From the monthly archives:

July 2010

HARO: Free publicity for subject-matter experts

by Peter Osborne on July 30, 2010 · 0 comments

Letting people know you're out there is the first step to establishing your credibiity as a subject-matter expert.

So you’re a new consultant — or you’ve been in business for awhile — and you just can’t seem to get traction against more established competitors.  And you don’t have  a lot of money to advertise or to hire a PR person to promote your brand.  And you worry that part of the problem — to steal from the theme song from Cheers — is that nobody knows your name.

Well, one alternative is subscribing to the Help a Reporter Out (HARO) service.  HARO says that every day it  ”brings nearly 30,000 reporters and bloggers, over 100,000 news sources and thousands of small businesses together to tell their stories, promote their brands and sell their products and services.”  It says it has published “more than 75,000 journalist queries, has facilitated nearly 7,500,000 media pitches, and has marketed and promoted close to 1,500 brands to the media, small businesses and consumers.”

HARO is completely free.  The process is simple: You go to their site and sign up.   What you’re signing up to receive are three e-mails per day with a list of stories that reporters and bloggers are working on, complete with a description of the story and a contact link.  If the story seems to be in your area of expertise, you click on the link and respond to the inquiry.  Very easy.

Now keep in mind that a lot of people subscribe so you may have some competition.  You can limit the e-mails to only topics that are in your wheelhouse. And you can normally set your watch by the arrival of the HARO e-mails and it’ll take all of a minute to quickly check the topics.  And speed of response often matters; a lot of these people are on deadline.

Take a look and give it a try.  But keep in mind that the reporters and bloggers are not necessarily your friends.  If you’re not prepared — and that includes thinking through how what you’re saying will look in print, searchable and on the Internet for eternity.  A few tips:

  • Anticipate the questions you might get and prepare talking points.
  • Keep those talking points short, but be quotable (i.e., don’t be boring).
  • Avoid abusing your competitors.

Please feel free to add additional tips or ways to improve your chances of helping a reporter out.

HARO is entirely free to sources and reporters, and unlike a majority of social media services, is independently owned and funded and has been profitable since day one. In addition, HARO serves as a vital social networking resource for sources, reporters and advertisers who use the service at www.helpareporter.com .

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LinkedIn recommendations benefit both parties

by Peter Osborne on July 20, 2010 · 0 comments

This is the second of a multi-part series on making changes to your job-seeker (or full-time job) LinkedIn profile to reflect your decision to consult or seek project work.  The introduction to this series can be found here. 

Spread the word about other people's great strengths and they'll do the same for you!

It’s one thing for you to say you’re great at something on LinkedIn, but Recommendations act as confirmation and give prospective clients a better sense of what you’re like to work with.  LinkedIn is a lot more than an online version of your resume.  It’s a place to tell everyone what you’re good at, to find potential opportunities, to share knowledge, and to build your reputation (and help others build theirs). 

Review your LinkedIn Recommendations — if you have any — and decide whether they are Job Seeker-focused or if they also work well for the project work you want.  Your recommendations should reinforce your value proposition (your competitive points of differentiation).  If you’ve thought through the keywords that you want prospective clients using to find you, get them included in your Recommendations.   If you haven’t really crystallized your value proposition or identified keywords, you really need to do that first.

HOW TO GET A VALUABLE RECOMMENDATION

Effective Recommendations offer a combination of value-proposition reinforcement, measurable results, and your primary search keywords.   The key to getting a great Recommendation?  Not leaving it to chance.  Just ask.  Here are a few tips, some taken from Ferrazzi Greenlight’s Relationship Masters Academy, from other experts on the subject, and from my own personal experience:

  • Use the LinkedIn recommendations-request system.  Some people suggest you call or e-mail the person…and that may be best if you deal with them a lot.  But that approach could result in your request slipping through the cracks.  The LinkedIn system queues up your request and serves as a reminder for someone to deal with when they have  a few minutes.  You can also ask a client for a recommendation at the end of your project.  I’ve found mixed success with this approach. 
  • Set the tone from the outset.  No matter what you do — AND YES, I’M CAPITALIZING THIS FOR EMPHASIS — do not use the LinkedIn template for your request.  Here’s a starting point for your request (but adapt it as appropriate):  As you may know, I’ve decided to switch my focus from a full-time job search to consulting (or project work).  I’d like to add some Recommendations to my LinkedIn profile that reflect the kind of work I do and the projects I’m hoping to take on.  Would you be willing to write one for me about our work together on [specific project]?  It would mean a lot to me to have your thoughts about my performance.
  • Maximize your chances to get what you need.  Sometimes people are willing to put their name on a testimonial, but don’t have the time or expertise to write a good one.  If you suspect that’s the case — and one way to figure it out is by taking a look at other Recommendations they’ve written (typos and broad generalities are two great indicators of how seriously someone takes these) — consider offering to write it for them.  You might add something along these lines to your note: I know you’re very busy.  If it would help, I’d be glad to write a couple of sample recommendations that would address some of the key points I’m hoping you might include.  You can certainly rewrite or adapt them however you’d like — and tell me honestly if you think I’ve gone overboard.  Thanks so much, and either way, let me know.
  • Write an unsolicited one for them.  This is a great way to get a great Recommendation, and it says something about you in the process.  I’m a big believer in karma and think a few non-reciprocal Recommendations send your network a great message (i.e., how often do you trust Recommendations where two people wrote them for each other at the same time?).  They also help you think through the best way to ask for one from someone else.  If you write a great recommendation, when they inevitably send you a thank you and offer to reciprocate, let them know how much you appreciate that and let them know what you’d like them to focus on.  Have a discussion.  But it will be important that you obviously spent time on theirs.

Please keep in mind that the failure to get an immediate recommendation from someone doesn’t mean they don’t value your work.  Follow up after a few weeks and if they still don’t respond, don’t stress out.  Just ask someone else.

COMPONENTS OF A GREAT RECOMMENDATION

  • Avoid broad generalities.  Offer specific recognition of what makes someone great, preferably with results.  Check out the person’s summary and be conscious of the positioning and try to reinforce that brand.  If you’re still confused, drop him a note and let him know you’re planning to write him a Recommendation and see if your view of his key skills are what he’d like highlighted.  When you’re done, check the Recommendation very carefully for spelling and punctuation.  I’m constantly stunned by how many people wrote great things but never took the time to make sure it reflects their best work.
  • Be very clear about what you’re recommending.  Focus on those specific attributes that others might be looking for (e.g., specific types of communication skills, ability to get up to speed quickly, ability to work effectively on their own after receiving initial direction, how others in the organization interacted with the person).  Go beyond saying someone helped you expand your online presence and offer specific examples (redesigned your webpage, defined online brand-engagement strategies.
  • Feel strongly about the person.  I don’t write recommendations for people I don’t know very well.  If asked, I’ll be honest about that and tell them I don’t feel we worked closely enough or that it was long enough ago that I no longer feel comfortable about writing it.  I think most people would agree that no recommendation is better than a lukewarm one.

The best recommendations explain why the person is a superstar but also explains the best ways to engage with them (and who else with credibility engages with them). 

And one more thing.  There’s a reason I’m writing about Recommendations before suggesting ways to improve your Summary and Headline.   I think you’ll find that others often have a clearer view of your strengths than you do.  I made some important changes to my Profile after seeing what people I really respect wrote about me in my Recommendations.

Good luck.  Tomorrow, we’ll talk about your Summary.

P.S.  The advice I’m providing will help you beef up your LinkedIn profile without outside help.  But if you don’t want to spend the time or realize that this is not something you’re particularly good at, I will be happy to take you on as a client.  Just drop me a note at peter at consultantlaunchpad dot com.

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Use LinkedIn to help prospects find you

by Peter Osborne on July 19, 2010 · 2 comments

Summer is a great time to "beef" up your LinkedIn profile and make sure your personal brand reflects your marketing strategy

Full-time job seekers who see consulting or project work as a new career path, as an audition strategy, or as a way to generate some short-term income should consider the impact on their key marketing materials.  Your personal brand and your business brand are essentially one and the same in this scenario, and you need to think about the messages you’re sending in places such as LinkedIn. 

Last week, Jason Alba of JibberJobber.com (a terrific career management site), challenged his readers to submit their LinkedIn headlines for critique (you can see the result here).  I offered to help, which gave me a good opportunity to review some profiles and frankly found them lacking.  Then last night, someone tweeted a link to a rant about people’s About pages that applies to this subject.  That got me thinking.  So I’m going to devote a series of posts over the next four or five days to beefing up your LinkedIn profile to reflect your new consulting/project focus.  

First, though, I want you to set a baseline for who’s looking at your profile today (Who’s Viewed My Profile can be found in the right-hand column of your LinkedIn home page).  LinkedIn comes up short in the metrics area, but checking this a few times before you make changes will help you assess the impact of your changes on your search results.  It won’t tell you if more qualified people are finding you, but the data will be directionally correct.

Second, print out your profile.  Highlight all the references to your job search and to the specific skills you’re highlighting, including the ones in your Recommendations and Experience sections.  How will you need to change them to attract clients rather than employers?  Which words are repeated throughout?  Those are your current search keywords.  Are they the ones you want?

Finally, think about your profile in terms of solutions.  Write down how you can help people achieve their goals (e.g., I can raise your online visibility, I can help you build a killer low-cost computer).  The list you made in the previous step should help you with this exercise.  Over the next few days, this will evolve into your value proposition.

That’s all for today.  Tomorrow, we’ll talk about Recommendations.

P.S.  The advice I’m providing will help you beef up your LinkedIn profile without outside help.  But if you don’t want to spend the time or realize that this is not something you’re particularly good at, I will be happy to take you on as a client.  Just drop me a note at peter at consultantlaunchpad dot com.

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Subcontracting can help build your portfolio

by Peter Osborne on July 18, 2010 · 1 comment

Today’s post was written by Consultant Launch Pad co-founder Michael Brown, the president of StrategyMark Inc, which provides consulting services to the specialty chemicals industry.

Subcontracting for another firm can provide a terrific foundation for an early-stage consultant.

Subcontracting for another consulting firm can be a great strategy for getting your own practice started.  It not only gets the cash flowing quickly but comes with other benefits including:

  • The other consulting firm has already sold the project, enabling you to get started more quickly because it eliminates the normal leadtime required for getting new business.  You can still start prospecting directly with clients while you are subcontracting so you reap the benefits as the sub-contracting gig ends.
  • Subcontracting is another “toe in the water” approach to testing the profession and making sure you have what it takes to be a consultant (see earlier blog on Microconsulting for another “toe in the water” approach)
  • Subcontracting is a wonderful learning experience and a great way to see the inner workings of an established consulting firm, including the sales process, customer interactions, and financial structure
  • For those who dislike selling, subcontracting can even extend beyond start-up and become the core of the practice.
  • It can provide you with case studies and a list of “clients” that can build both your reputation and provide heft to your marketing materials. 

Subcontracting does bring a couple of significant downsides:

  • The rates/fees are usually much lower than those of your “real” direct clients simply because there is another consulting firm marking up your rates for its client and it needs room for a reasonable mark-up margin while still remaining competitive.  If the rate you negotiate is substantially lower, make sure you get something in return (e.g., guaranteed work, office support, training/learning opportunity).  B e sure to lay the groundwork for raising your rates over time, since, once someone starts paying you a certain rate, they may expect to pay that same rate forever.
  • Many consulting firms require non-compete and non-disclosure agreements with their subcontractors.  Depending on your practice and field of work, this may limit your abilities to work with certain clients and slow the growth of your practice.  Try to limit non-competes to a short term and made sure the field is not open-ended; instead, list the excluded clients by name.

Subcontracting continues to be a small but important part of my established practice.  It comes to me through my network and I do not actively pursue it.  While the rates are lower, I find it refreshing to work with other consultants and learn their style and approach as well as swap client war stories!  That said, here are a couple of tips for generating work like this:

  • Add something to your LinkedIn profile and other marketing collateral that says you are open to this kind of work.
  • Let other consultants know you’re interested in this kind of business.
  • Identify consultants or consulting firms that serve similar types of clients but may not serve your particular niche.  Offer them a chance to expand their services.  For example, if you have extensive experience writing business plans or RFP responses, a branding agency that focuses on developing logos, taglines, and websites might be interested in that skill.
  • Listen carefully when networking.  If someone tells you how busy they are, ask questions instead of congratulating them.  Offer them a chance to take less-profitable, time-consuming functions off their plates, particularly if they don’t enjoy them (e.g., technical types often dislike formatting reports or creating charts).

Consultant Launch Pad co-founder Peter Osborne contributed to this post.

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Is the (RFP) juice worth the squeeze?

by Peter Osborne on July 13, 2010 · 1 comment

Is the juice worth the squeeze=Is this worth the effort?

Sometimes the best deal is no deal.

Inevitably, new consultants are going to find there’s an RFP in the way of winning new business and see it as a great opportunity to add desperately needed revenues.  That’s not always true.  Ask yourself a few key questions before committing the resources (i.e., the time and distraction) to respond to an RFP.  Among those questions:
  • Is this opportunity a good fit for you from a strategic point of view (e.g.., does it support your personal brand, does it open a new market, would winning it provide credibility with other prospects, is it a good fit for your portfolio career)?
  • Is the client really looking for a new partner or is this a way for them to get some free consulting/fresh ideas that they will turn over to the “winner?”
  • Is this a proposal that can be won with a strong value proposition or is the decision going to be made on the basis of money?  And do you care?
  • Is the incumbent participating?  If not, why not?
  • What’s the client’s financial situation?  And the corollary to that one, is this a client you would be proud to be associated with?
  • Did you influence the RFP specifications in some way?  If you didn’t, who did?  And did that person or organization insert specifications that make it a bad deal for you?
  • What is their budget?  Why are they issuing an RFP?
  • Do you understand the decision process? If so, are you in a good position?

In many cases, the consultant driving the RFP or the company itself (if it is working without a consultant) may put something in the document that says you can’t ask questions or get additional information (or that you have to go through the consultant).  Your goal in those situations should be to change the ground rules and find out all you can about this opportunity.  In a future blog, I’ll talk about ways you can do that and still get the business.

If you want it.

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Assess your skills, then address weaknesses

by Peter Osborne on July 13, 2010 · 0 comments

Peel back the layers and dig deep to identify weaknesses to focus on

Assessing your strengths and weaknesses is a critical first step in determining whether your personality and skills (i.e., your core competencies) are a good fit for the challenges of a portfolio career.

My strengths in a corporate environment came from my ability to see problems (particularly barriers to marketing success) and bring people together to solve them.  My communication skills helped a lot in that respect, but my success was tied in no small part to my ability to navigate the corporate infrastructure and get people moving toward a common goal.  The challenge is translating those skills to my current path.

But I’m not as comfortable at building strong one-on-one relationships, at going to a function and meeting people in a business atmosphere.  I hang back; I worry that I don’t come across well.  That’s why I signed up for Keith Ferrazzi’s Relationship Masters Academy, to learn some skills that will help me more effectively sell myself to prospective clients (and, I suppose, prospective employers). 

One thing I’ve learned is that maybe my skills weren’t as weak as I thought.  One RMA exercise asked us to describe a way we drove accountability at the team or individual level.  I submitted the Daily Huddle that I used to run at Bank of America (here’s a version that I published in my Bulldog Simplicity blog) and was somewhat surprised to “win” the weekly contest.  Well, Keith described the Huddle in his blog post today.  And suddenly, my weakness is a well-publicized strength.

The point is, you need to take a hard look in the mirror and decide where you come up short.  What skills do you lack that might have made a difference when it came down to you or someone else (either when the layoff decisions were being made or today, when you compete for a job or project)?  What skills do you need as a free agent (consultant or project person) that you really didn’t need (or that you got from another member of your team) in your last job?

Then go develop those skills.  If you can’t (or won’t), then a portfolio career might not be for you.

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60 Experts, 60 Minutes (total), 100+ Great Tips

by Peter Osborne on July 12, 2010 · 0 comments

If you listened in to the Shortest Marketing Conference Ever, you probably came out of it with your Longest List of To Do items ever.  The Influencer Project, sponsored by ThoughtLead, brought together 60 big names in online media and gave them 60 seconds each to tell listeners how they can increase their digital influence.

Success often requires looking at things from a different perspective (like this view of the Golden Gate Bridge)

There were similar themes.  Offer great content and make it available for free.  Get involved with other people’s networks.  Get offline. I particularly liked Michael Port’s suggestion about consistency.  Port, the author of Book Yourself Solid (which you can buy through Amazon in our affiliate column, says,  “Consistency demonstrates commitment…if you are consistent, they’re going to keep coming back.  You’re going to earn their trust because…they believe that you’re committed to them for the long haul.”  Port advises that you be consistent in when you write (schedule it for the same time every day), when you post, the approach you take.  The idea of merging time management and my online activites is one I need to embrace more actively.

The bullets below are excerpts of advice that particularly resonated with me.  I’ve also provided links from their names to their sites.  And in the next day or so, I’ll be adding links from these experts to our Blogs and Links page because this is a road map to the best of what’s on the web.   Here’s a copy of the Influencer Project Transcript and a link to a page where you can download the audio.  Take your pick (the transcript is also available on our Downloads page), but I urge you to take the time to read or listen to the whole thing.

  • David Meerman Scott:  “If you want to get noticed…stop talking about your products and services…what (people) care about are themselves.  And they care very, very deeply about solving their problems…If you can create valuable content…you will be successful.”
  • Carol Roth:  “The best way to build influence online is by aligning yourself with outstanding strategic partners.  And to do that, you need to start those relationships (by commenting) on the blogs, tweet and retweet, and otherwise find ways to interact with and to give to people that you want to learn more about.”
  • Laurel Touby:  “To increase your digital influence, you have to have a clue about what everyone’s talking about…I challenge you: On the first day of the month, assign yourself three digital trends you’ve been hearing about, and go do a test drive…For example, (register for FourSquare or GroupOn, or an online iPad demo.  There’s a great site called unboxing.com…Check it out and even if you never use it again, you’re gonna be the smartest person in the room at the next cocktail party you go to.”
  • Dave Navarro:  ”Find people who have your audience already, but are not selling them the kind of things you’re selling and co-create some products with them…What happens is their audiences, goodwill, and credibility shifts over to you, and you get to be associated with some of the larger names in the business.”
  • Jim Kurkral:  “Consider Facebook advertising.  Not a lot of people realize that you can go on Facebook and you can run ads on profiles of specific groups of people.  On people in certain regions and locations, down to zip codes.”
  • John Jantsch:  Get very, very good at filtering and aggregating content…I think one of the master skills now is to be able to sort through all that content and be able to deliver it to people at the right time, the right size, the right amount.”
  • Robbin Phillips:  “It’s not about digital.  It’s about people — real human beings, just like you and me. It’s about passion conversations, not product conversations…Let your passion shine. Share who you are and what you stand for with the world.”  By the way, I love the Brains on Fire blog (PAO)!
  • Nathan Hangen:  “If you really want to build influence then your job is to make something — whether it’s a product, a business, or a message — worth talking about.”
  • Guy Kawasaki:   “Repeat your tweets.  I have found that by repeating tweets you get about the same amount of click-throughs for each time you repeat it…I repeat them four times every eight hours.”
  • David Bullock:  “To get more influence online, move offline.  Too many times people take the online market and just sit there, hoping that people are going to come and bump into them.  They’re not going to bump into you unless they have a reason to.” 
  • Vanessa Fox:  “Start with understanding your audience, and really what their needs are and the asks that they’re trying to accomplish.  (Don’t just) attract people from search…and instantly try to sell them on (your) product…Answer their questions, solve their problems.”
  • Sergio Balegno:  “Invest more time mapping a strategy for not just using social media, but for integrating social media with other tactics.” 
  • Mitch Joel:  “If you want to increase your digital influence, then get active in other people’s communities…Get out of your own head and get into other people’s spaces.”
  • Brian Clark:  (First,) ”Learn to be a storyteller…narrative — it’s what makes us human…No. 2, Understand the psychology of people, because that’s what social media is all about.  And number three, your content has to be quality.  Production values matter if you’re going to get the attention you want.”

Which tips particularly resonated with you?  Which ones can you implement in the next 60 days?

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Microconsulting: Putting your toe in the water

by Peter Osborne on July 9, 2010 · 1 comment

Michael D. Brown is co-founder of Consultant Launch Pad. He has worked in the chemicals industry for more than 30 years, 12 of that as a consultant.

There are ways to see if consulting is right for you without a full commitment

A friend recently asked me about consulting and I shared with him my experiences and advice.  As my enthusiasm built, I could tell he was becoming increasingly uncomfortable and a little skeptical.  As I probed a little I found he was excited about the rewards of consulting but deeply concerned about the risks.  Of particular concern was the perception that he would be starting up a business he knew little about.  Our conversation turned to whether there was a way to put a “toe in the water” of consulting before “jumping in over his head.”

The answer is yes, sort of.  Depending on your capabilities and value proposition, it might be possible to “micro-consult” conducting tiny projects and services for a very modest fee (sometimes a few minutes consulting for as little as $5).  The wonders of the internet have made it possible to match consultants and clients at very low costs thus enabling micro-businesses that would have been impossible in the past.  Several sites serve the micro-consulting market including fiverr.com, liveperson.com, and elance.com to name a few.  Each site has a different approach, but the premise is the same – very small quick-turnaround projects.  Anne Kadet of SmartMoney magazine covers the topic quite nicely.

A disclaimer and word of caution – I have tried these sites without much luck.  That is because I have an established practice and found the sites were a distraction and that my fees were just not competitive.  Furthermore, I do not believe it is possible to build a large consulting practice with this business model alone.  You would have to be extraordinarily productive to complete enough projects to have a relevant income.  Rather, I believe these sites allow budding consultants to put a “toe in the water” and see if consulting is for them on a small scale before “jumping in over your head.”  At a minimum it exposes the budding consultant on a very small scale to the realities of writing scopes of work, estimating time and fees and participating in a competitive market.

Michael Brown is president of StrategyMark Inc., which provides consulting services to the specialty chemicals industry.

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Blogroll on Steroids

by Peter Osborne on July 4, 2010 · 0 comments

Hi, there.  Just getting back from some community fireworks and got to thinking that we’re building a community that wants you to be successful and see your revenues go off like the finale of tonight’s show (OK, I know the analogy was a bit weak, but I wanted to tie this a bit to the Fourth before the clock strikes midnight).

Based on where Google Analytics says our visitors are going, I wanted to point you toward a page we think is special and ask for your input to make it even more special. 

Other peoples’ Blogrolls often run down the right column of their blogs.  But it’s not always clear why some of them exist from the titles.  Some are obvious, of course.  You see Tom Peters’ name, you’re pretty sure you know what you’re going to get when you click.  Same with Chris Brogan or Duct Tape Marketing.  Others…not so easy.

So I created our Blogroll on a different page, organized it by Categories, and added a phrase or two about each one — an introduction if you will, just to save you a bit of time.  That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do a bit of exploring and see if you like someone new, but it’s a start.  Because we know how busy you are.  These are the people who will help you move into Free Agent Nation, to help you get started or be more successful in your portfolio career.

And here’s my request:  I want this page to have a lot more interesting people who can help you find new customers, be more effective, and think about a range of different subjects in a different way.  If you have some suggestions, go to the bottom of the page and tell me (and everyone else) whose blog you can’t live without on a regular basis.  I’d like to say that it’ll take two or three recommendations of the same person to make the list, but who knows…if one person makes a suggestion of someone I really like, they’re going to make the list.  Please consider Tweeting the Blogroll (or retweating this post) so we can get a broader range of recommendations.

So who do you like?

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Leave your comfort zone and be exceptional

July 2, 2010

We all need to get out of our comfort zones.   People trying to make money consulting or doing project work for the first time after years in the corporate world often stumble when it comes to selling themselves, to defining and communicating their brands and then effectively positioning themselves as the solution to someone’s problem. This [...]

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