DYIC: Discover Your Inner Consultant – Part 2

{A new blog series from The Gordon Group}

"YOUR MARKETING PLAN"

Step 2 of the DYIC approach is to create your 3-part marketing plan:

• A professional looking but simple website – one that will give prospective clients an excellent first-impression of who you are and what you can do for them – and a custom domain name (web address) that will drive traffic to your site

• A brochure to match your website

• A business card whose design also matches your website

With these three designed to go together, you’ll have marketing collateral that looks consistent and professional.

The hardest part is the website. You will want to arrange it to be clear, easy to navigate, and have enough information about your expertise but not “too much”.

***EXPERT TIP: One of the first skills you will need to master

as a freelance consultant is the best way to give the potential

client enough details about your proposed solution to win their

trust and their business, but not so much that they can take the

solution details and solve it themselves! ***

Here is a good website that shows you the Top 11 Best Websites for Independent Consultants in 2024. These examples will give you plenty of website design ideas of what others are doing to gain success. There a number of free website builders that provide you a simple do-it-yourself website-builder tool.

The simplest way to build your content (message to the market) is to create a brochure (1 sheet of paper, 2-sided) for your new consulting practice. It will force you to say what you do in the most succinct way possible, due to the limited space it gives you. (Make sure that your text’s font size is no smaller than 11 and no bigger than 12, in my professional opinion.)

Once you have the core message spelled out in the brochure this is the same verbiage that will make up the core of your website’s message. Do not change the wording between the two places! It is essential that you say your message in a consistent way on the website, in the brochure, in your correspondence with the prospective client, and in your PowerPoint slide deck (see DYIC Part 3 for that topic).

Business cards don’t have to be fancy. You can purchase good-quality business card paper at your favorite office supply store and print them yourself. Be sure to keep clear and simple, yet as professional-looking as possible. Make sure to include your new web address on it.

In closing, remember that you can access the coaching services of TGG on a fractional basis as needed. Check back soon for our next installment in the DYIC series.