Opportunity or Siren Call

TEN YEARS AGO, Jerry, Clifford, and I talked strategies over a long lunch. Jerry was a solo consultant. Clifford had two other partners in his consulting firm, plus several dozen contract employees. Clifford and his first partner were both Ernst alumni, while their third partner came from Deloitte. Nobody had a better view of their businesses than me, since I sat on both their boards. Rather than tease you with suspense, may I divulge now that Jerry’s personal income in 2004 was $12 million?

Gentle Rain- A Blueprint for Gaining Traction with Prospective Clients

In order to better understand why some consultants flourish as rainmakers while others flounder, we set out to find out if there was a process by which important new business relationships were nurtured by successful firms. Not surprisingly, we quickly learned that efforts varied considerably, from rigorously applied strategies to approaches that could best be described as “aggressively waiting for the phone to ring.”

Incorporate Publications into your Marketing Strategy

Management consultants are asking themselves a tough question: What is the most effective way to develop new business? Referrals and networks still work well, but they take up valuable fee-earning time and cannot easily be scaled. Attention inevitably turns to marketing—but can mar-keting really help to grow such an intangible, people-oriented business? There is evidence that it can indeed.

Issues and Trends- Bricks and Clicks

Last year, we advised our readers to look at new technologies as really something new, not simply an electronic version of the past. Television isn’t, for example, enhanced radio; personal computers aren’t enhanced typewriters. These technology advances don’t just let us do what we’re already doing faster; they change the way we do things. These lessons are so obvious that you’d think they’d be taken to heart faster.

Max Your Relationship with the Media

You already know that the media is the best avenue for promoting your business, because it adds credibility to your message, positions you as the expert, and best of all . . . it’s free. So you’ve done a few interviews and gotten quoted in a few articles, but those just left you hungry for more. Now, how do you expand on the contacts you’ve already made? The key to getting more exposure is to build relationships with media professionals.