Product Description: America's most sought-after consulting guru shows you how to successfully market your services and make more money. Contains 138 insider secrets for building a client base applicable to a broad range of professionals inside or outside consulting. Features invaluable marketing do's and don'ts and covers such topics as direct mail, networking, cultivating referrals, media contacts, preparing contracts and setting fees.
Perhaps a Bit Too Quick? As every business owner knows, one of the most frustrating aspects of being self-employed is finding potential customers and convincing them to buy from you. 138 Quick Ideas is a small book full of suggestions for how to network, track down, and lure customers to your door. They are laid out in a common-sense order, with good examples and straightforward text, making the book accessible to business experts and novices alike.
The only drawback to the book is that most of these ideas are by now well known, and many of them are included in the other reviews you'll see here. Plus, when the title says Quick it means just that - nearly all of these ideas occupy less than a page, so the book reads swiftly. So although I can heartily recommend you read this book, I'm not so sure the retail price is justified.
Idea Generator I have read much of Shenson's work since the late '70s, and still find value in them ('tho he's been dead for many years). His self-proclaimed title of the 'consultant's consultant' has now been assumed by others. But his ideas, such as the listing in this book still serve to provide value in themselves. As a practicing independent consultant,I find the greatest value of this list, however, is as a 'trigger' to thought that causes me to come up with additional ideas. It is for this reason that I rate it so highly.
Many Helpful Marketing Ideas Most Consultants Don't Use! The authors start off by saying, "You can be the most terrific speaker, consultant, attorney, engineer or professional the world has ever seen, but to really succeed, you must successfully sell your services." The key element of this selling is summarized as " . . . to really succeed means to differentiate yourself from others." The authors go on to point out that the massive waves of downsizing are creating much more competition all the time, requiring consultants to improve their marketing continuously.
Here are some examples of the gems in this book:
-- "don't quit marketing" -- many consultants only market when they do not have enough business. You are advised to always spend 15-25 percent of your time in this area.
-- market only to decision-makers -- the gate keepers have to let you in before you can make the sale. Spending time with gate keepers though quickly becomes wasted time.
-- make selling your services your number one task so it always takes priority
-- be seen as an expert in your field based on recent research you have conducted
-- try to market people through the insights you get from your research
-- use wasted time to work on marketing (such as downtime sitting in an airport)
-- whenever you mail your card to someone, include two so one can be shared
-- ask all of your contacts for referrals.
Once you are working on these things, here are some other good ideas:
-- create an environment in which making a referral seems like their idea
-- aim your publicity efforts to generate qualified leads
-- quote fees on a fixed price basis
-- let clients know that you will make them self-sufficient.
One of the good aspects of the book is that it does not seem to have any overtly bad advice in it. Some bits of advice I would question, but it certainly won't get you into trouble.
The main weakness of the book is that the ideas are presented at a summary level. Most people will need more detailed information to be able to implement the concepts. As a starting point, I suggest you read Networlding, Socratic Selling, and Publicity Power(all of which I have also reviewed).
If you do not have a marketing plan for your consulting practice, reading this book will be good background for helping you prepare one.
The key point of this book is to help you overcome your stalled thinking that professionals do not have to market. Good work will be enough. Unless you are already a well-known authority with more demand than you can handle, your good work will only take you so far.
Good luck in finding more clients so you can help more people achieve 2,000 percent solutions!
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