How to Book Consulting at Companies (Part 2)

If your dream has ever been to get paid for speaking, consulting for companies can be a very profitable introduction into that market. In 2013 companies spent $39.3 billon paying consultants according to Business Week.

That’s a lot of money, and some of that could be yours if you can approach the right company. In the last post I told you that the first training I did at a company paid me $500.

It was low but I didn’t have to do much. My job was to keep up their social media platforms and grow their presence. The result ended being their social media platforms grew by 26% and customer complaints on social media decreased by 68%.

I didn’t make a ton of money on that contract, but the owner did connect me with several others business owners that lead to some serious money. Flash forward to 2014.

Our family just moved here to Maui April 8th.  I had plenty of coaching business, but with the exposure I was getting from all the interviews, I got contacted by a company here.

They had heard some interviews and seen my work. I was asked to come in and talk about an opportunity. I can’t give you all the details (legal reasons) but I walked out of that meeting with a pretty sweet offer.

I sent the offer to my attorney and we were able to negotiate a sweet contract! My job is to build this company’s overall online presence. For every 1% I grow their overall presence, I get $1,000. I have been working on it for the last two months and have grown their presence 16%. Business is good!

I don’t tell you this to brag about Kimanzi because he’s really not any more special than anyone reading this. I tell you this to demonstrate that ordinary people like you and me can make serious money teaching topics we love teaching.

I hope you’re excited because the sky’s seriously the limit! Let’s finish up.3. Create a compelling presentation

Once you’ve identified a problem that you want to help a company solve, it’s time to lay it out in a presentation. It can be a Power Point or Keynote (For Mac users).  The goal is to lay out the problem and the solution on the slides.

I’ll teach you what I was taught about slides. You should have no more than 10 slides and each slide should have about six to ten words. It’s better to have pictures and charts to illustrate what you’re talking about.

The key to a good presentation is to get people to pay attention to you. If you have a bunch of words and bullet points on a slide, they’ll be reading those instead of paying attention to you.

The slides are only meant to compliment what you’re saying. They should give a visual to your words. Put together a compelling presentation that outlines the problem, and the opportunity for fixing that problem.

You’ll be giving this presentation to one person at first. Depending on how much authority that person has you might have to give it to a group of people in that company. Be prepared either way.

A great presentation is well-practiced, but doesn’t sound rehearsed. If you want some guidance on good presentations here are a few resources:

Ted Talks
One of the best books I’ve read on presentations is Resonate by Nancy Duarte
If you want to create good slides her other book is killer, Slide:Ology 
If you want to learn the ins and outs of the speaking business in general my friend Kent Julian is my go to source

This is everything you need to put your presentation together and rock it. After that, you lock in that contract! Presenting the problem clearly is the key to booking consulting. They’re not going to hire you if they can’t see how hiring you will benefit them.

Don’t come to a company with something superficial. Dig deeper, hit them with something they’re not even thinking about, something they can’t see. My client landed contracts to do copy writing. Those companies spent thousands of dollars on advertising when they could have just written better copy, they didn’t “see it” until he showed them.

Whatever your skill set is, you can train on it. It can be copy writing or mindset training for employees. Think about what you’re good at, what you like to talk about, what you have experience with. Somewhere in there is something you can book a consulting contract with. I met a guy that trains companies on things in their office that affect people’s allergies. No, I’m not kidding and he does very well.

4. Get in front of the right person

This is what it all comes down to. This is the make it or break it moment. If you’re going to land a contract with a company, you have to find the right person to pitch to. This is going to require some good old fashion research.

You can start online with that company’s website. There’s usually a list of the top management. Find the senior person that’s a step lower than the CEO. An even better way is through word of mouth.

If you know someone who knows someone at the company that can make an introduction, the better your chances are. If you can see the owner somewhere else where you live, you will have success.

The goal is to figure out whom the person is you need to pitch. For me it was meeting that owner. For my client it was the same thing. Research and find that person.

When you figure it out, be brief. I would suggest trying to get them on the phone or to meet in person. That’s a better option than a cold email. You’ll have a better chance of closing if they can see you or hear your voice.

Outline the problem that you’ve seen and tell them about the opportunity. Your whole pitch should be no more than 15 minutes unless you’re sitting down to lunch or in their office.

Your main goal is to get a meeting. When you do get that meeting, rock your presentation and lock in that contract. If they say no, move on, don’t view it as a rejection.

Expect to get some no’s. Expect for some people to blow you off. That’s just the nature of the thing. Get back up and figure out what other companies you can pitch. It’s a numbers game. For every one yes there will be a ton of no’s. Focus on the yeses because that’s what makes this thing support you.

I hope you got value out of this little series but more than that, I hope you use the information to book a bunch of contracts. There is money to be made if you’re willing to put in the hard work.

If you do book a contract with a company email at kconstable29@gmail.com I would love to feature you!

Side note

When you do book a contract, I would strongly advise having an attorney look at it. My attorney took my deal here in Maui and tripled what I would have gotten, and protected me legally. Yes, this will cost some money, but it’s worth it in the long run.

How much income would you need to make for this to support you? Are you going to approach any companies?