How can I find the companies that need management consulting?
“The last thing I need is a management consultant. What I could use, though, is some good advice.”
-Cal Harrison, The Consultant With The Pink Hair
Don’t look for companies that need management consulting.
Instead, look for companies that would benefit from your advice.
How can you find those companies?
Put your advice out there and see who responds to it.
If people find your advice useful, there is a higher chance they’ll take interest in your service.
So, share your management consulting advice. Find out who’s interested.
If someone wants advice specifically for them, then give them the opportunity to invest in your management consulting service.
As a consultant, your advice is your product.
Give away generalized advice for free (this will attract potential clients) — but charge for advice specific to a particular client.
I want to quit my job in 5 months to freelance. What would you do?
- Save up an emergency fund. Try and save up at least 6 months of runway. This will drastically reduce your stress. If you don’t have any money saved up and you try and quit to freelance, you’ll be very stressed about money — and this will likely lower your performance.
- Select your primary niche and service. Choose an industry to serve, and a service that you will provide for them. Example: PPC advertising for chiropractors. This will make you stand out among the millions of other freelancers and position you as a specialist.
- Test out the demand for your services. Speak with the industry you want to serve. Find out their problems and where they want to be. Ask them about their experience with a service like yours. If your service can help get them to where they want to be, there’s a chance they’ll invest in it.
- Do pro-bono work. If you’re a new freelancer, it will be much easier to win new projects if you have previous projects. Your previous projects (portfolio) demonstrate you’ve created results for your clients. You can do pro-bono work to get the first few projects under your belt — which can lead to a nice testimonial and referrals for paying clients.
- Win clients. Start winning clients even while you’re employed. Most employers are OK with this. Even if yours is not, you’re quitting anyways — so what do you have to lose? If you can learn how to win clients and complete projects while you’re employed, then it will be even easier once you quit your job.
How do you prove that you have 2 years of work experience (freelancer)?
Why do you have to prove it?
Is your client asking for someone with 2 years of work experience?
Dig a bit deeper.
What result does your client want?
They’re not investing in you because you have “2 years of experience.”
They’re investing in you because they want a result.
If you can demonstrate that you can create that result for them, they will look past an arbitrary measure like years of experience.
Example: Your back hurts. You want to hire someone to help fix your back pain.
- Physiotherapist 1: “I have 2 years of experience fixing back pain.”
- Physiotherapist 2: “I’ve fixed back pain for 12 clients — here’s how…”
Which physiotherapist’s pitch resonates more?
The latter — because they show how they’ve created the result you want.
Clients don’t pay for your “years of experience.”
Clients pay for your results.
As a freelancer or consultant, prove you can create results.
That’s how you’ll win the business.
What is a digital presence?
When someone searches your name on Google, what do they find?
That’s your “digital presence.”
It’s the total sum of your…
- personal website
- social media/website profiles
- features in other blogs/publications
- videos/images
In a digital world, your digital presence is critical in the context of your career.
The more impressive your digital presence, the more employers (or customers) will seek you out and want to work with you.
If you want to improve your digital presence:
- Create content that helps people
- Share it
- Build a consistent personal brand
- Get featured on other websites
- Become known for something other than your name (example: SKILL for INDUSTRY, like “social media management for massage parlors”)
The benefits of improving your digital presence are endless:
- You’ll improve your job prospects
- You’ll create an audience
- You’ll build your network
- You’ll learn new skills
- You’ll make more money
In 2020, your digital presence IS your presence.