2021

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What the Very Best Clients Do [Consulting Firm Checklist]

David A Fields

One key to running a successful consulting firm is choosing the right clients. Your consulting firm probably signs good clients overall. Maybe a dud here or there, balanced by the occasional, outstanding client. Your consulting firm’s very best clients deserve Rock Star status. They partner with you, are fun to work with and help your … Continued.

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Ten Factors to Consider Before Jumping into Independent Consulting

Successful Independent Consulting

Being a self-employed consultant or “solopreneur” isn’t for everyone. Sure, it sounds fabulous – be selective about which jobs you take, have a flexible schedule, escape office politics, make really good money – but it definitely has some drawbacks. I made the leap to independent consulting in 2004 and never looked back. Although I made more money while working fewer hours, I also had to learn how to run my own business.

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The 6 Essential Consulting Skills (Clients Want These)

Consulting Success

Do you possess the consulting skills that make clients want to hire you? Your core expertise — like environmental or sales consulting — form the basis of your consulting business However, you’ll also need to cultivate a broad range of consulting skills. These other consulting skills complement and reinforce your core expertise while dealing with.

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How to Find the Exact Words that Attract Your Clients (and Gets them Excited to Work with You)

Consulting Matters

One of my favorite things to write and talk about is copywriting. Which for most of my clients - it's their absolute least favorite thing. Most of these consultants and coaches love what they do. But they hate the struggle of trying to find the words to describe what they do and write about it. It's the lack of words that keeps websites from getting launched and marketing tactics from getting implemented.

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State of AI in Sales & Marketing 2025

AI adoption is reshaping sales and marketing. But is it delivering real results? We surveyed 1,000+ GTM professionals to find out. The data is clear: AI users report 47% higher productivity and an average of 12 hours saved per week. But leaders say mainstream AI tools still fall short on accuracy and business impact. Download the full report today to see how AI is being used — and where go-to-market professionals think there are gaps and opportunities.

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Now is the Best Time to Raise Your Billing Rate

Successful Independent Consulting

Photo 50727473 / Piggy Bank © David Franklin | Dreamstime.com. The easiest time to raise your rate is on the cusp of something new — a new year, a new project, a new client. With the new year just around the corner, now is an excellent time to inform your clients. This article offers ideas of how to do this, as well as some sample language. How to determine your new rate Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all formula.

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More Trending

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How to Be an Effective Consultant While Working Remotely

Successful Independent Consulting

Photo by Euan Cameron on Unsplash. As independent consultants, we’ve all probably worked remotely to some extent but as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, it appears that working virtually will like be part of the “new normal.” Companies are figuring out their “work from anywhere” and/or hybrid models as the pandemic drags on and the “great resignation” threatens to lure employees away.

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Proven Consulting Process: 4 Steps To Successful Projects

Consulting Success

Do you have a reliable consulting process? In this post, you’ll learn how to develop a consulting process that makes your projects smooth, successful, stress-free — and create greater results for your clients. If your current consulting process feels messy or disorganized, you’ll learn how to deliver your consulting services with more structure and confidence.

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Too Big? The Correct Way to Tell if a Project is Right for Your Consulting Firm

David A Fields

Wouldn’t it be great to land a massive, game-changing new project for your consulting firm? Maybe. However, huge assignments have equally huge downsides, and there’s a better way to grow your consulting firm. You may have bumped up against an opportunity or two to win a whale of a project—perhaps even dethroning Deloitte or some … Continued. The post Too Big?

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8 Metrics For Consulting Businesses: What To Track (And Why)

Consulting Success

What metrics for consulting businesses should you track if you want to grow? You’ve heard it before: what gets measured gets managed. But if you don’t even know what to measure, how are you supposed to manage (or improve) it? We’ve had many consultants in our Clarity Coaching Program ask us about what they should. 8 Metrics For Consulting Businesses: What To Track (And Why) is a post from: Consulting Success.

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Less Stress, More Success: Accounting Best Practices & Processes for 2025

Speaker: Duke Heninger, Partner and Fractional CFO at Ampleo & Creator of CFO System

Are you ready to elevate your accounting processes for 2025? 🚀 Join us for an exclusive webinar led by Duke Heninger, a seasoned fractional CFO and CPA passionate about transforming back-office operations for finance teams. This session will cover critical best practices and process improvements tailored specifically for accounting professionals.

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Tips for Effectively Converting Your Live Training to Virtual Training

Clarity Consultants

While vaccine rollouts are continuing and many areas are working through re-opening processes, gathering in large groups is often discouraged. Since live, in-person training typically involved sizable classes, they continue to be less-than-ideal in the current landscape. As a result, companies increasingly need options for effectively converting live training into virtual training, ensuring their workforce can access crucial materials safely.

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Why Having More Meetings Is Not The Answer

Markovitz Consulting

One of the participants in my Conclusion Trap class was grappling with a persistent problem at her company: their website regularly crashed after upgrades. She believed that one of the primary drivers of the problem was poor communication between two teams. The solution was obvious—schedule additional meetings between those two teams. Along with spending more money on technology, adding meetings to everyone’s already overburdened schedule is an example of conclusion jumping at its finest.

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Are your consultancy proposals letting you down?

Jacq Hackett Consulting

If you’ve recently left your senior position to establish a solo consultancy business, you’ll be regularly pitching for business.

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Connect with Empathy, But Lead with Compassion

Harvard Business

The distinction is significant.

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PowerPoint Best Practices for Creating Stellar Presentations

Mastering data visualization in PowerPoint will help accelerate your career because it positions you as someone who can present data that drives business decisions forward. think-cell's PowerPoint Best Practices eBook was created specifically for professionals aiming to master the art and science of data-driven storytelling. What’s inside: Practical Insights: Uncover valuable tips for crafting engaging and persuasive presentations.

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7 Key Decisions for Starting Your Consulting or Coaching Business Right

Consulting Matters

Let's be real - you don't want to grow your OWN consulting or coaching business for the money. If you were in it for the money, you'd stay in corporate. Your goal is to have a career and business that supports your total life priorities and allows you to use your gifts and passions to make a difference in the world. So, let's make this happen for you!

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Case Study Samples: Video Examples With Answers

Management Consulted

Looking for sample case study interviews with answers? Look no further! In this article, we’re walking you through some of the best case study samples on the web. These case studies simulate the virtual case interview environment and represent cases… Read Article. The post Case Study Samples: Video Examples With Answers appeared first on Management Consulted.

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New Course for Spring 2022: Applied Behavioral Economics in Finance (AEM 6150)

Steve Shu Consulting

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Boost Your Professionalism with a Business Logo

Successful Independent Consulting

Photo: Getty Images. As a an independent consultant you probably set your own rates. The more professional you are, the more likely you’ll be able to charge more for your expertise and services. Having a logo for your business will help you look like “the real deal” so why not get one? It’s not a huge financial investment. In some cases you can even get one for free.

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Savings Consultants Are Needed in Today's Market More Than Ever

Savings Consultants are needed in today’s market more than ever. With an increase in expenses, businesses are looking for opportunities to save. Often unknown to businesses are savings in expense reduction, specialized tax savings, specialized savings including medical underpayments, health benefits cost reduction, zero cost processing, and more. Blue Coast Savings, with over 20 years in business, assists Savings Consultants in helping these companies move toward more profitable businesses.

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How Your Consulting Firm Can Benefit from My Experiment with Outreach

David A Fields

There are people you’ve not talked with in years, and it’s a shame. They’re good people, you enjoyed your relationship with them, plus, reconnecting could help generate business for your consulting firm. But if you’ve been out of touch for so long, is it really possible to renew the relationship? And if so, how, and … Continued. The post How Your Consulting Firm Can Benefit from My Experiment with Outreach appeared first on David A.

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Top 5 Responses When Your Consulting Firm Loses a Project

David A Fields

Is there a best way to respond to a prospect when they tell you they won’t be awarding your consulting firm a project? Of course there is. Losing a project is frustrating. For instance, let’s say your consulting firm was contacted by the tech-focused, private equity group, E-Ratiq to potentially assist with one of their … Continued. The post Top 5 Responses When Your Consulting Firm Loses a Project appeared first on David A.

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An Impeccable Source of Language for Your Consulting Firm’s Marketing

David A Fields

Picture a deeper, healthier client list and pipeline for your consulting firm—the type you’d have if you communicated your consulting firm’s value in language that instantly resonated with the exact people you want to attract. The source of that alluring, sticky language is at your fingertips. It’s tricky to develop exactly the right wording to … Continued.

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The Perfect, Consulting Firm Sales System

David A Fields

What would the perfect, consulting firm sales system include? Systems are the greatest. They help you master vital tasks and perform them more efficiently and effectively. That’s why there are extensive personal systems and business systems, such as comprehensive methods for project management, turnkey packages for managing HR administration and, most importantly, a system for … Continued.

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TOOLS and METHODOLOGIES for developing DECISION SUPPORT PACKAGES

This White Paper targets opportunities for Management to develop proficiency in the Decision Framing and Analyses element of input to Decision, & Risk Analyses for Major Project Funding Decisions.

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Consulting Firms and Subcontractors: How to Make it Work (Better)

David A Fields

NASA widely publicized the “seven minutes of terror,” which was the critical phase of the Mars lander mission during which the spacecraft entered the Martian atmosphere and autonomously landed the Discovery rover on the planet’s surface. NASA has nothing on consulting firms. You experience seven minutes of terror every time a subcontractor stands up to … Continued.

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Should You Use the Same Fee Structure for These Two Consulting Engagements?

David A Fields

Consulting engagements come in many flavors. Your consulting firm’s work for a client could range from answering questions in real time based on your knowledge and experience, to developing research-based recommendations, to constructing and implementing complex solutions. Where does advisory work fit in, and should you construct contracts for advisory work differently?

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Use This Unique Tool to Focus Your Consulting Firm

David A Fields

Focus. Without focus, no one would become an expert in anything, your consulting firm wouldn’t become a thought leader in your field, and superman’s eyes would cast a warm, rosy glow instead of piercing lasers. A simple tool—the Focus Wheel—will help you and your consulting firm point your energy in the right direction. Managing yourself … Continued.

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The Ladder You Must Climb to Grow Your Consulting Firm

David A Fields

Clients hire your consulting firm in part because you know more than they do. You’re an expert. Wise in the ways of management, marketing or the musk beetle (or whatever your area of expertise happens to be). How expert are you, though, and what are you doing to continuously upgrade your knowledge? Domain knowledge is … Continued. The post The Ladder You Must Climb to Grow Your Consulting Firm appeared first on David A.

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Why You Need to Use Case Studies in Sales and Marketing (and How to Start Now)

Case studies are proof of successful client relations and a verifiable product or service. They persuade buyers by highlighting your customers' experiences with your company and its solution. In sales, case studies are crucial pieces of content that can be tailored to prospects' pain points and used throughout the buyer's journey. In marketing, case studies are versatile assets for generating business, providing reusable elements for ad and social media content, website material, and marketing c

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7 Stretches that Will Totally Transform Your Consulting Firm

David A Fields

When you combine a strategic growth idea with granular prompts and a well-defined process, you can design a dramatic plan to accelerate your consulting firm. Your growth plans for your consulting firm can be evolutionary or transformative. Evolutionary plans allow your consulting firm to do more or to improve. Transformative plans shift your consulting firm … Continued.

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9 Pricing Rules for Your Consulting Firm’s Advisory Engagements

David A Fields

There are consulting projects, there are advisory engagements, and there are chocolate covered almonds. Your consulting firm’s clients may consume all three, however, the rules for pricing are different in each case. Advisory engagements are 90-100% “on-camera,” where your clients can see you. Behind-the-scenes work—research, planning, creating deliverables, shelling nuts—is the world of consulting projects. … Continued.

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3 Tips to Expand Your Consulting Firm’s Market

David A Fields

There’s a rich, hidden vein of project opportunities for your consulting firm—projects that your consulting firm may not have been in the running to receive. With the proper outlook and actions, you can reveal and win them. Usage of certain consumer products such as toothpaste and toilet paper are fairly constant—you’re unlikely to persuade consumers … Continued.

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