It’s probably safe to say that most of us would like to boost our incomes. How do you do that without burning  yourself out? How do you break the income barrier, especially when the economy is poor, unemployment is high, there are many consultants competing for the same business, and clients are trimming budgets?

Perhaps you’ve wondered why some consultants maintain high incomes in good times and challenging ones.

Take this simple quiz developed by Linda Popky, a million-dollar consultant and president of Leverage2Market Associates, to find out if you’re working hard or working smart.

1. Do you feel the only way to increase revenue is to bill more hours? __ Yes __No
2. Do you feel the need to justify to clients the time you are putting into their projects? __ Yes __No
3. Do you feel you are frequently treated like a vendor or hired hand rather than a partner to your client? __ Yes __No
4. Do your clients tell you they love your proposal but need to get final sign-off from higher authorities before proceeding? __ Yes __No
5. Do you find yourself competing for business on the basis of price? __ Yes __No
6. Do you work directly with decision makers who have the ability to write a check or issue a purchase order for your work? __ Yes __No
7. Can you clearly articulate why the client should hire you in terms of their key business objectives? __ Yes __No
8. Are you clear on why the client should hire you vs. find other ways to solve their problem? __ Yes __No
9. Can you specifically state the metrics the client will use to measure the success of the project? __ Yes __No
10. Can your client state the impact of the project on their organization, including customers, suppliers, employees, and other stakeholders? __ Yes __No

For questions 1-5, give yourself 10 points for every No answer, 0 points for Yes answers.

For questions 6-10, give yourself 10 points for every Yes answer, 0 points for No answers.

Total up your score.

Less than 50 points: You may be working hard, but you’re not necessarily working smart. Look for opportunities to take your business to the next level.

50-60 points: You’re on the right track, but wouldn’t you like to increase your revenues in line with the value you’re creating for clients?

70-80 points: You’re doing a great job, but there’s opportunity to build your business by thinking more strategically about the value you provide.

90-100 points: You understand the importance of selling on value and you’re always looking for best practices to help you do even better.

Whatever your score, join Linda for the upcoming WIC workshop, “Earn What You’re Worth: Value-Based Pricing” on Tuesday September 20. She’ll discuss ways you can use value-based pricing to get the fees you deserve for the value you provide to clients. Linda will focus on the methodologies of million-dollar consultant Alan Weiss, author of more than 40 books on consulting, including Value-Based Fees: How to Charge — and Get — What You’re Worth — A Guide for Serious Consultants.

Register by September 6 to get the early-bird rate.

By: Michelle Gouldsberry

I’ve been consulting full-time for over 13 years and a member of Women in Consulting (WIC) for close to 10 years. And during that time, I’ve learned a thing or two from my fellow consultants—many of whom are tops in their field—and test drove a few other ideas.

Below are my top-10 favorite ways to grow a consulting business. They follow no particular order, other than the way they came to me. All of them will benefit you—just don’t try to do them all at once. It’ll kill you!

1. Outsource: Outsourcing is like purchasing time to do what you do best. You’re the revenue engine for your business. Spend as much time as possible on your bread and butter and outsource what isn’t to those who do that task for a living.
2. Build a virtual team: Work with other consultants that you can bring onto projects as needed. There’s only so much you can do yourself. So if you want to bring in more business, if you want to win bigger projects of which your expertise is a part of, you’ll need others to help you do the work. Tip: EchoSign is a nice tool for managing the paperwork that needs to be signed.
3. Get a business coach—or at least consider it: One of the best things I did for my business in the last two years is hiring a coach. Coaching isn’t just for the stuck, overwhelmed, or uncertain. It’s for anyone who wants take their business to the next level.
4. Make yourself known: How can you grow your business if no one knows you exist? Build your website. Network. Join associations. Get out there.
5. Get involved: This is one of my personal favorites for running a successful consulting business. In fact, I’d have no business without it. Pick one of your favorite organizations and become part of the team that keeps it going. You’d be amazed at what it can do for your business.
6. Strut your stuff: Write articles, blog posts, white papers, a book. Hire an editor or a ghost writer or coach if you feel uneasy about writing. Or speak at events—start small and work your way up. Teach a class. Bottom line: make it clear you know your stuff.
7. Go social: Social media is another great way to strut your stuff and get found. I’ve talked to several consultants who don’t see the point. Bottom line, it doesn’t matter if you like social media or not; if you audience does, you need to consider it—seriously. But start small. Don’t jump into Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and blogging all at once—especially if you’re doing none right now. Assess your audience, your business, you—and pick the best one. Get it up. And then turn your attention to other tools.
8. Don’t shoot from the hip: Develop a business strategy/plan. Nuff said.
9. Reframe: When facing a challenge, ask yourself, “How can I reframe the situation, look at it in a different way, approach it in a different way, feel about it in a different way?”
10. Get a board: Not a formal board of advisors or directors, but a small group of trusted colleagues whose opinions and experience you value. Set up regular times where you get together and discuss your businesses, gather input on ideas, and brainstorm on new concepts and solutions to problems.

What’s worked for you? Do you have any to add to the list? Any you’d remove? I’m always looking for good strategies and practices, so please share!

By: Avery Horzewski

Are you keeping abreast of the megatrends that could impact you and your clients?

In preparing for an upcoming speaking engagement, I did some research on current business trends and became aware of one trend that has increased its impact on my business over the past few years.

We live in a global economy….

We are all impacted by the increasingly global nature of the economy.  Our clients need our help in figuring out global markets and how to respond to them as well as how to take advantage of global opportunities in sourcing products/service, partnering, and more.

Two years ago, I had experience just doing just one multilingual web survey in the 9 years since I started my business, but now it is common for me to do not only multilingual surveys, but also telephone interviews that include people from many countries who don’t speak English.  My translation partners are strategic partners to me now.  I would not be a viable vendor to the majority of my clients if I didn’t have experience with global research and understand the nuances of things such as what incentives work best in what countries. (Hint: Gift cards purchased via Amazon.com are not viable outside of the U.S.!)

It’s all about the BRIC…

Brazil, Russia, India, and China will have the biggest impact on the world economy throughout this decade.  As these countries increase their spending on people, facilities, natural resources, and infrastructure, their importance will grow also.  We’ve all heard about the huge aspiration of the people in these countries and how the Internet helps them traverse huge geographic expanses in seconds.  With such expanding opportunities in these regions, there can’t help but be ripples.  While these countries increase their economic impact, the ‘old school’ Western countries like the U.S. will continue to cut back on spending in order to manage the huge debts acquired over the past decade.

Interestingly, I’ve done projects in the past 6 months that involve each of these countries, except for Russia.  I’m sure that’s just around the corner…

What does this mean to you?

This is a time to stop and assess how you and your clients may be impacted by the global economic trends that are at play.  If you are talking about global opportunities with your clients, talk less about Europe and talk more about India or China.  When thinking of marketing plans, be sure to think about the most important regions for your client to address in order to get the biggest bang for their buck.

Have you thought about the services/expanded offerings that your clients may be looking for as their client base expands beyond English-speaking countries?  A good way to differentiate yourself from your competitors would be to talk about how you can help with these issues and definitely have some resources/ideas in your pocket for the first time this comes up with a potential client.

Recently, Lucie Newcomb of NewComm Global spoke to the S. Bay WIC group and helped open our eyes to how naive we tend to be on a day-to-day basis about how much we need to consider global implications of everything we do.  It was quite enlightening, but could only scratch the surface.

It’s definitely easier in the short term to ignore these trends, however, it will come back to bite us eventually.  I’d love to hear what kinds of things you are doing to address the challenge of the global economy…what’s worked and what hasn’t?  We can learn from one another!

By: Jen Berkley Jackson

I have a nifty little calendar on my desk called The Woman’s Advantage. I give them as gifts each year, and my clients love them, too. Each day has a piece of wisdom from a successful woman.

Well, I was a little behind in pulling off the pages, and in doing so yesterday, I came across two related to procrastination:

• Action is faster and more satisfying then procrastination. Act Now. (Joyce Shevelev-Putzer, Famous Marks)
• Start your day by doing the three things you dread, then get on with the good stuff. (Ruth A. Wilford, Renovations Ruth)

I’ll admit—I’m not a procrastinator by nature. If something needs to be done, I do it. I hate stuff hanging over my head. And I’d rather get the stuff I enjoy least done first, so it’s out of the way.

BUT…sometimes even us non-procrastinator types get stuck when things pile up. We’re slammed, so the first thing we let slide is the stuff that’s no fun and not urgent. Next thing we know, that un-fun stuff is urgent and looming on our to-do list, piled in the corner, under our desks, or anyplace else where it’s out of the way.

Bottom line, as business owners, there’s always something we need to do that we’re not really thrilled to do. But it’s better for our business, our productivity, and our sanity if we don’t put it off. So what to do?
Five Ways to Have Fun Doing Un-Fun Stuff

1. Have a procrastination party. A what? Gather your to-dos and get together with friends or colleagues who have to dos and do them in the same room. Jen Jackson, Angi Roberts, and I did that to clean up WIC’s document repository, and it made ever so much more enjoyable. I find this works well in combination with tip number two.
2. Have a glass of wine or two. This is good for filing and similar tasks—if you’re not inclined to follow tip number five.
3. Reward yourself. Who said reward systems are just for kids. Complete a mind-numbing, scary, hard, or in-some-other-way-un-fun task? Reward yourself, whether it’s as simple as having a cup of tea or as grand as a spa day.
4. Do the “yucky” stuff first. I have to admit, I like Ruth’s approach. You don’t have to make it three things you dread each day. Depending on the tasks, one may be enough torture. The point is do what you don’t like first, and follow it up with a task that you truly enjoy. Anticipation, anticipation, it’s making me work.
5. Don’t wear all the hats. Outsourcing has been a godsend for me. I wish I’d done it sooner. I didn’t hire an employee; I simply sub out tasks. Don’t like filing? There are people who can do just that. Bookkeeping keeping you up at night? Outsource. Errands weighing you down? Send someone else to do them.I know this last one is a big hurdle for many of us, with cost and/or the time-to-train big reasons for not outsourcing. But it’s not as big an expense as it seems once you get started. And the relief you feel knowing you’re caught up and that you didn’t have to do the dreaded task yourself is priceless.

So what about you? What’s your trick for getting deeds done?

By: Avery Horzewski

Part 2 of the Series: Developing a Marketing Plan for Your Small Business

Guerilla Marketing is the countless free or very inexpensive tactics you can deploy do to build awareness for your brand and generate new business. Guerilla Marketing takes creativity, persistence, and work to make things happen with very little investment.

A key strategy in Guerilla Marketing is to know your customer. Define your ideal customer and all of the offline and online places you can reach them. Create a tracking document and prioritize every marketing opportunity by how many of your target customers it will reach.

Here are three Guerilla Marketing tactics you can implement fast and inexpensively:

1.    Develop two important programs – a Customer Loyalty Program and a Referral Program. These are your most inexpensive sources of new business.

The key is to stay top-of-mind and take advantage of the almost universal human trait of wanting to be helpful. When a friend or co-worker of one of your customers says, “I want to remodel my bathroom” or “I need to help executing a partner program” in the B2B world, you want your customer to recommend you.

Put definition and resources around these programs so that all employees will be involved in making them successful. Build in accountability: who is responsible, how will you track the results, and how often will you review? Elements of these two programs might include:

•    Sending a regular quarterly email with tips and how-to articles to your customers. This helps your customer view you as an expert resource and helps you stay top-of-mind – and it’s virtually free. Not only that, email is easy to forward to a friend! Make it simple for others to refer you.
•    Give customers a special coupon worth a discount for referring new business. Consider providing a discount for the referral as well. In B2B, you can provide small bounty or affiliate payments for new business.
•    Mind your manners. It is always appropriate to send a thank you note or call or email when someone refers you new business.

2.    Review all of your marketing communications and update them to reinforce your brand, your products/services, and your value proposition. Never miss a chance to reinforce your brand. For example:

•    Add a descriptive signature to all company emails – include your website and your tagline, even a customer testimonial. You never know when new business will walk in your door from an email that’s been forwarded. Think of every email that your company sends as a marketing opportunity.
•    The next time you print business cards, consider creating a two-sided card. Keep your contact information and company logo on one side, and use the other side for a list of your services.
•    Step outside of your own business and review: Your signage, your website, etc. Then step inside. If you have a bricks and mortar location, what’s the ambiance like? Does it reflect the customer you want to attract?  If not, update it. If you have an online business, realize that an outdated website does the opposite of reflecting a current, growing business. The old adage “A first impression is the most important impression” is still true.

3.    Develop partnerships with other businesses that have products or services that complement yours and co-market for one another. Don’t be afraid to say no to those that aren’t related. You’ll want to spend your precious time on those that are likely to become a source of new business for you.

If you’re working with a marketing consultant and they aren’t identifying and recommending these types of tactics, consider finding another marketing consultant!

Hopefully these examples will help you generate your own ideas. Write them down and make them happen, and you could just get that elusive and valuable competitive advantage!

Read Part 1: Brand, Positioning and Messaging

By: Melody Appleton

Are you blogging?

If you answered “No,” read on.

If you answered “Yes,” read on.

Why? Because if you have your own business, you should have a blog. No excuses. (I’ve personally run out of them. Starting a blog is one of my 2011 business goals.) And, if you already have one—a blog, that is, not an excuse—you want it work as smartly as you do by drawing more readers, positioning you as a thought leader, improving search engine results, and generating new business.

Having a blog and doing it the right way is critical.

Consider the numbers:

• 51 percent of daily Internet users read a blog at least once per month and over 60 percent will do so by 2014 (Technorati)
• 62 percent of self-employed people say they have much greater visibility in their industry because of their business blog (Technorati)
• Companies with a business blog attract 55 percent more website visitors and have 434 percent more indexed pages, which leads to better search engine results (HubSpot).
• More than 43 percent of US companies will market via a blog by 2012, up from 34 percent in 2010 (eMarketer)

On March 1, the WIC workshop, “Business Blogging: From the Essentials to the Exceptional,” will have something for everyone, no matter whether you’re “blogless,” a newbie or a seasoned pro. This is a dual-track workshop, meaning you’ll choose either the novice track or the advanced track. In less than four hours, you’ll learn how to get your blog on the right path. That’s a wise investment of time and resources.

Presenter Jerry Bates of FittingSites.com will show new bloggers how to set up a visually compelling, SEO-friendly and “sticky” WordPress blog with all the right features. You’ll learn how to think like your visitors and get tips for creating clean page layouts. Jerry will show you how to tap into the hidden potential of WordPress, use your blog in novel ways and integrate external services such as YouTube and Google Apps.

Speaker Ann Evanston of Warrior-Preneur will work with experienced bloggers who want to take their blogs to the next level. She’ll cover the pros and cons of a blog versus a video blog versus a website. You’ll receive insights and tips for keeping content fresh, pumping up your profile as a thought leader, video blogging, and how your blog plays into social media. Ann will also focus on the all-important issue of how to drive more traffic to your blog, which was identified as the number one challenge in a recent ProBlogger survey.

Don’t let this great opportunity pass.

Register now for the workshop and take advantage of the early-bird discount, which ends on February 15.

By: Michelle Gouldsberry

Join us on Thursday night, 10/21, at the WIC general meeting for a fun scavenger hunt. From 6:00 – 6:30pm,  you can team with two of your friends to seek answers hidden around the room to some tough questions for a chance to win some prizes. Along the way, you’ll learn more about WIC and the pro bono experience. Make sure to stop by the Pro Bono table to learn about the many opportunities to power your business growth by becoming a pro bono team member in 2011. Then stay to learn to how to grow your business from top-earning consultants. See you there at the Quadras Conference Center in Menlo Park on Thursday!

By: Deborah Hoard

The Fall 2010 WIC Mentoring Group is quickly taking shape, with just a couple of spots still available.

Again this Fall, WIC Members Desiree Lehrbaum and I will lead the Mentoring Group. We developed and piloted the program in 2009, and also led the Spring, 2010 group.

If you think a peer-to-peer mentoring experience may be right for you, take a close look at this opportunity.

We will meet by webinar (and have an in-person kickoff session, if we can) on Wednesdays, 10-11 am, starting Oct. 20. Our last session will be right before Thanksgiving.

WIC Members pay $125 for the fall session, and WIC Affiliate Members can participate in the program for $200.

The WIC Mentoring Group isn’t right for everyone.

Here are some of the ways to know if you’re a good candidate for mentoring in this particular program:

1. Do you work well in a peer-peer group?

The focus of the WIC Mentoring Program is a peer-to-peer mentoring approach.

Mentors who are experienced in their areas of expertise design and manage the group process, then teach, guide and give feedback to a group of peers, all of whom are learning and making improvements to their businesses at the same time.

When you think back on your experiences in peer-to-peer learning situations, how well did you do in those? Were you able to make your own progress in such a setting, as well as to support a successful group experience?

That will give you an idea of whether you would find the group learning and improvement experience valuable, again.

2. Can you set aggressive, yet realistic improvement goals for yourself?

Six weeks, the length of the mentoring program, isn’t a long time.

But it’s often exactly the right amount of time for you to:
- Look at your business, including what you do well, and areas where you can improve
- Prioritize and plan a few improvements
- Begin to make those improvements

3. Are you open to feedback?

A good part of the success of this program is in the sequence of exercises we guide you through.

Business is applied learning…not theory. And to really learn, you must do.

That means we have you do homework to apply what we’re teaching you. It helps you to lock the learning in, and to begin to make real, not theoretical improvements in your business.

4. Are you willing to take action to make the improvements you say you want?

Change takes more than just good intentions. It takes action, as well…outside of the homework, and beyond the six weeks of the mentoring experience.

You own the changes you make in your business.

In the WIC Mentoring Group, mentors and peers help to pace and support you through the initial stages of change.

Beyond that, it’s up to you. It’s your choice about what changes you want to make, and will see through to completion.

Six weeks isn’t a long time.

But it’s the perfect amount of time to get a great start on business improvements that can make a big difference in your success.

If you have questions about the WIC Mentoring Group, let me know. You can reach me at jan@jgrichardsresults.com.

If this style of mentoring program is right for you, we hope to see you in this, or a future mentoring group.

By: Jan Richards

Recently, I had a big ‘personal event’ in my life (I got married!) and for the week before and the week after the wedding, it was difficult to stay as focused on my work and my clients as I normally am.

I had every intention of working on client projects right up until the day before the wedding and to return to work the following Tuesday since we weren’t taking our honeymoon right away—I wanted to minimize the impact of my marriage on my clients. However the clients I had active projects with knew about my upcoming wedding and insisted on making adjustments to their expectations, meeting schedules, etc. so I could actually take off a few extra days to focus on entertaining out of town family, wedding prep details, etc.

What I hadn’t realized is the ‘stock value’ I had earned with these clients through the quality work I have done for them, and delivering on everything I committed to. I was thrilled to realize that I had earned some leeway and didn’t have to put myself and my family out unnecessarily from my concern of neglecting my customers due to personal issues.

I think that we all forget that we are constantly building up our own personal ‘stock value’ with our customers, especially those that we have repeat projects with. We run and run to meet their needs and anticipate needs they may have…we apologize profusely when there are little bumps in the road, even the ones we have no control over…we try to protect them from all of the obstacles that come up in the course of a project…we tend to move our previously calendared meetings to accommodate their calendars. All of these things constitute great client management and customer service…however, it also creates stress.

It’s important to also stop sometimes to acknowledge that you have built up credibility and trust with your clients. Knowing that you have ‘stock value’ with your customers will ensure that you come from a strong, confident place when you DO have to deliver disappointing news re: missed deadlines or problems that occur in the work you do with your clients. Or when you need to adjust the project schedule to accommodate personal emergencies (sick kids, ailing parents, technology issues, etc.).

In the past, I’ve partnered with other consultants who were constantly worrying about disappointing their customers and sometimes it felt like we were running around with our heads cut off vs. calmly, professionally managing the project to meet our goals. I believe that customers can smell that ‘nervousness’ a mile away. There WILL be problems or unexpected developments that arise in the course of a project and I think that it’s more impressive to address those with confidence and assure your customer that you can help them navigate the recovery process vs. apologize profusely with your tail tucked between your legs. It’s part of building up your credibility and professionalism in the eyes of your customer.

Your customers WANT to see you as a trusted partner vs. a ‘hired hand’ and the way that you handle the obstacles that may come up in your work with them can help reinforce that perception.

I encourage you to shift your thinking about the way you approach your work with your customers and let yourself acknowledge the ‘stock value’ you have gained with some of them…as a result, you may be able to alleviate some stress in your day-to-day client work…and that’s a good thing!

By: Jen Berkley Jackson

Recently, in a spurt of ‘abundance thinking’, where I was convinced that 2010 is going to be a MUCH better year than 2009 (I can’t afford to think otherwise, can you?!), I decided to do an inventory of people/resources I can turn to when my workload is too heavy to do it all myself.

Like many fellow consultants, I can perform every function needed to support most client projects myself, but have found it very wise to outsource certain portions of my research projects when I have a heavy client load in order to ensure that my time is spent on the things that are: 1) high value activities, worthy of my $100+ hourly rate and 2) things that only I can do based on my unique talents or the client relationship.

In an effort to streamline the process when I need to turn to other resources, I created a spreadsheet that provides me with a quick glance at the resources I’ve qualified and established relationships with over the past 10 years.  Some of the features of the spreadsheet:

• Every row is a different person/resource
• The first few columns include contact information, notes about the resource and their specialty
• The rest of the columns are categories of resources such as Interviewing, Analysis, Recruiting, Panels/Lists, etc.
• I put an X in each column/category that a given resource can help with

Having this quick reference allows me to rapidly scan a given column when I have the need for support in any given area.  When I meet/qualify new resources, I add them to the spreadsheet, which ensures that I think of them when the need arises.  This saves me a LOT of time and helps me make sure I make the right choice for each project, which helps ensure high quality results for my clients.

Let’s all think ‘abundance’ for 2010 and do a similar inventory of our resources…and if you don’t HAVE back-up resources, be sure to find some…WIC is a great source of qualified people who can partner with you to help in almost any element of your work.

By: Jen Berkley Jackson