Million Dollar Consulting Toolkit: Step-by-Step Guidance, Checklists, Templates, and Samples from The Million Dollar Consultant
The practical toolbox for readers of Million Dollar Consulting\ This useful guide provides specific checklists, guidelines, templates, and actual examples for every step of the consulting process. It covers marketing, sales, meetings, implementation, follow-up, invoicing, practice management, insurance, equipment, subcontracting, and scores of other elements. Thousands of people have bought Weiss's Million Dollar Consulting and started their own consultancy. Now, this handy resource goes...
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The essential resource for beginning consultantsAlan Weiss is one of the most successful consultants in the world. Through his popular books on the subject—including Million Dollar ConsultingTM and Getting Started in Consulting—he has helped thousands of people start and run their own successful consulting businesses. Now, with Million Dollar ConsultingTM Toolkit, Weiss provides a one-of-a-kind resource that goes hand in hand with his own books—or any other guide to starting your own consultancy. This handy kit is packed with flexible, customizable tools for implementing all the recommendations and ideas you'll find in Weiss's other books. It offers a wide range of options, so you can pick what's right for you and succeed on your own terms. Inside, you'll find checklists, guidelines, forms, templates, examples, suggested reading material, and other helpful resources that cover virtually every aspect of your consultancy, including:Managing your office or home practiceMarketing and selling your servicesTraveling for businessManaging your own Web siteBalancing life and workDelivering projects on time and on budgetDealing with financial and legal considerationsFinding new leads and repeat businessAnd much more!The tools and tips in this book will save you time and money, and help you maximize your profits. Packed with expert advice from a successful consultant and unbeatable tools you won't find anywhere else, Million Dollar ConsultingTM Toolkit gives you everything you need to stop dreaming about your own practice and start practicing it.
Million Dollar Consulting Toolkit\ Step-by-Step Guidance, Checklists, Templates, and Samples from The Million Dollar Consultant \ \ By Alan Weiss \ John Wiley & Sons, Inc.\ Copyright © 2006 Alan Weiss, Ph.D.\ All right reserved. \ ISBN: 0-471-74027-6 \ \ \ \ Introduction\ During my 20-year career as a solo practitioner who works with major organizations, consulting firms, and other solo practitioners, I've been asked two questions far more than any others: How do I establish value-based fees, and how do I manage my time so that I build a seven-figure practice with no employees and plenty of leisure time? \ The first question I've answered in several books and scores of articles and interviews. But the second has never been comprehensively treated until this Toolkit.\ I've included herein, with my permission for you to appropriate and modify for your purposes (and a web site to visit to download whatever forms you need), checklists, forms, and templates that will save you an enormous amount of time (I estimate more than a month a year) and dramatically enhance your professionalism and productivity. You can read this like a book, or refer to it like a reference manual, or seek out methods to improve still further those areas in which you're already proficient.\ There is no particular sequence that's important; the sections are not in any particular order, but instead serve to organize elements within common boundaries. I've tried to provide maximum support with minimum interference. Most elements have a brief narrative explaining the "why," then a checklist, commentary, and one or more templates (where appropriate) to demonstrate the "what" and the "how." The "when," of course, is up to the reader's needs, interests, and, frankly, discipline.\ The commentary sections are my biases about what might make the best sense, and I have no financial connection to any of my recommendations (other than perhaps coincidentally owning stock in some of the companies). You needn't follow my specific recommendations, but I think I owe you my best experiences.\ My intent is that you use the checklists as appropriate for daily and short-term planning and quality assurance, and use the templates as needed for actual tactical implementation. For example, the templates for creating an article, a follow-up letter, or an invoice can save you hours of time every week.\ I stipulate here that you may have some better ideas than I in some of these areas, or can think of additional areas that need treatment (and I urge you to write to me or the publisher so that we may consider these possibilities for future editions), but I believe that there are a dozen or more techniques here that you can use immediately to improve your business and your life. Hence, the goal is neither all-inclusiveness nor perfection, but merely success. Select those forms and checklists that improve your approaches, and your success will increase immediately.\ Although this is a different type of book for me, that goal of success is a common theme through all of my work. People told me that I could never succeed as an independent consultant, much less make a million dollars and more working out of my home. I didn't believe them, because they had no evidence that I couldn't succeed, and I despise that kind of projected pessimism. They were wrong, but they would have been right if I hadn't chosen to go my own way.\ I'm here to tell you that you can succeed more than you ever anticipated-more than I have succeeded-if you simply apply those aspects of this book that for you, personally, represent immediate improvement. I'm happy to be on that journey with you, and wish you the same marvelous experiences I've enjoyed in this great profession.\ Alan Weiss, PhD East Greenwich, RI June, 2005\ (Continues...)\ \ \ \ \ Excerpted from Million Dollar Consulting Toolkit by Alan Weiss Copyright © 2006 by Alan Weiss, Ph.D.. Excerpted by permission.\ All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.\ Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site. \ \
Acknowledgments. Introduction. SECTION 1: Office and Practice Management. Equipment Checklist and Commentary. Client File Checklist and Commentary. Insurance Checklist and Commentary. Professional Assistance Checklist and Commentary. Time and Space Allocation Checklist and Commentary. SECTION 2: Sales and Marketing. Web Site Checklist and Commentary. E-Mail Checklist and Commentary. Press Kit Checklist and Commentary. Sample Biographical Sketch. Sample Character Reference. Proposal Checklist and Commentary. Proposal Template. Proposal Cancellation Clauses Templates. Simple Letter of Agreement Template. Cold Call Telephone Script Checklist and Commentary. Cold Call Telephone Script. Cold Call Letter Checklist and Commentary. Cold Call Letter. Meeting Preparation Checklist and Commentary. Networking Checklist and Commentary. Networking Follow-Up Note. Advertising and Listings Checklist and Commentary. Sample Advertisement. Fee Setting Checklist and Commentary. Closing the Sale Checklist and Commentary. SECTION 3: Self-Development. Reading Materials Checklist and Commentary. Associations Evaluation Checklist and Commentary. Rebutting Objections Checklist and Commentary. Learning from Setbacks Checklist and Commentary. SECTION 4: Travel. Clubs Checklist and Commentary. Transportation and Lodging Checklist and Commentary. Road Warrior Support Checklist and Commentary. SECTION 5: Project Delivery. Sponsor Checklist and Commentary. Interview Checklist and Commentary. Focus Group Checklist and Commentary. Template for Focus Group Rules. On-Site Observation Checklist and Commentary. Coaching Checklist and Commentary. Coaching Rules of Engagement Template. Debriefings Checklist and Commentary. Report Checklist and Commentary. Client Satisfaction Survey Template. SECTION 6: Forms. Invoices. Invoice Template. Expense Reimbursement. Expense Reimbursement Template. Overdue Payments. Overdue Payments Template. Writing an Article Checklist and Commentary. Template for an Article. Letter to Magazine Editor Template. Subcontracting. Subcontracting Contract Template. Follow-Up Letters. Follow-Up Template for New Prospects. Follow-Up Template for Failure to Make Contact. SECTION 7: Financial. Taxes Checklist and Commentary. Investment Checklist and Commentary. Retirement Checklist and Commentary. Credit Line Checklist and Commentary. Bookkeeping Checklist and Commentary. Payroll Checklist and Commentary. SECTION 8: Legal. Incorporation Checklist and Commentary. Trademark, Service Mark, Registration Checklist and Commentary. Copyright Checklist and Commentary. Contracts Checklist and Commentary. SECTION 9: Advanced Marketing. Publishing Articles and Columns Checklist and Commentary. Inquiry Letter Template. Template for an Article. Book Publishing Checklist and Commentary. Template for Book Preparation. Template for a Book Proposal. Letter to a Literary Agent Template. Interview Checklist and Commentary. Interview Response Template. Radio Interview Request Template. Professional Speaking Checklist and Commentary. Speech Development Template. Speech Evaluation Template. Promoting Public Speaking Template. Speakers Bureau Inquiry Letter Template. Letter to Trade Association Director Template. Letter to Visitors or Convention Bureau Template. Speaking Contract Template. Advance Speaking Requirements Template. Speaking Requirements Sheet Template. Speech Introduction Template. Newsletter Checklist and Commentary. Newsletter Format Template. Newsletter Subscription Offer Template. Forecasting Checklist and Commentary. Forecasting Template. Qualifying System Template. Referrals Checklist and Commentary. Referrals Request Template. Repeat Business Checklist and Commentary. Repeat Business Suggestion Template. Passive Income Checklist and Commentary. Teleconference Template. International Business Checklist and Commentary. Alliances Checklist and Commentary. Retainers. SECTION 10: Maximizing Success. Life Balance Checklist and Commentary. Reinvention Checklist and Commentary. Selling Your Firm Checklist and Commentary. APPENDIX. Example of Trademark Registration. Example of Web Site Home Page. Bibliography. General Business and Consulting. Cold Calls. Publishing Assistance. 101 Questions for Any Sales Situation You’ll Ever Face. Sample Position Paper or White Paper. Index. About the Author.
