30 Budget-Friendly Marketing Tactics for Consultants Just Getting Started
Marketing doesn't need to cost a fortune to be effective. These cheap and simple tactics from Elaine Biech will come in handy when you're new to the consulting game.
Hoboken, NJ (June 2019)—When you're just starting out as a new consultant, your number-one priority should be marketing. You want to make a name for yourself, enhance your image, and build your reputation. But you have little money! What can you do to find clients and persuade them to choose you? Don't worry, says Elaine Biech. There are lots of marketing tactics that are simple to execute...and either free or very close to it.
"The first step is to change any preconceived ideas you have around marketing," says Biech, author of The New Business of Consulting: The Basics and Beyond (Wiley, May 2019, ISBN: 978-1-119-55690-9, $30.00) and its companion workbook, The New Consultant's Quick Start Guide: An Action Plan for Your First Year in Business (Wiley, April 2019, ISBN: 978-1-119-55693-0, $28.00). "It doesn't have to be complicated or intimidating. And it certainly doesn't have to be expensive.
"There are many ways to get visibility and impress prospects that cost very little," she adds. "Some of these tactics are common sense. Others might be too unusual for you. It's okay. Pick and choose the ones that feel right and let them spark your own ideas."
Keep reading for 30 tips to help you get your foot in the door of the consulting industry (and get a leg up on the competition too!).
1. Attend professional conferences to network. Take a bundle of business cards. Give everyone two cards: one to keep and one to give away.
2. Join your professional organizations.
3. Plan to meet three new people in every networking situation.
4. Contact your college roommate and ask for an introduction to an organization.
5. Submit press releases to the media regarding your major consulting engagements, awards, published articles or books, or appointments.
6. Agree to be interviewed on a podcast. Share it with potential clients.
7. Write articles for your professional journal. Contact the editor to obtain a calendar of topics for the year.
8. Ask your clients for referrals.
9. Create a mailing list and an email list. They should include everyone you meet in the line of business every day.
10. Blog regularly.
11. Invite potential clients to a mini-presentation to get an idea of your expertise and services. Sometimes called showcases, these are often held in local hotels where food and beverages are served to encourage a more social atmosphere.
12. Host a summer picnic. Buy T-shirts for your employees, colleagues, or even clients to wear at the picnic.
13. Create a list of success stories you have had with past clients, such as an effort that resulted in a savings of $3 million each year and shortened the time from concept to catalog by 11 months. Perhaps they could be used as case studies on your website.
14. Find a reason to call special clients.
15. Every time you meet a potential client, even a remotely potential client, follow up with a personal note.
16. Speak at civic and professional organizations' meetings and conferences.
17. Collect testimonials from customers, experts, or celebrities and use them to spice up your marketing.
18. Use your email signature line to promote a new service or a book you've just published.
19. When you are not given a project, send a thank-you note saying you appreciated being considered. Compliment them on their choice—your competition.
20. Send articles that will interest your present and potential clients.
21. Send a card for atypical holidays: Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Groundhog Day, or Independence Day.
22. Tie a client message to a holiday—for example, "We're thankful to have you as a client" (Thanksgiving Day), "We're lucky to have you as a client" (St. Patrick's Day).
23. Send a lumpy envelope for a holiday: a gourd for Thanksgiving, candy hearts for Valentine's Day, a four-leaf clover for St. Patrick's Day, a sparkler for Independence Day.
24. Send birthday cards for both people and companies.
25. Send "congratulations" cards for promotions.
26. Send personal, handwritten thank-you notes.
27. Pass your extra work on to a trusted colleague. It will come back to you.
28. Help your client locate other consultants who can do work you are not qualified to do.
29. Enter your projects in industry award competitions.
30. Use Google Hangouts, Zoom, Facebook Live, or YouTube Live to create and deliver free how-to-do-something videos.
"You'll be surprised how quickly marketing your services becomes second nature," concludes Biech. "Some of these tactics might not seem simple or even doable at first, but great consultants are able to seamlessly blend many of them into their daily work. Before long, you'll feel like a seasoned marketing pro—and you'll have the business to show for it!"
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About the Author:
Elaine Biech is the author of The New Business of Consulting: The Basics and Beyond. She is a dedicated lifelong learner who believes that excellence isn't optional. As a consultant, trainer, and president of ebb associates for more than 35 years, she helps global organizations to work through large-scale change and leaders to maximize their effectiveness. She has published 85 books, including the Washington Post #1 bestseller The Art and Science of Training. She is the recipient of numerous professional awards and accolades, including ATD's inaugural CPLP Fellow Honoree, ISA's Broomfield Award, and Wisconsin's Women Entrepreneur's Mentor Award. Elaine, a consummate professional, has been instrumental in leading the talent development profession during most of her career and has served on several boards, including ASTD, CCL, ISA, and others. She is a designer and facilitator for the online course "How to Build Your Successful Training Consulting Business" and has been featured in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Management Update, Investor's Business Daily, and Fortune.
Customizing all of her work for individual clients, she conducts strategic planning sessions and is particularly adept at turning dysfunctional teams into productive ones. As a management consultant, trainer, and designer, she provides services globally to public- and private-sector organizations to prepare them for the challenges of the future.
For more information, please visit www.elainebiech.com.
About the Books:
The New Business of Consulting: The Basics and Beyond (Wiley, May 2019, ISBN: 978-1-119-55690-9, $30.00) and its companion workbook, The New Consultant's Quick Start Guide: An Action Plan for Your First Year in Business (Wiley, April 2019, ISBN: 978-1-119-55693-0, $28.00), are available at bookstores nationwide, from major online booksellers, and direct from the publisher by calling 800-225-5945. In Canada, call 800-567-4797. For more information, please visit the book's page and the workbook's page on www.wiley.com.
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SENSES FAIL
Announce Fall Headline Tour
With Hot Mulligan and Yours Truly
Performing Debut EP
From the Depths of Dreams
In Its Entirety
VIP Tickets On-Sale Now
General On-Sale Starting This Friday, June 7th
Photo Credit: Kat Nijmeddin
Latest Album If There Is Light, It Will Find You
Available for Purchase Here
Ridgewood, NJ - June 4, 2019 - Senses Fail is thrilled to be returning to the stage this fall for a six week U.S. headline tour, featuring support from Hot Mulligan and Yours Truly. The run kicks off on September 7th, and will see the band playing their debut EP, From the Depths of Dreams, in its entirety. VIP tickets are on sale now at www.sensesfail.com, with general on-sale beginning this Friday, June 7th at 12pm local time.
On the upcoming tour, lead singer Buddy Nielsen shares: "We are very excited to bring a piece of Senses Fail history back and share it with our fans. Our very first EP was the birth of SF and to have a chance to update the sound and play in full was an opportunity we jumped at."
He continues: "We will be playing the EP as well as a greatest hits and rarities set and acoustic songs. We really want our fans to hear some songs that they haven't heard in years or ever."
In 2018, Senses Fail celebrated the band's strongest opening week in over a decade, with the release of their latest album If There Is Light, It Will Find You. The album secured the #1 spot on the Independent, Alternative, and Hard Music charts, as well as the #2 Rock, #7 Digital, #12 Current Albums, #25 Physical, and #57 on the Top 200. It has been heralded by outlets like Billboard, NYLON, Alternative Press, Loudwire and Substream Magazine the band's most honest and one of their best releases. If There Is Light, It Will Find You is available now on Spotify and Apple Music. Physical albums and merch bundles are available at sensesfail.com.
Upcoming Tour Dates:
9.7 - El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace (Senses Fail Only)
9.10 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Tower Theatre
9.12 - St. Paul, MN @ Amsterdam Bar & Hall
9.13 - Chicago, IL @ Riot Fest (performing Let It Enfold You in its entirety)
9.14 - Chicago, IL @ Riot Fest (performing From The Depths Of Dreams in its entirety)
9.15 - St. Louis, MO @ Fubar
9.17 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
9.18 - Austin, TX @ Barracuda
9.19 - Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey Bar & Grill
9.21 - Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum
9.22 - Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room
9.24 - Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
9.25 - Nashville, TN @ The Basement East
9.26 - Charlotte, NC @ Amo's Southend
9.27 - College Park, MD @ Milkboy Arthouse
9.28 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
9.29 - Jersey City, NJ @ White Eagle Hall
10. 1 - Philadephia, PA @ Union Transfer
10. 2 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Rex Theater
10. 3 - Lakewood, OH @ Phantasy
10. 4 - Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew's Hall
10. 5 - Iowa City, IA @ Gabe's
10. 6 - Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room
10. 8 - Denver, CO @ Oriental Theater
10. 9 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex
10.11 - Seattle, WA @ El Corazón
10.12 - Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
10.14 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
10.16 - Anaheim, CA @ Chain Reaction
10.17 - Mesa, AZ @ Club Red
10.18 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent
10.19 - San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
Senses Fail is Buddy Nielsen (Vocals), Gavin Caswell (Guitar), Greg Styliades (Bass), Steve Carey (Drums) and Jason Milbank (Guitar).
For More Information:
https://www.facebook.com/sensesfail/
https://twitter.com/SensesFail
https://www.instagram.com/sensesfailofficial
http://sensesfail.merchnow.com/
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PR Contact: Terry Stanton: 727-443-7115 ext. 223
tstanton@newsandexperts.com
Is Work Draining? How To Cut
Distractions And Boost Energy
Have you ever left your office feeling drained from an 8-hour workday — but also frustrated because you got little accomplished?
Join the crowd. Many Americans struggle to get things done at work; over half spend less than one-fourth of their time in the office on priority, deadline-driven assignments.
The day gets away from us for a variety of reasons, studies show – everything from emails to meetings, project or customer issues, social media use, conversations and conflicts with co-workers.
It’s important to know what those time and energy drains are that lower productivity and to implement a strategy to minimize distractions and maximize work time, says Cynthia Howard, an executive coach and performance expert.
“There is a vicious cycle of distractions that fill the typical workday and interfere with getting the job done,” says Howard (www.eileadership.org), author of The Resilient Leader, Mindset Makeover: Uncover the Elephant in the Room. “People need to learn to focus in ways that get beyond the distractions and stress. It calls for resilient thinking.”
Howard offers four common workplace energy drains and solutions for them:
Shortage of time. ”Constant interruptions and the inability to concentrate compel many people to spend their energy and internal resources on the most urgent issues that show up,” Howard says. “This leaves the most important work sidelined. So you need a time strategy to manage interruptions. The best way is sticking with an operational plan that makes clear the time involved to do your job correctly or, if you’re a leader, a plan that details your team’s tasks and how time-sensitive those are. The less-important interruptions won’t be allowed to get in the way.”
Lack of priorities. Having too much work to do can make it difficult to establish priorities and easy to get sidetracked by everyone else’s issues. The solution, Howard says, begins with having clarity of your long-term goals and letting the priority list flow from there. “Visualize your work,” Howard says. “Use whiteboards to show the workflow. Also, limit your work in progress. Spreading yourself too thin results in errors and burn-out.”
Status quo. “Most organizations have their sacred cows — the untouchable subjects, protocols, or people who continue to operate within the system without any scrutiny,” Howard says. “This conditioning creates a mental default mode and change is resisted.” But you can get beyond the status quo and the resistance, she says, by asking yourself and/or your team three questions: 1) What if we … ? 2) What would it take …? 3) How can we …?
Office politics – i.e., drama. “Drama drains energy faster than anything else,” Howard says. “It’s what most people in the workplace complain about. Progress toward solutions starts with your own drama self-check. Ask yourself these questions: Do you compromise to avoid conflict and feel resentful? Do you use intimidation to get your way? Are you impatient when things don’t go your way? Do you take feedback as a personal attack? Do you feel your opinions don’t matter? Then what will you do differently to extricate yourself from drama, or to develop boundaries with those who engage in it?”
“Work has become a major stressor for people,” Howard says. “Making progress is a major motivator for most, but chronic distraction dulls momentum and demands a new approach for one to move forward.”
About Cynthia Howard, RN, CNC, PhD
Cynthia Howard (www.eileadership.org) is an executive coach, performance expert and the author of The Resilient Leader, Mindset Makeover: Uncover the Elephant in the Room. She holds a PhD in human development and in the past 20-plus years she has coached thousands of professionals, leaders and executives toward mindset mastery and consistent success.
