“I am
a Consultant.” This declaration is probably heard more these days than the
question “What is your name?” More than at any other time in history, this
economy has compelled educated highly skilled professionals to seek to earn a
living by attempting to ply their trade as consultants. So how does the
“standout” consultant rise above the masses of tenderfoot claimants who are
just temporarily between jobs? Or, even if you are one of the freshly minted
masses, how do you stand on the shoulders of giants to pick the fruitful
opportunities that the old guys have been neglecting.
There
are “Six Keys to Success” that are
essential to building any winning success plan. These attributes are integral
to building your brand as a consultant as well. These concepts have been
adapted to meet the complex demands of modern day enterprise building.
- Information: Become known as a
trustworthy subject matter expert in your field.
- Image: Go out into the world every day and look, sound and act the
way you wish to be perceived.
- Initiative: Always act on the basis of sound planning and good research,
which leads to the pursuit of effective strategy.
- Confidence: Through dedicating your self to winning small victories, you
will be emboldened with the confidence that you've done your best; this
will be the basis of the momentum that propels you to success.
- Capital: The greatest source of future revenue and profits for your
business will be determined by the purchasing and cost decisions you make
today.
- Contacts: You must assemble a winning team. You alone will never
possess all of the skills and abilities required for perfection, nor will
you ever be able to earn every certification or degree needed to answer
every question.
Every
successful entrepreneur needs to gain a general mastery of the “Keys to
Success”. However, there are four specific tactical applications of these
concepts that you can use to help carve out a niche for your consulting brand. You
can immediately incorporate these four strategies into your practice in order to
gain a leg up on the “competition”.
1) Building Your Brand by Becoming an
“Infopreneur”
It is often said
that content is king when it comes to building an online
presence for your brand. One of the most cost effective and high impact ways to
generate and distribute the high quality content that you produce is through
publishing a blog. As a subject matter expert in your field, it should
not be very difficult to regularly produce high-quality content in order to
generate a very informative, well followed blog. The content that you generate
and a place to publish it are all that you need to get started on the easy road
to “Infopreneurship”.
If you are not already blogging, the
process for getting started is fairly simple. There are quite a few
popular blog publishing services that can be used to create
your own high quality blog. Some of the more popular outlets are TypePad, Blogger (which is owned by Google.com) and WordPress.
You can easily determine which of these (or the many others) sites will fit
your particular needs. The most common approach to making that decision is
through either utilizing trial and error, researching online comparisons, or by
soliciting referrals from other bloggers.
Once you start to publish your blog,
you should list your blog with blog directories. A Blog directory is a service
that lists popular blogs, much like an on-line index or card catalog to assist potential
blog followers. Using blog directories enables your blog to gain greater
exposure to a wider audience than just relying on being followed by random
users of your chosen blog publishing service.
The most well designed
and highly informative blog on the internet is nothing without followers. I
cannot emphasize strongly enough that the best way to gain a large captive
audience of loyal followers is by regularly generating high quality content
that is relevant to your target audience. To promote this content and increase
their blog’s following; most bloggers utilize their existing networks on the
most popular social media platforms: Twitter; FaceBook; LinkedIn etc. Some
other useful tips to growing your blog’s readership and fan base are to:
1) Use
the blog traffic analytics provided by your blog publishing service to
determine the readership patterns of your existing followers.
2) Make widgets or gadgets (apps that link your blog to
other websites) available for readers to place on their social media pages,
personal websites and personal blogs.
3) Interact with your blog followers by being responsive to
their comments posted on your blog.
4) Follow as many other blogs as you can and regularly interact
with other bloggers.
Now that you’re the
publisher of a successful blog with an avid following, what’s next? You are the
owner of your blog content and therefore free to publish your articles in other
online and print publications. For most bloggers utilizing their blog to grow
their business is more than enough payoff for their effort and ingenuity.
However, some savvy bloggers may want to take it a step further by using their
blog content to enter the realm of information marketing.
Information marketing
is the business of selling Books, e-Books, CDs, DVDs, Webinars Podcasts, etc. to
consumers seeking essential knowledge that they can use to enhance their
business or professional lives. The most fundamental information products are
“inspirational““motivational” “self-help” or “how-to” books. Turning your blog
content into a book provides you with the perfect opportunity to enter the
domain of legendary “Infopreneurs” such as Robert Kyosaki, Jim Rohn, Les Brown
and Dennis Kimbro.
The traditional route
to getting a book publishing deal is one that you might consider. However, self
publishing is the easiest route to bringing your book and or e-book to the
public. As with the process of publishing your blog, several easy to use
print-on-demand, self publishing sites exist on the internet. Some of the
notable names in the game are Lulu, AuthorHouse, xLibris and iUniverse. These sites provide users
with easy to use tools that allow authors to download simple text documents and
images from their own computers to create actual hardcover or paperback books.
Within a matter of minutes, you can produce a bookstore quality publication or downloadable
e-Book that customers can purchase or download from their own computer.
To market and
promote your book; you will utilize many of the same tools that are used to
market and promote your blog. Becoming recognized as an Author will allow you
to create new business opportunities, expand your number of blog followers and
make a few dollars from selling the book as well. By following the steps I
have outlined, I am sure that in no time flat you can also elevate the way your
brand is perceived. You will rise in stature above other consultants who just blog,
into the ranks of published authors who influence a mass audience of readers
seeking expert advice.
In summary: You and you alone are
responsible for controlling the quality of your brand. The image you present
and the information you transfer to the public are signs of your dedication to
quality and the soundness of your ideas. There are many vital aspects that contribute
to successfully building a powerful brand for your consulting practice. Whether
you are a long time practicing consultant or a novice to the field, utilizing
these helpful brand building tactics, as well as a general application of the
Six Keys to Success should definitely help you stand out from the crowd in this
economic environment.
Vince Rogers is the Principal Change Agent at Vince Rogers & Associates www.vincerogers.biz
Vince
Rogers & Associates works with businesses, non-profits and high achieving
individuals to formulate winning “Success
Plans”.
The
foundation for each success plan is tailored around optimizing the management
and mastery of the “Six Keys to Success”:
Confidence; Capital; Contacts; Initiative; Information and Image.
His books
"The
Very Best of Disguised Limits" book are available to buy or download free @ www.lulu.com
The complete article Building Your Brand as a Consultant by
Utilizing the “Keys to Success” Is
featured as the †Cutting Edge Topic in the 2013 Pfeiffer Annual: Consulting
(ISBN:
978-1-1182-7379-1)
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