist case, the potential client is not looking at 3 to 7 key performance factors that are most often used to identify what it takes to be successful in a role as you would in hiring an employee.

So how can you make your profile more appealing for this generalist search? Use phrases that show broad skills, ROI and programmatic results and overviews. While you want to demonstrate the size and scope of your work, you’re not going for the details. In marketing for instance, rather than listing all of the roles you’ve had, you might want to list a generalist title, note that it was in a consumer or enterprise product space, and note major results. You will also want to include the buzzwords used in the space (three letter acronyms are often effective here as well – I search for TLA’s a lot in my business).

Specialist

In this case one is looking for a detailed and specific match for a consultant. Experience in specific prior projects with the same kind of time constraints, working with specific channels and partners to accomplish a similar task at the same stage of business or launching a new product are examples of the specific matches someone might look for. Typically, the specialist search includes multiple specifics such as three specific companies one might want experience from (all three) as well as details about the product or service.

This search path often includes multiple iterations – take a large pool, narrow it with one set of spec’s, and then narrow it further with a second set of spec’s. Here the person is looking to exclude people, not to include them – they want to look at one or two people who meet all of the criteria. I’m not able to provide the level of detail on this path because it is so specific to the particular assignment. It is clear however that the potential client has an extended list of “must haves” – up to 10-15 specifics they are looking for. The other factor to bear in mind here is that the lack of one of those 10-15 elements will disqualify you. They are looking for exact matches, sometimes to bring in a skillset or experience they don’t have. Your profile to meet these criteria is going to look more like a detailed resume. The challenge here is to include relevant detail that people will actually read.

Referral

This path is the one that LinkedIn is built on – the principle that a large number of weak ties will get you in front of the right people through the network you build. To ensure this happens, you want to include people in your network that :

• Know you well
• Can speak/vouch effectively for your skills
• Are connected to potential clients for you
• Have similar standards in hiring consultants
• Do spot-on recommendations for you

Recommendations are often a way that people locate you on LinkedIn. Ensure that you are recommended for the right skills and accomplishments by people you have worked closely with. Generic recommendations are fine for other purposes, but don’t work in the referral search path.

LinkedIn does not yet have postings for consulting opportunities – I expect this is in their roadmap for future development. They started posting employment opportunities in 2008 and many recruiters now look to this site as an exclusive source  for narrowcasting opportunities to a pool of well-qualified candidates.

So, let’s all get busy and revisit our LinkedIn profiles with these factors in mind. Try these ideas out on your own profile , and let me know what the results are. Feel free to comment with your own tips. Let’s keep the conversation going – if you don’t want to do it on the blog, send private comments to Deb@BroadBandHR.com

Don’t let the headlines and news stories paralyze you. While there’s abundant fear about the economic uncertainty, it’s important that we not let anxiety freeze us into inaction. This is especially true if year-end is historically a slower time for some of us.

Yes, there are layoff announcements and some companies are putting new hiring on hold. However, a recent survey by consulting firm Towers Perrin found that most companies aren’t looking at mass layoffs as a solution in this recession — a departure from past downturns. Most companies that are cutting jobs are doing so in a very targeted fashion, and fully two-thirds of companies surveyed don’t foresee employee layoffs on the horizon.

The good news: many of the companies that have laid off employees will need consulting talent to fill some of the gaps. Often, this work may not be the larger strategic consulting projects we have as our goal, but the client still needs the results. And they need them now — in this quarter, in this fiscal year.

Tips from Successful Consultants

• Be proactive in searching for and developing new clients and projects. You may need to adjust your pitch or focus on a new set of challenges for the client; and you may need to explore new resources. Don’t be afraid to try new things just because the economy bad.
• Be mindful of the audience to whom you’re pitching and the place they hold in the direct revenue stream. It’s that revenue stream that’s most crucial to the client, especially today.
• Be confident in your own value and let that confidence help you in negotiations, but don’t be overly confident.
• Follow your passions. Continue to search for the clients you really believe in and who fit your “best clients” model; and do your due diligence on potential clients.
• Use your network productively. Let colleagues know that you’ve some time available, and let them know how you can help them as well.

So let’s cast off the doom and gloom and get busy providing great consulting to our clients, both old and new.

As an independent consultant, I know that marketing and selling is a big part of my life and livelihood, but they haven’t been naturals for me. That’s why I like to watch and learn from the pros.

This is a true story about a guy I know. I’ll call him “Ray” because he’s like a ray of sunshine in every way. We all can take a page or two from the book he endorses and lives. (At the end of this blog I’ll tell you the title — you may be surprised.)

Ray is one of the best examples I know of a successful business person. He’s a top-selling pharmaceutical rep for one of the world’s largest pharma companies. What’s more, he’s a top seller even though he doesn’t have a particularly good territory. While other reps get Manhattan or Los Angeles, Ray has to travel long distances around a large, sparsely-settled Midwestern state to serve his physician clients. Yet two years in a row, Ray was the top oncology sales rep for his corporation. If you know anything about how sales goals are set, you know it’s tough to be # 1 in the first year – but nearly impossible the second because the bar is raised significantly.

I couldn’t resist asking Ray how he managed it. A generous person, he willingly shared three things.

#1: Ray knows his company’s products, his competitor’s products, the industry, and the field of medicine in general. Learning has to be ongoing because the flow of new discoveries and new drugs is constant. This alone, however, isn’t the answer.

#2: Ray is a true consultant. That means real problem-solving even when it may mean losing some immediate business. He partners with his physician clients to help them figure out the best solutions for individual cancer patients. He will even recommend a competitor’s drug if he thinks it’s more suitable in a particular case. Clients see him as collaborator rather than salesperson, and trust is built. But this isn’t the only answer, either.

#3: Here’s the secret sauce. Ray truly cares about people. He understands that clients don’t buy products and services as much as they buy an experience – from people they can relate to. In answer to my question about his selling skills, Ray said (and I quote): “I don’t try to make sales; I try to make friends.” For him, that means relating to clients on a personal level first. It isn’t fake; he truly appreciates and respects others. He went on to tell me that his daily guide is Dale Carnegie’s book “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” It has been a best-selling business book since 1936. Some of the examples are dated, but the information and techniques are still “right on.” Ray told me that he re-reads it annually. I had a copy on my bookshelf, so I read it again – and there was Ray on every page. As one who is privileged to know this outstanding human being, I can assure you he doesn’t just turn the pages, he turns the advice into action.

By the way, Ray is a 30-something guy with a loving family and hundreds of adoring friends and associates. He’s an all-around success because he practices the same solid people principles in private as he does in business.

It’s not hard to find a copy of “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” The investment is small, and the payoff can be gigantic. Just ask Ray.

I must confess — I don’t like networking. Going to meetings where I know no one just to get my name out is hard work for me. That’s probably why I like WIC. The meetings are fun and the people warm and inviting, so it’s less painful.

But this isn’t a pitch for WIC — even though it’s an organization that’s very near and dear to my heart. Rather, it’s a call to go beyond traditional networking and really get involved in your organizations, at least one of them. It’s truly the best way to build a solid network that will survive the roller-coaster ride that is our economy.

Seventy-Five Percent of My Current Revenue Is Directly Related to My Involvement in WIC

When the .dot com bubble burst, it took a couple of years before my business was impacted. I had a solid network; but after a while that network shrunk due to layoffs, people moving out of the area, and natural corporate changes.

When business started to slow, I figured I needed a better way to get new people to notice me. Relying solely on word of mouth and handing my card out at monthly networking meetings wasn’t going to cut it. I needed to get involved!

I started small, donating my services as an auction item at WIC’s silent auction (the business that bought my services still use me today) and volunteering to be WIC’s newsletter editor. After a while, I was asked to join WIC’s board as secretary; now I’m WIC’s director of PR & marketing. And it is absolutely, unequivocally the best move I’ve ever made.

Seventy-five percent of my current revenue is directly related to my involvement with WIC. Volunteering on WIC projects and committees and listing my services in WIC’s silent auction helped me cultivate relationships with other consultants who now use my services directly or recommend me to their clients. And I know these relationships will sustain me even when the economy is in a downturn.

When You Volunteer, People Get to Know You, Your Work Ethic, and Your Product…

…and that’s powerful stuff. Sure, volunteering takes time. But any worthwhile marketing effort does. But the return on investment is amazing and worth the energy. I’m living testament to that — and I’m serious about the 75 percent. My business is still primarily word of mouth, but that mouth is much bigger and stronger than before.

There are other tangible benefits to volunteering beyond the business gain, especially with an organization like WIC.

Being a solopreneur can be a lonely job sometimes. Volunteering gives you a great support system. I have the pleasure of working with an amazing group of women at WIC and count myself very lucky to call them my colleagues and friends.

As Karilee Wirthlin, one of my favorite WICsters, wrote in WIC’s 10^th anniversary program, “I gained a great set of colleagues who pump me up when things don’t go well and cheer me on when they do.” I can also bounce ideas off my WIC colleagues; and I have access to best practices used by some of the Bay Area’s top consultants. These “extras” are invaluable.

Don’t Forgo Networking, Do Both

All this isn’t to say networking isn’t important. You never know who you’ll meet and what you’ll learn. In fact, I can attribute another 15 percent of my annual revenue to following the best practices advocated at WIC meetings. The key is to find the organization that best fits you and participate on all levels: attend meetings, participate in workshops/webinars, and volunteer. I’m living proof that you learn more, earn more, and make great friends!

Okay, I was so jazzed about this evening’s meeting celebrating WIC’s 10^th anniversary that I had to write one more post tonight. Building on the “Secrets to a Successful Consulting Business: Know Your Strengths” in my last post, I thought I’d “chat” a bit about Kim Fulcher’s (mylifecompass.com) keynote address on Three Keys for Entrepreneurial Success: Passion, Strengths, and Purpose (see a theme starting here).

Three Ingredients for Passion

I loved Kim’s presentation, because she distilled down a lot of great information into a succinct, easy-to-digest-and-remember message (paraphrased by me here):

There are three ingredients for passion: strengths, values, and skills.

• Strengths: do what you’re innately born to do
• Values: find the things that light you up
• Skills: identify the abilities that you’ve acquired

She equated our belief in ourselves to a chair. And to hold up a chair, you need legs. The legs are your strengths, values, and skills. You create a new belief about yourself using these three legs. And you use this new belief to develop a level of confidence in the part of your business that you despise.

We all have something about our business that we don’t like; and what we don’t like, we avoid. To push through (and create passion), you also need leverage to motivate you. Ask yourself, what you would loose if you fail? Who that you care about would also loose if you failed?

The Power of Collaboration

Kim also reminded us that we don’t have to do this alone. The creativity of a group of women or a woman connecting with herself can achieve great things. But you know what? This part wasn’t news to me. I know first hand the power of working with a great group of women. WIC taught me that.

The success of WIC and the individuals who make up our organization is a living testament to this fact. Even tonight’s event is proof of the power of collaboration. An amazing group of women-Karilee Wirthlin, Angi Roberts, Gabriella Martinez, Erin Ferree, Melissa Stacey, Deborah Plumley, Jennifer Berkley, Susan Monroe, Kim Le, Sherry Prescott, and so many, many more-worked together to make it possible. I’m proud to be a part of this dynamic and talented team!

Now, I’m off to find my passion!

WOW! What a group of Wildly Outrageous Women (outrageously intelligent and insightful) we have at Women in Consulting, a.k.a. WIC! Having just arrived home from WIC’s 10^th Anniversary Celebration, I find my mind spinning from the ideas and energy that flowed throughout that room. I’m sure this will be the first of many posts on what I learned.

The first juicy tidbit came during the fireside chat (minus the fire) with WIC’s past presidents. Kate Purmal, WIC’s fourth president, shared how picking a focus for your business vs. being a Jack-of-all-trades, was key to success, especially in today’s economic climate.

Elaine Starling, the recipient of WIC’s first “Spirit of WIC” award (more on that in my next post) and WIC’s second president, seconded that advice, and told us all about a great resource for determining what our strengths are: “StrengthsFinder 2.0.” If you buy the newest version of the book, you also get access to the online assessment, which helps identify and measure your talents. I was so inspired that I bought the book on Amazon tonight. I’ll let you know next week what I find out.

If any of you have taken this test — or, like me, have ordered the book and plan on taking the test — I’d love to hear what you discovered and have to say.

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.