Yet, times also appear ripe for the creation of a tsunami of new consultants and solopreneurs, all competing for lucrative client contracts. In a sea awash with apparent sameness, how will we – as established consultants – standout?

Creating demand for our services is our job as consultants. So, how prepared are we to leverage the Internet as a key marketing channel to establish our credibility and preeminence?

About Charles “Charley” Timmins
Charley assists consultants, professionals and executives to Find Great Work …assignments that are the “right fit” with the “right clientele”.

He understands the challenges of selling consulting services in today’s market and how traditional marketing techniques can fall short. He’s studied the personal marketing habits of successful consultants. He complements their conventional wisdom of the business development process with proven “out-of-the-box techniques” to realize more-effective outcomes. Charley’s “personal branding” methodology improves the ROI of “marketing in the now”.

An experienced coach and consultant with 35 years experience in a cross-section of businesses, his clients and business colleagues alike refer to Charley as the “go-to-guy” that “boomer consultants” seek out when their “Plan A” isn’t working.

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Many seasoned business consultants make the comment: “My firm is on the Internet. We have a website. We spent a lot for it. It gives great detail about what we do.” Such a website may provide a digital presence, but it is hardly the well-conceived digital identity needed to position a business consultant as the “go-to” practice in their niche.

What makes us different is what makes our expertise sought after. So, what’s your brand? How can you begin to even think you can compete with those who promote a solid brand message? That’s where you need to know how to build the appropriate brand identity on blogs, social networking sites and websites. It is the branded content of the site that is important to a consultant, not its technology.

Your digital reputation is the only accepted currency on the web. You must leverage “who you are” to affect how you earn. Today, you are not considered for any engagement without the decision makers “Googling” you. It’s their job to find out as much about you as possible. Your references are “your references”…they are biased! Do you know what the Internet says about you, the consultant?

A branded on-line identity process will drive opportunities to you. For this to happen in this new environment, you first must identify your personal brand – your unique promise of value. Then, translate that distinctiveness into the digital realm. Your resulting credibility and visibility will create demand for your services.

Charles “Charley” Timmins, an experienced coach and consultant with 35 years experience in assisting consultants, professionals and executives to Find Great Work, will be speaking on Developing Your “Brand You” Digital Identity at the January 12, 2009, meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Consultants Network.