Consulting Tips: Amtower's End of FY Exercises Amtower's end of fiscal year review : either from your accountant, of from your QuickBooks, segment your income from the past year into categories: type of income (for me, that would be mailing lists, consulting, public seminars, card deck, book/tapes sales, etc). Then list where the income came from, by company. Next come the questions. This is a three column exercise: column 1 is the activity; column 2 is the YTD income; column 3 the income you desire from this activity next year. What more can you do for those who spend more money with you? Do not stretch your real capabilities, as you will then stretch your credibility. How much time do you spend obtaining each check? I don't mean collection, I mean how much time do you actually spend doing client work, and what is the return. What takes more time and brings less money? What can you do to expedite the process and maintain the income? If nothing, would it be worth more to you top do other things that pay more and take less time? Or are these things that really must be done, and be done by you. What can you do to migrate other clients and prospects higher in your income chain? Put a total $ figure on what you made this year, then write down what you want to make next year. Now, go back over the above list and put a new $ total next to each item that reflects the next year total from that client. List potential new clients here, too, and what you might to do secure the deals. You have your dollar target and how you are going to make it. Review this monthly in 2004. • The next part of the end of year review is “How am I going to become better known”? Establishing yourself as a (or ‘the”) ‘go-to” person in your niche is critical in keeping your pipeline full and how much you can charge. Did you speak at any events. If so list them. What events did you attend that you should speak at? Contact the event producer and see what it takes to get a speaking slot. Inform show producers you can also fill in for last minute cancellations – these always happen. Perhaps you should consider hosting your own briefing or seminar. Ask your customers what events they attended and ask for recommendations on where you should speak. You might also ask them to be references for you when you contact the event producers. In the early 1990s, I had seen a couple flyers for Direct Marketing to Business (DMB), but hadn't thought further about it. Then Stan Yablonski of Data-Pages, who attended one of my early conferences, called and said that I really had to speak at this event. He was, of course, correct. I made some tremendous contacts at this event when I spoke the next year. And I didn't simply attend to speak, I attended several other sessions. Did you write any articles ? If so, where did they appear? Were you quoted in any publications? The best way to find the right publications is again, simply to ask your customers what they read. Never assume you know all the pertinent publications – there are way too many. And don't overlook e-publications – e-zines and e-newsletters. I have been interviewed in several of these, and the exposure is every bit as “real” as a hardcopy publication, although the shelf life may be limited. List the publications you want to write for and be quoted in, and how you are going to accomplish this. Letters to the editor are a good way to introduce yourself to editors. Look at the web site of each publication and see if they have an “article submission” section. This will tell you what they are looking for. Which reporters and editors write about your expertise? Call or email to introduce yourself. What did you do to make your web site more information about who you are and what you do? See what your competitors do, then emulate the good things. Write your own “white papers” on your niche and post them here. Post the articles you write, the events you'll be speaking at, etc. As part of my annual business plan, I list the articles I have written, places I have spoken, changes to the web site, etc. And then I list where I want to write, where I want to speak and what other changes are going to be made. Then I write down how I'm going to accomplish this, with due dates. • The final portion of your end of year review is how you are going to stay cutting-edge on your niche. What are you going to attend, read, learn, or join to make certain you stay on the edge of what is working in your area of expertise. Often, when you speak at conferences, as a speaker you can attend other sessions. This is a great way to keep refreshed and find new ideas. You can do this all of these as a “white board” exercises, or hardcopy, but it has to be written down and kept. Review each of these monthly. I've been doing this for 5 years, and each year I seem to add another income stream, identify new source for my articles, find new venue to speak at, and new books to read or an association to join. I also share this plan with my board of advisors (currently 4 people who are great at their niches and are all related to mine in one way or another), though I don't out in the actual dollars, just percentages. Reviewing these monthly let's me know how I am progressing, especially if I do so with a current accounts receivable in one hand, and this in the other. • Create a Board of Advisors. Success is at least 50% about how you see yourself. I am not talking about “new age” stuff, but how you truly see and feel about who you are and what you do. If you work at, understand and believe that you add value, it will show. This carries over to how you spend your time and who you spend it with. The Board of Advisors is one reference point for you and others to see part of your self-image. Who do you get advice from? When considering a Board of Advisors, look for several things. First, people who are knowledgeable and connected in your field. Second, people willing to share a little time with you a couple times a year in person, and somewhat more frequently on the phone. Third, you have to have a small group that will work together for your benefit. Your Board should not be window-dressing – use them for ideas on your self-promotion plan, for leads and introductions, and when necessary, moral support. Why will they do this? Hopefully for several reasons. You might be able to reciprocate. You may be able to lend advice to them for their clients. And it might be because you asked and they like you. The most important thing is to keep a record of where you've been and how you got there. From that you can deduce where to spend your time most fruitfully. And with a Board of Advisors, several well-trained pairs of eyes will not suffer the same myopia. Listen to what they say. Mark Amtower
by Mark Amtower
www.FederalDirect.net