What You Need to Know to Become a Successful Independent Consultant

Catherine MorganBusiness Consultant | Career Transition Expert

Point A to Point B Transitions Inc.

Emily StringerConsultant Services Advisor

MBO Partners

Moderator

About MBO

Webinar Controls

Live Tweeting

Hashtag: #MBOWeb

@MBOPartners

The webinar is interactive, too – don’t forget to answer our Polls during the webinar and remember to ask questions both during and after the presentation!

About Catherine Morgan

Know yourself

• Do you have the personality traits of a successful independent consultant?

Getting past fear

• Fear is what holds us back

• We are afraid of:

– The unknown

– Looking foolish

– Failing

Failing to plan

• Carol Roth says, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” And this is true but…

– You will fail. A lot.

– Embrace “lean startup” thinking (fail fast and adapt)

Planning is great but…

• However well you research and plan, things will turn out differently

– And you need to be OK with this

– If there was an easy way, we’d all be doing it

Stepping into your power

• Your skills are your skills

– The big brand trap

• Adopting the business owner mindset

Know yourself and how you work

• How do you work best?

– It may vary by project

Surviving the emotional rollercoaster

• Know that there will be emotional ups and downs

• Do something every day to move your business forward

• Concentrate on the thingsyou can control

How to be seen as a thought leader

• Prospects need to understand your expertise

• Everyone is a publisher

– Blogging

– LinkedIn Pulse

– Case studies

– Whitepapers

– SlideShare.net

– Speaking

Get over the scarcity mindset

• It’s a really big pie

• Ideas are worth nothing

– It’s all about the execution

“Relationships are the currency of the New Economy.”

~ Bonnie Karpay

Connect with others

• Connect with those providing complementaryservices / products

• Connect with those providing similar ones

Make it a point to collaborate

• It will keep you energized and positive

• You will:

– Learn a ton

– Make friends and get support

– Stay excited about your business

– Grow your business

Get support

• To see blind spots in strategy or execution

• To leverage the wisdom of the group

• To have accountability

My best advice

• Start small (proof of concept)

– Build on what worked, scrap what didn’t

My best advice

• Start small (proof of concept)

– Build on what worked, scrap what didn’t

• Step away from the laptop

– Talk to real prospects, not just friends and family

My best advice

• Start small (proof of concept)

– Build on what worked, scrap what didn’t

• Step away from the laptop

– Talk to real prospects, not just friends and family

• Create thought leadership

– Everyone is a publisher now

My best advice

• Start small (proof of concept)

– Build on what worked, scrap what didn’t

• Step away from the laptop

– Talk to real prospects, not just friends and family

• Create thought leadership

– Everyone is a publisher now

• Connect with other consultants

– Interact regularly with other entrepreneurs

Questions?

Catherine Morgan

Business Consultant | Career Transition Expert

Point A to Point B Transitions Inc.

877.672.5333

Catherine@PointAtoPointBTransitions.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/pointatopointb

Twitter @PointA_PointB

Thank You for Participating!

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