In this issue…

• President’s Message
• At our last event…
• Board News
• Interesting Links & Articles

President’s Message

There’s nothing like a well-planned business (and this month, I can tell you that for me, my business has been nothing like a well-planned one! ). However, November and December are perfect times to stop and reflect on the past year and start looking forward to the next one—and so our November event with Grace Attard will focus on planning.

I spent a big chunk of time in December of last year thinking about 2012, and it’s definitely had some positive impacts on my business. I plan to do some of that again this year in preparation for 2013.

We’re at another new venue again this month—this month we’re at the Don Mills and Lawrence branch of the Toronto Public Library.

It’s also time for our Annual General Meeting (AGM), so please be there at 6:00 pm (party sandwiches will be available for snacking!). Come out and hear your Board report on the year that has passed and our plans for next year. Your input is valued and valueable. (And we have two Board positions open, and this is a perfect time to join the Board and start helping your fellow members!)

At our last event…

Last month’s event continued our Clarity Series with Helen Walter presenting on Marketing Clarity: More Than You Think.

Her partner, Keith Thirgood, summarized Helen’s presentation for us:

Helen Walter began her talk by stating that to be successful in your marketing, you need clarity in two vital areas:

• WHO it is you are marketing to
• What you need to say to have an impact on this group.

She explained why having a target market is vital for creating more effective messages, and what to do if you have more than one target market. (Don’t try to hit multiple targets with one arrow.)

Helen introduced the concept of the Awareness Scale which she and her partner invented some years ago. Using the Awareness Scale, you can hone your message much more finely. Are they Unaware, Doubters or the Aware? You need different messages for different groups.

Helen explained about picturing your “ideal client”, how to do it and why it helps. (Hint, it’s a tool to help you make marketing decisions.)

She emphasized the importance of addressing your prospects in their emotional/technical language, about their pains and passions (in the area you deal with) and not simply the things you want to sell them. Your marketing message is about them, not about you.

Helen then showed a famous (but altered) visual, which she flashed on the screen for less than a second. Most of the audience instantly recognized the image. Helen used this to demonstrate the power that images (and branding) has on us and how we process and retain visual information much more clearly than textual information. She went on to explain that we can successfully use the power of our prospects’ visual brains to get our message into their heads bypassing their “logical” reasoning.

Helen went on to show how the normal, inward focus of most marketing misses the mark. Using an example of one of her clients, she showed how a normal, rational, inwardly-focussed client’s thinking led to poor results, and how new client-oriented visuals and message completely changed their approachability and suitability to their prospects.

Helen finished with a visual that really blew away the audience. No one saw it coming, and it drove home the point that we, and our prospects, are not in as much control of our minds as we like to think we are. These subconscious biases and predilections work for us or against us, whether we like it or not. She pointed out that because these forces are always at play, it’s better if we know about them and use them rather than let fate rule our destinies.

Board News

We have two open positions on the Board—Events/Programs and Recording Secretary.

Interesting Links & Articles

Now here’s an interesting consulting gig; anybody want to try this? (If so, let us know!) From the Daily Mail: “No holds barred: The professional ‘cuddler’ who makes $260 a day by inviting strangers to take a nap with her at home”.

Some days I worry about signon security. Then I read articles like this one, I get really worried! From Mashable’s Zoe (no relation) Fox, “‘Password’ Tops List of Worst Passwords of 2012 [VIDEO]“.

In late September, we had a very interesting discussion at our LinkedIn Forum about newsletters. Then I spotted this: VAPartner’s blog about email newsletters in “Six Keys to Creating an Engaging Email Marketing Newsletter“.

This one is really good. Anthony Iannarino writes on The Sales Blog on the difference between “Me Management” and “Time Management”.

And last, but not least—many of you know about my fascination with fountain pens (and if you don’t, I’ll be happy to discuss them with you!). BBC News Online Magazine on “Why are fountain pen sales rising“. And you all think I’m crazy.

Professional Development Credits

As always, please visit us at our website, our LinkedIn group or our Twitter feed, and if you liked this edition, forward it along to a friend or colleague who would benefit from it.

If you are passionate about learning, improving and growing your consulting business as a business, then AIC is the place for you.

The Association of Independent Consultants (AIC) is a Canadian, federally-registered, not-for-profit organization, run by members for members.

Learn more about AIC by phone (416-410-8163), email or online. We're also on Twitter at @aiconsult and we have a discussion group on LinkedIn.

Want to keep up to date with AIC? Get information on upcoming events and our newsletter delivered right to your email inbox by joining our mailing list now:

Newsletter—November 2012

To find out more about the Association of Independent Consultants (AIC), please stop by our website at Association of Independent Consultants.

In this issue…

• President’s Message
• At our last event…
• Board News
• Interesting Links & Articles
• From the Reading List
• Quote of the Month

President’s Message

The cool crisp days of autumn (or fall, if you prefer) are upon us! (And Blue Jays fans like yours truly are once again bereft of post-season excitement. Oh well, there’s always next year). But if we won’t be watching any World Series games in Toronto this year, AIC continues with a Series of its own–the Clarity Series! Our second event is this month with the singular Helen Walter of Capstone Communications picking up the theme and will be presenting on Marketing Clarity—More Than you Think.

Change in Venue

As I mentioned in our last newsletter, we’ve had to move from old home at the Crowne Plaza Airport to a new location at the Barbara Frum Library at 20 Covington Road, Toronto. Covington is is one block north of Lawrence Ave W and runs west off Bathurst St. There is limited parking at the library, but there is some street parking nearby. The best place to park is in the north-west corner of the shopping plaza at the corner of Bathurst and Lawrence and then walk over to the library.

Member-only Coaching Call

On October 15th, we attempted to launch a new “members-only” benefit for AIC—our first “members-only” Coaching Call, hosted by our Darla Campbell, our VP Communications—only to be let down by some technical problems with the conference call lines. (We were going to be discussing Tom Stoyan’s presentation from September in more detail). We’re working on finding an alternative supplier and we’ll have some more news on this at our event this month. Members, watch your emails for the new date (and if you’re not a member yet, why are you waiting?)

Car Pool with a Member

At our last event…

Tom Stoyan (Canada’s Sales Coach) spoke at our last event about how to get our clients to get clarity on their needs, so that we could focus on providing the right solution (or referring the client to someone better suited).

Darla summarized Tom’s presentation at our LinkedIn Forum  (and you’re welcome to drop in and discuss the presentation further):

Here’s a quick summary of some of the key points from Tom’s presentation last at the kick-off of AIC’s CLARITY Series.

Tom helped us with tools to get to know our prospective customer better. It’s only when we really understand their “pain, passion or priorities” that we know how to sell to them.

Here are some key phrases from the presentation.

• Consultants are in the customer attraction business.
• Our job is helping people with their buying decision.
• It’s not what we know, it’s what we do with what we know.
• “The ability to learn faster than you competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage.” ~ Peter Senge

Tom also provided us with a couple of “Blue Chip (BC)” insights:

• BC Insight: Give your future client an opportunity to know you. (Tool: Comparison Chart)
• BC Insight: People act for their reason, not ours. Discover “why” they want to do it.
• BC Insight: Let them experience exactly if and how you can help them. (Tool: Audit)
• BC Insight: One of the most powerful sales tool we’ve got is the other person’s imagination.
• BC Insight: Treat prospects as friends and clients as really good friends. You’ll know what to do.
• BC Insight: Continually focus on clarifying their pain, passion and priorities.
• BC Insight: Remember your future client is listening with their self-interest. Not yours.

And lastly, Tom advises that you have a positioning statement that starts with the words “I specialize in….”, that identifies your target market and provides a benefit or two of why someone should spend time, money, or send someone to you.

See the Video

You can see Tom interviewed on his presentation at our YouTube channel or right here on our site (but read the rest of newsletter first!)

Board News

We still have two vacancies on our Board—VP of Programming (Events) and Recording Secretary. If you are interested in either of these two positions (and its a lot of fun!) please contact Lawrence  (president1aiconsultca)  .

Interesting Articles and Links

We’ve had terrific conversation at our LinkedIn Group on newsletters, their effectiveness and how to improve them. Come on over and add your opinions!

Hmm. I’ve been doing some of this stuff. Maybe I should do more of it? From Fast Company “What Successful People Do With The First Hour Of Their Work Day”

Daria Steigman (@dariasteigman) writes on “The Worst Thing you Can Do When Networking”

In a similar vein, here’s a video from Marie Forleo’s Q & A Tuesday “Networking Basics: 8 Tips to Networking Without Being Fake”

Consultants at the forefront of a boom in business? Why not! From the Calgary Herald “Canada to see unprecedented boom in new businesses: CIBC”

And lastly, something that might be more appropriate for February and Valentine’s Day (instead of October and Hallowe’en), here’s yet another reason for setting up your workspace some days at the local coffee shop instead of your basement! The Atlantic Wire reports on “The ‘Coffice’ Romance for Freelancers Without an Office”

From the Reading List

There are a couple of books that I’m working my way through but none finished yet. Watch this space for next month. Of course, if you’ve read anythign that you think might be of interest to your fellow consultants, drop me a line  (president1aiconsultca)   with your mini-review and we’ll be happy to publish it here, along with a link to your website.

Quote of the Month

Two short ones—something to ponder.

“Not all who wander are lost” (JRR Tolkien)

“Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” (Albert Einstein)

Professional Development Credits

As always, please visit us at our website, our LinkedIn group or our Twitter feed, and if you liked this edition, forward it along to a friend or colleague who would benefit from it.

If you are passionate about learning, improving and growing your consulting business as a business, then AIC is the place for you.

See you at the end of the month at the Barbara Frum!

The Association of Independent Consultants (AIC) is a Canadian, federally-registered, not-for-profit organization, run by members for members.

Learn more about AIC by phone (416-410-8163), email or online. We're also on Twitter at @aiconsult and we have a discussion group on LinkedIn.

Want to keep up to date with AIC? Get information on upcoming events and our newsletter delivered right to your email inbox by joining our mailing list now:

Newsletter—October 2012

To find out more about the Association of Independent Consultants (AIC), please stop by our website at Association of Independent Consultants.

Here’s Tom’s comments on the evening:

No one has told us that the business we’re in is client attraction. How do we get clients into a conversation that ends with them saying “that’s exactly what I want”.

And to do that, I have a tool that I developed years ago called “The Opportunity Audit”. At tool that has one question followed by a series of statements. Any entrepreneur can develop can develop this tool for themselves.

When I spoke this evening, I gave the members three different tools. One of them is the opportunity audit. The second is a comparison chart– clients look at you or I, and they look at somebody else; they don’t typically just look at you or I and just give us money! It’s our job to help them with their buying decisions–that’s part of my definition of selling.

It’s part of our job to protect their [the potential client's] ego. Why? Because they need to experience that were there to help them, that we’re there to work with them. We buy people people, ideas and services in that order.

The second job is to address their concerns. And one way we do that is by continually asking for feedback. I have a 100% responsibility for the quality of communications between me and my clients. I find that when I come from that place I can significantly improve the quality of the communication between us. And clients appreciate that.

One of the decisions that we can help our client with is “Who were they going to hire for a consulting contract?” They interview us, they may interview three other people,  they don’t have the sophistication or the experience, maybe even the wisdom, to determine from the three candidates interviewed who is the best candidate. So you have to ask them “Would it be helpful if you had a chart in order to make an easier decision, to make sure that you’re going with the right candidate? Maybe it’s me. Maybe it’s not. But here’s a list of criteria that other people in your position have used to help make that decision”. Come up with 10 or 25 different criteria and then put down what you do for each one.

For example, how many years experience do you have? So let’s say you have 15 years experience, so you put that down on the chart and then beside that create columns for your competitors and leave them blank [for the client to fill in]. So now what you’re doing is giving the client a way of comparing our strengths to other individuals. This is the comparison chart.

One nice thing about the comparison chart is that our potential clients get to know us because the criteria that we list are typically our strengths. And so they get to know about our experiences, our strengths, our characteristics as they go through the chart.

To create the chart, write down all the things that come to mind and then look at the more powerful way to present them. And it may be that the most powerful way will differ from client to client or from industry to industry.

In order to have that conversation that ends with with them saying “that’s exactly what I want” we have to discover their pain, their passion, and priorities as opposed to me saying “let me tell you everything that’s terrific about me.” They don’t care. Most people care about themselves and their own issues.

Something else that I developed is called “The Opportunity Audit”. It allows us to clarify and delineate exactly what the client’s pain, passion and priorities look like. It gives them an opportunity to talk about it. So we asked them one question: so what do you need in order to sell more? And then we have them check off items from the list and so we know the things that are important to that client. Then we ask them to tell us more about each item that they’ve selected.

One of the big advantages of this audit is that it moves the client very quickly from complaining (about their business) to problem identification. After a client checks off and identifies his issues and potential issues that were good at solving we can then go through what I call the “CIA Process”. That stands for “Clarity, Importance, Application”.

The clarity is simply where the client says “Item number four on the list is important to me.” All you have to do is respond “Can you tell me more about that?” I find that works 90% of the time in finding out why the client is having a problem with that item.

After they’ve carried on and vented for 10 seconds (or 20 minutes), the “Importance” kicks in.I now work with the client to find out how important the item is to him. I’ll ask “On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is ‘that’s nice to know’ and 10 is ‘this would make a signficant difference’, how would you rate this problem to your bottom line or your sales or…?”

The Application is a chance for me to ask “If we had met six months ago and decided to do busines then, and you have gotten much better at this by now, how much better would your life be today?” Conversely I could ask “There’s lots of things you can spend your time and money on, if we decided to not do business today, and we met six months from now, would there be any opportunity cost for you to have not gone forward with me today?”

This gives the client a chance to get involved with their own imagination which is one of the most powerful sales tools ever.

I like to say “Treat prospects as friends, and treat clients as a very good friends”.

I help people answer the question “So what you do?” In a way that’s precise, and often more interesting for your target market. I talk about a three-step process. I believe you should start with the statement “I specialize in…” (because our society honors and pays respect to (and pays more for) specialists over generalists). The second step is to give them a name of the target market and the thrid is to mention a benefit or two that you can provide. For example, I specialize in coaching professionals in acquiring and retaining more clients.

I’ve also developed a referral tool that I call “The Referral Prospectus”. It helps you identify people that will refer you to potential clients. Like most of my audits it starts with one simple question: What do you need to feel more comfortable in referring me?” That’s followed by a number of statements that you could check off. I use it on a regular basis. You can use it with anyone that you might think is in a position to provide a referral to you or for you.

My general advice to people? When dealing with clients and prospects the number one thing is to “Be Yourself”– because that’s all we have. We’re only here for a short period of time. Be who you are. People wants to make a real connection.

Number two, get good at what you do. Why? Because I want to refer people to you and I can’t refer you if you’re not good at what you do. And every day get better. The world is changing very quickly. Clients don’t want somebody who says “I was really good at that three years ago but I haven’t done much of that recently”. Know your clients want somebody who is up-to-date, who is up to speed. I suggest that you dedicate (at least) one hour a day to getting better at what you do.

Want to keep up to date with AIC? Get information on upcoming events and our newsletter delivered right to your email inbox by joining our mailing list now:

[VIDEO] Tom Stoyan on “Getting Clarity on What Your Client Needs from YOU” (AIC Event 24-Sep-2012)

To find out more about the Association of Independent Consultants (AIC), please stop by our website at Association of Independent Consultants.

In this issue…

• President’s Message
• How the Board spent its summer vacation
• Board News
• Interesting Links & Articles
• From the Reading List
• Quote of the Month

President’s Message

I hope that you’ve all enjoyed your AIC guilt-free summer! (We coined that phrase last year when we opted to put AIC programming “on hold” for a short period of time.)

Yes, I know that the calendar doesn’t say that it’s fall yet, but with school supplies in the stores and the opening of the CNE, it certainly feels like the end of summer. And did you see the Halloween costumes creeping into stores?

Mark your calendars for our first event of the fall season on Monday, September 24th. Details to follow in a future e-mail.

~ Lawrence Fox, President AIC

How the Board spent its summer vacation

During the break, however, the Board has been busy, meeting several times to discuss a number of issues. At our May 2012 event, Rhonda Page spoke about clarity, and I have to admit that that word has been coming up at Board Meetings all year, and is quite a hot topic in the business press and in several business-related books that I’ve read this year. The Board has spent a great deal of time this summer getting clear about AIC’s membership, goals and what differentiates us from other groups. I think that most organizations need to go through this process every few years, and that we were due for this kind of review.

I now believe that we have clearer idea of who we are and where we want to go — so please keep on reading.

Who are we?

Our definition of a consultant is someone who advises other people. Our members are consultants of all types and disciplines, and all levels of experience, from newcomers to veterans.

What does AIC do?

What makes us unique?

Education.

If you are passionate about learning, improving and growing your consulting business as a business, then AIC is the place for you.

You are already an expert in your field–otherwise you wouldn’t be doing what you are doing. And AIC isn’t going to make you any better at that (there are other forums for that sort of professional development). But what we can do is provide you with the opportunities to learn all the other things that are necessary for you to thrive as an independent provider of advice to your clients.

There is no better self-improvement program in the universe than self-employment, but you don’t have to do it on your own. And, I’ve found that you can’t always do it from a book. AIC gives you an opportunity to learn from (and teach) other like-minded individuals face-to-face.

Networking? Certainly. But AIC doesn’t aim to copy your local Board of Trade/Chamber of Commerce or BNI or LeTip (or what have you). (I’ll be talking about the taxonomy of networking groups another time). If the only reason that you’re coming to AIC events is to find or get clients, you’ll always be disappointed, no matter how many you get.

But if you’re looking to improve your business, then AIC is the place for you.

Change in venue

The rates for our meeting rooms at the Crowne Plaza have gone up. We are trying to re-negotiate, but we may have to relocate. I’ll have more news on that in the next newsletter.

Change in membership rates

On the good news front, effective September 1, 2012, full membership is reduced to $149.00 per year.

Full members will pay $10.00 at-the-door fee when attending an event.

Current members who paid the $199.00 fee will not have to pay at the door until your current membership renews, at which point you will pay the lower annual rate and the “at-the-door” fee.

Please email me  (president1aiconsultca)   if you’d like to discuss any of the above, or drop by our LinkedIn forum!

Board News

We’d like to welcome to the Board Richard Baker of Baker Branding as our new VP of Publicity/Promotion.

We still have a vacancy in our VP of Programmes, the person responsible for finding and arranging our speakers for our events.

The AIC Board is a terrific group of people and joining the Board is an excellent way of giving something back to the consulting community. (It also counts as professional development/continuing education credits for some professional programs!)

If you are interested in this position, please contact me  (president1aiconsultca)   ASAP!

From the Reading List

Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
Published by Portfolio Trade, Dec 2011, 256 pages

I just couldn’t finish this book.

All I can say is, “Watch the Tedx talk. Then go read a better written, less repetitive, better edited and researched book like Built to Last.”

1/2 star (out of five)

Interesting Articles and Links

Great advice for those just starting a blog: “What Makes a Successful and Outstanding Business Blog?” from @LizStrauss at Successful Blog.

When vacation times ends and we get back to work, this is timely. “How to get the Most from a Networking Event” from VA Partners.

From the Business Consulting Buzz blog “Why Consultants Need to Read More”. I agree with everything he says; there’s always more to learn and some of it is outside of our area of consulting expertise.

Our president blogs (on his own blog) “Branding Surprise–What I learned about my brand at AIC’s May 2012 event”.

In June some LinkedIn passwords were compromised. According to this article, mine was one of them. Yes, I have changed it! From Mashable: How to Check If Your LinkedIn Password Was Stolen.

Quote of the Month

“I’m addicted to self-improvement. The thing is, there’s so damn much about myself to improve.” (A.J. Jacobs)

Professional Development Credits

The Association of Independent Consultants (AIC) is a Canadian, federally-registered, not-for-profit organization, run by members for members.

Learn more about AIC by phone (416-410-8163), email or online. We're also on Twitter at @aiconsult and we have a discussion group on LinkedIn.

Want to keep up to date with AIC? Get information on upcoming events and our newsletter delivered right to your email inbox by joining our mailing list now:

Newsletter—August 2012

To find out more about the Association of Independent Consultants (AIC), please stop by our website at Association of Independent Consultants.

With the arrival of the summer solstice (and the first big heat wave of the summer) comes this newsletter, reminding you that AIC’s “Guilt Free Summer” is upon us once again!

Last year’s “Guilt Free July” was so popular, we’re doing it for the whole summer—June, July and August—and we’ll be back presenting events in September. Instead of making you feel guilty for missing any summer events while you enjoy some vacation or just some time off, the Board has decided to give us all a break wuth NO events this summer. Relax, enjoy yourself and we’ll see you again in September (there’s a song in there somewhere, I think).

There will be no AIC events this summer! But we’ll be back in the fall!

The Board has been meeting regularly since our last event and we’re hard at work planning the balance of our programming year, when we return from the summer hiatus. (We’ve been so busy that somehow I lost track of the weeks and got really behind on sending out this notice—my apologies). You will be hearing from us during the summer with regular updates and with our usual assortment of interesting articles and links.

In the meantime, please enjoy a nice, guilt-free summer courtesy of AIC and we’ll see you all when our programming year re-starts in the fall.

Board News

We’d like to welcome aboard our new VP Finance, Edwin Law. Edwin is taking over this position from our President in this portfolio, whose been doing double duty for a couple of months.

We still have two important vacant positions, VP Marketing/Publicity and VP Programming (that’s the person who finds and arranges our speakers) and if you are interested in either of these two positions, please contact Lawrence (the President) ASAP.

Newsletter—June 2012

To find out more about the Association of Independent Consultants (AIC), please stop by our website at Association of Independent Consultants.

President’s Message

I think we’ve finally broken the back of winter and it’s now time for that gloriously short respite from winter that we get in the Great White North. Next week is the “traditional” kickoff of spring/summer—the Victoria Day weekend—followed on the next Monday by our May event (on May 28th). I hope that you’re all not starting your vacations yet and you’ll make it to the Crowne Plaza on the 28th when Rhonda Page will present on “Three Major Misconceptions about Branding—that are slowing your sales!” (More information over here).

Guest blogging
Last month I was reading a couple of articles on the benefits of writing a guest column on someone else’s blog (or on hosting a few guests on your own). It certainly is one way to get your name, consulting practice and expertise out there to a new audience–another form of networking. So if you do like to write a guest piece every once in a while (or even have a few stored up!) why don’t you add “guest blogger” to your membership profile hereat our site. (Not a member? You can rectify that here.)

Coffee, anyone?
Spring weather means that restaurant patios will be open soon (if they aren’t already). What a great reason to call up a fellow AIC member or someone that you met at one of our events and meet for coffee. This hasn’t been as brutal a winter in the GTA as some of them in the past, but I’ll take any chance for some fresh air and sunlight. Send me an invite  (president1aiconsultca)   and I’ll be happy to join you.

At our last event

In May, Chala Dincoy presented a terrific evening entitled “Attract not attack…a gentle way to get clients”. For those who didn’t make it to the evening, (or didn’t take any notes) Chala provided us with this summary of her remarks:

The first step to getting clients to chase you is to have a clear brand character. A brand character is a set of human characteristics that are attributable to a service or product.

The second step is to pick a very specific WHO you help and WHAT you sell to help them (your niche).

After that, the next step is to get in front of your WHO so that you can talk about their pain that relates to how you help them. For example, I’m a small business marketing coach who works with “basement people” (home based office solopreneurs that are service based), my message is about how confused and exhausted most small businesses are about figuring out their marketing so that they can find more clients.

Next, find your clients’ world. What associations, meetings and groups do they belong to and frequent where you can intercept them with your messaging?

Once you’ve determined your brand character, your niche, your messaging and where your clients are hanging out, then all you have to work on is your attractive mindset. Then you can experience the thrill of being chased by clients.

For more information on Chala, you can follow her on Twitter, friend her on Facebook  or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Golf Day with the Richmond Hill Chamber of Commerce

For a couple of years now, some AIC members have asked the Board about arranging a daytime event–a golfing day–since it’s one of the premiere venues for great one-on-one networking. Well, we’ve finally done it!

AIC’s Marketing Partner, the Richmond Hill Chamber of Commerce (RHCOC), is hosting it’s 32nd annual golf tournament on Tuesday May 29th, 2012 at the Richmond Hill Golf Club (8755 Bathurst St, Richmond Hill)(just north of Hwy 7).

AIC members get a $20.00 discount off the price of tournament (if you don’t golf, there is a lunch/reception from 1:00-4:00pm, but there’s no discount available). The reception costs $50.00.

For more information check out the RHCOC website.

AIC will also have a booth at one of the holes on the course and we’ll need a couple of volunteers to help out. If you’re interested, contact Lawrence  (president1aiconsultca)   ASAP. (A free lunch for those helping out at the event is unfortunately NOT included).

Website update

As mentioned in last month’s newsletter, we rolled out an update to our website early in March. At that time members could not update their profile online, but that feature is now working again. In answer to a question that came up at our last event – if you’re a speaker then add the word “speaker” and the subjects that you talk about to your profile and you’ll show up in the speaker search.

Board News

Once again, the press of business has reduced our Board ranks and opened up two vacancies—Vice-President of Programming and Vice-President of Publicity/Promotion. We are sorry to see the incumbents leave, and wish Anas (VP Programming) and Ell (VP Publicity/Promotion) all the best in the future. If you are interested in either of these two positions, please contact our me  (president1aiconsultca)   ASAP!

Interesting Articles and Links

Try these out at your next AIC event “Non-Awkward Ways To Start And End Networking Conversations” by Jessica Taylor at Forbes Online.

I’m not sure if this is a sign of the times, but Daria Steigman (@DariaSteigman) writes about “Have You Ever Had a Deadbeat Client?” in this Independent Thinking blog post.

Advice for all of us, men & women alike “DOs and DON’Ts for Female Entrepreneurs From Digital Media Guru Natalie MacNeil“.

The title of this one says it all: “Three Things Professional Women Should Stop Apologizing For” from Fast Company.

Turn downtime into worktime? Maybe, but sometimes I just need to “veg out”; from the Time Management Ninja “How to be productive where you least expect it“.

Quote of the Month

Something key to all entrepreneurs:

To make a great discovery or create a key invention, study what the most respected authorities agree can not—then do it.

Arthur C. Clarke, quoted by Robert A. Heinlein in “The Number of the Beast”

Professional Development Credits

The Association of Independent Consultants (AIC) is a Canadian, federally-registered, not-for-profit organization, run by members for members.

Learn more about AIC by phone (416-410-8163), email or online. We're also on Twitter at @aiconsult and we have a discussion group on LinkedIn.

Newsletter—May 2012

To find out more about the Association of Independent Consultants (AIC), please stop by our website at Association of Independent Consultants.

President’s Message

It’s a gorgeous, spring day as I write, and I’m watching the Blue Jays home opener (go Jays!) – and they’ve got a full house tonight. I hope that we can attract a similar crowd to our next event at the end of this month (April 30th), when Chala Dincoy will present  “Attract not attack a gentle way to get clients” (or more information, check out the event notice).

Earlier this month, MailChimp (our e-mail service provider) added a new service that analyzed our mailing list vis-à-vis Twitter. 50% of our Twitter followers are on our mailing list (but MailChimp doesn’t tell me who they are!) And that’s only a small percentage of you that are on Twitter. On the other hand only 20% of you are on Twitter! Why is that? I’d love to know—so drop by our LinkedIn discussion group or our website and let me know why—I’m curious. (If you use MailChimp and Twitter in your business, this new tool of theirs is very cool; try it out and see what it tells you about your followers.)

So if you’re on Twitter and not (yet) following us, please do so at @aiconsult! You’ll get updates on events, notification about postings and her website, and some interesting content that were curating from the Web (a number of the links that we highlighted our newsletter (like the ones below) have been first featured in our Twitter feed).

Spring weather means that restaurant patios will be open soon (if they aren’t already). What a great reason to call up a fellow AIC member or someone that you met at one of our events and meet for coffee. This hasn’t been as brutal a winter in the GTA as some of them in the past, but I’ll take any chance for some fresh air and sunlight. Send me an invite  (president1aiconsultca)   and I’ll be happy to join you.

See you at our April 30th event! (7:00pm at the Crowne Plaza Toronto Airport)

At the Last Event

On March 26, Mark Ellwood (Pace Productivity Inc.) made a fascinating presentation, on “Time Management, Planning – and Consultants”. Among the interesting things Mark had to say were:

• The average consultant works 52.3 hrs a week but the average employee works 46.5.
• The average consultant spends 11 hrs/wk on selling, 13 hrs on serving clients, 12 hrs on administration.
• To free up time for core activities, delegate, delegate, delegate.

Mark also provided some excellent advice on how to avoid procrastination.

After the event, Mark sat down with past president Keith Thirgood for an interview which you can find (along with a transcript) here at our website.

Website Update

As mentioned in last month’s newsletter, we rolled out an update to our website early in March.  At that time members could not update their profile online, but that feature is now working again. In answer to a question that came up at our last event—if you’re a speaker then add the word “speaker” and the subjects that you talk about to your profile and you’ll show up in the speaker search.

Board News

Once again, the press of business has reduced our Board ranks and opened up two vacancies—Vice-President of Programming and Vice-President of Publicity/Promotion. We are sorry to see the incumbents leave, and wish Anas (VP Programming) and Ell (VP Publicity/Promotion) all the best in the future. If you are interested in either of these two positions, please contact our me ASAP!

Car Pool with a Member

Interesting Articles and Links

Deborah Brody (@DBMC on Twitter) suggested, and I agree “Boot These People from Your Professional Network” from Amy Levin-Epstein on CBS News.

“Why Do Women Round Down When Men Round Up?“, by Jenna Goudrea, Forbes.

For the conspiracy fans amongst us —did you know that Area 51 isn’t on the list of “10 Places You’re Not Allowed to See on Google Maps“. Isn’t THAT interesting? But what places ARE on the list? Check out this article from Mashable.

So many of us work from an office in the home that I thought this was quite germane “Five Tips for Staying on Task When Working from Home” from the Time Management Ninja (@TMNinja).

And finally, now Star Wars (the original and best trilogy) gets its chance (you thought I was a “Star Trek only” kinda guy?) with “Five Lessons in Freelancing From Han Solo” from Forbes Online.

Quote of the Month

“No, no, you’re not thinking, you’re just being logical.”

~ Niels Bohr

Professional Development Credits

That’s all for now See you all on April 30th!

The Association of Independent Consultants (AIC) is a Canadian, federally-registered, not-for-profit organization, run by members for members.

Learn more about AIC by phone (416-410-8163), email or online. We're also on Twitter at @aiconsult and we have a discussion group on LinkedIn.

Newsletter—April 2012

To find out more about the Association of Independent Consultants (AIC), please stop by our website at Association of Independent Consultants.

From all the studies about how people spend their time, the main thing that we learned is that most people spend less time than they would like on their higher priority activities, and more time on their lower priority activities. Managers aren’t managing as much as they’d like, salespeople aren’t selling as much as they’d like, and everybody is spending more time than they’d like on administrative tasks.

The most important thing a consultant can do, to improve their time usage, is to delegate. That is, not doing the things that aren’t part of their core responsibilities. If you’re really good at being an accountant—great! Then do that but delegate everything else. The other thing that they can do is to automate. Use technology to automate repetitive tasks. If you’re writing a report the same way every time, then automate it. The last thing that you can do, is to build systems or methodologies so that you have the same approach to solving a problem or to doing a client engagement. If you can do those three things you can start to become more efficient.

People are people are always concerned about external factors that affect their productivity. As much as you can find a way to deal with them—or not have to deal with them then your productivity can increase.

We think that many things are outside of our control, but many things are within our control. Things like, not being focused or not determining what you are supposed to be doing. Procrastination comes up with just about everybody.

For any consultant, billable time is what you want to be doing a lot of. But there’s going to be a lot of other things—travel, for example, can be 10–15% of your time. Then there’s personal time and administration which can be 20–25% of your time. And of course planning, which is something that you want to be doing, can be another 10–15% of your time. If you add all those up, there may not be that much time left for the actual billable time that you want to be doing.

Successful consultants need to be selling as much as those just starting out. You’ll probably be spending in the range of about 20% of your time selling and marketing.

We looked at how much billable time successful consultants spent. The best consultants seem to be spending approximately 20 hours per week on client servicing activities, most of which is billable. And that 20 hours may be out of a 50 hour week! (or about 40% of your time). The successful consultants are logging 20 hours of billable time but the average consultant is logging only around 13 billable hours per week.

I believe that everybody can find about an extra hour per day. There’s the time that you’re spending that could be delegated, or the time that you’re spending that could be automated. I believe that most consultants can “find” something in the range of about 200 hours per year.

We have found in our TimeCorder studies that employees work around 47 hours per week; consultants are well above that – they’re up into the 52 hour range, and some work even more hours.

The SMART formula is a great way to articulate what your goals should be. Now other people have used this formula, and I’ve modified it a little bit:

S stands for specific, substantial and selective.

M is for measurable.

A is for appropriate (make sure that this goal is in line with your other goals and to your own skills and background).

R is realistic (a goal should be a stretch but have some degree of realism).

T is timely (put a date on when you want accomplish your goal).

If you can articulate your goals using that formula then you’re on your way to success.

One of the biggest issues in time management is procrastination. Everybody but everybody is putting stuff off. I’ve run a little module in my time management seminars where we link people up, and that seemed to work. So we’ve taken that and turned it into a website. It’s called BuddyHive.com (you can follow @BuddyHive on Twitter); it inspires people to get stuff done by linking people up with random buddies across the Internet making them accountable to each other to achieve small tasks within about a one-week time. We’ve seen people getting their taxes done, bake a cake, somebody else got a major presentation done, somebody else got a new design done for a website. All kinds of all kinds of business and personal tasks that people were putting off are now getting done because they now have somebody to be accountable to.

[VIDEO] “Time Management, Planning—and Consultants”, Mark Ellwood, AIC Event 26-Mar-2012

To find out more about the Association of Independent Consultants (AIC), please stop by our website at Association of Independent Consultants.

For more information on Darla, check out her website or follow her on Twitter.

Some highlights from the video:

Begin with the end in mind.  Then to know your outcome is one of the key points. Another is to know and understand the range of options that you might have. And the range of options that your client might be able to consider.

Know what your upper and lower limits are.

Know when and if you can walk away from the negotiation.

Be specific when you can. That’s your number [your price for your service] and that’s what you can work for. Sometimes you have to hold onto that for all you got. On the other hand we are looking for a win-win, so sometimes we have to look at a range of options and the range of ideas. You need some flexibility. The law of requisite variety requires flexibility. It’s valuable to take a look at specifics, and to understand the range of what’s acceptable to you and the client.

Many consultants, especially those in new in doing business, feel that they have to “win” every negotiation or every sales deal. And that puts the salesperson or the consultant at a bit of a disadvantage because they’re looking to win at all costs. But if one enters the negotiation understanding that there may be a time when it’s necessary to walk away, it takes the pressure off the person doing the negotiating. And it certainly provides more options for consideration.

You can walk away and come back another day, another time; you can come back next year or try a different approach.

Why did I talk about running a marathon?  There were two goals. One was to imagine success in the future and to look at the positive side of coming through a successful negotiation or reaching a particular goal. There’s something powerful about imagining oneself having completed something, because once we can see ourselves in the picture of success in the future, it makes it easier for us to find alternatives when things get rough. It’s kind of like running a marathon; sometimes the road gets rough and you have to decide whether you going to keep on going or not. When you can imagine, what it looks like and feels like…

What is “chunking up and down”? It’s a technique that I adore and it’s very easy. It’s a matter of realizing where you are [in the conversation] and understanding that you can become more broad and general and less specific as one “chunks” up. And in the process of “chunking up” and becoming less specific, it’s easier to find areas of agreement. Once one finds an area of agreement with our client, you can “chunk down” with the client quickly as the client remains in agreement with our presentation. It’s the opposite of how most consultants want to sell their “stuff” but it gives you a starting point where to sell. It gives you a starting point of common ground where the client is interested on a general basis and then taking them down into the details. And showing them how your proposal fits within the bigger picture.

[VIDEO] “Negotiate for Results” by Darla Campbell (AIC Event, 27-Feb-2012)

To find out more about the Association of Independent Consultants (AIC), please stop by our website at Association of Independent Consultants.

President’s Message

It’s mid March–and in the GTA, it certainly feels this week like we’ve broken the back of winter. And it’s about time. And talking about time–managing it has always been one of my banes (along with a severe case of procrastination). This month’s event focuses on effective use of time for consultants and I’m really looking forward to Mark Ellwood‘s presentation.

We’ve had a very busy month at AIC since our last event in February (see below for details). So without further ado…

At the Last Event

Last month, Darla Campbell, P.Eng. of amonavi consulting group inc. (and AIC VP of Communications) presented on “Negotiating for Results”. In case you weren’t at the event (or didn’t take notes), Darla has provided a summary of her presentation:

Negotiate for Results!  Stop convincing and start achieving in any scenario.

1. Be clear on your outcome. As Stephen Covey puts it, “Begin with the end in mind.”
2. Have a range of acceptable options. Maintain flexibility.
3. Ask yourself, “Can I walk away from the deal?” If yes, that guarantees that you stay in the driver’s seat! When that’s the case, think to yourself, “What have I got to lose?” while maintaining confidence, professionalism and common courtesy.
4. “Chunk up” to find agreement. Look for common ground at the bigger picture level. If you can’t find a level of agreement, there’s no negotiation.
5. “Chunk down” only as fast as you can maintain agreement. That’s when you get into the details, moving from the common ground to the specifics (of the deal).

Remember, have fun and maintain objectivity. After all, it’s just business.

For more information (to get on the fast track for results), check out the amonavi consulting group website.

AIC relaunches its website

We’ve redesigned our website with some new additional features. All of our newsletters are now available, a sampling of our recent tweets (follow us on @aiconsult), and much more to come. (There are one or two features that still aren’t working yet, but we’ll get to them very soon).

AIC’s (new) YouTube Channel

Yes, AIC continues to move into the social media sphere with the launch of our own YouTube channel, and available at http://www.youtube.com/user/aiconsultantscanada. Our first video is a short interview with Darla Campbell about her presentation at the February AIC event. We plan to add new videos of presenters in the coming months after each event. We’ll also be showcasing some of the videos here at our site.

Sponsorship Opportunities

Would you like to see your logo and a 50-word description of your firm here in the newsletter (actually in the sidebar to the right)? You can sponsor the newsletter! It’s $75.00 for members and $125.00 for non-members and we send it out to slightly over 1,000 people, plus mentions in our Twitter stream (@aiconsult). Contact Ell Wilson (our VP Marketing) for more information. Ask about how you can also sponsor the monthly events, which is another sponsorship opportunity.

Car Pool with a Member

Consider car pooling with a member to future AIC events.  Even if you both have a vehicle, two or more in the car gets you into the diamond lane (and besides, car pooling to an event is fun–you can always talk about the presentation on the way home).  If you are interested, send a reply to this newsletter expressing interest in car pooling (and tell us what part of the city you’re in) and we’ll try to connect you with another member in your area.

Interesting Articles and Links

• There is a common thread running through most of these recommendations and stories; life is too short to put up with crap. Carol Roth’s colleagues discuss “Dealing with Difficult Customers and Clients“.
• Do we need this in Ontario? Do you think it’s something AIC should look into? Take a look at the “Freelancer Payment Protection Act” in NY state.
• OK, I admit that I like Star Trek. But I’m not actively looking for articles like this one: “Five Leadership Lessons From James T. Kirk” (You’ll notice that there are no leadership lessons from Picard. That’s all I’m saying on that score) from Forbes.
• On crafting a better “About Me” page.

Quote of the Month

Samuel Johnson on Parkinson’s Law (many years before Parkinson himself):

“Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it  concentrates his mind wonderfully.”
~ Samuel Johnson, quoted by Boswell: Life

Reading List

I’m partway through a couple of books and I’ll have some more suggestions and recommendations next month. In the meantime, if you’re read a business book recently that may be of interest to your fellow members (or one that you think was a total waste of time), drop me a line  (president1aiconsultca)   with short review and we’ll include here in the newsletter and on the website.

Professional Development Credits

That’s all for now! See you all on March 26th!

The Association of Independent Consultants (AIC) is a Canadian, federally-registered, not-for-profit organization, run by members for members.

Learn more about AIC by phone (416-410-8163), email or online. We're also on Twitter at @aiconsult and we have a discussion group on LinkedIn.

Newsletter—March 2012

To find out more about the Association of Independent Consultants (AIC), please stop by our website at Association of Independent Consultants.