Consulting Business Blog

About Me

2010-01-22T14:52:00.000-08:00

My name is David and I'm a sales and marketing consultant. I help companies with vital components of their business like sales management, sales model and process development, sales recruiting, Internet marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and content creation for their website.

If you would like a free consultation or to inquire about how I can help your business, contact me at davecorp09@gmail.com. I will evaluate your business and do a review of your sales and marketing strategy and come up with ways that you can improve your sales and marketing.

Checking Bags with Fedex

2010-01-18T11:42:00.000-08:00

Many consultants do a lot of traveling in their course of work. Whether it's to see clients, work on consulting projects, meeting with prospective customers or just visiting a colleague, traveling is a part of the consultants life. Of course, much of that travel has reduced due to technological advances, but many argue that technology may have just exacerbated it.

In any case, all the little fees that airlines are now charging can add up to be a lot when you're in the air constantly. $20 for this bag, $30 for that bad, it all adds up. Now with more restrictions on carry on luggage because of security concerns, this is getting even worse. Many people are now using Fedex to mail their bags that they used to previously check at the airline counter. People are finding this to be a cheaper and easier alternative than checking your bag.

You simply pack your bag, go to a Fedex office and ship it to the hotel of your next destination. You don't have to roll it through the airport parking lot, drag it through the long lines at the check in counter and you don't have to lug it all the way to your hotel. Not only is it cheaper, it's a lot less work for you.

Google May Leave China

2010-01-14T10:30:00.000-08:00

Google announced that they may soon be leaving the gigantic Chinese market due to continued censoring of search results by the Communist government as well as recent cyber hacking attacks of gmail acounts of human rights activists. But the main reason for departing may be that the cyber attackers were recently able to steal some very important source code from Google. If they continue to do that, they can use it to start their own competitor search engine or give it to Google's competitors in China and around the world.

Google has been dealing with the censoring issue for the last four years, but it seems like the cyber attacks were the last straw for Google. They don't have a huge market share in China to begin with so they won't be losing much immediate revenue from this move. They are however giving up the future potential earnings that this rapidly growing economy and massively large population might offer in the future. You can read my latest article on this story about Google and China at CNN.

George Clooney's Consulting Business

2010-01-13T10:10:00.000-08:00

George Clooney recently played a character in Up In The Air who was a management consultant who went around firing people. Apparently its actually a real consulting job. And those who do have this morbid job has had a great couple of years. One man's job loss is another man's consulting contract. And I believe unless the government does something about business' reluctance to hire employees, they will continue to prosper.

In December 2009 the professional and business services sector picked up 50,000 jobs. Those are the white collared office worker jobs, the ones that George Clooney's counterparts in the real world make their living from firing. And unless the government lifts the barriers of uncertainty of tax rates and health care reform, these management consultants will thrive firing these 50,000 jobs that we've worked so hard to add to the economy. People are speaking of a jobless recovery due to the positive numbers we've been seeing recently in the retail and manufacturing sectors.

Companies Reluctant to Hire Because of Politics

2010-01-12T16:40:00.000-08:00

CNBC reported today that companies, especially small business owners, are reluctant to hire because of uncertainty of what the current government will do about taxes and health care. Associations representing small businesses are urging the government to consider the small businesses in their tax policy and health care reform.

The tax cuts instituted by the George W. Bush administration is due to expire in 2010. For many small businesses, the current tax system the Bush administration established is the only tax system they have known. They are unsure if and when the Obama administration will raise income and business taxes. And even when the new tax policies are passed, small business owners are unsure how it will affect them and their business.

In addition, small business owners are holding their breath waiting for the health care bill to pass and wondering how it will affect their business as well. The Obama administration has repeatedly said that it won't affect those who currently have health insurance and that it wasn't a tax on the business class. Most business owners are not sure of this and are waiting to see how the new health care reform bill will affect their business. You can read the article and watch the interviews on CNBC.

SEO Consulting

2010-01-11T21:36:00.000-08:00

I'm starting to see that SEO consulting and affiliate marketing consulting is potentially a huge business for those who figure out how to do it. I figure those who've figured it out wouldn't want to help other businesses and just themselves I supposed, but I think it's a great opportunity for SEO consultants to get into doing niche businesses with retail outlets.

I'll give you an example, I went a birthing class today with my wife. The lady who was teaching the class sells retail baby and maternity stuff. She knew a lot about a lot of things pertaining to babies, new mothers, breast feeding, even nutrition and stuff like that. She could use her expertise to write really rich unique content and I could help her craft the content she writes and optimize it for SEO as well as help her sell baby stuff with the web traffic she brings in. I see this as a potentially huge opportunity for SEO consultants to do profit sharing with their SEO skills.

This Week

2010-01-11T12:33:00.000-08:00

This is a new week in a new year and I'm excited about what it will bring for my consulting business. This week I'll be following up with a organizational management consulting and leadership firm to do some sales consulting for them. They want to hire a couple of independent sales reps to sell their consulting projects and basically have no clue where to start. I'm going to interview them and find out what their needs are and assess how much of it I can and what they can do.

Additionally, I'm finishing up a huge accounting systems consulting project in the next few months. Once that's done, I have 2 other nonprofit organizations that want the same service followed by a continuing bookkeeping maintenance contract. On top of that, I have a couple of other prospects that I can go after once my current project is done. I'm planning on hiring a full time bookkeeper to maintain all the books while I get more business. I said I was going to try to get away from accounting, but it's such a huge need everywhere. So we'll see.

Medical Clinic Consultant

2010-01-09T23:54:00.000-08:00

I met a consultant today who basically runs the business operations for medical clinics. He basically contracts out to doctors to run their clinic. Most doctors didn't go to medical school to run a business. They went to treat and help patients. Of course, many go to make money, but running a business is usually not their forte. In addition, it usually doesn't make financial sense for the doctor to manage the business side of things. Their time is usually worth more than what a medical clinic business manager will get at market price. This consultant comes in and basically does all the things that the doctor does not want to do.

So he comes in, manages the office, hires the staff, including the medical professionals, oversees the medical billing process, manages the office staff, orders the supplies and keeps the clinic running. All the doctors have to do is come in and see patients. It's a good deal for them not to have to deal with all the headaches of running a successful business. This consultant does it for 3 clinics right now, and he had to drop a client because he was too busy. There is high demand for a consultant like this to help manage the business operations of medical clinics.

This is a good lesson for all the consultants out there looking for business ideas. Find out what people want to do and not want to do, and make a business out of helping them do what they don't want to do. You might find a business person who loves their business, but hates accounting or marketing. I find that the thing most business owners hate doing is sales, so I'm a sales consultant to help them do what they are good at by doing what I am good at.

Consulting Company Marketing

2010-01-08T10:55:00.000-08:00

Consulting company marketing can be one of the most complex things. It's not the typical business situation where you hang your shingles and sell a product. On top of that, most consultants have a specialty in a specific area which limit the size of the market for a consulting company.

I just wrote an article about consulting company marketing that you can find a link to below. It goes over some of the strategies that many consultants use to get clients. It can be very labor intensive to prospect for consulting clients, but once that contract is signed and the consulting engage begins, it's well worth it.

The main strategy that the article talks about is giving away free advice to your prospective clients. It's usually not that difficult to find a prospective client who needs your services. It's just hard to find one that will pay for your services.

Many businesses who may need your services will try to do it on their own to save on costs. If you can offer free advice that they need, it's a way to engage them in relationship and to simultaneously show them subtly why they need your services. You can read the article about Consulting Company Marketing on Hubpages.

Jobs Report - 85,000 Jobs Lost

2010-01-08T09:41:00.000-08:00

The labor report came out today showing that 85,000 jobs were lost in December. This was an unexpected loss. Many analysts were actually predicting that this report would show jobs were added not lost in December. Many analysts now say that the number would have been higher if more people were looking for work. Many people who have not been able to find jobs have taken themselves out the marketplace by going back to school and other things like that. This jobs report keeps the unemployment rate at 10%.

The lack of jobs continues to be the main hurdle to an economic recovery. Although despite job losses and unemployment, retail consumer sales seem to still be creeping back up.

Even with the total job losses, some sectors actually added jobs. The professional and business services sector added 50,000 jobs and health services rose 35,000. The manufacturing and construction sectors have been hit the most with losses of 27,000 jobs and 53,000 jobs respectively.

Car Jump Starter

2010-01-07T15:04:00.000-08:00

I have a business on the side that I make money from writing online. It's sort of part of my consulting business and it's sort of not. I write a lot to help people with their sales management as well as start their own businesses. But in my writing I've discovered new revenue streams that I can potentially have from my writing.

My newest article is on car jump starters that jump your car battery when it's dead. I've discovered personally how handy this thing is when you're on the road on your battery dies. These things are very practical and is nice to have when something like this happens.

Amazon's #1 selling car jump starter has a bunch of other stuff that you can use it for as well. This one comes with AC and DC power outlets so that you can charge your cell phone battery as well as your laptop battery. You can also run your stereo through this portable power device for when you are camping, having a picnic or just outdoors in general.

These things are very practical. It would even work well for when the power goes out in your home. It comes with a bright light so you can use it as a lantern at home or outdoors when you're camping. It also has an air compressor so you can inflate your car tires, bike tires as well as other sporting equipment like basketballs, volleyballs, soccer balls and the like. As you can see, it's a lot more than just a car jump starter.

Consulting Project Proposal

2010-01-07T11:26:00.000-08:00

I'm working on a consulting project proposal for a organizational leadership consulting company. They're in need of recruiting and managing some independent sales reps and they have no experience at working with these types of professionals. They're not sure how to even recruit and hire them.

My first step is to do a full interview with him to see what exactly he needs. Really I'm going to first find out if he even needs me or if he just needs to be pointed in the right direction. But he charges $300 per hour for his services, it would be a waste of his time and money to do this himself at those rates.

To get an introduction, read my article on Hubpages about starting a consulting business.

Consulting Business Idea

2010-01-06T15:52:00.000-08:00

Here's another consulting business idea. The consulting idea is doing emergency preparedness plans for businesses. Natural disasters and man-made disasters happen everywhere even in the US. Governments have plans for it but so do many companies. Every company and business needs an emergency preparedness plan to keep it going or to protect it during a disaster or emergency.

You can learn how governments prepare for an emergency. Many government agencies also provide free emergency preparedness plan information for businesses. It's just that most government agencies don't have the funds and resources to actually get that information to the businesses.

That's where you come in. You can be the messenger of the information that is already out there and as a consultant help them construct an emergency preparedness plan specifically for the business.

It can be as simple as assessing their situation and advising them on how their business will fare in different emergency scenarios. It might be as simple as telling them to get portable power units like generators or sometimes even car jump starters may work to provide power in an emergency situation.

As a consultant in the emergency preparedness planning field, you can help businesses prepare for a natural or man-made disaster. Some businesses may even be able to stay in operation if they are readily equipped to do so.

Prospects for Sales Consultants

2010-01-06T12:05:00.000-08:00

For those who are sales consultants, prospecting at insurance sales agencies and insurance brokerages can be a great place to start. These businesses are essentially sales businesses, driven by revenue brought in by the sales reps. The insurance part of it is done by the carrier not the agent or brokerage.

The main reason this is a good niche to do sales consulting in is that they are everywhere. You can't go one block in any city and not find an insurance agency selling life insurance, homeowner's insurance, business insurance and of course auto insurance.

That means it's scalable and you can rubber stamp your sales presentations and sales programs in this market. You don't want to be in a market where you have to modify your stuff all the time. That's why the insurance business is a good place to start.

Secondly, insurance agencies are often populated by very ambitious and motivated sales reps and many of them are very profitable. This also means that your job is going to be easier. You won't be trying to motivate sales reps that are struggling or in despair. You are training and coaching a team of people who want to make money. Those types are much easier to work with and have a much better chance of success for you.

Also, because there are so many of them, it's a learning experience for you that you can continue to use. Industry knowledge is critically important in the sales consulting world. You have to be able to help businesses in the context of their markets and industries. If you stick with the insurance world, it will keep your learning curve to a minimum and turn you into an expert faster.

Use Sales Conferening in Your Consulting Business

2010-01-05T20:08:00.000-08:00

Sales conferencing can be a great consulting tool for firms to use in their sales presentations as well as the other presentations and reports they have to make throughout the course of their consulting engagement. It's a highly effective tool and so much cheaper than traveling onsite, especially when it's not completely necessary.

Sales conferencing is a webinar where you do the visual presentation over the Internet and doing the audio over a conference call or through the Internet if you have that available. Many firms use this as a very effective consulting tool.

Sales conferencing is a great sales tool to do presentations to get a consulting contract. You can show a PowerPoint presentation on the Internet and go over it with a conference call simultaneously.

This is very cost-effective, especially if you're not sure a prospect will actually give you a contract. One of the worse things that could happen is if you fly across the country to do a sales presentation for a moderately interested prospect and they reject your services.

Additionally, you can use sales conferencing to vet your prospect and to warm them up. Sometimes it can take several meetings to establish and build a consulting relationship because consulting is so much based on trust. Sales conferencing can be a cost-effective way to do this without having to go to their office every time.

You can also use this for various presentations and reports that you will inevitable need to make throughout the course of your consulting engagement. It can be a very useful method among your consulting tools to help you in your business.

If you're not doing this already in your consulting business, here's a simple guide to using sales conferencing as well as some resources on where you can find some good webinar services online.

Simply Accounting for Windows Vista

2010-01-05T19:41:00.000-08:00

I'm doing some accounting work for a couple of international non-governmental organizations (NGO). They were previously using a mixture of Microsoft Excel, Quicken and Quickbooks at different times.

We decided to go with Simply Accounting 2009 Premium. We're soon to be upgrading to Simply Accounting 2010 Premium with the Payroll Package. We decided to go with that because it's fairly straightforward and easy to use.

It also keeps a record of every transaction to keep an audit trail, which is important to us. It was too tempting to make changes in Quickbooks without making a note, which left us confused later when we couldn't remember why we made a certain transaction.

Being a Simply Accounting Consultant is a great gig. Sage Software, the company that sells Simply Accounting products don't give you much free technical support. You may get a 60-day support service at a price or for buying a premium version of the software. I think they usually give you a free technical support call, but then you have to pay like $75 an hour.

The reason I know that is because our bookkeeper tried to install Simply Accounting onto Windows Vista for two straight days. There was nothing on the Simply Accounting help section or their website that really helped us. We finally figured out how to install Simply Accounting onto Windows Vista.

Because of what they charge so much for support, a good Simply Accounting Consultant can make upwards of $50/hour. They don't really have a video tutorial like Quickbooks does so a Consultant can make pretty good money helping organizations set up and use their new accounting software package.

Consulting Marketing - Best Practice

2010-01-04T22:58:00.000-08:00

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.