Consultant - naming Your Business

So the first thing potential customers come in contact with your business is its name. It is vital to your business, so look for a name which is promising, somehow exclusive and also describes Your business.

So how to proceed? First get a pen and paper and describe what you are doing, what are the services that you offer and the benefits customer will have using your services. What can you do better than others? Then make a list of the phrases and words that describe best what You are doing. Ask Your friends and relatives how they would describe. Be creative, you can also compose new words using pieces of two words or so. Combine these words keep going. Look for words with similar meanings of what you wrote already down. Combine them to new phrases until at the end you have your name.

Becoming a consultant - crisis management skills

As everybody will agree crisis management is a critical part of life, no matter who we are or what is our vocation.

As a consultant be aware that your services are required mostly when your possible customer is encountering a crisis in some way. As everybody knows a crisis, emergency or disaster can happen at anytime and anywhere.

Pure and simple, crisis management is about focus, it's about getting into a frame of mind where you entirely focus on those things which are vital to the business at this moment.

It is a proven fact that surviving a crisis mostly provides a chance for a total turn-around and a new direction for a business. But managing a crisis is not an easy task as it entails a variety of skills and a lot of things to be done on multiple fronts in a very short time period. On the contrary a crisis can be a powerful impetus to your company’s short and long term survival.

One thing you can be absolutely sure is, that during the course of day-to-day business problems will arise. So one of the greatest challenges in business is recognizing and then separating problems from the numerous daily issues, challenges and competitive pressures.

For solving the crises or problem it is absolutely necessary to identify it in clear and concise language.

There are a lot of reasons why a business gets into a crises like procrastinating on the part of receivables and payables which increases the interest burden. But the underlying cause is always a mismatch between the business plan and the actual day to day business like:

No business plan at all or a lack of planning and following the plan, or inadequate financial discipline and then of course unforeseen problems.

As soon as the crises is identified all what is needed next, is to focus all your attention on the most vital thing your customers will want from you and ditch anything unimportant. Communicate quickly, simply and personally to those involved in the process what has to be done. This is time for you to show up and help out. It does not mean that you do everything yourself, because you have to be able to get above the crisis and focus on the big picture. Be

with the people, recognise what they are doing, encourage them and praise them for what they have achieved so fare.

Finally don’t forget to reflect, start with what went well and then go to the items that need improvement. Always keep in mind that the business is going to suffer if the situation at hand is not properly handled.

So what skills are involved for solving a crises. Developing crisis management skills is not rocket science. If the direct training of resource and crisis management skills are pursued. As a consultant you should have skills like:

Must be able to work under pressure independently

Must have good communication

Strong critical thinking

Conflict resolution

Social competence and problem solving skills

As a consultant you should demonstrated leadership and the ability to work effectively in small and large groups as well as participating in confrontation, conflict resolution and ability the ability to be flexible and adapt..

Marketing Your business

The ultimate goal of marketing is to make money for a business. Lets face it, in order to make money, you gotta get customers which are in need of the services You offer. They have to know that You have exactly what they need. Like many other things, marketing is somewhat like an iceberg. It is everything that you do to reach and persuade prospects. Basically, you might look at marketing as the wide range of activities involved in making sure that you're continuing to meet the needs of your customers and are getting appropriate value in return.

Besides the details you gain from analytics, the real test of marketing is very straightforward. It is more than advertising or selling. Marketing can actually be a public good when it focuses on best interests of those we serve, which is really what marketing is all about anyway.

Marketing is often mistakenly identified with selling and promotion. Good marketing is a conversation, and that's much less slimy than a soliloquy. As consumers' needs and wants become more sophisticated, the level of communication must follow. As a means of communication and marketing, the web is unparalleled.

Contemporary management practice suggests very strongly that marketing is an essential component of any organizational business plan. Therefore a sound marketing plan is key to the success of your business. It should include your market your market research, your location, the customer group you have targeted, your competition, positioning, the product or service you are selling, pricing, advertising and promotion.

The first key to marketing is to clearly define what you do. Remember that marketing is an investment in your business. Before you start you should collect all the necessary information, then it is time to put your plan down on paper.  It should accomplish the following:

1. Define your business

2. Define your customers

3. Define your plan and budget

The essential idea is targeted marketing, making sure your message reaches the people you want to persuade.  Today's marketplace is too fragmented and diffused to reach everyone without the expenditure of vast sums of money.  This makes the formulation of a specific customer profile all the more important.  

Above all, be prepared to change to solve what customers identify as problems.

Success in business, as in life, is based on the relationships you have with people. Marketers must aggressively build relationships with consumers, customers, distributors, partners and even competitors if they want to have success in today's competitive marketplace.

There are a lot ways to do that, like:

Internet marketing is the use of the Internet to advertise and sell goods and services.

Web marketing is intended to drive traffic to your website through various means such as Search Engine Optimization, AdWords pay-per-click strategies, etc.

Email marketing is, as the name suggests, the use of email in marketing communications. Email marketing is the most cost effective medium to test your offer, track results and evaluate response rates.

Viral marketing is more powerful than third-party advertising because it conveys an implied endorsement from a friend.

Keyword marketing is much more powerful compared to the offline marketing techniques, simply because it is the customer's actions that set off the spiral.

Guerrilla Marketing is a less then honest form of online marketing.

Open source marketing is the future.

The science of marketing on the internet has developed in leaps and bounds and search engine marketing is at the leading edge.

Offer an affiliate program at your website.

OK, some may say this is not an absolute necessity, but look around. Nearly ALL successful e-commerce sites offer some form of affiliate program. You can pay for visitors, leads
or commission sales, but you need to offer SOME way of rewarding folks who bring you business. The very first quality one must possess if he wants to try his hand in affiliate marketing is the willingness to learn and be trained. Although the concept of affiliate programs is relatively new it is set to revolutionise the way marketing is done online.

Projectmanagement

Why then fail so many projects?

A common mistake made in project management is setting objectives without understanding scheduling and resource requirements. Mostly the people involved, underestimate the magnitude of project management and other reasons like poor knowledge, poor policy or the lack of enforcement of the policy and involved procedures, lack of planning.

As a consultant keep in mind to organize projects into discrete units and analyze cost and other necessary resources, structures and dependencies which is a prerequisite for estimating, planning and control. The dependencies are clear, without estimating no scheduling without scheduling no control. Scheduling without resource allocation is no scheduling at all. It depends on the availability of qualified personnel, equipment etc. short, all the resources needed to finish the task in the planned time period. There is a great number of software packages on the market to help you in all aspects of project management.

Keep in mind, that besides the tools needed, all the resources available, the most important asset in project management is the people involved Project management is about the management of change, about managing time, scope, and resources at the same time. The underlying assumption of project management is that the project can be planned and then this plan becomes the guide to execute the project. It comprise a series of activities to plan and follow the execution of a project.

Lets look at a definition:

“Project management is a methodical approach to planning and guiding project processes from start to finish.”

First: Project Management is always done, you see all projects are managed in one way or another, but not all are successful. Basically it is plain, common sense, a structured approach to what you would do instinctively.

. In the light of this, project management is more a philosophy of management, it deals with managing human beings towards the accomplishment of given tasks in a given time. As such, project management will only be as effective as the people involved. Therefore one of the most important skill for successful project management is communications. When you communicate, keep in mind that it is vitally necessary to decipher the non-verbal as well as the verbal language. Of course it is difficult to stay tuned into the audience, but this will make you a better communicator. There are two components to good communication skills, the skills themselves, and our intention when and how we use them.

Successful project management is one of the greatest challenges for managers and the team involved.

Effective Communication

Effective communication skills are essential to success in all areas of life especially for a consultant. Some are congenitally good communicators, but most of us need to gain an understanding of what effective communication means and to recognize that communication skills have to be developed, honed and added to on an on-going basis. It’s not only the presentation skills that count. Be aware that everyone communicates differently and also sees the world differently. So to improve your communication skills it is necessary for you as a consultant to understand the other person's point view and how they see the world. Then you can adjust your own communication in a way so that your message is received and understood.

When you communicate, keep in mind that it is vitally necessary to decipher the non-verbal as well as the verbal language. Of course it is difficult to stay tuned into the audience, but this will make you a better communicator. There are two components to good communication skills, the skills themselves, and our intention when and how we use them.

Besides the skills it is necessary that you get all the appropriate information available. This will create an excellent impression, making you look very professional and on top of your job. Remember, whether we communicate verbally or through writing, our purpose is to convey our message to others. To do this we have to use precise and unambiguous communication that is grammatically right and delivered through well modulated voice.

When you communicate via emails, ensure you get your message across as briefly as possible while still maintaining a professional tone. Be sure that you use a subject line that indicates the specific purpose of the email. Always insure that there are no grammatical errors or typos etc. that make your correspondence look unprofessional before you actually send your message

Before you send an email always ensure there are no typos, run-on sentences and other grammatical errors. If you are applying for a job and have already included a cover letter and resume, you don’t need to rewrite your cover letter again in the body of the email.

So to improve your communication skills there are some rules which apply always. First LISTEN hear what they say (not what you think they said) and recognize the way they answer. Second body language look how they react on your questions and how there answers are presented and third stay focused and deliver clear and consistent messages.

There's never one right way to communicate. Authentic effective communication always happens when we reply on those things we know to be true about or for ourselves. Remember your personal style probably says more for you that all the words you use are able to do for you.