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Strategy Consulting
This group is for people who are employed in business strategy consulting, or who wish to be in the future.
Network Leader: Barton Crist
Martin Greenberg
How is the strategic consulting demand looking like now? Is your company hiring?
William Bryan
I am thinking about starting a consulting business with a good friend of mine. I am thinking about how we will be able to open our consumer base and we thought about have a period of time of free consulting to acquire new business. Is this a good idea or should we start looking at other marketing aspects?
36 weeks ago from Strategy Consulting, The Career Hot Seat!, Career Rocketeer, Consultants R US and GenYJourney: Tips, Insights, Experiences For Young Professionals3 more
Sadya Siddiqui recommended this
Rebecca Thorman:
Well, even if your business is not online, I would caution that you need to have an online presence that minimally says what you do and has some ...MoreWell, even if your business is not online, I would caution that you need to have an online presence that minimally says what you do and has some social validation (testimonials). Think about it - do you work with anyone without Googling them first? :)
35 weeks ago
35 weeks ago
Ben Donahower:
I would also highly discourage you from offering your services for free.
Instead, how about a free trial? Sign a contract to work with me for ...MoreI would also highly discourage you from offering your services for free.
Instead, how about a free trial? Sign a contract to work with me for three months, if after the first month you're not the right fit for them, you both can part ways without cost to your client.
Negotiate something else other than monetary compensation, aka, bartering. Maybe you're willing to do a small project for a particular client because they are well connected, for example. Can they get you in front of potential future clients. I wouldn't do it on a hope and a prayer though. Make some at least quasi-concrete arrangement to extract those connections in a meaningful way in exchange for work. There are a host of options here. I've worked with a client who had a beach house and I got that for a week instead of cash.
Finally, why not volunteer your talents? I think there is an important distinction between volunteering and giving away your services to a client. They both build your body of work but the latter comes with all of the problems that Seth noted. I'll add lousy referrals to that list too. You might get referred but more in the sense that you can hire this guy for cheap. Not the best referral!
On the other hand, if you're volunteering for a nonprofit, for example, you might still get a referral but there is an understanding that the reason why you're giving away your services is because of the cause not because you're time is cheap.
35 weeks ago
Instead, how about a free trial? Sign a contract to work with me for ...MoreI would also highly discourage you from offering your services for free.
Instead, how about a free trial? Sign a contract to work with me for three months, if after the first month you're not the right fit for them, you both can part ways without cost to your client.
Negotiate something else other than monetary compensation, aka, bartering. Maybe you're willing to do a small project for a particular client because they are well connected, for example. Can they get you in front of potential future clients. I wouldn't do it on a hope and a prayer though. Make some at least quasi-concrete arrangement to extract those connections in a meaningful way in exchange for work. There are a host of options here. I've worked with a client who had a beach house and I got that for a week instead of cash.
Finally, why not volunteer your talents? I think there is an important distinction between volunteering and giving away your services to a client. They both build your body of work but the latter comes with all of the problems that Seth noted. I'll add lousy referrals to that list too. You might get referred but more in the sense that you can hire this guy for cheap. Not the best referral!
On the other hand, if you're volunteering for a nonprofit, for example, you might still get a referral but there is an understanding that the reason why you're giving away your services is because of the cause not because you're time is cheap.
35 weeks ago
TOP IDEA:
Eric Sforza
Did you know that 30,000 new products are launched every year, yet 95% of them fail? I read about that statistic in an article called 'Milkshake Marketing', and it provided some great food for thought for my new blogpost on segmentation and marketing -- Milkshakes & Product Failures: A Lesson on Segmentation http://goo.gl/ZD41p
49 weeks ago from Strategy Consulting, Shotgun Startups, Creatively Inspired and Entrepreneurs2 more
LY Gian recommended this
Recent Network Activity
Steve Schultz joined Strategy Consulting