Beware of Internet Consultants, as many of them have never been able to promote anything of their own, yet are in a haste to charge you for their experience and marketing savvy. Many have never made any money on this Internet, sold anything or consulted with any successful online sales companies. In fact most often these folks hold themselves out to be experts and consultants yet have no real experience at all. The Former President and Founder of Wendy’s Hamburger, Dave Thomas, when listening to those trying to give him advice would often ask, how much money do you have? Often finding that those wishing to give him advice had little if any money, he would think to himself; “why should I listen to you?” Indeed this is a good question.

As an entrepreneur I often have people holding themselves out to be consultants attempt to sell me their advice. Yet on further review they have nothing to offer. In my observations of the online Internet Sales business there are many who are trying to consult, yet so do well. If someone is really a good consultant then in fact they would be doing it for themselves. It is similar to the saying; Those who can’t Teach or those who can’t work for the government. Indeed, if you will look at all the experts out there who claim to be Internet Guru’s ask yourself how many really have made any money on the Internet? Only a few, in fact most Internet Consultants will give you advice of search engine registration, market and sales techniques, but fall down in their own efforts to market their consulting business. In fact most Internet Consultants rank very low in the search engines and most a starving and living on minimal means. So why on Earth would you hire one without proof of performance; one way for them to prove they are good at what they do, would be that they did well in promoting themselves.

Be careful of anyone giving you advice on anything, especially online sales. Be wary of people full of advice with little if any action. Don’t trust under-performers or those who have never achieved anything to give you advice, for you are a better source of information and you are better off following your gut; that is if you are a real entrepreneur.

Calling yourself a “consultant” demands further clarification. A consultant who… What specific problems do you handle? And who needs what you know? Everyone? (Never true) Businesses selling to seniors? (A precisely defined niche) Success depends on how clearly you can define yourself and what you offer. How easily can potential clients understand it?

You provide clients more than your expert knowledge and problem-solving skills. Your delivery style (tricks) are every bit as valuable as your knowledge base. We all relate to some businesses (personally and professionally) more effectively than to others. Great match-ups require something akin to a mating call to help a consultant find and connect with ideal clients.

Every consultant is unique in important ways. Your challenge is to express those significant intangibles — so they set you apart from others using the same job title. Do clients understand what you can do for them? How you’re different from the competition? Why they’d prefer you?

Article Marketing is Your Ideal Stage

Whether you’re selling a service, speaking or training, nothing persuades like offering a sample. Writing articles that highlight your style and expertise does that for you. A meaty, 600 to 800 word article is long enough to deliver a tangible taste.

Once it’s widely posted, the message can be read by thousands. Some readers will search for what else you’ve said, or click over to your website. Writing repeated in-depth articles further establishes your niche, point of view, and expertise. They’re building your name recognition and readership in short order.

Your stock-in-trade is information, so packaging it into articles makes you a content creator. The Internet voraciously demands a steady diet of new material. Websites, ezines (and now blogs) efficiently deliver ideas to targeted readers. But sad to say, too many articles consist of rehashed, low-grade material. Stand out with fresh, professional-quality information. Being a cut above builds respect and trust — a must for doing business down the road.

Local Search can Further Define Your Market

Unlike a plumber or day care center, most consultants needn’t be confined to the local arena. Your Internet exposure connects you to a national or global audience, if that’s your goal. But if your target market is closer to home, articles still help to position you.

Recent research by The Kelsey Group show that 70% use the Internet to make local buying decisions. And nowadays, 36% of search engine queries request local search results. That means the person includes a geographic term in their search engine query. For example, a query with: “employee benefit consultant” + Denver only lists the small pool of appropriate Denver providers.

Every consultant needs to make sure their information appears in local search queries, [http://www.yellowpagesage.com/localsearch.html]. The trend toward local search is growing quickly. Businesses can easily be left out—which makes them unfindable by online searchers. Who can afford to miss 70% of their client base? Having your own website isn’t necessary — but still helpful for a variety of reasons.

Potential Clients will Check You Out Online

Surveys reveal that over half of respondents consider search engines a better source of buying information than Yellow Pages, newspapers or magazines. When someone enters your name or company into Google (in quotes), what comes up?

It helps if your name is unusual. If not, follow up with “search within results” for a qualifier term (like your specialty, “employee benefits”) to find your cites.

In just a few moments, searchers get a picture of your professional standing and scope of recognition. They’re likely to be swayed by what they see. Who mentions you, and what are they saying? What kinds of links come to your website? If you’ve been publishing articles, they’ll also show up — enhancing your credibility and incoming links.

In my own case, a Google search for my name showed about 100 cites before I started article promotions. Now that’s well over 3,000. So many cites boosted my website traffic and Page Rank as well.

If you haven’t gone “ego surfing” on Google for mentions of your name, you should. Because the public will. Make sure there’s plenty of stuff for them to find that does you proud.

Are you racking your brain, looking for a way to stay at home with your family, and still make a comfortable living?

Are you a good communicator? Can you sit with another person and understand what it is she wants? Then can you talk to her so she has a clear idea of your thoughts and opinions? Can you express yourself well in writing – take scattered information and put it together on the page so it makes sense to the reader?

Do you like doing research – digging deep and finding information? Are you computer and Internet savvy? Are you good at conceptualizing ideas, making plans and implementing them effectively?

Do you get a charge out of helping other people accomplish their goals? Are you inspired to improve your community and create new resources? Do you enjoy variety, and managing your own time and workload? Want to be your own boss?

Would you like a career that provides some visibility, and the opportunity to be well respected for your contributions, while you earn $50 to $150 an hour?

If this sounds like you, I’d like to suggest the best career you’ve probably never considered: grants consultant.

A career as a grants consultant does not require a college degree. This is a career in which your performance is much more important than any educational credential. Of course, grants consultants must be professional in their appearance and presentation of themselves and their services. That doesn’t mean suits and high heels, however. The majority of clients are in the helping profession, so the dress code is usually business casual.

Grants consultants provide services to non-profit agencies and businesses in their communities. These services may range along a continuum from very simple to very complex. At the simplest end of the continuum, a non-profit agency, such as a shelter for battered women, may not have sufficient staff to write a proposal for a grant they have identified. So they enter into a contractual arrangement with a grant writer to prepare the proposal. Many agencies routinely use contract grant writers. Other agencies hire staff grant writers, and allow them to work from home.

At the more complex end of the continuum, a group of investors may be interested in building an affordable housing project. The consultant may participate in planning the project, help structure a consortium, lobby legislators, provide public relations, work with neighborhood associations, find a variety of funding resources, and write the grants proposals. At this level, the grants consultant may take an equity position and own part of the project, as well as earning a developer’s fee.

Obviously, the services you could provide as a grants consultant depend upon your training and your existing knowledge base. If you have a background in business, management, finance, or real estate, that background has provided you with skills you may be able to share with your clients.

But even if your experience does not touch upon those areas, you can learn all the skills necessary to find funding resources and write effective grant proposals. And as you work on more projects, and gain more experience, you have ever-greater skills to offer your clients.

Here are three steps to get started on a career as a grants consultant:

Make an assessment of what you have to offer now. Write down the skills you have developed thus far, through previous work experience, volunteer work, education or training.

Enroll in a comprehensive, high-quality training program for grant writers. Be sure the training emphasizes research skills; writing foundation, corporate, and government proposals; and the politics and procedures of dealing with funders and clients.

Jump right in! Select a cause you support within your own community, perhaps your child’s sports team, or a non-profit daycare center. Identify a small need (under $10,000), such as uniforms or playground equipment. Then volunteer to find money for them and write a grant proposal. With a couple of successful grants under your belt, you can begin to market your services to paying clients.

With deference to Dr. Covey and his very popular Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (all habits that will make us better consultants!), here are eight skills that all of us as consultants can work on to improve. This article will start with three overarching skills, then describe five more specific skills to consider in your ongoing development. One way to look at your total skill set as a consultant (internal or external), is to consider your relative strengths in the three major portions of our work: designing “it”, delivering “it”, and selling “it”. These three skills represent the complete package for a consultant, regardless of what your expertise (your “it”) is.

The Complete Package: Designing “It”
This is our technical expertise. This is the “stuff” we learn in classes and through experience and practice. It is the front end of our work in most cases. While we cannot underestimate the importance of these skills (and the need to continue to upgrade them), we also can’t be content if these skills are top-notch. They are not enough. Delivering “It”
This is the other mega-skill that many of us are very comfortable with. Once we’ve designed our “product”, we have to be able to deliver it. This is the skill set that is often most evident to our clients, or is what we tell people we do when they ask us our profession. Again, this skill set is critical, but alone it isn’t enough. Selling “It”
This skill, in my experience, is the one most often in need of improvement. While many books have been written about this skill set, there is one key, which by itself will improve your success in selling your work. If you will always focus on client/customer benefits, rather than product/process features, you will improve your success immediately. Features are components of your product or service. Examples include: o Size
o Length
o Speed
o Number of modules
o Your Experience People don’t buy features they buy benefits. All of us know this at some level, but seldom focus on turning the important features of our offerings into true benefits. To assume that your client/customer will figure out the benefit, is to lower your chance of selling your potential product or
idea. Some Specific Skills to Consider: Contracting
This is another skill that requires a book to discuss well and which requires planning and practice to improve. Getting clear agreements with clients up front about what the work is, what the desired outcomes are, and what your role is, is what contracting is all about. Relationship Building
Building relationships are important in all three of the major skill areas. In designing, you need to build relationships in order to gain the organizational information you need to design effectively. In delivering you need to be able to have good relationships with those involved, to lead to a more successful outcome. In selling, it’s important to remember that selling is a relationship process. People buy other people and believe in their ability to deliver. Having a focus on relationships is more than building rapport, which can happen quite rapidly. Building relationships is long term focused and requires considerable commitment. Warning Building relationships with individuals is important, but recognize that if your focus is on only one person in an organization, when they are gone (get promoted, get a new job, are downsized out, or whatever) you have lost your leverage to help the organization. So, remember to build a network of relationships within your client organizations. Separating Process from Content
It is so important to maintain perspective while in the client organization. Clients will focus on the content (of a meeting, the product, the outputs from your study, or whatever), but if the process matters aren’t attended to, outcomes can be compromised. Working on your ability to step back and recognize what is happening at the group dynamics and interpersonal level will improve your success. Clients don’t always know that they need this, but they will almost always recognize that you “did something” to make things go better when you can point to, and improve the process, while sharing the content of your work. This skill is often the key to additional work or referrals. Socratic Questioning
Socrates is immortalized at least in part for his teaching approach of asking a line of questions that leads the student to discover answers for themselves. When you clients discover answers to their problems, rather than simply hear them from you, they will own the answers. Their ability to hold onto the concepts, apply them, and improve their situation will skyrocket. Improving your ability to help them discover (through the use of Socratic questioning), is a critical, though often overlooked skill. Using more questions will cause you to lose the feeling of power that you are providing the “right” answer. But the client gains far more than you lose. While you may feel like you are losing emotionally, you win with the client, and probably strengthen your relationship with them too. Saying “No!”
Most of us need to improve our ability to say this. Of course we can physically say it, (OK, just for practice, say it three times right now – out loud!) but we all know we don’t always say it when we wish we had! Improving your judgment on when to use this word will help you in three important ways, time management, happiness level, and client success. Time Management Many of your time management problems stem from trying to do too much. When people (clients, peers, anyone) ask you to do something that you don’t feel you are best suited for, or don’t really want to do, use your word! Happiness Level When we focus our energy on the things we really want to or need to be doing (rather than just the things people ask us to do or we feel we should do), we will be happier! Say it to help you preserve and honor your priorities. Client Success There are times that a client may ask you for something (“We just need this [you fill in the blank]“) that you know, or strongly believe is the wrong thing. These are the times to step back and be genuine. Help them understand your perspective, and focus them on the outcome, not the suggested solution. In these cases, you might not be saying “no”, exactly, but it is what you really mean! If you feel a team is ready for such a discussion, pull out this list of attributes and have a team discussion on how well people feel their team is doing on each of these dimensions, the discussion can be enlightening and help the team move its performance to even higher levels.