If you are considering going into consulting or are curious about consulting, I think this post will be of interest to you. Over the past year, I’ve tried just about everything to find clients and develop a workflow. I’ve found that my market is not nearly as wide as I thought, and through trial and error, have figured out the type of client I want to serve. Here are four I don’t want to serve:
Broke and clueless
There is nothing worse than meeting with someone who is bootstrapping a startup and thinks social media is a free meal ticket. They give me their plan to world domination through all the free tools available, and then they ask me what LinkedIn is.
I like to help people, but at some point these conversations become a time suck I can’t afford. If you are asking basic questions about social media, don’t expect me to enlighten you. You need to just hire me to do your social media for you.
Buying the problem
There was a time when I looked for companies that needed major help with social media and essentially cold-called them. They would agree with me, get excited, we would meet, and then I would explain to them all their problems and how I would fix them. And they would say “ok” and we would go back and forth and I would have to explain the problems 3 or 4 times more and we would make a tiny bit of progress.
Those days are over, because it takes too long to sell the problem, and then sell the solution. Now, I will explain the problem once. If I can’t convince them to make some sort of purchase at that point, I drop them. I have to. I can’t charge for explaining problems, and I can’t work for free. So now, I’m in the business of selling solutions, and I’m much happier with how I spend my time.
Measures experience in years
It amazes me that any company still looks at experience this way, but it happens. The first clue this is true is when the company asks me for my resume. For some reason, people want their consultants to be older. Especially Gen X. They do not want to listen to the 25 year old MBA or admit that she knows how to grow a business using social media better than they do.
I prefer companies that measure my experience in results. I can build an email list with good response rates at a negligible cost. I gained 35 new blog subscribers last night, and I haven’t written a blog post for five days. The night before, I gained 30 new blog subscribers. There are tons of bloggers out there who would love to know how I’m doing it. I know what I’m talking about, and if a company can’t see that, it’s my cue to leave.
Hiring full-time
When Gen X finds out my age, they often would rather hire me full-time as a social media analyst. Because that’s where 25 years olds belong, not telling them how to run their business. But to be honest, I think many entry-level social media jobs pay poorly, because social media is supposed to be fun, and it’s the job everyone wants these days.
I don’t. I don’t want a $50,000 per year job. The knowledge I have is worth much more than that. I know this because people have paid for it. So when a company says they aren’t hiring consultants but they’re hiring full-time, I balk.
The perfect company
Now for the two that I love. Of course, the first one is pretty obvious. The perfect company is one that knows it needs social media, knows it needs more expertise in social media, can pay to play and actually takes action. But there is another client I like that you might not expect:
Teachable but bootstrapped
In other words, the first type I love minus the ability to pay for my services. Why do I love this type of client? Because I can demonstrate my knowledge easily and give the client great ideas, and then let the client try to act on it. Chances are they won’t be able to due to time constraints, lack of understanding, lack of talent, or lack of experience with social media. They see the value, they see I know what I’m talking about, they see I’m credible and I’m right – but they can’t execute. And when they do get money, there is a good chance they will call me to execute for them.
Now that I’m at this point, I’m looking at ways to get the last two types of people and companies to self-select themselves and come to me, rather than me having to filter through them. My goal is to streamline the acquisition process.
What do you think of this process? If you are currently a consultant, have you found yourself going through a similar process? If you are interested in consulting, does what I’m going through make sense to you? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section.
Four clients I avoid, and two I love
Broke and clueless
There is nothing worse than meeting with someone who is bootstrapping a startup and thinks social media is a free meal ticket. They give me their plan to world domination through all the free tools available, and then they ask me what LinkedIn is.
I like to help people, but at some point these conversations become a time suck I can’t afford. If you are asking basic questions about social media, don’t expect me to enlighten you. You need to just hire me to do your social media for you.
Buying the problem
There was a time when I looked for companies that needed major help with social media and essentially cold-called them. They would agree with me, get excited, we would meet, and then I would explain to them all their problems and how I would fix them. And they would say “ok” and we would go back and forth and I would have to explain the problems 3 or 4 times more and we would make a tiny bit of progress.
Those days are over, because it takes too long to sell the problem, and then sell the solution. Now, I will explain the problem once. If I can’t convince them to make some sort of purchase at that point, I drop them. I have to. I can’t charge for explaining problems, and I can’t work for free. So now, I’m in the business of selling solutions, and I’m much happier with how I spend my time.
Measures experience in years
It amazes me that any company still looks at experience this way, but it happens. The first clue this is true is when the company asks me for my resume. For some reason, people want their consultants to be older. Especially Gen X. They do not want to listen to the 25 year old MBA or admit that she knows how to grow a business using social media better than they do.
I prefer companies that measure my experience in results. I can build an email list with good response rates at a negligible cost. I gained 35 new blog subscribers last night, and I haven’t written a blog post for five days. The night before, I gained 30 new blog subscribers. There are tons of bloggers out there who would love to know how I’m doing it. I know what I’m talking about, and if a company can’t see that, it’s my cue to leave.
Hiring full-time
When Gen X finds out my age, they often would rather hire me full-time as a social media analyst. Because that’s where 25 years olds belong, not telling them how to run their business. But to be honest, I think many entry-level social media jobs pay poorly, because social media is supposed to be fun, and it’s the job everyone wants these days.
I don’t. I don’t want a $50,000 per year job. The knowledge I have is worth much more than that. I know this because people have paid for it. So when a company says they aren’t hiring consultants but they’re hiring full-time, I balk.
The perfect company
Now for the two that I love. Of course, the first one is pretty obvious. The perfect company is one that knows it needs social media, knows it needs more expertise in social media, can pay to play and actually takes action. But there is another client I like that you might not expect:
Teachable but bootstrapped
In other words, the first type I love minus the ability to pay for my services. Why do I love this type of client? Because I can demonstrate my knowledge easily and give the client great ideas, and then let the client try to act on it. Chances are they won’t be able to due to time constraints, lack of understanding, lack of talent, or lack of experience with social media. They see the value, they see I know what I’m talking about, they see I’m credible and I’m right – but they can’t execute. And when they do get money, there is a good chance they will call me to execute for them.
Now that I’m at this point, I’m looking at ways to get the last two types of people and companies to self-select themselves and come to me, rather than me having to filter through them. My goal is to streamline the acquisition process.
What do you think of this process? If you are currently a consultant, have you found yourself going through a similar process? If you are interested in consulting, does what I’m going through make sense to you? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section.