In 1998, I became a “consultant.” What that means in plain language is that I wasn’t working for a corporation anymore and that I had to find work to make money. Since the only requirement for being a consultant was knowing a lot about a particular topic, it seemed the obvious way to go.
But that wasn’t enough.
Saying that you’re a consultant in any niche isn’t enough to make the phone ring. You’re going to need a little sizzle to sell that steak.
When I went out on my own, I had the luxury of having saved up some cash and you know what I did with it? I wasted it. I spent my money on things that did nothing to get me customers. Today, I’m going to show you the 10 steps I took that cost me nothing and attracted outstanding, loyal and profitable customers.
These aren’t as sexy as having a cool logo or website. They aren’t as easy as placing ads, but they are by far what works every single time I want cash to come through the door.
I’ll tell you right now — the first four steps will feel like training for and running a mental marathon. But the rewards are truly worth the time and effort, so I urge you to:
Find Your Pond
One of the first things I did when I started my consulting business was go to networking events. I saw dozens of “insurance providers”, “financial advisors” and a ton of other generic sales people. Everyone was focusing on their product or service and no one was focusing on a specific niche.
Here’s an easy way to define a niche. A niche is any group of people who — (insert your topic here) — own Chihuahuas , sell products online, run marathons, read mysteries, etc. When you find your niche this way, the rest of the steps become infinitely easier.
Define Your Offer
Who would you rather work with? A trainer or a marathon trainer.
I know nothing about running marathons, but if I decided to run one, I’d definitely go with a marathon trainer because I can imagine that they will focus on everything I need to do to run a marathon: food, exercise, even tricks and hacks to leverage my training.
Notice that we’ve gone beyond exercise here and we’re focusing on everything having to do with marathons. This is a key distinction between products and services and offers.
Offers are whole and complete. They are a package of deliverables and experiences. An irresistible offer delivers a complete experience in a desired way for a price that feels like a great deal.
Identify Your Ideal Customer
Who is the person that values what you do more highly and needs what you do most desperately? Sticking with our marathon example, you might choose first-time marathon runners.
Notice that your ideal customer is different than a niche; it’s a further focus on the specific value that you provide and for whom.
read more: http://smallbiztrends.com/2015/10/10-ways-to-get-a-consulting-job.html
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