Consulting Success: The Proven Guide to Start, Run and Grow a Successful Consulting Business

by Michael Zipursky

How can you take your skills and expertise and package it to become a successful consultant? There are proven time-tested principles, strategies, tactics and best-practices the most successful consultants use to start, run and grow their consulting business.

Michael Zipursky has advised organizations like Financial Times, Dow Jones, RBC, and helped Panasonic launch new products into global markets, but more importantly, he’s helped over 650 consultants from around the world in over 75 industries add 6 and 7 figures to their annual revenues.

In this book you'll

- How to position yourself as a leading expert and authority in your marketplace
- Effective marketing and branding materials that get the attention of your ideal clients
- Strategies to increase your fees and earn more with every project
- The proposal template that has generated millions of dollars in consulting engagements
- How to develop a pipeline of business and attract ideal clients
- Productivity secrets for consultants including how to get more done in one week than most people do in a month
- And much, much more

Buy this book now and learn the battle-tested tactics and best practices to become a successful consultant. Michael has coached former executives from Booz Allen Hamilton, Capgemini Consulting, VF Corporation, CP Rail, Radvision, Harvard Medical School, Office Depot, Dwolla, Johnson & Johnson, P&G, BC Cancer Foundation and many other leading organizations to start, run and grow successful consulting businesses.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction

305 pages, Paperback

Published October 16, 2018

Reviews

[Yoly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I had read this when I was first starting out. This book is full of practical advice presented in a direct, succint manner. Very good!

[Lilibeth Santiago · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's very informative, but I find its too optimistic as well. I guess only time will tell.

[Brian Hanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m of two minds about this. On one hand, I heavily underlined and dog-eared this book. On the other hand, it’s essentially a long form brochure for the author’s business, which is essentially a consultant for consultants.

The first thing to understand is that the point of the books is to get you in the author’s email list, then eventually become a client of his. There’s not necessarily anything wrong with that, and though he doesn’t explicitly state it, he’s not trying to hide that fact either. He even suggests giving away a lot of information as a sales tactic.

All that being said, this book is absolutely filled with useful information for a person like me. I’m a long time corporate hack, who dreams of a second career as an independent consultant. I found dozens of useful pieces of practical advice and will surely refer back if I ultimately decide this path suits me.

Overall, it’s a mixed bag. The writing is pretty flat and reads like a standard blog post. That’s not a horrible thing, seeing as the chapters are very short and the entire text is presented as a condensed, almost bullet pointed guide. I could have done without some of the very basic and obvious stuff like “don’t waste too much time on Twitter” lines as part of how to be productive. But this stuff was easy enough to fly by.

As I said, this book seeks to make you a client by giving you a lot of decent information.

[Gregory Charlop · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. I enjoyed the intro, as it inspired me to get to work building out my consulting practice. However, I found the majority of the book to be rather bland and generic. I didn't find too many actionable steps. In addition, the book covered people who are starting and experienced in consulting. By covering such a large group, the author was unable to provide deep insights into any particular area.
I would have preferred that he stuck exclusively with new consultants, so he could have done a deeper dive into getting started.

[Harshal Patil · Rating 2 out of 5]

The impact of this book on me is 2/5 because the material overlapped with other books. The chapters were less detailed than Michael Port's Book Yourself Solid book or David Field's book. I bought this book after noticing that their consulting coaching website had the highest volume of organic traffic compared to other businesses that coach consultants. However, I didn't learn much from it. It is an okay starting point for new consultants.

[Scott Friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before Michael's book was available, I went back to listen to two years of his podcasts where he interviewed other consultants and what made them successful. I would say that Michael successfully collated his own successful practices with those of his clients and associates to put into this book. While I would recommend listening to or reading whatever Michael has produced, the book is fundamentally the summary of all that information and can be read in a short time. I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to be or already is a consultant.

[Scotty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. As a marketer Zipursky reminded me of things that I know/knew, but really need to be reminded of... over and over again. I do feel like parts of this book will need to be read over and over again over time. Some great ideas to keep coming back too.

I've been pretty impressed with all the material I've seen from Zipursky so far. Eager to see more.

[Cairo Cananea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dicas interessantes pra quem quer iniciar ou tocar negócios na área de consultoria.
Pensar em todas as etapas do seu negócio realmente é um diferencial, e pela bagagem de marketing do autor isso ficou bem marcado nesta publicação.

[Michael Ulmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up lots of good tips and practical ideas from this book, and found the bonus materials useful, too. I recommend Michael's book to anyone starting out or interested in improving their overall consulting practice.

[Olivia O'Leary · Rating 4 out of 5]

For someone stepping out into their first foray into consulting this book was really helpful. Ziprusky’s articles and podcasts are on regular rotation for me and this just consolidated a lot of the learnings.

[Darrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Blueprint and Headstart

I think this is a must read for the beginner consultant and a great refresher for those already in the field. It addresses mindset, application, time management as well as self care and proven methods to succeed.

[B. Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best guide for consulting!

I have read many books on consulting and starting businesses. This book presents the essential information that is needed. Highly recommend!

[Lisa Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative. Easy and quick tead

Well organized book. Quick read and practical. Love information that is easy to access. Love the self care aspect incorporated as well.

[Lonnie Ayers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid advice

I found the associated links useful and will be able to put them to good use. Good practical tools. Keep up the work.

[Roberta Sarno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, useful, actionable information to set up a consulting business from a to z.

[Rahma Mirza · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was not impressed (it added no additional value to me)
Generic things you could easily find in short articles over the internet.

[Darren Sapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book for you to read when starting consulting or if you feel stuck in the process. It's need deep but hits on all aspects you should consider.

[Amanda Hargrove · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource for someone just starting their own consulting business. This is definitely going to be a re-read.

[Frank Gebruers · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book. practical tips in abundance

Loved to read the book. I used it as guide to setup my consulting business. Recommended to all starting up

[Pol Quiroz · Rating 2 out of 5]

trivial

[alcfeoh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book might be a good read for beginner consultants but not very helpful for seasoned ones. I found a few good reminders in this book but no advice that would change the way I do business.

[Tanya Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

The realest consulting book!

This is a great book to read as a consultant. It feels like a mentor is talking to you and guiding you on your consulting journey. Highly recommend it to people that are lost, need motivation or simply need someone to tell them to put in the work!