On Line Marketing for Consultants
Getting clients is perhaps the most daunting task facing any new entrepreneur seeking to create a new business by providing consulting services. Especially during recessionary times, many new consulting businesses may emerge in a particular field selling services within shrinking target markets. In the end, success or failure of a consulting business will depend on both the value of the service and the ability of the consultant to sell it.
The ability of a new consultant to reach out to prospective customers using personal and internet techniques may determine the ultimate success of the business. Various Affordable SEO strategies exist to use the internet for marketing purposes, but personal selling is always required to ‘close the deal’ with prospective customers.
Personal sales ability should work side by side with on-line marketing to get the consulting practice into profitability. In short, on line marketing can generate leads. Personal selling ability is necessary to convert a prospect into a customer.
In addition to the ability to provide the promised value, winning new sales using the internet also requires a web page that the common search engines such as Google and Yahoo recognize and will present to internet users who are looking for solutions to their business problems. Three elements to a profitable on-line consultant marketing plan then are: Service Differentiation Nice Identification Active Positioning using the website and email
Service Differentiation: This requires the consultant to identify exactly what traits or bits of additional value he/she provides to clients. In other words, the consultant must be able to tell prospects why he/she is a better investment than the client might make in other services. This constitutes the essence of the consultant’s ‘value proposition.’
Niche Identification: This element helps select a group or target market. A key consideration is not only finding a group of prospective customers that have a need for the consultant’s services, but also the ability and willingness to pay for it. Many enterprises exist that may need a certain service, but as the recession has dragged on, many may no longer have an ability to pay the consultant’s fees.
Active Positioning: Forming the value proposition and reaching out to the target market with personal sales and internet marketing constitutes the Active Positioning part of the consultant’s sales effort.
Constructing a web page that attracts traffic that can be converted into a customer base requires using the niche ID, certain characteristics of the service value and combining them into a coherent web page. This strategy also requires constructing the page in such a fashion that the key points or keywords are continually reiterated within the page title, headline and text content. As an example, a consultant serving a narrowly defined customer type may use the phrase “Utility Consultants” to identify his business as one that provides valuable information to those wanting to keep control over their utility costs and fees charged to customers. In this instance, the keyword string describing the company does not even mention the name of the firm.
The local area in which the consulting service is available should also be considered. Personal trainers providing knee rehab services in Phoenix wouldn’t be interested in competing for business in Dayton. Use of a city name is becoming more common in these keyword phrases and should be considered when the consulting service isn’t available nationwide.
Consulting businesses tend to spring up during times of recession or economic downturn. Positioning a web page to be found when an internet user is searching for information about her/his problem is a great way to increase the number of prospects that are familiar with a consultant’s services.
Matthew Stone delivers Low Cost SEO and Search Engine Marketing services to businesses across the country. Assisting companies of all sizes compete for new revenue and sales using the internet search engines, Matt’s company drives new business to client web environments.