4 Things Consultants Should Do: Consult, Market, Give and Learn

by Jennifer Beever

James O. Rodgers, founder of The Diversity Coach™, spoke to consultants at Confab 2009 in Reno, Nevada, today. His presentation, titled “Escape from the Solo Consultant’s Dungeon,” focused on what consultants should do to be successful in their consulting practices. Jim is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) who has been consulting for over twenty years.

Jim’s reference to the “Solo Consultant’s Dungeon” refers not only to the physical isolation of independent consultants who work alone, but also the emotional isolation that can lead to procrastination and avoidance of administrative and other support functions that consultants need to do. According to Jim, consultants should spend time on four main work efforts:

1. Consulting. Be the best you can at delivering your consulting services. This is your number one focus.
2. Marketing. When you are not consulting, you should be marketing. Jim doesn’t believe in hiring marketing service providers because they are expensive. He is an advocate of hiring business coaches who help the solo consultant stay on track and stay accountable.
3. Giving. Consultants can give in many ways, including:
   • Serve on a non-profit board
   • Mentor new consultants
   • Give consulting away to loyal clients (especially in tough times)
   • Create a product and give it away
4. Learning, including participating in webinars, seminars, association meetings; reading books, whitepapers, blogs; getting certified, etc.

Jim ended his talk with a caution to consultants to avoid the tendency in the dungeon to ignore the things we know we should do. Great session!

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