Analyse your last 5 years customers and income

post Category: identifying freelance clients — admin @ 11:39 am — post Comments (0)
postMay 19, 2010
One great thing you can do when you have a few years experience is to stop, take a step back and really analyse where all of your previous work has come from. If you have been a freelancer for 5 years or more, this will be easier but even if you have just been freelancing for a couple of years it is worth doing. Here are the some of the questions to ask yourself.
 
How many projects did you do in the last 5 years?
 
What kinds of projects were they, the length and duration, who were the clients and in which industry. Also how did you get the projects? How were they sourced. And then start thinking about the end result of the projects, what went well, what needs to be improved, what lessons you have learnt. Then in total, how many projects and how much revenue did you get per client? Who are your main clients and within these clients who are the main contacts.
 
All of this is to take stock of your current situation. So, when I did this, I was shocked to realise in the last 2-3 years just how few clients I had worked with. On my cv, I have list a whole load of clients I have worked with, many on a regular basis. But I suddenly noticed in the last 3 years, the number was smaller than I had imagined. I was doing more with these clients than with others. But I was sending out 50 e-mails a month to what I considered to be my ‘warm’ customer list. What was going on?
 
So, I really started thinking. What was it about the clients I was working for and all the people on my prospects list with whom I had never worked? I came to the conclusion that one thing was face to face meetings. There were many people I was contacting on a regular basis who I had never met face to face. It was a simple thing which I had never considered before. So, I set about asking people for meetings and I then found out the likelihood of me working with them for whatever reason was very low. It was a difficult thing to learn but also a great thing because I could then strike them off my list and start focusing on more likely prospective clients.
 
Now, what is the story for you? What can you learn by comparing all the people who gave you projects? What are the similarities between them? Are they from firms of a similar size, or culture or specialisation. What about the companies and people who were likely prospects but never gave you any work? It is well worth investigating this.
 
Another good question to ask is what are you good and what do you enjoy? A great thing which happened to me over the years is that as I raised my rates, the companies I least enjoyed working for were the first to complain and stop giving me work. This was great. Eventually I found my ceiling and now stick to this. I feel grateful for the work they give me and realise if I want more or a higher rate I have to go out there and find the work with the end client myself.
 
So, with this blog post, I am really inviting you to think and analyse your earnings, your business development methods and word of mouth referrals to see what is working and what is not. You may also want to ask others. How can you improve your service? Are there specific skills you need to develop such as accounting, presentation or general confidence skills? Is there any other ways you can do both business development and delivery or should you be looking at a different field because your market is changing. Perhaps you can also be looking abroad.
 
What else have I learnt? I wanted to get outside transactional projects into longer term projects plus I wanted to work from home rather than in offices all the time. So, I have focused or perhaps it is slightly by chance as well, but I have gotten some great projects which have allowed me to work according to my own schedule. This gives me a great direction in which I want to go. It can also serve as a focus for the next five years. Where do you want to be with your freelance consultancy career?

LinkedIn: Update your status and profile regularly, also keep building your network

post Category: identifying freelance clients — admin @ 8:56 am — post Comments (1)
postApril 4, 2010
Linkedin is going to be an essential part of your freelancing career, so it is very important to get used to this website and to really deepen your understanding of what you can do and achieve with this website. Here are some of the key steps you need to undertake to get your LinkedIn profile working for you.
 
Deepen Your Profile
 
Work on your profile and fill it in especially photograph and what your current job situation is and also your current status. I will then recommend going through and putting in all of the information about yourself, so the summary is pretty important. You need to make sure this is pithy as well as contains a little bit of your personality. You do not want this to be just a dead CV page.
 
At the same time, please remember that linked in is not Facebook. One of my friends has a huge linked in page with so many different applications, videos, slideshows and hundreds of groups he is a member of. It takes a long while to scroll down his page. Of course, you do want to put in relevant information and maybe videos and slideshows if they are relevant. But your LinkedIn page is a business page designed to bring in new consultancy clients. It is not a way of communicating what you’re up to with your friends, leave that for Facebook.
 
If you go to the applications tab on the left hand side of linked in, you can set up your blog to sync with your linked in profile. There are a couple of applications to connect your WordPress or other blog to your linked in profile. You can also set up twitter to connect with your profile. I would be a bit careful about putting on too many applications because they just can clutter up your page and put people off. Also, they are very distracting especially things like where you have travelled in the world etc.
 
Develop Your Network
 
The absolute key thing about linked in is in building up your network and then be able to find and contact new people who are part of your linked in connections. So follow the steps on the linked in page, to go through your outlook, Gmail or Hotmail accounts to find out who else is connected with you on linked in. You can send an e-mail to all of the people who are registered on linked in and but are not part of your network and connect with them.
 
Go through your spreadsheet of freelance consultancy contacts and e-mail all of the relevant people an invitation to connect on linked in. You can also ask your current and former colleagues and of course everyone you meet in a business environment. By doing this, you can then access their network and even get invitations because of your mutual connections.
 
Developing your network is an ongoing and important part of your freelance consultancy business development work.
 
Join and Contribute To Groups
 
There are numerous groups on linked in and you can do a search to find those which are relevant to you. Once you are on those groups you can do a bit more work to see if they have any physical meet ups, message board postings and other ways in which you can connect with members. You can use this as a way of connecting with your blog for example.
 
You can search for groups in the groups directory. I just did a search on management consultancy and 241 different groups came up. You can also set up your own group which may do for this blog. When I typed in freelance consultant, there were 27 groups which came up. You can visit these to find out which are relevant for you and you can join many different groups including groups by industry, function and location amongst others.
 
Probably best to work out which are the best groups for you and then dedicate some time each day or week to read through some of the posts and contribute as desired.

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How You Can Prepare to become a freelancer whilst still working full-time

post Category: How To Become A Freelancer — admin @ 6:10 am — post Comments (0)
postMarch 19, 2010
If you want to become a freelance consultant, but are currently working full-time you are actually in a good position because you can do the detailed preparation work needed to make it a success. If you can plan to spend the next six months working full-time and also developing your network ready to freelance you could have a great start to your career. Here are some of the things I recommend you do:
 
1. Start building up a spreadsheet of all your contacts in the industry
 
This is the most important thing you can do. I recommend a spreadsheet rather than a database or Outlook etc because it is very easy to setup and use. You can do this in Google Docs, or in an Excel spreadsheet etc. There are other tools available but, as a freelance consultant I think that Excel should be fine for now.
 
Remember to include columns for name, position, telephone number and e-mail address, website address and some space for comments and status.
 
Now, put in all of your contacts -people you have worked with in the past, people you currently work with, people you meet at networking events and all the other relevant contacts you can think of. You want to spend the next six months building up this spreadsheet by reaching out to new people, doing all of the research which I recommend in this blog. Ideally, you want 100 to 200 new contacts, maybe you will not call them or e-mail them before you finish your current work but they will be there ready to go.
 
2. Build Up Your LinkedIn Network
 
Related to point one, you will also need to do the same for your linked in network. Ideally you want 200 or 300 direct connections, the more the better especially in your industry and in consulting in general. You can contact all the people on your Excel spreadsheet and also the new contacts you are making.
 
3. Network Like Crazy
 
You will want to use these six months to go to as many industry events, general networking events, seminars, conferences and exhibitions as you can. Work out what you can do for the people you meet, you could recommend them for things or find ways to help them. That is the essence of successful networking-what you can do for others not what they can do for you.
 
As stated in the point one, you can also spend a lot of time using the Google, linked in, direct marketing databases and all the other tools to find new contacts to put into your Excel spreadsheet. Ideally almost all your free time will be on building up your spreadsheet so that when you are ready to go freelance you can just send out hundreds of e-mails.
  
4. Save 3 Months Salary Minimum
 
You also want to be saving now so that you have at least three months salary available for you when you start freelancing. This will cushion any problems you might have from periods out of work or when you are looking for new business. The best way to do this is to talk to your office or HR manager and arrange for automatic 10% of your salary to go into a savings account. Perhaps more if you can afford it.
 
5. Research Actually Becoming A Freelancer
 
I have put this as number five and not number one because the key to being a freelancer is to actually get work not worry about what kind of company you will have or the more administrative matters. They are of course still important but should not get in the way of you building a huge network of potential clients and also people with whom you have worked in the past and who you know.
 
One of the best ways is to download the free guide available to nonmembers of the professional contractors group PCG. It is a  guide to becoming a freelancer: http://www.pcg.org.uk/cms/index.php?option=com_pcg_download_request
 
Also, look at other books and websites related to becoming a freelancer. This can help you with some of your planning in terms of lifestyle business operation changes.
 
These are just some of the things you can do in order to help yourself prepare to become a freelancer. I actually forgot one of the most important things you can do which is to speak with as many freelancers as you can. Especially in the area you want to go into. You can ask them about how the going to it, what life is like including utilisation and day rates, how they find their clients and more.
 
Find them on LinkedIn, ask people in your network if they know any freelancers or do some Google searching to find relevant freelancer associations etc. You can also join freelancing forums and websites where you can post questions and review answers from other experienced people.

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How You Can Prepare to become a freelancer whilst still working full-time

post Category: How To Become A Freelancer — admin @ 6:07 am — post Comments (1)
post
If you want to become a freelance consultant, but are currently working full-time you are actually in a good position because you can do the detailed preparation work needed to make it a success. If you can plan to spend the next six months working full-time and also developing your network ready to freelance you could have a great start to your career. Here are some of the things I recommend you do:
 
1. Start building up a spreadsheet of all your contacts in the industry
 
This is the most important thing you can do. I recommend a spreadsheet rather than a database or Outlook etc because it is very easy to setup and use. You can do this in Google Docs, or in an Excel spreadsheet etc. There are other tools available but, as a freelance consultant I think that Excel should be fine for now.
 
Remember to include columns for name, position, telephone number and e-mail address, website address and some space for comments and status.
 
Now, put in all of your contacts -people you have worked with in the past, people you currently work with, people you meet at networking events and all the other relevant contacts you can think of. You want to spend the next six months building up this spreadsheet by reaching out to new people, doing all of the research which I recommend in this blog. Ideally, you want 100 to 200 new contacts, maybe you will not call them or e-mail them before you finish your current work but they will be there ready to go.
 
2. Build Up Your LinkedIn Network
 
Related to point one, you will also need to do the same for your linked in network. Ideally you want 200 or 300 direct connections, the more the better especially in your industry and in consulting in general. You can contact all the people on your Excel spreadsheet and also the new contacts you are making.
 
3. Network Like Crazy
 
You will want to use these six months to go to as many industry events, general networking events, seminars, conferences and exhibitions as you can. Work out what you can do for the people you meet, you could recommend them for things or find ways to help them. That is the essence of successful networking-what you can do for others not what they can do for you.
 
As stated in the point one, you can also spend a lot of time using the Google, linked in, direct marketing databases and all the other tools to find new contacts to put into your Excel spreadsheet. Ideally almost all your free time will be on building up your spreadsheet so that when you are ready to go freelance you can just send out hundreds of e-mails.
  
4. Save 3 Months Salary Minimum
 
You also want to be saving now so that you have at least three months salary available for you when you start freelancing. This will cushion any problems you might have from periods out of work or when you are looking for new business. The best way to do this is to talk to your office or HR manager and arrange for automatic 10% of your salary to go into a savings account. Perhaps more if you can afford it.
 
5. Research Actually Becoming A Freelancer
 
I have put this as number five and not number one because the key to being a freelancer is to actually get work not worry about what kind of company you will have or the more administrative matters. They are of course still important but should not get in the way of you building a huge network of potential clients and also people with whom you have worked in the past and who you know.
 
One of the best ways is to download the free guide available to nonmembers of the professional contractors group PCG. It is a  guide to becoming a freelancer: http://www.pcg.org.uk/cms/index.php?option=com_pcg_download_request
 
Also, look at other books and websites related to becoming a freelancer. This can help you with some of your planning in terms of lifestyle business operation changes.
 
These are just some of the things you can do in order to help yourself prepare to become a freelancer. I actually forgot one of the most important things you can do which is to speak with as many freelancers as you can. Especially in the area you want to go into. You can ask them about how the going to it, what life is like including utilisation and day rates, how they find their clients and more.
 
Find them on LinkedIn, ask people in your network if they know any freelancers or do some Google searching to find relevant freelancer associations etc. You can also join freelancing forums and websites where you can post questions and review answers from other experienced people.

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Be willing to walk away from projects

post Category: Running Your Freelance Consultancy — admin @ 11:09 am — post Comments (0)
postMarch 8, 2010
This is one of the most difficult and subjective decisions you need to make when you are offered a project. You can say no and on occasions you must say no if there is any doubt as to whether you can deliver or if you do not have confidence that the client will stick to their proposal and budget etc.
 
Walking away if you cannot deliver
The key factor is to get to a proposal document which yourself and the client have agreed upon. You then need to work out exactly how long it will take to deliver this and the steps needed to do it. It can be very tempting to think that the project will be easier to deliver than it actually realistically will be, especially if you have not had a project in awhile. But believe me do not make this mistake. The consequences on your confidence and in your reputation can be detrimental. 

Also, you need to be clear if you are working with others as to whether they can deliver especially if it is a much more complicated project then you are used to doing or that you do not have their expertise in. You always do need to leave some slack in the budget in case of unforeseen circumstances but if you do not know the market or the type of work you are doing that well then it may be wise to reconsider either taking on the project or cutting back on the proposal.

The most important thing is honesty and transparency with the client even if this means losing the client. You may lose one or two clients here but in the long run you will build a reputation with yourself and with other clients that will stand you in good stead. If you just take any old project you can get your hands on you will diminish your brand especially if you do not deliver to your usual high standards. 

Walking away due to under-pricing
 
The other thing I read recently in a book on business is to not do work cheaply if you are underutilised. Obviously, in a deep and enduring recession you may need to react to market conditions on a temporary basis. However, there is usually a rare occurrence but in the general day-to-day world, you need to maintain a minimum standard as to what kind of work you will do and the day rate you will charge. If example you start doing work under your minimum day rate, it will be very difficult to increase that day rate back to your usual level.
 
Also, if other clients find out that you were under charging yourself to other people, they could get quite annoyed and also demand the lower rates. So, as long as your rates are market competitive or offer great value for money then you must be willing to lose some business in order to strengthen your brand and reputation in the market place. Obviously if you are overcharging the market will tell you soon enough.
 
Walking away if you have doubts about the client
 
It is always worth doing a bit of background research on your clients, especially if you are entering into a large and long-term project. You can speak to other consultants who have worked with the client or do some financial research as to whether they are solvent and pay up on time and maybe speak to some of their colleagues to get an understanding of their working style. If you have any doubts after all of this or they are already moving the goalposts and trying to get more out of you, then it’s worth you either having an upfront and honest discussion with them or just moving on.
 
Walking away if you are not happy with the project content
 
You also have the option of walking away if the content matter of the project is not suitable for you based on your morals and ethics etc. This could be if the project involves tobacco, arms industry or other areas of business you are not comfortable with. Or dealing with areas of the world in which you do not feel safer comfortable etc whatever is relevant for you. It is better you feel happy working on a project than trying to slog it out and arguing with your conscious. This is one of the reasons you chose to be a freelancer is to be able to walk away in such instances.
 
With all of these points, the key is to balance your financial and business requirements with your need to deliver a high value project which will lead to long-term business and a lot more freelance consultant jobs over the long-run.

Create A Structure For Face to Face Networking

post Category: Finding freelance work — admin @ 10:27 am — post Comments (0)
postMarch 5, 2010
We have talked previously on a blog posting about face-to-face networking and how important this is for your long-term business development.
 
Now, we want to make this an automatic part of your regular business schedule. We will explore some ways of doing this here. The aim is to structure your face-to-face networking for the next year. This might seem like a long time but you have to remember that many events especially the formal ones such as exhibitions and seminars are planned and announced months in advance.
 
This is important in order for you to find freelance consulting jobs on a regular basis.
 
Research All The Relevant Networking Opportunities
 
The first thing you need to do is to schedule some time to explore all of the possible organisations and groups which offer you networking opportunities. These will include trade associations, unions, conferences and seminars, regional and international networking events as well as all the many other events unique to yourself.
 
You then want to go through their websites or journal and find out when they have their scheduled events. Some of the big ones will be planned months in advance such as the 3G conference or other international meetings. You can pencil these into your diary now and start making bookings for flights and travel etc in order to make savings.
 
You can also ask yourself which are the events worth attending the most and which are kind of nice to have but not not urgent.
 
Attend the Weekly or Monthly Events
 
There will also be some more regular perhaps more informal networking opportunities across different organisations and groups. Some of these will be specific to consulting, others will be specific to your vertical industry such as retail or healthcare, others will be function related such as logistics or marketing and others will just be local such as London based or Ealing etc.
 
The idea is that over a period of a year you can visit each of these two or three times to make up your mind whether they are worth attending to on a regular basis. In this list, it is also worth considering events which will be beneficial for your skill set and effectiveness as a consultant. Of this, I’m thinking of things like Toastmasters which you would need to attend almost monthly possible to get the real benefit.
 
Schedule In One On One Meetings or Smaller Group Events
 
Another great idea is to set up a time or day when you will be free to have meetings, lunch or coffee with individuals. This can be the new potential clients you are trying to meet or it could be people already in your network who you have not been in contact with it for awhile. You can also arrange drinks or some kind of small informal event when you can invite several people of the same type, e.g other freelance consultants or noncompeting potential clients.
 
By having a specific date e.g. Monday evenings available, it will be easier to schedule such meetings on a regular basis. You can also look at specific talks or seminars which you are interested in attending and which may be of benefit for potential clients to attend.
 
The key point with creating a structure for face-to-face networking for freelance consultants is that you do this regularly, you cover the major events especially formal ones in your industry and you allow for attending many informal networking opportunities at some of the more informal ones may be hit and miss, one week may be amazing in terms of contacts you meet whereas another week at the same event might be quite quiet but hopefully they will balance out over the period of a year.
 

 

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Sign up with Business Link and get your free 1 hour session with them

post Category: Running Your Freelance Consultancy — admin @ 9:35 am — post Comments (0)
postMarch 1, 2010
Something every single freelance consultant needs to do right away is to make use of the fantastic resources being provided for you by the Government and other organisations. One of the very best is called Business Link.
 
In their own words from their website: http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/
Business Link is a free business advice and support service, available online and through local advisers.
 
First of all please visit their website. They have a lot of free materials and guides from starting up to how to expand your business. Please do not think that just because you might be one person that this does not apply for you or you are not allowed to access this. They want you to succeed because it means more tax revenue for the Government in the long run!
 
For us as freelancers trying to market ourselves, they have a great section on creating a marketing strategy. What I am trying to teach you and show you on this blog are other ways for you to find and retain new clients. They break this down point by point. They also have online interactive guides to create plans you can follow.
 
However the best thing for freelance consultancy providers is for you to set up a free one hour consultation with a business advisor. You can do this by going to the following link and clicking on your region. You will then be asked to fill in a short form:
 
So, I had my session a few months ago. It was a bit of a trek for me but took me to a nice part of town called Enfield which I had never been to before. That was like being in America with huge malls and shopping centres and lots of highway plus a huge, huge cinema with umpteen screens.
 
Also, it really helped me think. I had to prepare the financials of my business so far and forecasts for the future. Because I was meeting someone else and not just doing this myself, I took it a lot more seriously and really came up with the questions I wanted answering. The business advisor is obviously impartial and is there to suggest things you may not have considered and to give you recommendations for new resources.
 
In my meeting, I explained my issues of finding more work and he immediately suggested a few ideas some of them basic such as networking and we came up with an action plan, one of the points which was to take some sales training plus to build my peer network, which I have spoken about in this blog already. They are also there for follow up. Another face to face session might have to be paid for but by e-mail or telephone I believe the follow up is free.
 
So please sign up for this. Please also play around on the site, including looking at the section on Business Sectors. There is one for general management consultancy as well as IT Consultancy, HR Consultancy etc. You have to click on a few pages but they then list a lot of trade associations relevant for management consultants including the Institute of Business Consulting , Management Consultancies Association (MCA) and Management Consultants News (MCN)  amongst others.
 
 

Recommended Reading on Money For Freelance Consultants

post Category: Running Your Freelance Consultancy — admin @ 6:54 am — post Comments (0)
postFebruary 24, 2010
In this blog post, I would like to take a step back from your freelance consulting day to day work and look at the bigger picture in terms of your money. The money you make, how to invest and save it and some simple ideas to make a difference to your cashflow and wealth.
  
The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach
 
I think this is a really important book to realise the value of long-term financial planning, savings and investments. It talks about the classic saving money today on your latte in order to invest in your pension. However, there are some important points in this book about how to pay off your mortgage quicker using a little known about method of making repayments on your mortgage and some advice on your pension for freelancers. I think it is good to get his perspective on finance in general even if you may think it is a bit extreme at times.
 
I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
 
When I first saw the title of this book in a Waterstones bookstore, I thought this was just another American self-help scam. However, it is aimed for 20-35 year old professionals and this book is fundamentally about personal finance but in a really interesting and eye-opening manner. It has sections on starting off with looking at the most important thing – credit scores and how to keep it up. Then there are many sections on saving money from calling your service providers and bargaining with them.
 
I have saved a lot of money from changing my bank account from fee-paying to free, getting 6 months Sky Broadband for free etc. Things which I thought I could not save on or did not consider there was even any possibility of being able to save money on them because I had assumed I needed to spend money on these things. Also the final chapters are on investing and the material on his website www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com are about actually making more money to top up all his current advice.
 
 
Have More Money Now by John Bradshaw Layfield
 
This is a really interesting book written by a former professional wrestler who is married to one of the top women investment analysts on Wall Street. He starts the book from having only $27 in assets and the book is partly an autobiography as he ends his American football career and starts the long road to the top of the wrestling tree. He intertwines this with his financial advice but he stresses both living your life fully as you can now whilst also building for the future. As he says, if you keep waiting for tomorrow to live, it might never come.
 
The key with these books for you as a freelance consultant, is to read them and then apply one or two tips to your current lifestyle. It is imperative to have a good savings and investment programme and to somehow avoid the impetus to spend when you have a lot of money or work, and to scrimp when you are looking for a new contract. Using some of the ideas suggested here, you can plan out and smooth the bumps more.

Soft skills in freelance consulting – what are they and how do you develop them

post Category: Running Your Freelance Consultancy — admin @ 3:13 am — post Comments (0)
postFebruary 18, 2010
I spoke recently with the MD of Mindbench, a recruitment consultancy for freelance consultants and he told me that one of the determinants for the success for freelance management consultants was their soft skills rather than how good they were technically.
 
So what are some of these soft skills and how can you develop them?
 
Interpersonal/Communication Skills
 
The key to being a freelancer is dealing with many different people on a day to day basis. Chances are you probably had to do this as a full-time consultant but it is these social skills which should have nothing to do with your actual expertise, but which could prove critical to you getting a job. How much people like working with and interacting with you is another intangible factor. Often it is well worth trying to talk to everyone. I remember once working for Ernst & Young. They have many divisions and sections which are often placed side by side perhaps due to that being the only space available. However, I found that no-one talks to each other outside of their own division. After a while, after weeks and months go by, it is just too much and too long to break down that barrier and system which has gone up.
 
So, one tip is to learn how to or just start initiating conversations with people throughout the organisation. Obviously this must not detract from your job but you can have a quick friendly word with people. This can often lead to future work especially if there are several directors or potential hirers of you in the company.
 
If you are struggling in this area, it is worth looking at a book called How To Talk To Anyone by Leil Lowndes, which has many quick and easy to use tips in order to do just this. If you are seriously shy, then it might be worth working on your social anxiety and what others think of you through cognitive therapy or something like that.
 
Sales Skills

 

This is something which has been mentioned to me a couple of times by Business Link and also a meeting I had with someone I shall call a mentor. I contacted a more experienced consultant to ask him for some advice about how to proceed and develop my career.
 
He recommended a book called ‘Spin Selling’ by Neal Rackham as being an important and also classic book to read. I had a meeting with Business Link, about which I will talk more in a future blog post. They recommended I take some sales training and recommended a company for me to look at. Sales training is important in learning how to both sell yourself and also pitch for projects and tenders. I think one of the key things is to get into the frame of mind of a potential employer of your freelance consultancy work.
 
Why would they want to use you? What services and value add can you provide? What is the most effective way of your working with their organisation? How do they tend to select consulting service providers? Who do they currently use and what is the tender/purchase process etc? Your sales skills will come in answering these questions and providing a solution and answering any objections based on this. Plus of course, a lot of purchases are emotional decisions as much as rational, logic decisions.
 
Public Speaking
 
This is a difficult one for me because I am both scared of it and also quite good at it or so I am told. Whatever, it can be nerve-wracking getting up in front of people or even just expressing your own opinion in front of others. The two things I have learnt is to know your content inside out and get as much practice public speaking as possible. There are also come visualisation and relaxation exercises you can use.
 
The things I can recommend are joining your local Toastmasters organisation. This is a not for profit group which focuses on developing your public speaking skills. They have a specific structure of speeches and impromptu talks you can give in front of their members and you soon learn to develop your skills. It is also a good way of networking with other people in senior positions. It is also a good way to practice in a low pressure environment:
 
I gave a presentation earlier this year and the feedback from a lot of people was that I came across as quite nervous. So someone recommended I attend the following day workshop The Body Talk Express Show although the website does not appear to have been updated in a while:
 
So these are some of the soft skills – communication skills, sales skills and public speaking which may have nothing to do with your expertise and delivery but could make the difference between getting freelance consulting jobs or not.

 

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Top-Consultant Contractors Corner and Consultancy Role Finder

post Category: Finding freelance work — admin @ 7:54 am — post Comments (0)
postFebruary 15, 2010
I would like to introduce you to a couple of very good resources for freelance management consultants of all types. Whether you are in strategy, mergers and acquisitions, logistics, supply chain, healthcare, organisational development or other types of consulting these two websites have a lot of information available for you.
 
Top-Consultant.com Contractor’s Corner
 
The first one is from top consultant.com, the main website for management consultants in the UK. A lot of their material is aimed at staff looking for full-time employment. However, they have a section called contractors corner. This is a paid for section which costs something like £6 + VAT per month or £30 + VAT for a year and it has a lot of vacancies for freelance consultancy projects. These come from the end clients, from consultancies and even from agencies.
 
It is not that expensive outlay so is well worth signing up for just to check it out. You can access it at the following link:
 
They currently claim to have 138 different freelance consultancy jobs available for you to directly apply for.
 
Consultancy Role Finder
 
The next website is more for full-time employment but you can use this as a means of finding new consultancies who you can contact directly. You can also find the names of some of the management consultancy recruitment agencies and contact them to see if they know of any freelance work. This is what I will be doing in the near future. The link to the website is here:
 
You can do a search by type of consultancy jobs and then visit each and every link as is relevant to you. There are hundreds and hundreds of potential full-time jobs on the site. However, there is no reason why some of these employers may not be open to negotiating freelance contracts with you as long as you have the relevant experience and skill sets.
 
Please let me know if you come across any other great resources for freelance consultants in order to find new projects. It would be great to feature these on this blog and help more people find new projects.

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