onestepfurther.co.uk - Quickstart - Consultants As Personal Googles



	Quickstart - Consultants As Personal Googles (Please add bev@onestepfurther.co.uk to your address book so your issue of *Quickstart* reaches you each week. *Quickstart* *Grow a Profitable Consultancy and Still Have Time for a Life* In this issue Note from Beverley - If Your Body Says No Engage Your Mind One Step Further - Consultants As Personal Googles What's Out There - Branding and Differentiation Personal Reflections - The Power of ONE Note from Beverley My back has been really bad again this week and so over the Easter weekend I gave up trying to stay mobile. The last time this happened a good friend gave me a heat pad. So on Sunday I lay on the floor, heat pad carefully positioned and for most of the afternoon I read A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink. Whilst not directly aimed at consultants, the messages within have clear implications for how consultants can make a real difference in their own marketplace. How to get and stay ahead of the competition, from a variety of sources, will require different thinking and in my opinion the ideas and thoughts in the book, are not only needed now but will also be welcomed by those consultants and the organisations they help. So get switched in to A Whole New Mind and have a head start. Have a good week Beverley bev@onestepfurther.co.uk +44 (0) 1344 625713 www.onestepfurther.co.uk Author of Take Control of Your Time: 7 Straight Shooter Strategies for Success Buy the ebook and/or become an affiliate and earn some extra cash One Step Further "What helps people, helps business" Leo Burnett Just like you, your clients want to be able to do more with less and spend their time on different more important things; but stuff, life and things get in the way. I'm sure you've heard people say, "I'll get round to that when I have more time" "I am interested but I need to know more and the time isn't right at the moment" "We have other priorities at the moment, perhaps in a few months time when it quietens down a bit." The choices they are currently making are an opportunity for you to help them. You can help by providing what they need, when and where they need it or can easily access it, thereby saving them the time and worry of wishing they had the time. Become your clients and your niche's personal google. Research your niche's top 3, biggest challenges and provide some resources, options and explanations for how they can be solved. Here are 5 things you can do. 1. Collate the top 3 causes for each of their top 3 challenges and the importance of "fixing" them. Send them to your top 20 prospects and all your current clients. 2. Provide a short checklist for how each of the challenges can be diagnosed and send them to your top 20 prospects. 3. Collate your top 10 list of books, articles, websites and other resources in which information, knowledge and options will be helpful to your niche. Give them specific references to save them time. 4. Hold a "lunch and learn" event (or a series of events) where you offer a short presentation and discussion forum on each of the challenges (People have to eat right!) 5. Send out a newsletter (no more than one month apart), which addresses your niches challenges interests and needs. Become your niche's personal google and help them be attracted to you. Pay it forward by putting in front of your current and prospective clients opportunities to start a conversation with you. Do it without expectation and do it consistently. When the time is "right" it is more likely that you will be the first point of contact for further help. Information is everywhere and accessible by everyone. You want your niche to come to you because they know you know what there needs, wants and desires are before they do. Become invaluable and indispensable, just like google. "People expect a certain reaction from a business, and when you pleasantly exceed those expectations, you've somehow passed an important psychological threshold." Richard Thalheimer What's Out There? Brandspa - "...despite a tough business climate, champions in every category still manage to emerge - setting new standards, growing raving fans and commanding premium prices." Get a special report 10 Marketing Secrets for Building a Sexier Brand. Also have a browse around their website to see what differentiators you can see and learn from. Reach Communications "...as an entrepreneur and the creator of a new business, how do you succeed in a dynamic world of increasing complexity with a much larger set of competitors? The answer seems too easy to be true..." Read More Beauty is Only Skin Deep: Does Your Firm Truly Embrace Differentiation? by Suzanne Lowe "...like the adage "beauty is only skin deep," image-oriented differentiation strategies only go so far in their ability to deliver an effective marketplace advantage. The reality is that when it comes to differentiation..." Continue Reading Imprinting Your Brand on Your Client's Mind by Karin K. Schaff "Warning: when you're developing marketing, sales, and communications materials, red flags should wave if you hear these statements..." More Here Personal Reflections In last week's One Step Further section I mentioned that at network events I have taken to asking some people, which ONE specific person they would most like to be introduced to. I have noticed that this not only enables me to focus my efforts to help them but it also helps them focus on just ONE THING. The ONE THING approach works well in other areas too. I have a new client who is working 12-16 hour days and doesn't want to be! So as you can imagine there are many, many things that could be changed and that in itself can be overwhelming. So I have suggested to him to try the ONE THING approach. Choose ONE THING to change, start or stop that will make an immediate difference. The only rules are 1. Choose ONLY ONE THING. 2. Choose something that will have an immediate, positive effect 3. Stick with that ONE thing for at least ONE week no exceptions, no excuses So why does the ONE THING work? (which in my experience it does). I think it's because you are clear and focused and can cope with ONE THING. Have you ever made 4, 5, 6 or 10 New Year's resolutions and not achieved any of them? Have you ever berated yourself for having too much to do, too little time and too many priorities and yet done nothing? Well I think it's the "TOO MANY" mentality that consciously or subconsciously drives our thoughts and actions. Now I'm not a psychologist so I have no scientific evidence, proof or reasoning to back this up. Yet I have tried this technique on different clients in different circumstances and the ONE THING works most of the time. Why most of the time? Well in my experience when it doesn’t work - 1. The ONE THING was TOO insignificant and was overlooked or not bothered about 2. The ONE THING was really 2 or 3 things wrapped into one 3. The person really didn't want to change So try the ONE THING approach for yourself and just think, after 1 year you have changed or improved 52 things! Best Regards Bev bev@onestepfurther.co.uk +44 (0) 1344 625713 PAY IT FORWARD & Tell a Friend Who do you know that's left the corporate world and set up business as a consultant? Have you received *Quickstart* from a colleague and would like to receive future issues? We grow by recommendation so why not invite others to join the *Quickstart* community so they can subscribe immediately and get their free ecourse Discover the 5 Most Incorrect Assumption that Independent Business Consultants Make. Go to www.OneStepFurther.co.uk Thank you.





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