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 … [Read more...]
Interested in the WIC Mentoring Program? Spring session starts soon
February 5, 2010 By 1 Comment
We created a new Women in Consulting member benefit late in 2009, the WIC Mentoring Program. Our successful six-week pilot run ended in mid-October. The pilot included seven mentees who agreed to help us test the new program. These were WIC members who were interested in the program, but also ready to invest some time (and do some homework!) in order to apply the information we shared with them to help improve various aspects of their businesses. Desiree Lehrbaum (Lumen Consulting) and I … [Read more...]
How to Make 2010 Your Best Year Yet…Without Breaking Your Neck
January 24, 2010 By 1 Comment
I had the pleasure of attending WIC's general meeting last Thursday, where Kate Purmal shared insights into how we can make 2010 our best year yet...without breaking our necks! I particularly like that last part! As part of the networking exercise, everyone was asked to answer the following question: If you could choose between the following, which would you choose: You double your revenue in 2010 but work the same amount of time You keep your revenue at the current level but work … [Read more...]
Use Subcontractors? Then Check Out EchoSign
November 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I love finding nifty tools, those little gadgets, programs, and the like that make life easier. In fact, when I redid my aveconsulting.com site recently, I added a section in the Visitor's Toolbox where I list some of my faves. I'll definitely add this newest one to the list. If you use subcontractors -- or you frequently (or infrequently, because it's free) send documents that you need signed -- you need to check out EchoSign. Beyond Simple to Use EchoSign notifies the recipient via … [Read more...]
Jumpstart Your Business for 2010
November 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment
It seems that the recession is finally ending. But if you’re like me, my business took a beating and I have some major planning to do to be poised for opportunities in 2010. However, it seems so overwhelming to do it all by myself. Luckily, WIC has a workshop on December 1st that can help me – and you – be ready to take advantage of the business upswing. Seven experts are available to explore all aspects of our businesses, in a one-to-one setting, and help develop the best strategic … [Read more...]
What to Say When a Client Claims Your Price is Too High
November 18, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I read a nice article on Raintoday.com that deals with a scenario that most consultants face at one time or another: What to Say When a Client Claims Your Price Is too High” by Charles H. Green, Contributing Editor, Raintoday.com. It’s a good read, so make sure to check out the full article. “If you're like most professionals, you're not comfortable with selling. It's not easy fighting the feeling that hyping yourself is somehow inappropriate. And it's worse when you have to deal with … [Read more...]
Work-Life Balance: A Walk a Day Keeps the Doctor Away
October 23, 2009 By 5 Comments
Anyone who knows me is probably wondering how I could be writing a post on work-life balance. This year has been full of days that start at 6 or 6:30 and don't end until midnight or later and working weekends. In fact, I've found little time for one of my favorite stress relievers: exercise. NOTE: this post isn't about the benefits of exercise. I love the endorphin rush I get from a good walk in our hilly neighborhood while listening to some of my favorite music -- another top stress … [Read more...]
Form Design
October 10, 2009 By 1 Comment
Brand design can extend into all realms of a business's designs - even into the design of feedback or subscription forms on your website. Here's an example of how you can customize a form to match your brand design. This is the original output of a form-creation program: It's decent, certainly - but we can do better. When you're designing your form, keep your brand's color palette, font style and other brand standards in mind. Here's a designed version of the same form, followed by a … [Read more...]
Newsletter versus Blog Subscription & RSS Stream
September 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment
A consultant can handle their "Keep In Touch" Marketing (where you keep in touch with past clients, interested prospects and people who have requested that you email them) in a few different ways. These solutions include: An e-zine (email newsletter) Having people subscribe to get emails from your blog through a solution like Feedburner RSS streams Should you have an ezine list or have people subscribe to your blog? The answer to this depends on the amount of work you want to … [Read more...]
