Top 10 Tips To Become A Business Consultant

Now maybe your idea is to be a consultant or maybe you are an advisor or educator of some kind or perhaps you simply have knowledge and information about something that you want to make a living from? Whatever it is, if you have knowledge and information that people might pay for you could easily be sitting on a 6 or 7 figure business.
Being a consultant, advisor, educator, information and knowledge provider to others (whether they are large or small businesses) means that you can make 6 and 7 figure incomes by simply selling your knowledge and expertise. And believe it or not you don’t have to be the world’s biggest expert on your topic.

You just need to be clear on ten basic things:
1. Find the demand for what you offer
You can do this by talking to other providers of the same solution as you offer. Or by going online and looking at the search results for the people typing in the problems you want to solve (at Google’s keyword Tool), or by asking those you think would want what you offer.
2. In order to become a business consultant
You need to be able to put out a message of what you are promoting to groups of potential buyers and face the possibility of rejection. It’s okay, that happens to us all – just don’t be afraid of it.
3. You need to be able to communicate the benefits of what you offer not just the features
That means what you customer will get as a result of your service or product not just the way in which you’ll provide it.
4. Network as much as you can and get the word around about what you offer
Try to communicate it in as interesting a way as you can.
5. Invest in learning programmes on how to prospect, get leads and sell
See any expenditure on learning not as cost but as investment. It is essential that to become a business consultant and develop as one you must learn marketing techniques – online and offline.
6. Test as many ways of marketing as you can think of, not just printing cards and sending out brochures - (these won’t get business)
Network, call people you know, start building a list of online prospects, join groups and associations.
7. Sell products as well as services
That means do public workshops, seminars, CDs and DVDs of your knowledge rather than just selling your time.
8. As a business consultant, you need to have an online presence
You don’t need a full-blown website. You just need a squeeze page or something that captures leads. That is a place people can go to that tells them what you do and for them to register their interest in what it is that you offer. You can supplement this with a profile on a social media site.
9. Write articles like this to drive people to that place
Get them to register their interest in your area of knowledge. Okay so you may not sell to them today but one they are on your list you can promote to them products and services you offer at any other time.
10. Build relationships and trust
Be patient with your customers and clients and listen to them carefully. What are their problems and pains that they are trying to solve. Don’t presume to know what they want until they communicate it to you. Then you are in a much better position to do business with them.

Okay, this isn’t everything there is to know about how to become a business consultant, it’s not comprehensive but they are really important things that I have learned over 14 years of responding to business needs. Hope they are helpful.

Comments

[Michelle]

Thank you for the great post. This will surely help us grow as business consultants. Keep posting :-)

[Justin Beller]

Very good list of tips on becoming a consultant. If I may, I can expand on #8 in your list. I have the first in a series of posts I'm currently writing on how consultants can use social media to develop their brand. I believe everybody reading this post will find it helpful.