Revised slides from Jim Horan's January 28, 2011 presentation to the Bay Area Consultants Network (BACN) about how to create products from your consulting business
3. 3
The One Page Business 2/10/2011
Plan Company
Consultants want…
• Opportunity to work
• Be in the game of business
• Interact with business people
• Earn a livelihood
• Grow professionally
• Be a part of the community
4. 4
The One Page Business 2/10/2011
Plan Company
Let’s make selling stress-free
• Freely share information everywhere
• Capture intellectual property in writing
• Speak anywhere…everywhere
• Become known as business resource
• Create products
5. 5
The One Page Business 2/10/2011
Plan Company
Why Consulting Products?
• Easy & effective way to sample services
• Creates opportunity for others to sell you
• Build creditability
• Reduces sales cycle
• Leverage time – more income, less work
• Larger, more profitable engagements
6. 6
The One Page Business 2/10/2011
Plan Company
Many Consultants have Products…
• Assessments • Games
• Book(s) • CD Rom
• Booklets • Workshops
• Audiotape • Web Products
• Software • and at higher
rates.
16. 16
The One Page Business 2/10/2011
Plan Company
It’s working…our results
• Best-selling business planning book on
Amazon.com most days
• National consulting firm w/ 70+ consultants
• 100+ companies using web system
• Many colleges using book as text
19. 19
The One Page Business 2/10/2011
Plan Company
Products Create Credibility!
• Tangible…not just verbal
• Authors are given special
credence
• Products make companies look
bigger
20. 20
The One Page Business 2/10/2011
Plan Company
Give others a way
to give you money!
Products provide a business
model for others to pay you
a royalty for the use of your
processes.
21. 21
The One Page Business 2/10/2011
Plan Company
Marketing 101a
The market expects successful
consultants to have products
and will actually tell you which
ones to create and what
features they want! Listen!
22. 22
The One Page Business 2/10/2011
Plan Company
Learn from others…
Selling products can be very
profitable. You can also lose
money and waste a lot of
billable time. Be mindful.
23. 23
The One Page Business 2/10/2011
Plan Company
Listen for the WOWs!
• Experiment
• Ask for feedback.
• Listen for the WOW’s
• Act on the WOWs!
• Clients will tell you when they are
excited about a product or
service
24. 24
The One Page Business 2/10/2011
Plan Company
Go for the basehits!
• Limit your investment!
• Print in small quantities.
• Almost nobody hits homeruns.
• However lots hit singles
25. 25
The One Page Business 2/10/2011
Plan Company
Business Development
Key Question: Who can you
partner with that already has
customers that need your
product?
26. 26
The One Page Business 2/10/2011
Plan Company
Trademarks, Patents, Copyrights
Protect your investment get
a good intellectual property
rights attorney
27. 27
The One Page Business 2/10/2011
Plan Company
Be Smart…Learn from others!
• Don’t try to do it all yourself.
• Find the specialists who can
help you create your books,
tapes, & software.
• Benefit from their mistakes!
28. 28
The One Page Business 2/10/2011
Plan Company
Create revenue models where
others make so much money
from selling your product that
they won’t build their own.
29. 29
The One Page Business 2/10/2011
Plan Company
Consultants can create a
great job selling services…but
building a company with a
future resell value requires
products.
30. 30
The One Page Business 2/10/2011
Plan Company
Final thoughts…
• Enjoy the journey…
• Build on your successes
• Have fun!
• Be patient…products take
time