Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Ready For Your Million Dollar Launch?



Can you start your own professional consulting practice? How about in 90 days? And you thought writing a book was challenging.

A new book claims you can learn how to kick-start a successful consulting practice in 90 days, Million Dollar Launch. It’s written by Alan Weiss, PhD, who is the founder of the Summit Consulting Group, Inc. He is also the author of 55 books, including the bestseller, Million Dollar Consulting. The Hall of Fame Professional Speaker and recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Press Institute, lays out a fast-paced timeline to getting rich.

In just three months, you’ll:

·         Cultivate your contacts
·         Build your brand
·         Get your finances in order
·         Obtain client leads
·         Create a powerful marketing presence
·         Establish your expertise
·         Lay the foundation for further growth
·         Develop a passive cash flow

The book isn’t bad or inaccurate, but I didn’t feel it gave me something special or something new. The 90-day gimmick is, well, gimmicky. Consulting isn’t just about having great ideas or executing good work. It’s about cultivating great relationships, and forever networking for repeat business and referrals. It’ll take you more than 90 days to do all of that.

The author presumably knows what he’s talking about, having earned millions from his consulting practice. But as he lays it out on page 209, the list of what a consultant should be doing can be exhaustive. He notes that as you grow and prosper, you’ll need more and more trustworthy supporters. Here’s a list of 10 things he says you should monitor (excerpted from his book):

·         Calibration of your progress: Even if you’re securing business, is it fast enough and the right kind of business?

·         Use of money: Are you collecting fast enough, charging appropriate fees, conserving profit?
·        
      Quality of your work: Are client complaints – which are inevitable – legitimate or distractions, and are you handling them well?

·         Business Development: Are you securing both solicited and spontaneous referrals, following up, and closing new business with little cost of acquisition?

·         Lifestyle: Are you spending quality time with family and/or personal interests, or are you consumed by work?

·         Growth: Are you getting better and better at less and less, or is your value expanding and your brand growing in repute?

·         Intellectual property: Are you creating new and innovative approaches and models that you’re protecting legally, exploiting, and publicizing?

·         Marketing prowess: Are you engaged in promotion and market gravity in increasing ways, including print, speaking, web, networking, and so forth?

·         Support and infrastructure: Are you securing cost-effective help in the form of vendors – printers, designers, and so on – and subcontractors who can take delivery burdens off your shoulders?

·         Strategy for growth: Are you taking the time to step away and consider your practice and goals to adjust your current efforts toward important outcomes in your life?

The book, published by McGraw-Hill Education, does inspire and make the consultant-to-be feel he or she can pull this off. Sometimes, the best advice is from the one who tells you, with confidence, “Go for it.”

SPEAKERS TOOLKIT FOR AUTHORS



Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, Media Connect, the nation’s largest book promoter. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2014

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