I mean, you can make a million a year as a consultant, without a doubt. A question posed by best-selling author Jay Niblick asks people who are sick of working nine to five years to consider their unique skills and how they can become a lucrative company. One of the best ways to highlight your “genius” and earn a sizeable income is to start a consulting business. Consultants come from a wide range of industries and have a variety of skills.
Whether your “genius” is social media marketing, relationships, or real estate, you'll find limitless potential. Consultants offer advice and experience to individuals, companies and organizations to help them improve their lives, performance, management structure and more. Consulting services can run the gamut, from strategic consulting and financial advice to relationship consulting and more. Although being a consultant is hard work, it's a satisfying profession that presents plenty of networking opportunities and enormous earning potential.
It's worth noting that consulting can be done completely online, so you can have the opportunity to work remotely and get clients anywhere in the world. Doing so could help you maximize your earning potential. The benefits of becoming a consultant go far beyond earning potential. Many aspiring consultants are attracted to the freedom, location, independence and satisfaction of owning their own company.
Do you want to start earning a lot of money as a consultant? There are a few things you'll want to consider before starting a consulting business. Once you've found your “genius,”. All you need to do is hone your experience, promote yourself effectively, and deliver great results to your customers. Here's a more detailed breakdown of the steps you can take to start your own consultancy from scratch.
Your unique selling proposition (USP) is what differentiates you from other professionals in your market. While you can promote yourself as a consulting firm, what makes you the preferred consultant for your potential clients? Think about the unique skills you have, your communication style, and your level of experience. Then, define your USP based on your value statement, the benefits your service provides and the results it will generate for your customers. Your value proposition is the only thing you offer your customers.
Basically, this should be your number one selling point when you promote your services to prospective customers. Answer the question of why someone would want to work with you. For example, if you're a financial advisor, your value proposition could be that you have five years of experience advising a business-level company on making informed financial decisions. Next, you can promote yourself as a consultant capable of working with companies (something that many advisors may not be able to do).
Beyond your main sales pitch, what are the other benefits that customers can expect from working with you? You can write a long list of benefits, which you can highlight in future marketing materials and in your sales calls. Keep in mind that these benefits tend to be qualitative rather than quantitative (which is what we'll discuss in the “Results” section). What results do you intend to generate for your customers? Each type of customer has a specific objective when working with you. Once you've focused on your niche, it's your job to figure out what those goals are and help your customers achieve them.
Once again, you should ask your target market what results they're looking for and what benefits they're looking for when working with a consultant like you. Then, you can adjust your offering and your USP to appeal to that single market. This step takes the definition of your USP one step further, as it helps you determine your ideal target market. Many people make the mistake of starting too broadly, which increases competition and makes it difficult to stand out in a crowded market.
By being more specific, you can reduce competition and respond to the needs of your ideal customers. The more you understand your audience, the easier it will be to sell your services. This step consists of responding to the who, what and where of the target market you hope to reach. Who do you want to work with? What type of people or companies are most likely to want your services? What are your needs, objectives and desires? What services make the most sense for your target market? What services will make you stand out in your niche? What will generate the best results for your customers? Are you going to serve a specific geographical area? Are you targeting locally, nationally, or even globally? Are you going to have a physical office or are you going to offer your services online? Answer these questions to better define your USP and establish a marketing strategy to reach potential customers in your target market.
How you promote your consultancy will depend on where your target customers are located and the platforms they use to find advisors like you. This will vary from industry to industry. The best way to know where to market your company is to ask your target market how they find consultants. You're likely to discover a variety of platforms and methods that you can use to generate leads and, ultimately, get customers.
Instagram can be a fun social media platform, but it's also a powerful marketing tool. Taking the time to consistently publish good content that appeals to your target audience is one way to attract potential customers en masse. Instagram is particularly effective for those working in the niches of travel consulting, fashion consulting and marketing consulting. Facebook can also be used to generate leads from consultants.
Publish content that engages your audience, highlights your experience and keeps potential customers informed. You can promote your company through your personal profile and a Facebook page dedicated to business consulting. LinkedIn is a great way to generate B2B leads. If you are a consultant who wants to work with companies, agencies or large corporations, you can use LinkedIn to spread the word and generate leads.
Like Facebook, you'll want to publish engaging content and establish authentic connections. Try to avoid “talking coldly” to people by sending them direct messages, as this can seem invasive. Many advisors love the visual and highly engaging nature of YouTube as a way to attract potential customers. You can publish informational videos to organically attract viewers in the hope of getting customers who pay on time.
While many of the methods on this list involve organic (unpaid) ways of reaching potential customers, these platforms can be slow. If you want to get more leads quickly, consider investing in paid ads such as Facebook Ads, Google Ads or Instagram Ads. Search engine optimization (SEO) involves optimizing your website to generate organic traffic from search engines such as Google or Bing. By targeting certain keywords on your website, you can position yourself on Google and attract customers who might be looking for services like yours.
Research SEO best practices to find target keywords, optimize your site for these keywords, and attract website traffic as a way to generate new business. Then, you can add attractive calls to action to direct users to your contact page. Appearing on podcasts, interviews, and guest blogs is a great way to increase your visibility and attract new customers. This is a smart approach if you're just starting out and don't have much of an audience yet.
Find these opportunities in Facebook groups, through a Google search or through networks. Do you need help marketing your company? Consider working with a person or agency to help your business grow. They'll be able to help you establish a unique lead generation strategy for your niche and audience. Platforms such as WordPress, Wix and Squarespace offer free and low-cost templates to help you set up your first website.
If you're looking for something more elegant, you can hire a web designer to create a custom design. You can create pages that list your services, publish blog posts, and funnel website visitors to your contact page. Use social media marketing and SEO to drive traffic to your site and generate a constant flow of leads. The costs of consulting services vary widely depending on niches and levels of experience.
If you're just starting out and have limited experience, see what others charge for similar services. If you have more experience, consider the value of your services to prospective customers and set a competitive rate. Many professionals charge by the hour or by project. You can charge for a one-time project or an advance.
Research the current rate for your niche and then charge what you think your services are worth. The success of your business depends on you delivering amazing results to your customers. This will lift your brand, encourage repeat business and attract more customers. Once you start generating results for your customers, you'll want to measure important key performance indicators (KPIs) and start creating case studies.
KPIs are the metrics that companies use to track growth and success. As a consultant, one of your responsibilities may be to monitor these KPIs and report on progress. When working with your customers, ask them what KPIs are most important to them. Then, use tools such as Google Analytics, FreshBooks, and lead tracking software to monitor progress and generate reports.
These case studies are great proof that you know what you're doing and that you deserve to be paid as an expert. Use case studies to attract new customers and increase your rates as you gain more experience. Like case studies, testimonials show the results you've achieved for your clients, just in your own words. Not only do good testimonials make you feel good, but they can also work actively to attract new customers.
Obtaining your business license and having a strong financial structure is often what separates professionals from amateurs. If you want to have a legitimate business and increase your income, follow these tips to keep your finances under control. Research your state's requirements for applying for a business license. There are many different types of business licenses, such as a limited liability company (LLC) or an S corporation, so be sure to compare the options and find the one that best fits your needs.
Having your business license will allow you to open a business bank account, file taxes as a business owner, and possibly meet the requirements to receive tax deductions. Go to your preferred bank to open a business bank account. In general, you'll need to have your business license information handy along with a government issued identification. You may be asked what your expected income will be so you can select the right account for your business.
Sending manual invoices can be time consuming and information gets disorganized quickly. With accounting software for consultants, you can send automated invoices, accept credit card payments, create profit and loss statements, track business revenues, and more. This will help you keep your financial records organized and allow you to make informed financial decisions. Its objective is to offer the best possible results to its customers.
This requires staying on top of your game and refining your experience on a regular basis. In addition to staying informed about current trends in your industry, you should consider investing in additional education to improve your skills over time. You can find lots of free and paid resources online that will help you become the best consultant ever. Look for online courses to learn more about how to grow a consulting company, help your clients, manage your finances, and get what it's worth.
You can hire other experts to help you improve certain aspects of your business, such as your marketing or sales strategy, your pricing structure or your website. Attend seminars to learn more about your industry, the new technologies available, and how your colleagues conduct business in your niche. You can find webinars by searching in your local area or searching for virtual summits for your industry. Find a mentor to help you overcome obstacles and find confidence in your abilities.
It always helps to have someone on your side, to support you and help you grow your business to success. You're likely to find mentors on LinkedIn or Facebook, or through networks. The beauty of consulting is that, basically, you can take any skill and turn it into a full-time business, as long as you provide value to your clients. If you have a unique “genius” that allows you to help others, you can market your skills as a professional consultant.
Do you want to become a consultant? Pursue your passion and start the career of your dreams today. Save time by billing and get paid twice as fast with FreshBooks. To learn more about how we use your data, read our Privacy Statement. Can you earn millions as a consultant? Is a consulting business profitable?.
For the individual entrepreneur who runs a consulting business, from his income figure he must deduct all his expenses, which can be many. This type of model works well for Traffic and Funnels, considering that Taylor's experience lies in creating and consulting products and content, while Chris's strengths lie more in high-level strategy. Consultants help clients solve complex problems that may be impeding growth and limiting their final results. Most of the time they were busy enough without the challenge of having to learn new and rather difficult consulting skills.
Charging higher prices and saving time by implementing efficiencies can go a long way in helping you to grow and improve your consulting business. In my coaching course, I focus consulting business owners on the 4 fundamental pillars of a successful business. However, consultants' salaries vary widely depending on the services offered and the type of clients served. Project managers are responsible for overseeing client projects and for making critical decisions regarding the approach that junior consultants should take.
The role of the human resources consultant has grown significantly as more and more companies seek to make the most of the productivity of their staff. Here is a breakdown of management consultant salaries according to the three main consulting firms:. It doesn't mean it's not possible, although I haven't yet met an owner of a consulting business with such high daily rates. .
