Mentor, Consultant, Or Virtual CEO?

There is a very big difference between a mentor and a consultant. And if you really don’t understand let me enlighten you on a few of the realities of both. A mentor is someone who has been the where you want to be, years the prior, and they now have the experience and wisdom to share with you to help you get through the same pitfalls along the way. If you have someone that you look up to as a mentor, but they’ve never actually done it themselves, then that person is more of a coach than a mentor.

When it comes to consulting, most consultants that have larger firms as clients are really there for the executive management team to cover their butts. That is to say, a consultant comes in and blesses their decision and they have someone to blame if things don’t work out. Interestingly enough, large corporations and executive management teams are willing to pay a lot of money to consultants that will prove them right.

When it comes to smaller businesses and closely held companies, consultants are often looked at in a different light. The entrepreneur, business owner, or small management team of a closely held company is interested in results, but their particular group perhaps does not have the experience in one or two areas that they need to, in order to move forward. They don’t wish to bring another person onto their management team for something that might be temporary, therefore they will hire a consultant.

You can see how mentors, coaches, and consultants are completely different from one another. And then there is the Virtual CEO. This is usually a retired CEO, that doesn’t want to get involved in all the shenanigans of running a company, or have all the stress, but they like being in the game so to speak. They’ve been there and done that, and they didn’t particularly like all the bureaucracy and headaches, but they do like running things, and they know exactly what to do.

Where did the title of Virtual CEO come from? Well, this is Randy Komisar’s title; he is Virtual CEO and has a business card to prove it. He is an invisible CEO who helps out the president and CEO of a large tech company. He is in the background, not in the limelight and helps make the decisions that the current CEO is either uncomfortable with making, or has never made before, and therefore needs a little assistance. Interesting concept isn’t it?

How to Hire an SEO Consultant

If your web site is a major source or revenue, or could be, then you should have a formal search engine optimization program that monitors and improves rankings on a daily basis. Now you might be thinking that you don’t have the resources necessary to implement a productive SEO program, but the costs of not doing so are significant.

Starting an SEO program for your business is easier than you think. There are numerous SEO consultants and experts that can show you how to radically improve your rankings for much less than you might think. In fact, many search engine optimization consultants can save you significant dollars if managed properly.

Getting the most from your SEO consultant requires a number of considerations. I have found that the most productive engagements around optimization and SEO all have these same factors in common. By adhering to these principals, mutual expectations are set and each party has a clear understanding of what is being delivered by whom

The first step is finding a credible source. There are many people out there who claim to be search engine optimization experts but have nothing to show for it. Find a legitimate company, ask for references, or find someone who has a proven track record and is an authority on the topic. A good bet is to find someone who has achieved number one rankings for their website or the web sites of their clients.

The second step is to mutually agree upon what’s being delivered. Most clients feel that by paying a search engine optimization consultant a sum of money that their site is going to instantly rank number one on Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. I can tell you first hand that’s not the case. The purpose of an SEO consultant is to help you construct an effective strategy for the long term optimization of your web site.

The third and final step is to assemble a team to work with the consultant and implement his findings. Seventy percent or so of the companies I’ve worked with were very interested in learning how to optimize their websites but couldn’t or weren’t willing to follow through on what it takes to succeed. Commit time and resources dedicated to implementing the consultant’s finding and you will see the true value of your investment.

Whether you’re launching new website or trying to improve the rankings of an existing site, it’s important that you find a reliable resource that can help you succeed. Define what success looks like for both you and the consultant you will be working with. By doing so, you’re creating a mutual understanding of the work that’s being done and clearly understand what it means to your business.

How to Select Affordable and Expert SEO Consultants

There are several SEO Consulting Services available around you. Choosing a reliable consultant from among them is a Herculean task. There are many hurdles involved. Let us here discuss the issues associated with the selection of expert SEO consultants, especially when thinking of outsourcing the SEO services to companies in India.

SEO services in India are affordable to all businesses. However, the quality of these services may vary from one provider to the other. There are several parameters that determine the quality of these services. They are: location of the consultant, reputation, experience, and the specialist knowledge in the service.

India is 2nd largest in terms of population, and about three fourth of this population resides away from cities. To cater this population, several companies are operating from the Tier I and Tier II cities. This should not be the ideal case, especially when they offer services to clients in Western countries. There are several issues starting from lack of infrastructure and communications facilities to the lack of professional employees. Instead, if the company is located in central locations such as New Delhi, they can exploit the maximum benefits of the technological and cultural development in the country, so they can offer better services to their clients.

Different Web sites operate in different ways, so their Internet marketing strategies may also differ. A professional SEO Consulting firm should be able to identify the tailor made service for a client. Then they should be able to provide the experts in that area. For example, if a company is offering ecommerce services and want to market the site to all international customers, the Seo consultants should be able to identify various aspects on this type of service. An important parameter that decides the quality of an SEO Consulting firm is the R&D facility. An ideal SEO consultant will have a research team that conducts market research on a regular basis. This team will help the customer identify appropriate marketing strategies and sort out the loopholes in the marketing campaigns.

In addition to the above, the SEO consultants India should also offer related services such as Web site development, hosting and paid marketing activities.

Choosing a Search Engine Consultant – The Benefits of Outsourcing Your Web Marketing

Search engine optimization is one of the major keys to success with an online business, or with the online presence of a brick and mortar business. The majority of people start their search for information and for products by turning to their favorite search engine. Therefore, it is crucial to your online success to be found within those results – as close to the top as possible. The question remains however, does it make more sense to bring an SEO expert onto your staff, or to outsource your needs with a search engine optimization consultant?

Search engine optimization consulting involves analyzing a web site and modifying it or suggesting improvements so that is best identified by the major search engines. These search engines will catalog the site and match it with appropriate keyword phrases, creating a ranking index for every search term utilized by Internet users.

Whether you bring somebody onto your team or hire someone outside of your company, it’s important to realize that if you try to tackle these tasks by yourself you could end up in a world of trouble. For example, SEO for the inexperienced is very time consuming. Additionally, staying on top of the latest best practices takes more than studying up from a guide, you need a wealth of real, hands on experience to truly be effective. Finally, when running a promotional campaign such as a pay-per-click or PPC campaign, costs can quickly spiral out of control without professional oversight.

One of the first factors to focus on when choosing a search engine optimization specialist – whether in-house or outsourced – is the return you’re going to get on your investment. ROI has to be one of the key factors in any business decision, and your search engine strategy is no different. Since search engine traffic is free and it ideally directs potential customers who are actively looking for your products or services, acquiring prospects through SEO is one of the most cost effective and efficient ways currently available in the crowded, worldwide marketplace.

For a small or medium sized business, in the majority of instances, bringing in a consultant to handle your needs is going to be the better option. You can setup a monthly retainer or fee, a set amount of hours or particular projects or guidelines so you can keep costs directly in control, and ensure you only pay for what you need and in turn, receive. Hiring a consultant is a flexible way of achieving your SEO goals without bringing on a large, fixed cost regardless of your changing needs. An SEO consultant can also work well with your existing marketing team and any web designers or service providers you may have already hired.

However, for some large businesses bringing on an SEO person or team can certainly make sense. If you have tons of content on your website or websites, want to dive into the world of social networking with a big splash on all of the major communities, are running multiple PPC campaigns and so on, there will be too much work for a single consultant to easily handle. In this case, it will be cheaper and more efficient to have a dedicated staff taking care of your SEO management and online marketing needs.

Before you make a decision on bringing on a full time employee or hiring an SEO consultant, consider your various needs and objectives. The majority of companies can satisfy their desires with a consultant that handles monthly or quarterly projects, but a few large companies may need a dedicated team in house. Be sure to make the right choice, and you’ll reap the rewards of one of the most effective and ROI-efficient forms of customer acquisition ever created.

How Anyone Can Start a Consulting Business Today

Most professionals are experts in their field, but do not have the experience in starting their own consulting business. So, how can you learn how to start consulting business? Here’s how to get started right:

Step 1: Discover Your Niche

You are a professional and you have years of experience in a field. Before you begin to market yourself, you need to determine your focus. You must differentiate yourself from your competition. For example, there are many marketing experts out there. But only a few may have experience with a certain type of business or industry. For example, the difference between a ‘marketing expert’ and an ‘online retail marketing expert’ is big. This focus will allow you to narrow down your prospected customers while increasing your rate because you are specialized.

Step 2: Educate to Find Sales

The majority of your time that is not spent consulting business should be spent finding clients. If you are still employed, check to see if you have a non-compete agreement that may prevent you from working with certain clients. If you left your former company on good terms, they may be your first client. Either way you need to build up a base of work from solid clients. The first place to look is through your close contacts. Start hitting the Rolodex and notify your colleges of your new gig. Let them know you are looking for clients to “contribute your knowledge to help them succeed”.

When touching base with contacts in your industry include educational information (e.g. the latest industry trend and its direct affect on increasing revenues). Start a blog or newsletter that includes helpful information for the readers. This will show them you are up to date with the industry and an expert in your field. Next time they have a question or new project, they may ask you for recommendations and guidance.

Step 3: Build Your Sales Pipeline

Whether your Rolodex delivers clients or not, you need to also develop other streams of customers. Introduce yourself to staffing companies in your area. Many times these companies have contract openings, at least a few months long, which can secure income for you. Other ways to find clients is through online consulting websites such as Guru.com, oDesk.com and Elance.com. A strategy sometimes overlooked is partnering with other consultants and companies. For example, an ‘online retail marketing expert’ may want to partner with local website development companies. These companies could recommend this consultant (for a small commission of course) to their customers after they build a website for them. In return, this consultant may return the favor when a client asks who to use for their next website.

What Can a Colour Consultant Do For You?

You have come across the term colour consultant but what do they actually do? A colour consultant is a person that is trained in colour analysis. They help people by showing then the benefits in using colours correctly. They can show you how and why there are colours that can detract from your looks making you pasty and ill while other colours can give you a healthy, youthful look.

A colour consultant is regarded as part of the helping profession. When changes occur in a woman life such as a divorce, loss of a loved one or illness a colour consultant is there to empower the client, making them feel confident in themselves, making them look good and feel wonderful

Throughout your Colour Consultation you will find out:

· What your basic undertone such as (Cool or Warm)

· What season you fall into (Winter or Summer/ Spring or Autumn)

· Your Flow (Deep, Light, Cool, Warm, Clear or Soft)

· The required level of contrast in your clothes and hair colour

· The fabrics that best suit you

· What fabrics are best suited to your body shape

· Which patterns are best suited to you

· Instruct you how to use your colour swatch

The colour consultation will take around 90 minutes. By the end of the consultation you will have witnessed the effects that the correct colours have on your complexion as well as have an understanding of why they work for you. A swatch of 50 plus colours will be given to you. You are only limited by your imagination on how you should wear these colours. When you select clothes that are worn close to the face your “right colours” they will have an absolutely positive impact on your face. So have faith in the swatch an use it religiously when shopping. This also includes the purchases of accessories, i.e earrings, necklaces and scarves, and make-up.

To have a beautiful swatch of colours is one thing but now are able to apply the things that you have learnt and apply it to the clothes in your wardrobe and to all the clothing and make-up purchases you will make in the future. Saving you hundred of dollars.

Developing a wardrobe which is colour correct and coordinated takes time

If your wardrobe is filled of the incorrect colours, make every new purchase a right one and before long the wardrobe will come together with clothes that look great on you and that you love.

With the help of a colour consultant you will discover your true colours and will shop smart and efficiently with a mistake ratio of zero. You will ultimately have a wardrobe full of favorites and 100% effective instead of wearing 20% of your wardrobe 80% of the time.

Selling E-Consulting Services

I am an Excel consultant. I produce spreadsheets for companies all over the world and, at the start of this century, my job didn’t exist. I work remotely and few of my clients ever meet me in person.

The fact I don’t have to travel means I have very few overheads. The fact I incur few overheads means businesses can pay me directly for the work I do, and no one else is taking any sort of cut. However, there is one major shortcoming. Why would you ask me to build a spreadsheet when you don’t really know anything about me?

My experience of Excel consulting has taught me a few lessons. Firstly, you need a website. This is essential for generating sales although, theoretically, you could just cold call every company in the phone directory. It also lets a client know that you take your line of work seriously. If a client is going to spend $1,000 on a spreadsheet, they want the security of knowing you will provide ongoing support. Remember, they know nothing about your career, so need the confidence that you will still be around in a year’s time.

E-consulting is all about confidence. You need the confidence that a client is going to pay for the help you give them. They need the confidence that you will complete the work to the required standard. So when should the client pay?

Everyone has their own answer to this question. Ultimately, someone has to perform the work, or pay the money in good faith. My answer is that the smaller company should always be the one to act in good faith. When developing a spreadsheet for a medium sized business, I would get them to agree terms at outset but I wouldn’t ask for payment until I’d completed the project. It is good practice to ensure you have some company details so you can pursue them through the courts should they fail to pay. When developing a spreadsheet for an individual, I would request payment up front. Individuals expect to pay companies a deposit for services so this is not an issue.

I have never had an issue with non-payment, although the nature of my work may provide some explanation for this. As an Excel consultant, businesses pay me to make their processes more efficient. If a business is about to go under, it does not want to front-load costs. Secondly, very few projects last more than a month from start to finish. Therefore, a healthy company is unlikely to become bankrupt in that time period. If performing larger projects, I would recommend operating on a consultative basis and billing incrementally.

The final advice is to understand the business case for contracting your services. If you wouldn’t employ yourself, chances are that no-one else will. So with Microsoft Excel, a lot of people waste time doing tasks manually that could be easily be automated using Visual Basic. If an employee spends a day a month preparing a report, you could potentially save the company e.g. $4,000/yr (once all overheads are considered), if you can automate the entire process.

So if I charged $1,500 to solve the problem, I would be saving the company money. Well, maybe. But what if I was wasting half the time automating a very small part of the process which only takes 10 minutes to do manually? Should I explain to the client that I can do the job for $750 but that they will still need to make a few changes at their end?

The answer has always got to be “yes”. It demonstrates that you understand the nature of their problem, and that you can be trusted. There’s no point trying to squeeze a customer because any experienced consultant will tell you that the bulk of their work comes from existing clients. If the client trusts you to explain what is and isn’t worth doing, they will come back to you more often.

Computer Consulting Keeps Business Moving

People often talk about the speed of doing business, or the speed of business, but what does that really mean? For many companies the speed at which they attract customers and perform their duties comes down to how well they integrate their ideas and offerings with the technology that delivers their final product to the client. Based on the speed at which their network can access the servers and process the information to service a client, some businesses are counting on their IT company to help them to be as successful as possible. Hiring someone to perform computer consulting in Calgary businesses that are dependent upon their speed to deliver results are able to keep pace with the highly competitive world around them.

Giving clients the greatest attention and personal care that they can many Calgary businesses are counting on their consulting firm to keep them moving forward with the latest advancements in hardware and software. Offering communications products as well as IT service to their Calgary clients the computer consulting staff is seeing to it that each piece of equipment is up to date and that the performance of every office machine is operating at an optimal level.

For companies that need a full time IT department, but have not yet grown into the need to hire a group of professionals to network their computers and phone systems together, there is computer consulting for Calgary businesses that want to stay at the forefront of their industry. With everything riding on the support that is provided through computer consulting, Calgary business owners are proving that the speed of business is dependent upon their systems working as efficiently as possible.

Will Medical Device Consulting Help Your Compliance Record?

The manufacture of medical devices is something that is rife with potential pitfalls and this is why it may well be a good idea to consider the use of consulting firms. By having this level of expertise on hand when required, any issues of compliance should be able to be smoothed over with a minimal level of fuss.

Medical device consulting companies will have the sorts of experts on their books who will be well versed in what it takes to get a new medical device to the marketplace in the most efficient, time effective and streamlined manner. Pharmaceutical consultants tend to have a good number of contacts within the industry and this can be hugely advantageous when it comes to medical device consulting because they may be able to offer advice on when changing to compliance guidelines are about to come into effect for example.

An Invaluable Resource

The need to ensure that devices are manufactured to the highest possible standards on a consistent basis is clear to see but it isn’t always easier for manufacturers to balance the actual manufacturing of their medical devices and to stay on top of the latest round of compliance guidelines from the governing watchdogs.
These guidelines, such as FDA compliance regulations, tend to be highly susceptible to change and device consulting firms will have an ear to the ground to make sure manufacturers aren’t taken by surprise by any changes which transpire. The main reason that the compliance guidelines are extremely prone to change when it comes to device manufacture is due to the fact that new technologies are being produced all the time and these need to be assessed for safety and the compliance guidelines and requirements often need to be changed to reflect this.

In order to make the most of medical device consulting firms, it is certainly a good idea to bring them in on the ground floor of your manufacturing procedures because this will help to guarantee they are knowledgeable in all elements of the products you are producing and can give pertinent advice to help you overcome and compliance issues that you may face.

A Small Business Marketing Consultant And Your Business

There are many responsibilities and chores that come with owning and running a small business. When purchasing a business you go into it with high hopes and dreams of financial success. You want to become a successful business person as quickly as possible while remaining professional. It is important to have many clever ideas at your disposal. You will want to be able to grab the attention of your potential customers to help your business to thrive. A small business consultant can help you to accomplish this. This is an individual trained to do this so that you can take care of other areas of the business that need attention. This is good for both you and your company.

In our troubled economy it is important to hire a highly trained professional that can help your business stand out from the competition to help it succeed. A small business marketing consultant can help you to save a great deal of money by using techniques that have been proven to work. They can help you to increase your customer base as well as the demand for your product. This in turn will increase the money coming in from your business.

Many business owners have great ideas but do not know how to implement them in the best way. A business can take up a great deal of your time and coming up with ways to increase the quantity of you customers and the need for your product may be very difficult. You may wonder why other businesses are thriving while yours seems to be at a stand still. There are many means of advertising that seem like a great way to get noticed including internet marketing, emails and television and radio advertisements. Choosing the right method can be difficult but is very important as most companies do not have the financial capability to do all of them. It is extremely useful to have people working to help your business succeed. Your company will continue to excel as long as you put everything you have into it.

Trying to move your business forward on your own is not a good idea. The time and energy required is too much for one individual. Businesses that are very successful take advice from professionals. Small business marketing consultants are very educated in how a business works and can help you to make yours successful. There are new programs and different strategies that can be used but unless you are trained for using them they can be very intimidating. With the technology available to us we are able to become internationally recognized. This is why it is helpful to have a consultant in your corner.

With the immense amount of competition that is out there it is important to have a few tricks up your sleeve. Careful planning and creation and implementation of strategies with a trained individual can give your business the boost that it needs to get ahead. Find a consultant in your area to help your business move forward.