Consulting Marketing - Best Practice

Marketing for your consulting firm can be one of the most difficult things any kind of management consultant must do.  For smaller firms or individual management consultants, advertising on big television or radio ad spots is not economical.  Hiring Tiger Woods like Accenture did is definitely not feasible, although you might be able to get him to endorse your consulting firm now!

The best thing that a management consultant can do to get consulting contracts is to give out free advice.  You can do it in the form of a monthly newsletter in your field or it could be just phone conversations with someone that could become a potential client.

Often times, giving free advice like this can even lead to a management consulting job with a large firm like Accenture or PricewaterhouseCoopers.  Be generous and it'll be given back to you in the form of a contract or a full fledged job.  At the very least, it will help you network and get contacts with others who might become good prospective clients or consulting firms.

Many companies also hire former consultants for full time positions as well.  That possibility shouldn't be neglected.  If you help a company or a department head solve a major problem with your expertise and position yourself and your free advice properly, it could lead to a job.

For example a management consultant in the field of search engine optimization (SEO) might give free site consultations to companies.  He will tell them what is good with their company's website and what needs improvement.

He then drafts a proposal saying how he could help them.  Many will choose to hire some will take the and use the free advice and never give him a contract.  Oh well, you helped some businesses on your way to acquiring a book of clients.  Not a big loss.  And you never know, those free loaders might eventually come around.