Every cloud has a silver lining. The current economic slowdown may be the impetus many executives need to start their own consulting practice. 

The U.S. Labor Department predicts that the employment rate for consultants will grow more than twice as fast as the average for all other disciplines. 

Some start a practice out of necessity. Others are chasing their dream career. But almost all find that creating a consulting practice involves more than just practicing an area of expertise. 

Sarah Needleman of the Wall Street Journal highlights 5 valuable steps to make the transition easier. Her first recommendation - know what you’re getting into - highlights an important point for all new consultants to understand: Most consultants spend 50% or more of their time marketing and selling. 

If you’re a new consultant, make sure to keep marketing after you land your first few projects. It can be challenging to develop and manage marketing campaigns continuously while delivering client work. One way to handle it is to understand and use a marketing process. You can also partner with other consultants to share leads, co-market and provide support services. 

Ms. Needleman’s final point is also something to keep at the top of your priority list: Create a succinct, 30 second elevator pitch. Most consultants rely on networking events and face-to-face meetings to gain new clients. The elevator pitch introduces your brand, your competitive positioning, and can start (or end) your selling process. Create it, test it, and refine it. It can make or break your launch.

Tags: marketing process

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 at 6:02 pm and is filed under Marketing Strategies and Tactics, Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.