How Mid-Atlantic Consultants Network Helped Me as an Independent Consultant
submitted by: James Chan, <a href=”http://www.asiamarketingmanagement.com/”>Asia Marketing Management</a>
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Succeeding as an independent consultant requires expertise and gumption. The Mid-Atlantic Consultants Network (MACN) has made my consulting career financially and professionally rewarding in four ways.
What has happened to me can happen to you too if you care to invest your time to make the group work for you.
1. I get new clients through MACN
I have gotten new clients through my association with the group. Fellow consultants who know me put me in touch with their clients from whom I’ve gotten good, billable work. When I first joined the group in 1993, I didn’t expect to get any business from the group. I joined because I felt lonely and lonesome running a one-person consultancy. I wanted to know how other people like me wrestle with similar issues and problems.
I not only get work through fellow consultants. Some of them use me as a referee before they hire other members of the group. I once recommended a consultant of the group to my best client. She did such a great job for my client that she added value to my service.
2. I gain insights and skills by observing fellow consultants
Over the years, I’ve learned how to run my business more effectively by listening to others in the group who share their experiences. There is no use to bore our spouses or life companions to death every night harping on the same issues. It is no use to talk to our friends who are Fortune 500 company employees about our challenges because they really don’t have a clue about what we do.
It is better to discuss our mutual challenges and opportunities honestly because we are practicing the same craft and we are in the same boat. What seems to be a daunting problem may turn out to be a routine hurdle that others have learned to overcome.
I’ve gained professional maturity over the past 15 years by being an active member of the group. If you are among experts all the time, sooner or later you’ll become an expert yourself. Your hair color may change. But it’s worth it.
3. MACN supplied content to my book and the book brings me new clients.
In 1999, I had the fortune of getting an advance to write a “how-to-be” book (as opposed to a “how-to” book) on running a business on one’s own. The book involved interviewing people who have run a successful independent business. Members of the group including Mike McGrail, Bill Frysinger, Steve Sherretta, Gary Samartino, and Rick Schilling gave me their life stories in my book, Spare Room Tycoon: Succeeding Independently, the 70 Lessons of Sane Self-Employment.
Even though Spare Room Tycoon has nothing to do about doing business in China (which is my specialty), it has nevertheless opened new doors and opportunities in ways I can’t foresee. A sponsor of the group at that time, Doug Tharp, put me in touch with Alan Kaplan of the Entrepreneurs Forum of Greater Philadelphia, who later led to my getting a good client.
If you have an opportunity to write a book, do it even though the book itself may not bring your riches. A book allows people to know you; and people do business with people they know.
4. The Consultants Network makes me feel that I’m not isolated
Being part of a network of consultants in a wide range of industries and professions makes me feel that I can tap into the expertise and camaraderie of a group. I once picked up the phone and called three fellow consultants to get their opinions on pricing for a new client. Within minutes, I assembled my own “pricing committee.” They gave me their honest opinions which helped me make up my own decision. I got the client. You can do this too.
