You are getting this newsletter because you are a member of the American Consultants League. If you would prefer not to receive future issues, contact support@earlytorise.com From the Editor: In this issue, you’ll learn about five samples of competence profiles you can use to become more confident about your field of expertise; you’ll also find a self-audit tool from one of our Board members, and some advice for selling your consulting services online. Plus a few business resources that we hope will be useful. Let us hear from you… Special thanks to Valerie Young, Mark Amtower and Bob Bly Are You Competent Enough to be a Consultant? If you have a hard time imagining yourself as a “legitimate consultant,” you may be operating from some common myths and misconceptions about competence and competent people. Through years of working with people who experience the so called Imposter Syndrome, I have created five “Competence” profiles to describe general self-expectations regarding competence. They believe they need to know 150 percent to consider themselves even remotely qualified. Conversely, in the vast majority of fields, it’s probably okay if you know 40 percent; the other 60 percent, you can pick up as you go. Valerie Young is Dreamer in Residence at http://www.ChangingCourse.com, offering free resources to help you discover your life mission and live it. Are You Settling for a Paycheck Learn more at http://www.ChangingCourse.com/cooljobs.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Are You Where You Want to Be? • Are you happy with where you are? • Do you know where you want to go? • Do you have a realistic plan to get there? • Are you constantly improving? • Are you having fun? You probably answered “no” to one or more of these self-assessment questions. That’s not surprising. But what is surprising is that there are simple remedies you can take based on a self-audit of the eight major productivity areas in your life. ACTION PLAN Where You Are Now - 2004 1- Finance 2- Time Management 3- Self-promotion 4- Education 5- Advisors 6- Competitors 7- Family 8- Self-satisfaction Where You Want to Be - 2005 1- Finance 2- Time Management 3- Self-promotion 4- Education 5- Advisors 6- Competitors 7- Family 8- Self-satisfaction Mark Amtower is the founding partner at Amtower & Company, where he specializes in the business-to-government market. He is a member of the Board of ACL and a frequent contributor to this newsletter. For further information on his self-audit system, contact Mark at: amtower@erols.com How to Finish Rich: By Taking Small Steps How Much To Set Aside But the best way to save is with a 401(k) or other tax-advantaged plan. If you save after-tax dollars, the federal government alone takes about $3 of every $10 you earn. When you put $10 into a retirement plan, the entire sum goes to work and won’t be taxed until withdrawal. Pay Down Your Mortgage Excerpt from Bottom Line/Personal. Based on an interview with David Bach, founder and CEO of FinishRich, Inc. David is the best-selling author of Smart Couples Finish Rich…Smart Women Finish Rich…and The Automatic Millionaire. SELLING YOUR SERVICES ONLINE If you’ve read past issues of Consulting Tips, you will have seen some of my recommendations for getting clients: 1. Set-up Your Consultant Services Website 2. Publish Your Own E-Zine 3. Create a Lead Generator 4. Have a “Consultants Information Kit” Ready to Go 5. Offer Potential Customers a Free Product or Service (“Bait Piece”) 6. Get Yourself Known in Your Community Have you tried to market your services online and been disappointed with the results? Or is your current online marketing reasonably effective, but you'd like to get even better results? If so, I urge you to check out "The Ultimate Guide to Selling Your Services Online," a new multimedia learning program from my good friend, marketing whiz and superstar entrepreneur Bob Serling. Two years ago, Bob Serling generated only 15% of his consulting income through online marketing. Today, 60% of all the new business Bob generates comes from his online marketing -- which, he says, is "almost effortless and costs next to nothing." In this program, Serling reveals his secrets for selling services online -- and interviews four other marketers to get theirs: Joe Vitale, Robert Middleton, Don Crowther, and yours truly. For more information about "The Ultimate Guide to Selling Your Services Online," please visit the link below: http://consulting-success.com/cgi-bin/lnkinlte.cgi?l=bly CONSULTING RESOURCE OF THE MONTH: Federally Guaranteed Loans for Small or Start-up Companies Morgan Chase and HSBC are working with the US Small Business Administration to make it easier for entrepreneurs to get loans. Increases in the number of loans have been mostly in the New York City area, but the banks hope to expand the program. Information: 800-975-HSBC. Special thanks to Crain’s New York Business, 711 Third Ave., New York City 10017 RSVP: Like what you see? Have suggestions for topics that you would like Board members to address? Send us your comments and suggestions to: American Consultants League, c/o Early to Rise www.earlytorise.com or email us at: support@earlytorise.com. Be sure to mention that you are a subscriber to ACL. American Consultants League Consulting Tips Newsletter ACL Board Members: Mark Amtower, Ilise Benun, Bob Bly, Tony NarinesinghConsulting Tips Newsletter
it shows the final destination and usually the best way to get there."
H. Stanley Judd
By Valerie Young
The Perfectionist
In the perfectionist’s rulebook, anything short of a flawless performance 100 percent of the time is unacceptable, and every aspect of work must be exemplary. There is, however, a difference between a healthy will to excel and perfectionism.
Jennifer White declares in her book, Work Less, Make More, that “Perfectionism is a refusal to let yourself move ahead.” Unlearning perfectionism does not mean you have to let go of your need for excellence.
As you think about launching your consulting practice, Cameron Foote insists, “Clients are looking for good, not great.”
The Natural Genius
The Natural Genius believes that true competence, ability, intelligence, and achievement are innate and effortless. If your achievement is hard won, it doesn’t count.
If you identify with the Natural Genius, you are probably of two minds about competence. On the one hand, you equate competence with ease; and on the other, you dismiss it when something does come easily to you. After all you think, “If I can do it, anyone can.”
Although some people do have natural talent, even the most gifted person will fail if they’re unwilling to put in the effort.
The Expert erroneously concludes that competence and expertise are synonymous.
The Expert believes there is a clear line of demarcation between expert and non-expert. The reality is you can add to your understanding of a subject, as there is always more to learn.
When you insist on expertise, there will always be just one more book to read, class to take, or degree to earn before you pronounce yourself “qualified.” This quest for the end of knowledge is an unreachable mirage.
The Rugged Individualist
If you are a Rugged Individualist, then you labor under the notion that achievement is a purely solo endeavor. Since you think competence means doing everything yourself, any kind of outside help essentially neutralizes your contribution.
The fact is, competence is knowing how to identify the resources required to get the job done, and these resources can come in many forms; time, money, advice, training.
What resources do you need to achieve your goal of becoming a paid consultant? While you may not know how to do something, you are smart enough to find something or someone to help you. Woodrow Wilson once said, “I use not only all the brains I have but all I can borrow.”
The Extremist
The Extremist constantly teeters on the outer extremes of a skewed competence continuum where there is no middle ground. The Extremist views competence from one of two continuums – if you’re not brilliant all of the time, then you must be stupid. If it’s not perfect, it must be awful.
It’s easy to fall into the Extremist trap because you know what it’s like to feel brilliant when everything you touched turned to gold. Indeed, you’ve also had a fair amount of the flip side when you were running on intellectual empty.
The trick for Extremists is to savor those delightful highs and forgive those inevitable “brain closed for the day” lows.
If you’re serious about pursing your dream of being a professional consultant, you’ll need to develop a new realistic definition of competence. Do this and you’ll finally be able to see yourself as the bright, capable person you really are!
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When What You Really Want Is a Life?
Imagine instead getting paid to shop, work with animals, write about NASCAR, work for yourself, tour the country in an RV or living on a boat, design costumes, work at the Grand Canyon or for the Peace Corps, work from home, start your own non-profit, live overseas, or live rent free as a professional caretaker. People do it every day... and so can you!
By Mark Amtower
Mark Amtower was a Guest Speaker at ETR’s Wealth Building Bootcamp in Delray Beach, Florida this past month. Some attendees have requested a copy of his “Satisfaction Index and Action Plan” outline. We are including it here in the hopes that it will be useful to your consulting practice as well.
Take this self-audit right now. Then implement a plan to take you from where you are today to where you realistically want to be at this time next year.
SATISFACTION INDEX
By David Bach
Sticking to a budget means depriving yourself today for the sake of your future well-being. Few of us have the discipline that this requires – occasionally we dine at expensive restaurants…buy new cars every two or three years…and are willing to spend $3.50 for a cup of coffee. Result? Even people with decent incomes live from paycheck to paycheck. To save steadily, most people need to override human nature. How? By putting savings on autopilot. Arrange for a certain percentage of each paycheck to be tucked away. This takes little discipline or effort. Many employers have automatic payroll-deduction plans for retirement accounts. You also can arrange for your bank or mutual fund firm to take money out of your bank account every month.
Start out small. Save 1% of your salary. Soon, you can bump that up to 3%. Your goal should be to save at least 10%. Those with grander objectives should save 15% to 20%. You will be amazed by how little sacrifice is involved. If you buy lunch for yourself (or your clients), you are spending anywhere for $5-15 a day. By brown bagging it (at a cost of $1 per day instead of, say, $8), you can save $35 a week, or about $150 a month. If you earn a 7% annual return, that savings would grow to $73,791 in 20 years.
Making regular mortgage payments is a form of forced savings. To accelerate the process, see if your bank will allow you to pay off your mortgage early, perhaps by making one payment every two weeks instead of one a month. By following this system, you will make 26 half payments, or the equivalent of 13 monthly payments each year. You could pay off a 30 year mortgage in about 23 years. Consider that a $250,000 30-year mortgage with an interest rate of 8% will cost you $410,388 in interest. By paying biweekly, you will pay $119,000 less.
These small steps bring large results over time. And the sooner you begin, the sooner you’ll “finish rich”.
By Bob Bly
Bob Bly is a freelance copywriter specializing in business-to-business and direct response advertising. He is also the author of 18 books including The Copywriter’s Handbook (Dodd, Mead) and a founding member of the ACL Board of Advisors.
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