The Key to Successful Consulting

Who are you? Or, more importantly to your clients, WHAT are you? A vendor, a service provider, a trusted third-party co-pilot and voice of reason to the captain of business that's navigating uncharted seas?

Are you a consultant?

Many soloists find themselves playing many roles. They're entrepreneurs running their own small businesses. They're service providers delivering goods or services to clients or customers who rely on them. Many are experts in their chosen fields, taking years of experiences and turning it into value for those who engage them. Because of their remote location and closeness with both clients and the company, even teleworkers often bring an "expert's" point of view - one that can accentuate their worth to the organization.

Consultants are a varied lot. They take their knowledge, experience and contacts, and help clients learn how to run their businesses better. In many instances, they're not actually DOING the work they recommend - like creating marketing campaigns, doing market research or writing business plans. Instead, they're recommending what courses to chart to improve a business's future prospects.

If you are an expert in your chosen field, consider playing consultant to those less knowledgeable around you. On an individual level, consultants may be perceived as a coach (on a fee basis) or mentor (on a pro bono level) to individuals. Either way, their insights are invaluable and their value is quite tangible indeed.

The key to successful consulting is to find your niche - one that clients need help with and are willing to pay for, and then to market, market, market. One person I interviewed suffers to this day because his marketing skills are not as good as his consulting skills. The business of another person I interviewed, Josh Feinberg (www.smallbiztechtalk.com), is going gangbusters - mainly because Joshua and wife Jennifer are incessant marketers. Whether it's networking, email newsletters, link exchanges, working the search engines, or good ol' fashioned PR savvy, marketing is the key to a successful - and well planned - business.

Jeff Zbar, the ChiefHomeOfficer.com, is a speaker, writer and expert on alternative officing. He is the author of Teleworking & Telecommuting: Strategies for Remote Workers and Their Managers (Made E-Z Products, 2002); Safe@Home: Seven Keys to Home Office Security (FirstPublish 2001) and Your Profitable Home Business (on CD-ROM from Made E-Z Products). Visit his Web site to subscribe to Home Office Success Stories, his free electronic magazine on home business and teleworking.