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Quickstart - Is Your Consultancy Becoming a Dodo?
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bev@onestepfurther.co.uk
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MAKE SOMEONE'S DAY! - The Quickstart community grows through word of mouth and word of mouse and for that I thank you. Why not pass this copy on to other consultants you know or suggest they go to www.OneStepFurther.co.uk
Quickstart
Grow a Profitable Consultancy and Still Have Time for a Life
In this issue
Note from Beverley - Global Quickstart
Great Resource - Take Control of Your Time Ebook
One Step Further - Is Your Consultancy Becoming a Dodo?
Wanted: Aspiring Geniuses With a Passion for Writing
Personal Reflections - Does Appearance and Size Matter?
Note from Beverley
It is great each week to see the Quickstart community grow. This week consultants and business owners as well as those thinking about starting out on that road, signed up to receive the ecourse and join the community. Australia, India, Malaysia, USA and Belgium as well as the "4 nations" were all represented. That's what's great about the web. You can access the info and knowledge you want by a simple click. For me the wider the community spreads the richer the input and the more value it inspires me to offer.
So who do you know, what forums/groups/associations do you belong to whose members would value what you do and that you could recommend Quickstart too? Feel free to forward Quickstart on and around to those you feel would welcome becoming part of our community.
Have a good week.
Beverley
bev@onestepfurther.co.uk
www.onestepfurther.co.uk
+44 (0) 1344 625713
Take Control of Your Time
* Not enough time
* Too busy
* Too many priorities
* Expanding to do list
* Poor work life balance
The answer is not a time management course.
The answer is not a fancy folder with pages to fill in
The answer is not more moaning and groaning.
The answer is...
Take Control of Your Time: 7 Straight Shooter Strategies for Success.
Why? Because you are given the tools to not only understand why you are in the place you are in but what to do about it. And guess what, anyone can do it irrespective of what your current time problems are. You’ve got nothing to lose and time to gain so go NOW and check out my ebook. You get 2 bonus ebooks to help you implement the new habits you decide to create too.
Go to www.TakeControlofYourTime.com
PS If you are looking to create additional revenue for yourself, why not become a Take Control of Your Time affiliate. All you have to do is go to the website scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on affiliate sign up - simple. You'll get 25% of the value of each book sold through your own personal affiliate link. Find out more at www.takecontrolofyourtime.com
One Step Further
Part One - Portuguese sailors discovered the dodo in the late 16th century on Mauritius. The dodo had no natural predators before the arrival of humans, and so it showed no fear of its new neighbours. The dodo was so named by the sailors who mistook its lack of fear for a lack of intelligence and named the bird from the Portuguese "doudou" meaning "simpleton".
As soon as humans inhabited Mauritius, the dodo's fate was inevitable. Dodos had few defences and proved to be easy prey for humans and their imported livestock. By late @17the century dodos were extinct. They had not known predators, had not been able to defend themselves and had therefore not survived. They couldn't adapt because they didn't see the threat to doing what they had always done.
I hear from and speak to many independent consultants and small consultancy owners who struggle with how to get in front of the right type of people, how to make their consultancy stand out and how to balance getting business with doing business. In short, they struggle with working on versus working in their business.
As more and more disillusioned, corporate workers make the break for the freedom of running their own consultancy, the need for consultants to get the balance right between working and in and working on will grow.
Why then, in a growing market, do many new and for that matter, established consultants act like aspiring dodos - waddling towards extinction?
Why then in a world where the customer's expectations are widened by choice and availability are many consultants taking a "same as", "me too" unimaginative, safe and generalist stance?
Why then in a competitive environment where the landscape and inhabitants are constantly evolving, do new and established consultants not recognise the need to compete on new or different terms?
Now you may say that's a bit harsh and yet the evidence is all too apparent, at the many online and offline networking clubs, events and forums. Consultants are struggling and yet they still perpetuate dodo tendencies.
So what can be done?
Look out for part 2 next week and find out how you can recognise the signs of the dodo consultancy.
WANTED: Aspiring Geniuses With A Passion For Writing
I'm working on a new and exciting business venture (which came about over a 30 minute coffee!!) and we are looking for aspiring writers and appassionatos on some key areas we think are critical to developing successful Enterprises.
* Do you have a passion, voice and experience in one of the following topics?
- Lean Thinking,
- Leadership
- Change Management
- Marketing
* Do you have aspirations to write about one of the above subjects?
* Do you have a wicked sense of humour which you can portray through stories?
* Do you love innovative ideas and creative opportunities?
If you are intrigued to know more, please volunteer by sending me a 2 paragraph email to
bev@onestepfurther.co.uk
enthusing about why this sounds interesting and on which of the above topics you have a burning desire to tell the world about.
This is not for you if...
* You want to know how much you'll get paid
* You want to regurgitate the same old stuff
* You haven't got a sense of humour
* You have a big ego
* You have no creativity and imagination
* You struggle with deadlines
* You have no experience or opinion in the subject area
This is a business opportunity with no limits on possibility. If you fit the above criteria and want to be part of creating value for a soon to be launched brand new business, please get in touch to find out more.
We are looking for writers, geniuses and aspiring geniuses, from all continents and so long as you have access to a computer and have email, location or nationality are not a barrier. We're going global!!
Personal Reflections
One of my clients is redoing her website and the question of "wanting to appear bigger than a sole provider" came up in our last conversation. So I thought I'd share some thoughts and see what you think.
The basic question is "if you are a 1 man band/solo business owner, should you create an appearance of being a "bigger" company?"
Reasons given/assumptions made for wanting to do this.
* Corporates only buy from big companies
* It makes you look like a "serious" business
* You'll attract more leads
* You'll attract more opportunities
* You'll appear more credible
Of course there are more but that'll do for now.
Well these MAY all be true, on the other hand they may all be assumptions. What's important is you, your business your vision and objectives and your definition of an ideal client.
IF your ideal clients are large, corporate organisations, it's true some will automatically only deal with large organisations themselves - but not all. And IF that's the case, other attraction methods are necessary and in any case, will organisations like GlaxoSmithkline, Goldman Sachs or Sony buy directly from your website - not likely.
If your ideal clients are not large corporate organisations - this point is irrelevant anyway.
The point is you attract what you attract.
You know if you've been a Quickstart reader for any length of time that I am a devotee of niches/ideal clients and NOT being all things to all people.
For that reason your website and all your marketing collateral and communications must be designed and delivered to specially attract your ideal clients.
The question of whether you are credible, serious and can deliver what you say, can be communicated a number of ways without having to try and be something you are plainly not. For example, you can put written and/or audio testimonials and/or case studies on your website.
Generating leads and opportunities through your website has little to do with appearance and everything to do with keywords, search engines, word of mouth and other tekkie stuff!!. Besides which if you suddenly got 1000 leads or even 50, could you handle them?
So I believe that it is important to know what business you are in, what values you do business by and what you want your ideal clients to think and feel about you and design accordingly. They will make up their own mind.
Authenticity is always best. This will mean some people won't become clients and that's OK - remember you want your definition of your ideal client to be attracted to you and part of that is knowing who you are and who you are not and what your business is about and what it is not and then communicating that through whatever channels and media you choose.
The bottom line - if you disagree with this and do want to portray that you are bigger than you truly are, you'll be found out sooner or later. So my view is why bother?
It's a bit like a dating agency setting you up on a blind date. If the ad says...
"Tall, dark, handsome, 30 something, blue eyed hunk who windsurfs, skis and gives a great massage" and on your first date the person sat in front of you is short, bald, 62 can't swim, hates the cold and is allergic to oil - what a waste of everyone's time and ... imagine the disappointment!
Best Regards
Bev
bev@onestepfurther.co.uk
+44 (0) 1344 625713 |
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