Productivity for Consultants - The Inbox Zero Philosophy

Last week I learned a very handy way to manage the flood of e-mail that I'm sure you too experience on a daily basis. It's called Inbox Zero and there is a collection of articles on this topic at the site 43 Folders.

The method behind Inbox Zero seems rather familiar to me and perhaps it was inspired by a book I read eight or nine years ago called Getting Things Done by David Allen. It's a great book if you are feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work and "stuff" in your life and I highly recommend it to help clear the clutter in your world.

The principles behind Inbox Zero are simple. In your favorite e-mail client, create three folders in your inbox:

• Action
• Later
• Archive

When you download your e-mail to your e-mail client, quickly scan it and ruthlessly delete messages you know are junk.  Hopefully you have a good spam filter to help weed out the junk.  Next, move the legitimate messages to one of the three appropriate folders.  Here are the guidelines for filing your e-mail:

• Action - tasks / actions that will take less than 2 minutes to complete.
• Later - tasks / actions that will take more than 2 minutes to complete or tasks / actions you are awaiting further information on or need to follow-up on later.
• Archive - messages you want to save for later reference.
  

Periodically make some time to go through your Action and Later folders.  Eventually you will eliminate all messages in those folders by either completing the tasks or moving them to the Archive folder where you'll reference them later, if needed.  Follow the rule of thumb that all e-mail is a call to action and it is up to you to determine to whether it is worth your time to accommodate that call to action.

I've been doing this for a week now and have been pleased with the results.  It's a wonderful feeling to see an e-mail inbox free of messages.  As consultants, we need to focus on billable hours.  Spending your time going through e-mail is not productive and doesn't bring in income.  By following this philosophy, you can quickly get back to the work that matters, the work that generates income.

Guest Post: Solving Your Customer's Real Problem

Editor's Note: TVCNet member Mike Fisch of Apropos has written a post for his blog about meeting the needs of the customer. Because of its relevance to consulting, we have reposted it here. Enjoy!

Earlier this year I met with a man who had been president for 8 years of an innovative, fast-growing computer company in Silicon Valley. He was transitioning into the role of co-chairman, which would mean less involvement in day-to-day operations and more advising and coaching. For me it was a great opportunity to talk with an experienced, well-respected business leader and maybe learn something.

Heading to the meeting, I felt a little nervous. But I put on my game face and walked through the door. The man sat comfortably at a large conference table and an assistant, notepad in hand, was at the other end. After shaking hands and introducing myself, I sat down. He asked what I thought about their new products and marketing initiatives. In general I was enthusiastic and told him so. He asked if I saw the issue of green computing coming up frequently in the market. I said yes, though it seemed to be an economic issue, of wanting to save on electricity, equipment and space. "Hmm, I think so too," he replied.

We talked about sales and his philosophy for connecting with potential customers. He related a story about a speech he had delivered in Israel. He said he did not talk at all about the company's products, but rather how his company had weathered the technology downturn after the dot com implosion. The company was selling primarily to dot coms, and when many of them failed, they were left with far fewer customers. A natural reaction would have been to cut back, hunker down and try to wait out the storm. Instead the company invested heavily in developing new products and selling into new customer segments. They went "all in" instead of playing conservatively.

The market eventually rebounded and the company was positioned to accelerate past its competitors, which it did. Major revenue growth followed. The gutsy, counter-intuitive strategy proved to be exactly right. Today it is the fastest-growing major company in its industry.

People were so impressed with the story that they came to talk to him afterward. Some even expressed interest in doing business with his company - without any sales pitch at all. At this point in our discussion, he leaned over, lowered his voice as if about to betray a secret and said to me, "You know, you can really make any technology fit... The important thing is to have credibility that you can solve the customer's business problem."

Technology did not matter!? Such a statement was heresy at a company full of engineers who prided themselves on creating breakthrough technologies. Perhaps he exaggerated slightly, but he was saying something important about sales: What matters is having credibility in the customer's eyes that you can solve their real problem. His story demonstrated to the business people in the audience that he knew how to make a business succeed in tough times. They could relate. Moreover, those people do not buy computer technology for its bells and whistles, but because it can solve a business problem like improving productivity and growing sales. So why not buy from someone who really knows how to do those things?

The Great Ning Experiment

TVCNet has launched Treasure Valley Business-to-Business Consultants on the Ning social network. Similar to MySpace, Ning is built on a foundation of building networks around common interests. In our case, it's the profession of consulting!

The intent is to give our members a forum to communicate with one another and to meet other consultants who are interested in our organization, but haven't yet committed to joining our group. In all, it's another way to expand our reach on the web.

Right now, we're in the experimental phase of working with Ning. Like most Web 2.0 applications on the market, the advantage is that you can try it out and see if it creates value. If it doesn't, all you are really out of is the time you spent setting things up. In the end we hope this will be successful.

I encourage you to give it a try. Sign up for the Treasure Valley Business-to-Business Consultants Ning social network. Feel free to comment on the forums and add yourself to the site's groups.

Do it Yourself Social Media Marketing

Here's a really cool blog post on Do it Yourself Social Media Marketing.

I notice a lot of consultants, including myself, use Web 2.0 networking tools like LinkedIn or ZoomInfo. The post and associated whitepaper discusses how one doesn't necessarily get business directly by using these tools, it's really more of an indirect effort.

One of the more important things a consultant can do in their career is create visibility for themselves. These days, it's necessary to have visibility in the online world as well as within your local business community.

The post and whitepaper will show you how.

Building a Website for Your Consulting Business

Building a website for your consulting business is an important marketing task. In addition to your networking, which you should be doing on a regular basis, your website is another vehicle for people to get to know and learn more about you, your products, and services.

While a website is not as personable as one-on-one networking, websites and web searches have become the leading method business professionals use to find new products and services. To take advantage of this trend as an independent business professional, you need to have a presence on the world wide web. Your website is where you start.

Now, I’m going to say something that might offend some people. I say this out of love and concern for you and your business.

If you are not a web designer or a graphic designer do not design and build your own website.

I know when we open our consulting businesses we do everything we can to save money so we can put it toward other things (such as food). Sometimes we cut corners in spite of ourselves. Unfortunately, the corner cutting can lead to displaying a less than professional image.
If there are two things I’ve learned in consulting it is this:

1. Your image precedes you. Prospective clients base a good portion of their buying decision (whether or not they hire you) on the image you present. If it is not professional or unpolished they will associate amateur status to you.
2. Focus in on your core competencies and leave those tasks and projects you don’t like, are uncomfortable with or not good at to those who excel in them.

When it comes to your website, you have your choice of a number off the shelf products that will help you design a website. Unfortunately, when those of us who are not technically inclined or very artistic use such products it is akin to only using the knife blade on a Swiss Army knife and never touching or using the other tools. Overkill.

Hire a Web Developer
Hiring a web developer will free you from the duty of being both webmaster and content provider. As a consultant, who is often a solo practitioner, it’s better to simplify your workload so you can concentrate on developing your client base. You don’t want to spend your time coding web pages and building graphics. You want to do the work that led you to consulting in the first place.

If you choose to hire a web developer to build a new website or overhaul the one you already have, here’s what you can expect along with some things you need to do to help facilitate the relationship:

• Many web developers charge at a rate of $50 - $75 / hour – some higher. Have a budget you want to spend in mind before you engage them and be realistic. Don’t expect magic if you can only spend $500. You won’t get much for that amount. For a good website, depending on the amount of content you want to present, you are looking anywhere from 10-15 hours worth of work, maybe 20.
• Don’t just walk in and say, “Build me a website.” Developers need a plan that includes what your business objectives for the website are, a description of your target audience, a structure of how you want your content organized and content. A developer will know nothing about your business so you need to write some content to go into the website.
• Have some ideas of how you want your site to look. Give the developer the URL’s of sites you like and highlight features and elements you’d like to incorporate.

So, if you do your homework and present your chosen developer with a plan, structure and content, it's helpful to them and it will save you money in the long run because they’ll have a roadmap to follow. Think about it – it’s hard to deviate from a path when you have map in hand.

Again, I don’t want any consultant or independent business professional to think I’m criticizing them if they chose to build their own website. If it’s working for you – great! If you’re not generating the traffic you would like to your site or see lots of people coming, but not engaging you in some fashion ,it might be time to reconsider your web strategy and look to hiring a professional for help.

Two TVCNet members within the last year overhauled their websites through web developers and made considerable improvements to their visual presentation and content. Johnna Johnson made the leap (excuse me for stealing that phrase, Johnna) and had ABD Insights recreate her website. Dan Bobinksi made a radical change, not only to the name of his company, but also by integrating his blog into his website through the help of Blogging Expertise.

Note: both developers are TVCNet members.

Personally, I can’t testify to the success they may have had from these changes, but if you asked them I’m sure they’ll tell you.

If you’ve been maintaining your own website, a change may do you good. Relinquish the design and development duties to a professional. You’ll free up your time to focus in on your content and the message you are trying to deliver.

All It Takes Is Just One

I saw this post from Seth Godin the other day and it got me thinking about consultants and blogging.

I’m a firm believer that if you are a consultant, you should be blogging. You are in the business of selling your knowledge and skills and the blog is the best tool to promote it. Where else can you display your knowledge and skills to the world for free? Forget newsletters and forget trying to get your articles published for now. Start blogging!

Seth’s post has wonderful advice on how and why you should start blogging. It’s short, sweet and simple and all it takes is just one post.

Offer Your Two Cents to TechBoise

If you are a consultant who services the technology industry consider contributing your knowledge, expertise and insight to TechBoise.

TechBoise is the brainchild of Tac Anderson from MenloPrk (or is it NewCommBiz - you'll have to correct me on this one Tac). Tac, you'll remember, presented on search engine optimization at the February TVCNet meeting.

TechBoise is a project where folks talk about the tech industry in Boise. This is a very active arena in the Boise business community and one that will grow stronger in the years to come.

Check it out and be a part of the discussion!

April Meeting Recap - Building Your Consulting Practice Through Word-of-Mouth

One of the things I enjoy about Treasure Valley Consulting Network is the bringing the members and business community at large topics I feel will excite and motivate people into action. When the audience engages the presenter with questions and comments, I know I've done my job.

Last night was no exception as Justin Foster from BlueLine Grassroots Marketing presented Building Your Consulting Practice Through Word-of-Mouth. Most of the presentation centered on the use of blogs in business, especially consulting. While we didn't necessarily get into the finer points of how to generate word-of-mouth marketing, the blog is the starting point to creating this powerful form of marketing for small businesses and consultants.

Justin and the folks at BlueLine have been pounding this message home ever since they started their business three years ago; there has been paradigm shift in the way marketing is conducted. The consumer has more power than ever before and traditional marketing messages will not get through to them. They have put up all barriers to marketing messages, they are demanding value and they are filtering what they see, hear and experience. Justin now believes that the moment has come and marketing is about to change here in the Treasure Valley. The question is, will you be a part of it?

Up until last last year, I used to make fun of anyone with a blog. I thought blogs were for ego-centric people who had an insatiable thirst for attention. Now I see that they are a powerful business tool. They transform the stale, impersonal presentation commonly accomplished through websites, brochures, flyers and business cards and give it a personal edge. The technology now allows folks to engage you in an honest, meaningful conversations and you are able to share your knowledge with the rest of the world - people who are actively seeking out your content, your thoughts and ideas.

Word of mouth marketing starts with the blog. This is where you can create and demonstrate your value to the business community - your customers. If you haven't started yet, it's time to get going. The hardest part is figuring out where to begin or what to write about. The key is to not think so much about it.

When I started blogging for both TVCNet and my business, here's how I approached it:

• Begin with your audience in mind. It's a trick I learned when I worked as a radio disc jockey years ago. Pretend you are having a conversation with just one person and stick to one thought or one idea at a time.


• Talk about what excites you and what motivates you. If it doesn't excite or motivate you, it will show in your material.


• Make it relevant. Tie your topic into something people can relate to in everyday life or perhaps with a current event. Take a cue from good comedy writers. A good joke has an element of truth in it. That is what makes it funny. Good content has something real people can identify with.

I could continue to write about this topic for a long time. I'm just as excited about it as the folks at BlueLine. I'll wrap up by saying that word-of-mouth marketing and new marketing mediums such as blogs, podcasts and forums will continue to evolve and find new purposes in business. The topic and discussions around it will not end, they'll only change especially for consultants who can find a way to leverage this medium.

Consultants Demonstrating Their Knowledge in a Web 2.0 World

Once again I drank the blue Kool-Aid from fellow TVCNet members, BlueLine Grassroots Marketing, as they and Balihoo sponsored Cendesic's Findability Workshop yesterday at Boise State University. The focus of the workshop was how to take your business website and make it more visible on the world wide web.

My excitement and enthusiasm for the Web 2.0 movement (blogs, podcasts and the interactivity that comes along with it) has been hammered home by me ever since I started this blog and the TVCNet organization. I make no apologies for it, because this is one train I'm glad to be on.

Just the other day I was thinking about my past entrepreneurial endeavors. Back in 1996 and 1997, when the world wide web as we know it today was really in its infancy, I dabbled a little bit in web design. Had I been serious about it, invested the time and energy into learning more about the technology, the programming behind web development and the artistic side of the trade I probably would have developed a successful web design company. I practically kick myself every time I think about what might have been. I was in the midst of an amazing opportunity and I didn't see it for what it was worth.

Hey, I can't dwell on the past. Onward and upward!

Because the world wide web has become more of an interactive environment since its early days, consultants and independent business professionals have a tremendous opportunity to hop on board the Web 2.0 train and start using the tools available (a lot of them free) to begin displaying their knowledge, skills and abilities to the business community at large.

Currently I'm in an e-mail dialog with a gentleman from the Mid-West who is looking to relocate to Boise with his family. I'm looking forward to meeting him next week when he pays a visit to Boise. Like me, he too is a consultant and based on the information he sent about himself and his company the man has a lot of experience. First thing I did was look to see if he had a website or a blog. I didn't find any. If there is one piece of advice I can give him right now it's - get on the web! Let people know you exist and use the more than 10 years of experience you have to demonstrate that you are the right person to solve a unique business problem or issue in the community. Website and blogs, what were novelties several years ago, are now the norm and lend more toward your credibility as a professional.

There's so much more to say about where we are heading as business-to-business consultants in a Web 2.0 world. If you haven't done it yet, get on board this train! Learn about using blogs for your business. Learn about how you can optimize your website and the content you create for your website so you can be found on the search engines. We are living in an amazing age and to not take advantage of it and be a part of the conversations (or creating the conversations) that are going on would be unwise.

People are looking for you. If you have the knowledge and experience in a particular area of business, then flaunt it. Don't hide it. The best advice given to me was came from a man you may know, Vincent Kituku. He told me, "You invested the time, money and energy into gaining all this knowledge and experience, you have every right to profit from it."

Email Etiquette, Policies and Liability - What You Should Know Before You Send

I certainly don't mean to lecture. It's neither my duty nor my place, but I thought I'd share with you an interesting brief I received on a book called Email: The Manual by Jeffrey Steele. Yes, there is a book on email. Maybe if I do some investigating I'll find a book on proper telephone usage from the early 1900's. As trivial as it may seem (my apologies to the author), this form of communication that we all use on a daily basis brings with it a set of issues we rarely consider such as policies and legal liabilities.

It goes way beyond simple etiquette. Steele's viewpoint is that we've become lax in our use of this medium. The professionalism that existed before email such as crossing our "t's" and dotting our "i's", perfect spelling, punctuation and grammar has gone by the wayside with the establishment of email. However, Steele contends that our knuckles will not get whacked by the rules of policies and procedures in companies we work with or suffer legal liabilities with our words and actions if we concentrate on email etiquette. Unlike face to face communication, the content of email message can be interpreted in different ways by different people even if we have the best intentions at heart.

Here are some tips offered by Steele to ensure we practice good email etiquette:

• Think about your subject line - most people scan the subjects to see if the message is worthy of reading. Put some thought into it and write one that is brief and describes the content of the overall message.
• Use a salutation and a sign off - thanking your reader is being professional. Just sending messages may be fine with a friend or family member, but its far too informal in a business setting.
• Be brief - your message should be on one screen, 25 lines or less. Don't overload your reader with too much information.
• Get permission - if you intend to forward on an e-mail, get permission from the author. Sensitive or confidential information in the original e-mail can be traced back to its author and cause an embarrassing situation.
• Know when not to email - if what you have to say can be done in person or with a telephone call, do it. We're all getting drowned in information and doing everything we can to keep our heads above water. Don't add to the problem.

Above all, Steele recommends to treat all email correspondence with business associates no different than a business letter. Other suggestions he offers includes doing blind carbon copy (Bcc:) over carbon copy (Cc:) if you use distribution lists to send out information. Folks feel that their address is being given out without permission if they spot it in the list. Also, don't be a pest. If you send an email to someone and don't get a response, send it again. If you still don't get a response then pick up the phone and call them.

As independent consultants we are subject to the same rules that govern email usage as our counterparts in companies around the country and around the world. We certainly don't have the same legal protections or legal resources as larger companies do. As we continue to use email as one of many primary forms of communication with our clients, we certainly don't want our words to ever put us in hot water.

Disembodiment of Information

Thank you to Tac Anderson of New Comm Biz for presenting at last night's Treasure Valley Consultants' Network meeting. We had about 20 people in attendance, most of them with a background rich in web experience, and most of them contributing to the discussion on search engine optimization (SEO).

What I took away from the meeting was something Tac said about the state information and knowledge in the world today. With the accessibility of the internet, information is now disembodied. It is no longer attached to item that is delivering the message. For instance, if you walk into a store and see a display for an item, the message the display is giving is attached to the display. The same could probably be said about a billboard you see along the side of a road. It works in a similar way. The message is tied to the billboard. Today, that same message can be delivered on multiple channels, especially on the web, anywhere in the world wherever there is access.

As consultants and independent business owners, we now have tremendous leverage to get our message out - to market and sell our specialized knowledge, skills and expertise. It makes sense to position ourselves in a way to ensure sure our information, that is now disembodied from vehicle delivering it, reaches the people that are actively seeking it out. SEO is the way.

The best place to begin is through our own original content. What is on our minds? What do we have to say? How can we be of service to the business community? If we do this, we create a starting point for ourselves and give our potential customers something to come to. It sure beats the old methods of marketing - pushing our message out into a marketplace and not really knowing if what we have to say will be accepted or rejected. With the web, you at least know that your visitor has some interest in what you have to offer. Otherwise, would they have clicked on your link in the search engine results if it didn't have some relevance to what they are looking for? It's much better than nothing at all. The trick is to make sure you are in those results pages. A good SEO strategy is the way.

SEO is an ever changing field and fortunately for us we have people like Tac to help us make sense of it. To all those who were in attendance, thank you for being part of a great meeting. If you were unable to attend, be sure to attend the next meeting on March 27th as TVCNet member Peggy Jordan will be discussing Business Writing Basics. This is a great follow-up topic to what was discussed last night. I will be posting more information about that meeting in the weeks ahead.

February Meeting Set - Search Engine Optimization for the Rest of Us

The February meeting for TVCNet has been set and I'm happy to announce that Tac Anderson from New Comm Biz will be presenting on Search Engine Optimization for the Rest of Us. This meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 27th at 5:30 p.m. at Chicago Connection in Meridian located at 1935 S. Eagle Rd.

All TVCNet members, independent business-to-business consultants, business leaders and business owners alike are encouraged to attend this FREE event.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has been an interest of mine for quite some time and there is always something new learn. Tac will be covering:

• The basics of SEO
• Search engine marketing and pay-per-click advertising
• The importance of SEO
• How to improve you SEO
• How you can hurt your SEO
• How SEO fits into your overall marketing strategy

SEO is one of the best ways to leverage and target your marketing, especially if you are a consultant operating on a small marketing budget. Make your plans now to attend this event to learn how you can take your business website to a whole new level.

Outgoing Voicemail Messages

Please forgive me when I grab the soap box from time to time as I announce my pet peeves in regards to business and consulting.

Last time I talked about e-mail addresses - how not using a qualified domain name for your business in your e-mail address can alter your business' image. This time, I'd like to talk about outgoing voicemail messages. They seem harmless enough, but let me give you an example:

Suppose I'm a customer calling upon Joe Smith to discuss his financial consulting business and Joe happens to be out of the office or on the phone with a client. His voicemail picks up and I hear, "You've reached 555-1212. Please leave a message." That's it.

What does this tell me or make me think? Well, a number of things.

Did I call the right number?
Is Joe using his home phone to conduct business?
Is Joe trying to hide something?

Has this happened to you? I have a hard time trying to understand why folks who want to be in business cut corners at the expense of their professional image. If you are serious about being in business for yourself, get a separate phone line and dedicate it to the business. Leave a professional outgoing voicemail message, something to the likes of:

"You've reached Joe Smith Financial Consulting. I am currently out of the office or helping a client. Please leave a detailed message with your name and telephone number where I can reach you and I will return your call as soon as possible. Thanks for calling Joe Smith Financial Consulting and have a great day."

The above is just an example. You can record any kind of outgoing message you like. I've even heard some creative ones. The objective is to let the caller know who they are calling and that you will respect the effort they made to contact you by returning their call promptly. In the end you'll project a professional image that people will want to do business with.

When you have a moment, take a listen to your own outgoing voicemail message. Make sure it sounds professional and perhaps re-record it using it as an opportunity to promote something new with your company like the URL to an updated website (provided the URL isn't a mile long), a seminar you have coming up or your business blog's URL.

Business Basecamp Tele-seminar

From time to time I like to pass along events that I think will be helpful in your business.

Last Fall I read an interesting book by Michael Port called Book Yourself Solid. The book changed how I approached my business and how I marketed it to potential clients. Occasionally I get e-mails from Michael on "virtual" events he hosts that I think offer a lot of value. He's got a BIG ONE coming up on December 4th called Business Basecamp 2006.

The event is a series of 1-hour tele-seminars featuring a number of business consultants, experts and authors speaking on subjects such as:

• Marketing
• Building Strategic Alliances
• Social Networking
• Building a Web Presence for Your Business

One of the tele-seminars will be hosted by Dave Lakhani, the author of Power of an Hour. Dave is a Treasure Valley resident and owner of Bold Approach.

Check out this event. It looks very interesting and best of all - it's FREE!

Marketing Your Consulting Business with Your E-mail Address

What does your e-mail address say about you? As a consultant, it can say a lot.

I’ve seen many businesses (consultants and business owners) use an internet service provider's domain name when they should be using a domain name they secure for their own business. Here's an example:

Let's suppose "John Smith" opens John Smith Consulting. John Smith gets an e-mail address from his local internet service provider (ISP) and his address is now johnsmith@quest.com. That's fine, but only on a temporary basis. What John Smith should do is secure a domain name and establish an e-mail address using that domain name. Something like:

johnsmith@johnsmithconsulting.com.

From the customer's standpoint, which of the two do you think is more professional and will prompt you to contact John Smith if you are in the market for his services as a consultant?

johnsmith@quest.com

- or -

johnsmith@johnsmithconsulting.com

No offense to anyone using ISP issued e-mail addresses for their business, but to me it seems like the person tied to the address “johnsmithconsulting.com” is dedicated to the success of their business and wishes to set themselves apart. In fact, I bet if I went to the web address “johnsmithconsulting.com” I'd learn more about his business. This would be a good way for me to see if he is legitimate and has more information on his services.

See what I mean? Our customers are a lot smarter than we give them credit for.

I've seen many established businesses use ISP issued e-mail addresses in their daily business. I know of a health club here in Boise where one of their top executives uses a Yahoo! e-mail address they use for day to day business printed on their business card.

The point is if you have a business get away from the ISP issued address, secure a domain name (even if you don't intend to have a website) and create an e-mail address that will work for you and not against you by promoting the people who gave you the e-mail address in the first place. Stop using the MSN and AOL addresses. People get spammed from others that create accounts using these ISP's. You don’t want to be grouped with them.

If you are using an address from one of these ISP's, get a domain name and start using it with an e-mail address that will look professional and promote your business. Use signatures at the end of your e-mail messages to provide your contact information, the URL to your website (if you have one) and your blog address. If you don’t know what this is or if you don't know how to start, don’t worry. Begin by asking around. You'll find many web designers and developers can help out in this area and the cost is generally minimal.

GlobeCom Solutions Provides Insight Into New Media at First TVCNet Meeting

For the first meeting of Treasure Valley Consultants' Network I must say I was pleased to see a good turn out. A majority of those in attendance are currently on the member roster and those who were guests showed strong interest in joining.

Josh Woodard, Marc Morris and Kent Neupert of GlobeCom Solutions presented on the topic of Internet Marketing during a roundtable discussion. The focus was on how small businesses (especially consultants) can harness the power of the web to leverage their marketing and outreach. I am a firm believer that the web and new media tools the men from GlobeCom Solutions talked about, such as blogging and podcasts, will change how consultants reach out to their clients and potential customers.

Most consultants I know don't have a passion for selling and marketing. They'd rather cut off right leg than to cold call someone they want to business with. Their passions are in the work they do - which is why they became a consultant in the first place. The web and new media tools create what I think is a fundamental shift in marketing where the consultant showcases their knowledge and skills through blogs, podcasts, forums, etc. and the customer seeks them out.

If you think about it, when the public at large got their first exposure to the world wide web in the early to mid 90's, it was more of novelty - something interesting. Now, as Kent Neupert explained in the opening segment of the discussion, the Internet has become more of a resource tool where people use it to get answers to their questions. Kevin Donaldson of Kinetic Shift was in attendance and summed it by saying that as consultants we sell our knowledge and the service behind that knowledge. Blogs provide a tremendous opportunity for consultants to demonstrate to those seeking answers to their problems just how we think.

Here are some other interesting points I picked up during the presentation worth noting:

• A website should be more than just an electronic brochure for your business. Use it as a relationship builder. The best way to do that is by starting a blog to share your thoughts and ideas on your area of expertise.
• Focus on creating value through your website. Provide your audience with useful information. This will help you interact with them and begin the relationship building process.
• You can't beat stellar design. We're not talking about flash and fluff or "wow-ing" our audience. Provide a clean, consistent look to your website. One recommendation I personally made to the audience in attendance was to seek out a professional web designer. Even if you can build your own website, leave the design and layout of your website to a professional and focus on the content. The content is what really gets you noticed, not just the look of your website. In the end, hiring a professional web designer is money well spent.
• Always build your website with your user in mind. Try to think like them and organize the content of your website in a way that would be logical to them. Avoid the use of jargon and keep things simple.
• Design with other channels in mind. Do you do speeches or presentations? Do you do workshops? Can these be put into audio or video formats and placed on your website? If you diversify your content you can potentially reach a wider audience. Remember, not everybody seeks the same things.
  

In all, Josh, Marc and Kent provided TVCNet with a great presentation for our first meeting. In the months ahead I plan to present more topics like these in addition to others duing regularly scheduled meetings. If you have any ideas on topics you would like to hear that would interest you as a consultant or if you yourself would like to present, contact me.