Be Brave Not Safe

In preparing to launch my consulting business a colleague (from corporate America) suggested I publish a newsletter to let everyone from my “past life” know what I was up to. I have to say that was one of the BEST ideas that was shared with me.

That is, we cannot simply hang out a shingle and wait for passers-by to stop in. We must make some noise that compels others to check us out.

Before sharing how, where and when that noise will be delivered (the topic of a future post) let’s talk about the noise you can “prepare.”

In a prior post we covered the importance of identifying at least 3-5 specific areas for which you can deliver significant value to others. Building on that list you are encouraged to begin creating content around each of these topic areas. This content could include, for example:

• The 10 easy steps to [plug in your value proposition here]
• How to [plug in your value proposition here]

You get the picture. The content should include an introduction to frame-up the topic, the “punch-list” of items you’ll cover and then a brief narrative for each of the items on the punch-list.

The purpose: To demonstrate your expertise in these areas. And, provide some free (YES FREE) information that may be useful to others.

Now, some might say: “Aren’t you giving away the farm?” And/or: “Shouldn’t you be charging people to give them this information?“. That is short-sighted thinking…

Example: If chef Ramsay (Hell’s Kitchen) gave you the recipe for his most exquisite dish could you prepare it the way he does? I know I’d make a complete mess of it.

Apply this to your area of expertise. YOU ARE THE CHEF. Giving out the recipe does NOT enable someone else to “do what you do” as you are the one to add that “special sauce.” Do NOT underestimate your abilities. That is, in addition to your “technical expertise”, if you are truly successful at what you do, and in high demand within the environment you are currently working (part of the “litmus test” previously shared), you have a special touch that enables you to generate the results you are known for.

If you’d like to view an example of content we generated early on for my business simply click here to go to the newsletter page of my business website and scroll down to Newsletter Issue #86. You’ll find the introductory article on a topic and (if desired) you can view the other 3 related articles in that series. In addition, you can scan our list of the numerous articles published which will provide you other ideas to consider.

As mentioned above, you only need to “begin” generating this content. Don’t feel like you have to immediately complete a write-up for all 3-5 areas of expertise. Just get started. By doing so, you will be positioning yourself for a future next step (delivering some noise) — so long as you are prepared to follow-through. More to come on that…

Have a great one!

Click here to review the next article in the series.

Marketing collateral (a.k.a. “leave behinds) become important when someone responds positively to your elevator speech by indicating they’d like:

• To learn more
• Your contact information for future reference
• To pass your information on to someone they know who could use your services

Let’s start by talking about common “wastes” of money and time in this area. That would include brochures and business cards. Realize that 99% of these are tossed, lost or forgotten. While you may still wish to produce and provide these items, it is important to identify ways to STAND OUT from the crowd!

Realizing this, I decided to give out USB memory sticks (as my business card).

• On the outside / cover is my company name, logo and web address
• Installed on the memory stick are files including:
  • An overview of our services
  • A short cut / link to my company’s website (when someone clicks on it they go straight to my website)
  • A vcf file containing my contact information (when someone clicks on it, it drops my contact information into their MS Outlook contact database)
  • A few whitepapers and articles I’ve written which have been published in trade rags.

Since memory sticks are useful items they are not as likely to be tossed or forgotten. And, they can even make it through “at least” one trip through the washing machine without blowing away all the information contained within. I should know, after testing dozens :-). More importantly, the nature of these devices is that they are likely to be handed off between individuals (for file sharing purposes) and therefore further promoting my business. All good!

While a memory stick is a bit more expensive than a brochure and/or business card the impact is significant. In fact, the most common response I get after handing one of these to someone (as my business card) is, “wow, this is GREAT – THANK YOU!” And, I’ve become disciplined to only hand these out to individuals I’ve qualified as a potential “partner” (someone whom I may be able to build a mutually beneficial relationship with).

In closing, you are encouraged to determine unique and high-impact methods to get your message across as part of your marketing plan, ensuring you stand out from the crowd. What I’ve shared here seems to work well for me / my business.

More to come on the overall marketing plan.

Click here to review the next article in the series.

Your “pitch” is crucially important to let people know what you do and (more importantly) generate interest for your services. The 2 most important things relating to your pitch is:

1. You need an effective “elevator speech.” That is, a short (30-seconds or less) description of what you do that you can share on an elevator (for example) between 2 floors, in response to someone asking: “So, what do you do?”.
2. You need to understand the nature of your audience and ensure your message resonates with them.

Let’s now cover each of the above.

Elevator Speech

The main guideline is: it must be succinct (briefly and clearly expressed). For example, the “generic” elevator speech for my business is (in response to someone asking what I do):

“We help companies improve the customer experience and operational performance. We do this via 2 offerings:

1. Customer experience assessments to identify what a company is doing well and their opportunities for improvement resulting in a highly pragmatic roadmap to get them where they need to be.
2. Project management services to drive mission critical initiatives to conclusion.”

Your Audience

The first thing to reinforce is that you must go beyond the “technical” description of what you do or you will only create a “yawn factor” for your audience and/or their eyes will glaze over.

Your audience wants to hear what you can specifically do for them (or someone they know). That is, the RESULTS they can expect to achieve by working with you.

At a high-level there are 3 types of audiences which, generally speaking, have a particular area or hot button, as follows:

• Senior Executives / Business Owners – Care most about the dollars and cents (the revenue you can help generate, costs you can help reduce and/or profits you can help increase).
• Middle Management – Metrics as well as the organization and performance of activities (i.e., key performance indicators you can help improve: customer satisfaction and/or loyalty, employee morale, average handle time, mean-time-between-failure, etc.).
• Front line – My specific job (the improvements you can help facilitate to make their job easier, more satisfying and/or higher impact).

As such, a tailored statement I’d make, after sharing my generic elevator speech for each of the above audiences would be:

• Senior Executives – “…For example, we’ve helped companies increase the amount of revenue generated by their inbound call centers by 50% in less than 3 months.”
• Middle Management – “…For example, we’ve helped increase customer satisfaction and employee morale while at the same time reducing operating costs.”
• Front Line – “…For example, we’ve helped management realize that if they can improve the product release and/or sales process “up stream” there will be fewer calls from irate customers into the technical support department after go-live.”

Finally, once you’ve defined the above – practice, practice, practice and practice some more until your elevator speech / statements roll off your lips naturally. And, try it out on a few people (starting with your Board of Advisors) to get their reaction. Do the statements make sense? Are there common questions they ask that could be preemptively answered with a slight tuning of the statement?

In closing, have fun with this! And, don’t wait until you feel it is “perfect” before you start sharing it. Let’er fly and make adjustments as you go! In the next post on Launching a Consulting Business we’ll cover the topic of marketing collateral that you may hand someone who indicates interest in your services after you have effectively delivered your pitch.

Click here to review the next article in the series.