Use ChatGPT to Boost Your Productivity as a Consultant

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Use ChatGPT to Boost Your Productivity as a Consultant

Of course you’ve heard of ChatGPT but are you using it to work smarter and more efficiently yet? If not, you should be! Recently the Professional Independent Consultants of America (PICA) hosted a members-only roundtable discussion to help people jumpstart their use of this powerful tool. Special thanks to Alexis Hultine of Digital by Design, and Dave Seaton of SeatonCX for leading the session and sharing their insights. This article was written by ChatGPT using the transcript of the roundtable.

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Figuring Out Your Billing Rate as an Independent Consultant

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Figuring Out Your Billing Rate as an Independent Consultant

Too many solopreneurs undercharge for their expertise. They don’t know to add a hefty margin to cover things like self-employment tax, business expenses, health insurance, and nonbillable time spent on business administration. Or they haven’t raised their rates consistently over time, or they haven’t switched to a fixed fee. This article explains how to determine your “base rate”, and the external factors that will impact your pricing. …

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How to Generate Referrals Without Asking

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How to Generate Referrals Without Asking

Last month, we took our first look at insights from Stacey Brown Randall’s webinar, “How to Generate Referrals Without Asking.” We discovered her penetrating critiques of referral-generating “best practices,” and we learned about the science of referrals. Ultimately, we discovered that the common wisdom isn’t so wise, and that the best referral-generating strategies are the ones that empower referrers to serve their own social networks, boost their own senses of self, and close the loop on generous reciprocation. This month, we’re pivoting out of philosophy and into practice.

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How to Generate Referrals Without Asking

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How to Generate Referrals Without Asking

A few months ago the PICA community gathered for a webinar with Stacey Brown Randall, a leading light in business referrals strategy. She spoke about one of the biggest problems in solopreneurship: the feast-famine cycle.

How do we put a stop to that cycle? How do we bring more clients into the fold? How do we systematize the business development process? And how do we do it all without spending money and effort on digital advertising and direct marketing?

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4 Tips for Putting Your Best Self Forward

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4 Tips for Putting Your Best Self Forward

You have less than a second to make a good impression! If you want new clients as a solopreneur, you must make a good first impression. Clients hire experts who are accomplished and trustworthy, so obviously you need to convey those qualities immediately, but not just when you meet someone. You need to project confidence and professionalism well before your first conversation, like on your LinkedIn profile. Specifically, your headshot. Here are four tips to make sure you’re not inadvertently turning prospects away.

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What Clients Look for When Hiring a Solopreneur

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What Clients Look for When Hiring a Solopreneur

After decades of working with some of the worlds’ best consultants, coaches, and solopreneurs, I’ve assembled a list of qualities that contribute to their success. You don’t need to check all these boxes, but if any strike a chord with you, weave them into your marketing, such as your website, LinkedIn profile, presentations, and proposals.

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Get More Business as a Consultant by Adding a Logo to Your LinkedIn Profile

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Get More Business as a Consultant by Adding a Logo to Your LinkedIn Profile

As a solopreneur, good marketing is critical. A well-polished image can attract clients by conveying competence and professionalism. It can differentiate you from competitors, and it demonstrates that you take your business seriously. A professional image enables prospective clients to see you as credible from the very first impression. You know this, but you may still have the lame blue-gray square on our personal LinkedIn profile…

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Self-Employed? Think APV: Always Provide Value

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Self-Employed? Think APV: Always Provide Value

As a solopreneur responsible for finding your own work, you may be tempted to adopt the ABC sales mantra, “Always Be Closing,” as described so powerfully by Alec Baldwin in the movie Glengarry Glen Ross. But when you’re self-employed, ABC might be the kiss of death to your business because nobody likes being sold.  As coaches, independent consultants, and financial planners, we’re problem-solvers, not salespeople. We want to be remembered and trusted, so put the client first.

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Use a Professional Email Account to Boost Perceptions, Pay, and Profit

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Use a Professional Email Account to Boost Perceptions, Pay, and Profit

Conveying a professional image is critical to maximizing pay and profit when you’re self-employed. One of the easiest and most affordable ways to be perceived as a professional is to use a business email address.

If you’re using an email that ends with @gmail, @hotmail, or @outlook, or a “fake business email” like JohnDoeConsulting@gmail.com, you’re shooting yourself in the foot. Instead, present yourself as a professional by using an email with the name of your business as the domain. For example, John@PremierConsulting.com or…

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Consultant, Contractor, Freelancer - Labels Matter!

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Consultant, Contractor, Freelancer - Labels Matter!

If you were a hotel chain, would you be a Motel 6, Courtyard by Marriott, or a Ritz-Carlton?

If you refer to yourself as a freelancer or consultant, what does that imply?

The terms you use to describe yourself will impact how potential clients perceive you, how they pay you, and even how much they're willing to pay.

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Build Credibility as a Consultant with Success Stories

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Build Credibility as a Consultant with Success Stories

Hiring a consultant can be a difficult decision for a client, especially when they’re going to be spending tens of thousands of dollars. They need to be sure that the person they’re hiring is competent, credible, trustworthy, and most importantly, effective.

Use short stories or mini case studies to build your credibility before you’ve even had a conversation with a prospective client.

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Be a Pro: Eliminate the Gray Square on Your LinkedIn Profile!

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Be a Pro: Eliminate the Gray Square on Your LinkedIn Profile!

As independent consultants running our own businesses, good marketing is critical. No one is going to hire an unpolished freelancer to help solve their business problem, especially if they’re going to spend tens of thousands of dollars. Clearly, a professional image is vital. A prospective client must see you as credible from the very first impression. We know this, yet most of us are cursed with the dreaded grey square on our LinkedIn profiles – the one that appears next to your current job listing.

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Is Your Email Signature Helping You Stand Out from the Crowd?

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Is Your Email Signature Helping You Stand Out from the Crowd?

As an independent consultant, it’s vital that you convey professionalism at every step if you want to get hired at a great rate. Details matter, particularly when you’re making an initial impression. That’s why having a professional email address is a must, as is an eye-catching, effective email signature.

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Negotiation Tips for Independent Consultants

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Negotiation Tips for Independent Consultants

Negotiating is typically hard for everyone, but it’s especially tough for consultants. It’s our nature to make the client happy, so negotiating for a higher rate feels awkward. But when you’re self-employed, even the smallest increase in your rate can translate to big bucks, particularly if the rate is for a long project, or if you’re working with an ongoing client.

I recently discovered a series of practical tips on Instagram, of all places, by following Johanna Voss, owner of a boutique talent agency for female influencers and keynote speakers. With her permission, here are her three essential negotiation tips that every consultant should know.

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Is It Time to Consider a Fixed Fee for Your Consulting Services?

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Is It Time to Consider a Fixed Fee for Your Consulting Services?

Generally, the more experience you have as an independent consultant, the more likely you should move from billing by the hour to a fixed fee. At some point you’ll master your specialty and work much more efficiently than others. This means to earn what your services are truly worth, you’ll have to keep raising your hourly rates. But at some point, you’ll reach an invisible rate ceiling when clients think you’re too expensive, even if it takes you half the time to do the work.

When you reach this point, it’s time to start thinking about billing for your services by the project instead of by the hour or day. The idea is to price the project as if you’re going to do it from scratch, even though you know you’re going to adapt plans and materials from prior projects. By doing so, you’ll boost your income per hour.

Here’s an example…

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Website or No Website? Answers and Help for Independent Consultants

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Website or No Website? Answers and Help for Independent Consultants

As a self-employed consultant do you really need a website?

I’m asked this a lot, particularly if a consultant gets most business from referrals or they contract through agencies or boutique firms. Besides, it’s highly unlikely that a prospective client is going to stumble upon your website and decide to hire you. Surely creating a website is a waste of time and money, right?

I used to say that if you had a really strong LinkedIn profile and you keep your network warm, you probably didn’t need a website. Indeed, I know dozens of independent consultants making six-figure incomes without one.

Now, however, my answer is, yes, absolutely, you need to have a business website. Here’s why:

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Tap Into Consulting's Secret Club to Grow Your Business

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Tap Into Consulting's Secret Club to Grow Your Business

Last August I wrote a blog post about how labels matter, specifically that you should make more money by calling yourself a consultant instead of a contractor. But it’s not just about labels and language. It’s not enough to simply replace contractor with consultant on your résumé and LinkedIn profile.

I’ve been studying the LinkedIn profiles of various contractors and consultants I know and reflecting on how they usually get their work. What differentiates the well-paid rock stars of consulting from the plug-n-play contractors? Several variables affect the person’s brand. They include prior work experience (internal with a company vs an external consultant with a firm), their consulting niche, and how they market themselves, but the real difference is how they find and frame their work. 

Contractors find work through agencies or staffing firms while consultants are more likely to find work on their own, usually as a result of their professional network.

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