Got a background in sales? Become a sales consultant! As part of my Become a Consultant series, I’m profiling various consultant roles. People who become sales consultants help companies with sales strategies, sales processes, sales training, sales team management and marketing. Sales people often make natural consultants because they have strong backgrounds in finding clients, […]

Following my post on the top 10 consulting myths and working on spec, here are some bonus myths that deal with spec work: Consultants should make presentations about more than just their backgrounds and experience before they are hired. Nope. I’m a business. I can’t afford to do work for free. Consultants should trade their

Spec work is better known in the graphic design world, but many consultants are asked to work on spec at some point in their careers. Spec work (short for speculative work) involves doing work without a contract or even promise of pay. For example, a prospective client may ask you to put together a marketing

Discount business Christmas cards are popular among small business owners, such as consultants. Many business owners feel obligated to send Christmas holiday greeting cards to their clients, vendors and partners, as a gesture of goodwill. However, choosing what, when, how, why and whether to send out Christmas cards (or, preferably, discount business holiday greeting cards)

I’ve been consulting for several years and it recently occurred to me that there are a lot of myths about consulting. Here are my top 10 consulting myths: You need to be a long-in-the-tooth expert. Nope. You just need to have knowledge that will help a customer. And there are lots of entry-level consulting jobs,

“Do I need a lawyer to start my business?” asks Marthe, an up-and-coming freelance designer. Figuring out whether you need a lawyer will vary, according to your unique circumstances. I’ve needed lawyers, from time to time, but I didn’t need one to help me start my business. However, if you’re in legal or financial trouble,

"What accounting software do you use?" asks Joel, a regular reader. Following yesterday’s invoicing humour post, Joel wanted to know what I use to prepare taxes, manage invoices and generally keep my accounts in order. So here’s what I use to manage my money: For tax preparation, I typically use QuickTax. I like the interface

The Register has a humour piece about someone who decided to invoice Bill Gates and Microsoft for consulting and tech support. I’m sure it’s all a joke, but I love the idea of sending an invoice to Bill Gates and anyone else responsible for products that have ever resulted in frustration. If you’re thinking of

As a consultant, you’ll live and die by your documents. What more reason do you need to back up your data? If you don’t back up your data, you’re putting yourself — and your clients — at risk. Isn’t the risk of losing business enoug reason to back up your data? Well, here are even

I’m taking part in a group project for home-based businesses. As part of that, I’m responding to:If you could take an expert in the field of internet marketing or home based business to lunch what would you ask them? As a consultant, I’ve taken many business people to lunch over the years. So I’ve had