I usually fumbled my way through a long winded description, at the end of which they’d reply; “right – that’s interesting” and then we’d talk about something else. Looking back, my answers were long-winded, dull and they certainly didn’t sell me. I might as well have been describing where I lived.

We all need an elevator pitch to describe what we do both clearly and concisely, and spark off some interest in the person we’re giving our pitch to. Now you may or may not relate to my problem above. You might well already have an incredible client pulling elevator pitch. But in case you don’t, read on.

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Below are examples of pitches that could be used by three types of consultant. These should give you an idea of what I mean and how you can create your own elevator pitch for your consulting business.

Business Consultants
I help business owners who are spending too much time at work to clarify & prioritize their focus so that they can make more money and work as little as they want.

Weight Loss Consultants
I help women that are struggling to lose 20 pounds or more to actually stick to their diets and slim down to their sexiest weight.

Sales Consultants
I help high commission sales professionals that are struggling to make enough sales, streamline their sales techniques and work more efficiently so that they can double or triple their commission checks.

Can you see how these short pitches would easily grab the attention of potential clients? Great isn’t it! Now I’m going to give you a neat formula for creating your own “Client Getting Commercial”.

Answer these questions and then create your pitch.

1. Who do you work with?
2. What is their biggest problem?
3. What do you do to help them?
4. What result do they end up with?

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These consultants find their own clients, take care of their own training, chase the unpaid invoices and a great deal more. They are not guided by HR or a manager – they are guided by their own judgement and experience. They are not comforted by corporate cotton wool. They are exposed to the harsh realities of the business world.

Depending on the specialisation, the consultancy field can be highly competitive, but it can also be highly lucrative. There are many who have the skills and knowledge required to do ‘the work’ of a consultant, so if your area is in Java Development, you might be the greatest coder around, but the real challenge in being a successful consultant is not just being good at your trade. You have to be business savvy too with an ability to market yourself, negotiate and create excellent rapport with your customers and more. The consultant who is only good at his trade will often find himself working for low fees, taking on work which is not that thrilling and suffering long periods when they just can’t find any work.

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Being a consultant is being in business and the best employee can easily become overwhelmed and fail as a consultant because of the additional set of challenges they face when being in business for themselves. But if you do have what it takes to be a successful consultant, or if you are prepared to put in the work to learn, you can enjoy being part of an extremely lucrative industry where a $100,000 or $200,000 salary is easily replaced with rewards of $1000 to $3000 per day and the freedom to choose to work where you want, for whom you want and when you want. For many people, it’s the freedom that the high rates can buy which is more important than the material items that can be bought.

There’s a compendium of reasons why consultants are successful and top of the list are the qualities that anyone needs to be in any business for themselves. If you’re ready to break away from employment and face te challenge, a lucrative business, freedom and choice awaits you. But remember too that it takes a lot more to succeed as a consultant than it does to be a good employee.

Click here to get a free course on how to start your own consulting business

Click here to get a free course on how to start your own consulting business

This will build confidence in the eyes of your clients and help you deliver your consulting services.

The one things that most courses, coaches and books fail to sufficiently address is the consultant’s ability to secure a regular pipeline of clients. The truth is, you can be the greatest expert in your field, but those with lesser experience in your niche, but more knowledge about marketing, is highly likely to be far more successful as an independent consultant.

Going into business on your own means far more than simply knowing your subject, setting up a web site and stocking up on the best stationary. Without your ability to market yourself, it is unlikely that your consulting business will last long. So establish your marketing plan and ensure that you know how to secure a consistent pipeline of clients.

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There is a huge difference in running a business and building a business. You can “run” your business highly professionally with freephone numbers, expensive brochures and eye-catching stationary. You can have web site created by the best designers and set up with a high-profile address. But none of this will bring you a pipeline of clients.

Make sure that you select a consultant coach who will show you how to develop a sales and marketing process. Also insist on hiring someone who has already proven themselves to be a successful independent consultant in their own right. An MBA or a string of high-flying job titles and employers are not the credentials that build a successful consulting business so don’t be fooled by the marketing hype.

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If you’re tired of working for an average salary, or if you’re a consultant whose fed up with struggling to find regular clients that will pay you top rates, then this step-by-step system is exactly what you need to turn things around, command higher fees, and quickly build up your client load – starting now…FREE.

PLUS I’ve put 3 of the world’s best ebooks on one convenient page for you to download FREE!

Click here to get a free course on how to become a successful independent consultant

You might be actively looking out for your next opportunity or just passively interested in opportunities that could catapult your career into a new an exciting phase. Or are you ready to go one better and become an independent consultant?

But if you have the time and opportunity to choose from more than one opportunity and other top consulting firms, which would you go for?

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Consulting Magazine surveyed 13,000 consultants representing 205 firms. Questions were grouped into six sectors:

• Compensation
• Work/life balance
• Career development
• Job experience
• Firm leadership
• Firm culture

The winners of the best firm to work for were:

1. Bain & Company
2. The Boston Consulting Group
3. North Highland
4. Point B
5. Booz & Company
6. Alvares & Marsal
7. Milliman
8. A.T. Kearney
9. Monitor Group
10. Kurt Salmon Associates

Other firms you might consider working for include:

• Abt Associates
• Accenture
• AT Kearney
• Avanade
• Bain & Company
• BearingPoint
• Booz Allen Hamilton
• The Boston Consulting Group
• Deloitte
• Development Dimensions International
• Diamond Mgmt. & Technology Consultants
• First Consulting Group
• Hitachi Consulting
• Huron Consulting Group
• IBM
• PRTM
• ICF Consulting
• Infosys Consulting
• Kurt Salmon Associates
• McKinsey & Company
• Mercer Management Consulting
• Mercer Oliver Wyman
• Monitor Group
• Navigant Consulting
• PA Consulting
• Point B
• Proudfoot Consulting
• Robbins-Gioia
• Sapient
• Tata Consultancy Services
• Towers Perrin
• ZS Associates

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Working for one of these firms can provide you with excellent experience on being a consultant. But remember that to a large extent, when working for one of these firms, you are what some call ‘wrapped up in cotton wool’ and allowed to simply go out and consult with guaranteed income every month.

Being an independent consultant is far more demanding as you have to take responsibility for all the aspects of running a business in addition to providing consulting services to clients. But once successful, you can enjoy far more freedom, independence and a higher income than many employed consultants.

Which type of consultant do you want to be? If you possess some entrepreneurial spirit, the excitement, rewards and satisfaction of helping others through your own consulting business might be far more attractive than just being another employee in large consulting form.

If you want to become a successful independent consultant and you have the courage and ability to succeed without the corporate cotton wool that employees are wrapped in, you need to learn how you can win a pipeline of high paying clients and earn the high six figure income that you probably want.

It is certainly not for the faint hearted because knowing your subject is simply not enough. You need to know how to operate a complete business and then go and and satisfy your clients.

Marketing, finance, account management, project management and leadership are just some of the areas that you need to become an expert in when running your own consulting business.

Which type of consultant do you want to be?

You can learn how to become a successful consultant from an expert who has been running his own successful consulting business for many years at www.successful-consultants.com

Success in consulting, as in any field, is all down to a lot of hard work. I have not come across one successful consultant or entrepreneur (ever) who have said; “oh my success was very easy. I didn’t have to work hard for it”.

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Rather than searching for ‘the secret’, those aspiring to become a successful consultant should look to learn from the approaches taken by others who are already successful independent consultants. Some of these people have a lot to offer and often at no cost.

Assume that your company has paying clients, the expertise to serve those clients, and an effective method of business development and service delivery. Given those assumptions, I believe the great companies separate themselves from everyone else based on the passion of their people.

Passion drives us, whether it’s in sport, business, politics or otherwise and to accomplish your dreams, you need passion. Of course you need to know and do many things too, but the passion in you will drive you to know and to do whatever is required of you to be successful.

So if you can harness and apply your passion, it will lead you to discovery, then mastery and, finally, to success. Without passion, you can struggle through, but true success will always escape you. If you are not passionate about what you’re doing, sooner or later it will rise to the surface in front of you, your colleagues, clients, friends and family.

If you can’t keep your inner fire burning, you are in the wrong business and you should carefully reconsider your options before you travel 1000 miles down a road that you one day discover was in the wrong direction. So consider the nature of your consulting business very carefully.

There is considerable work to be done to be a successful consultant and you want to ensure that work is being done on a business which is right for you. So if you are passionate about flowers, consider a consulting business around that. Or if you love establishing new processes you might consider being a business consultant specialising in that niche. But if you don’t like working out, don’t even consider starting a health and fitness consulting business.

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When I get excited about a new idea, I feel the excitement run deep through my body. A feeling of invigoration comes across me and I am almost addicted to implementing the idea in my business. Sometimes I’m so passionate about something I have to force myself to stop working (although it seems like fun) and go to bed.

You see, this is passion, and this is what successful business organisations are built on. Passion is the driving force and inner desire among entrepreneurs and leaders across the world which makes you want to continually pursue going above and beyond.

If you want to become a successful consultant in an area for which you have passion, click here and learn how you can win a pipeline of high paying clients and earn a six figure income. If you’re tired of working for an average salary and you feel that you have so much more to offer, perhaps it’s time to consider starting your own consulting business.

But first consider the following questions:

• Why you want to be an independent consultant?
• Are you an entrepreneur?
• Do you have something worthwhile to offer?
• Regardless of your area of consulting, are you prepared to sell?
• Is there a market for you?
• Can you commit the time?
• Are you prepared for the risks, peaks and troughs of running your own business?

If after considering these questions you believe that consulting is right for you, look out for helpful advice from a consultant who has already proven themselves to be a successful consultant.

You can learn how to become a successful consultant from an expert who has been running his own successful consulting business for many years at www.successful-consultants.com

Clients resist hard sell tactics and perhaps three out of four buyers of services hire consultants as a result of their own research and often they hire consultants they know and trust rather than consultants they don’t know. Clients turn first to their internal networks of colleagues and friends to find a consultant, and they will normally know a lot more about you than you think before they contact you.

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Once you get the opportunity of talking to a prospective client, don’t waste time telling them how great you are. Get to the heart of the issue they face, and be prepared to prove how you can help them. Clients are prepared for consultants to launch into the hard sell, so surprise your prospective client and be different. Any consultant worth their salt will have already described what they do via their web site along with a host of testimonials.

Doing your homework in advance and discussing how you can help your prospective client solve their problems will prove to be a far more successful approach than telling them how great you are. Show them how you can help by suggesting ideas and explaining how you can help them achieve their objectives. You’ll sell more work by letting clients buy from you, rather than trying to sell to them.

Prospective clients know that a consultant is an expert who helps people in a particular field. But that’s just the beginning because they are likely to have any number of unanswered questions that can prevent you from moving forward.

Below is a list of 9 common questions that clients often ask themselves when considering hiring a consultant. It is wise to be ready to reassure the prospect when any of these questions are raised.

1. What kind of consultants should I use?
2. How can I tell if I need a consultant?
3. How do I determine what needs to be changed?
4. How do I find a competent consultant?
5. How do consultants charge for their services?
6. How do I screen recommended consultants?
7. How do I make the final selection?
8. What kind of an agreement do I make with a consultant?
9. How do I assure the successful completion of the project?

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To get hired as a consultant you need to have a public profile. That profile doesn’t need to be a widespread profile, but what it does need is for your prospective clients to know about it.

You might already know the client or have been recommended by someone to the client. They could also be a former client. But what if none of these apply? How do you build a public profile in order for prospective clients to start hiring you?

The days of having to spend large amounts of money on full page advertisements are over, although many people still squander their money in this way.

The Internet has made it possible to create a public profile without a large budget. In fact it requires more time and effort than money, which is wonderful news for the consultant who is looking to build a pipeline of regular clients which they have never met before.

So if you have the expertise to offer a service as a consultant and if you have the enthusiasm, passion, drive and commitment to be a consultant, rest assured that it has never been more possible to build a public profile, become recognised as an expert and get hired as a consultant.

You can learn how to become a successful consultant from an expert who has been running his own successful consulting business for many years at www.successful-consultants.com

Of course it helps if you have capital behind you to get your consulting business going but you don’t necessarily need a large amount. Aside from the funds you need to see you through the first few months until you begin receiving payments from clients, the most important assets that will help you get going are your time and commitment to succeed.

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The days of spending large sums of money on advertising have gone. That was last century’s way of building business. These days, the focus is on building contacts, creating a reputation by helping people and solving their problems. All of this can be done at very low cost.

One of the biggest mistakes that new consultants make is to focus too much on being the expert and not enough on marketing themselves. You can be the most knowledgeable person in your field, but without marketing yourself, you are unlikely to win a consistent pipeline of clients that are ready to pay you for your consulting services.

Below is a list of key points that you should keep in mind each and every day. All of these simple statements can be put into practice with little or no money, yet together they can help you build a successful consulting business.

• Select a niche and remain focused
• Commit to yourself to being the undisputed expert in your niche
• Agree with yourself that you are in this business for the long-haul
• Be sure you have guts, determination and the ability to succeed
• Move away from negative people
• Listen and learn from those successful consultants who have trod before you
• Preserve your time and money
• Help people and give away an abundance of free advice
• Accept help from smart people when they offer it
• Never forget that you will need to consistently market yourself
• Do not make the mistake of selling. Instead, help people solve their problems

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Out of all the above, you might still be asking the question; “are you sure I don’t need a large budget to market my consulting business?” I can fully appreciate that concern, especially when there is so much advertising in newspapers, magazines and TV these days.

I can assure you that plenty of very successful consultants all over the world have attained their success without a large advertising budget. In fact some of the principles of advertising are so simple, they are overlooked by most.

Knowing these simple marketing principles can make the difference between a successful consultant and a failed consultant who has to go back to working for someone else, all because they neglected the importance of marketing.

Knowing your subject might be sufficient to ‘get a job’, but it is very insufficient if you want to be a successful independent consultant.

There are some very good resources on the internet and books on the subject of consulting. Some spend more time discussing business cards, premises and tax than on the more critical success factors such as marketing. However there are some excellent resources available that will show you how to market yourself as an independent consultant using a small budget.

If you are committed to succeeding and are prepared to listen to the right people, there is no reason why you cannot become a successful independent consultant.

You can learn how to become a successful consultant from an expert who has been running his own successful consulting business for many years at www.successful-consultants.com