How do I find clients for my newly-launched time management consulting firm?
April 2, 2010 7:14 AM
How do I get clients for my newly-launched time management consulting firm?
Background: My dissatisfaction with the pseudo-spirituality and ambiguity of the self help industry's current offerings inspired me to launch my own consulting firm. I have a system now with which I honestly believe I can organize a client's time within one month's time. Since I've just started this firm and will admittedly be tweaking things as I go, I'm not going to be seeking payment for the consulting until the very end of the program, at which point I'm going to have the clients pay what they feel the program was worth.
Question: How do I get started advertising something like this? I'm painfully unaware of how this process works. If I were advertising something like a perfume, I would use all of the traditional advertising channels, but what do you do when you offer a service like time management consulting?
Background: My dissatisfaction with the pseudo-spirituality and ambiguity of the self help industry's current offerings inspired me to launch my own consulting firm. I have a system now with which I honestly believe I can organize a client's time within one month's time. Since I've just started this firm and will admittedly be tweaking things as I go, I'm not going to be seeking payment for the consulting until the very end of the program, at which point I'm going to have the clients pay what they feel the program was worth.
Question: How do I get started advertising something like this? I'm painfully unaware of how this process works. If I were advertising something like a perfume, I would use all of the traditional advertising channels, but what do you do when you offer a service like time management consulting?
Network for all you're worth. Do you blog? Write about it. Business cards - hand them out like candy. Who are you potential clients? What do they read/watch/listen to? Advertise there. Do you believe in your program? Then charge what you're worth, not what someone else thinks you're worth after the fact. If you don't believe in yourself and your program, why should prospective clients? Adopt, and project, the mindset that you're already in business - you are, aren't you? - not that you're just starting out. Present a finished product - you and your service - not a work in progress. You want clients who want the finished product, not ones who just want a taste. Best of luck in your newly completed business!
posted by TruncatedTiller at 7:27 AM on April 2, 2010
posted by TruncatedTiller at 7:27 AM on April 2, 2010
I'd never do business with someone who asked me to determine the value of their product or service after the fact. I can't stand that kind of ex post negotiation. Tell me what you're worth, why I should do business with you, and then I'll decide whether you're worth my while.
Honestly your payment scheme is presumptuous and off-putting.
posted by dfriedman at 7:31 AM on April 2, 2010
Honestly your payment scheme is presumptuous and off-putting.
posted by dfriedman at 7:31 AM on April 2, 2010
Since I've just started this firm and will admittedly be tweaking things as I go, I'm not going to be seeking payment for the consulting until the very end of the program, at which point I'm going to have the clients pay what they feel the program was worth.
That doesn't make much sense. Just charge less to start. You could also ask them to fill out a short survey, with one question being whether they felt it was worth the price. Then you can consider lowering or raising the price based on those answers.
posted by Jaltcoh at 7:42 AM on April 2, 2010
That doesn't make much sense. Just charge less to start. You could also ask them to fill out a short survey, with one question being whether they felt it was worth the price. Then you can consider lowering or raising the price based on those answers.
posted by Jaltcoh at 7:42 AM on April 2, 2010
Instead of going to the trouble of finding clients only to ask them what you're worth, could you recruit some friends and relatives to try your program first? This is what any of the small-scale personal service consultants I know have done. Work with your volunteers and fine-tune your program using the experience itself and your volunteers' feedback. Then you decide how much to charge or whether to change your existing prices. Ideally, your volunteers will do some spontaneous marketing for you (tell their friends, etc.), but you will also be able to go out confidently with a clear sense of what you offer and why someone should pay the $X you've decided your services are worth.
Having a professional-looking website with a blog would also help. I'm forever googling things like "how can I improve my [whatever] skills?" in hopes of finding blogs with relevant tips.
posted by Meg_Murry at 7:50 AM on April 2, 2010
Having a professional-looking website with a blog would also help. I'm forever googling things like "how can I improve my [whatever] skills?" in hopes of finding blogs with relevant tips.
posted by Meg_Murry at 7:50 AM on April 2, 2010
Find someone who offers similar professional services and see if you can piggyback or demonstrate what you do (do you have testimonials or a portfolio of work?) -- in a field like yours, this is gonna be key.
Your idea for how people will pay you is sort of a disaster in two ways:
1. It makes people uncomfortable because it's different and will feel like MORE WORK for them, emotionally speaking (they want to avoid ruining their relationship with you but maybe they also want a good deal).
2. People who will use a service like yours probably don't care about money the way you think they do.
3. Anything that makes people uncomfortable during a business process needs to be greased. Grease, for something like this, means telling them up front what your costs are.
4. Un-greased business processes practically scream "I'M INEXPERIENCED AT WHAT I DO."
Hope that helps...be sure to find a business consultant of your own at some point.
posted by circular at 10:02 AM on April 2, 2010
Your idea for how people will pay you is sort of a disaster in two ways:
1. It makes people uncomfortable because it's different and will feel like MORE WORK for them, emotionally speaking (they want to avoid ruining their relationship with you but maybe they also want a good deal).
2. People who will use a service like yours probably don't care about money the way you think they do.
3. Anything that makes people uncomfortable during a business process needs to be greased. Grease, for something like this, means telling them up front what your costs are.
4. Un-greased business processes practically scream "I'M INEXPERIENCED AT WHAT I DO."
Hope that helps...be sure to find a business consultant of your own at some point.
posted by circular at 10:02 AM on April 2, 2010
Do you have any experience or expertise in a certain field (e.g. law, finance, technology, marketing, etc., etc.)? If so, reach out to organizations in that field or attend their meetings...
posted by midatlanticwanderer at 10:07 AM on April 2, 2010
posted by midatlanticwanderer at 10:07 AM on April 2, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
I'm not going to be seeking payment for the consulting until the very end of the program, at which point I'm going to have the clients pay what they feel the program was worth.
Awkward and off-putting. If you can't value the service you provide, how are your clients supposed to be any more able to set a value for it? Start with a low price, ratchet up as your popularity grows. Early clients are taking a greater risk (they have no one to review you, you're still "tweaking things"), so they pay correspondingly less.
posted by orthogonality at 7:25 AM on April 2, 2010