Subject line: First Lesson – Mentoring for Money
Hello PowerAchievers member,
Welcome to the first lesson in the Mentoring for Money crash course.
Over the next few days you will receive several lessons that will help you
learn the ins and outs of starting your own profitable mentoring
business.
You may have heard about consulting as a business, but the best kind of
consultant is a mentor, a trusted and influential advisor or teacher.
Average consultants get paid to produce reports that may or may not be used.
Mentors are the highly paid experts with the inside edge who get paid
substantial somes of money by their clients for providing actionable,
profitable intel. They become indispensable.
In this first lesson we are going to talk a little about what is involved in
setting up a profitable mentoring business and how to know what type of
mentor you should be.
Consulting is currently one of the best business models you can
follow and it has many rewards including a nice profit margin and plenty
of flexibility.
Fact #1: Through consulting, the performance of a business may be
substantially improved.
Fact #2: Companies trust the ideas and suggestions of their project
team and staff; but most of the time, the expertise need to achieve
growth is limited.
Result: This leads to the hiring of private consultants to help the
business achieve its goals.
Consulting is a talent. If you have the skills and expertise to help people
take their business where they want it to go, then consulting can be a
great option with excellent financial returns.
Establishing a mentoring business is not always easy, it involves a lot
of self-marketing along with a solid reputation and expertise to back it
up.
To gain success in consulting, you need to focus on selling one product
– YOU!
But, before you begin marketing yourself you should first determine
what your mentor potential is. You can do this by asking yourself
a few basic questions.
– What is the thing you are most passionate about?
– What is that thing that you do best?
Once you have determined what that is, ask whether there are people
who might need some assistance in that area.
– Now, can you help them?
Of course, you can! You are an expert on it! So why not do it as a
business? Earn money helping others with something you know and do
best-and that is business consulting.
You can start small. Do it in the comfort of your home as a freelance
consultant. There are a lot of organizations and executives out there
who are in need of expert mentors and with a little fine tuning, you
can become a high-paid advisor.
So what do you need to do next?
Well, as I have said earlier, you have to determine your area of
expertise first.
Then find out if you have the required certifications to claim that you are
an expert in that field? If you don’t, you must secure that first. An expert
without credentials is just another person next-door, who is ambitioning
to be an expert. People believe in the written word, so you have to have
that. However, there are also professions or areas of expertise that
don’t require certificates like fund-raising consultants. Expertise
on the likes of this area only needs experience. However, you have to
have vast experience in the field you are planning to advise on.
Second, your office, since you are starting small, your first office can be
your bedroom, or your study room, if you have one. All you need is a
table and chair, an internet connection and a telephone line,
and presto! You are almost ready to start your mentoring business.
Almost, because you have to understand that though you are starting
small, of course, you are also looking to becoming big someday.
So you have to be organized. mentors are advising on
management and that includes time and things management. You have
to practice what you are advising.
Third, set your goals and limitations. Why limitations? You are only
starting your business, so don’t shoot stars. Set your goals to a
realizable scale or level. Do not target too many clients and end
up failing with your commitments. Be realistic. Do not bite off more than
you can chew. Maintain your clientele to a manageable number.
Fourth, develop and make a record of your plan. You need to have a
tangible reminder of the path you are taking so you would not go astray.
It’s easy to get distracted and side-tracked from your goals. So it’s
best to have it formally written down and give it a professional feel. This
way, you can also have something to show possible clients, proving that
you are serious in your business.
Fifth, create your lesson plans. Of course, before you can advise, train,
or teach, you have to have a lesson plan. You have to know what you
are going to tell your clients. Write it on your own. Think of all the
possible weakness people might have in your chosen field. Focus and
write about that. If you don’t know how to start it, begin with the
definition of your profession and everything else would follow. The field
you are going to write about is your forte, so things should flow easily
once you have begun.
We have a lot to go over in the next few days if you want to learn all
about Mentoring for Money, so make sure you look for your next lesson
soon. In your next lesson we will be going over some simple steps that
will help you start your mentoring business the right way.
Thank you again for joining, if you have any questions or need any
assistance please feel free to contact me at anytime using the contact
information below. I will be happy to help,
Until then,
Power Maven
PowerAchievers.com
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2
subject line: Second Lesson – Mentoring for Money
Hello PowerAchievers member,
It’s time for your second lesson in the Mentoring for Money. I hope you
found lesson one informative. In the last lesson we talked about
business and how to know what type of mentor you should be.
In this lesson we will go over some simple steps that will help you start
your mentoring business the right way!
As we discussed in your last lesson, offering consultation services is
one of the best business models that you can follow and can provide
you with both profits and flexibility.
The typical way to start any type of business is to be as informed as
possible about the way it functions. This is also true when running a
mentoring business.
A good place to start is to purchase informative books, video and other
manuals to learn everything you can about the business. You can also
seek advice from other consultants who had been successful in their
fields. Most of all, don’t be shy when it comes to asking for help.
Next, develop a harmonious working relationship with your clients.
Building good relationships with the clients is the mantra of all
businesses since relationships can go beyond the initial sale and can
also forge repeat buys. Clarify client’s expectations versus what you
can do.
Specify your expertise and the benefits they can get from having you as
their mentor. More often than not, clients especially those big
organizations have high expectations of the consultants. By being
realistic of your capabilities, the good relationship can be developed
from then on.
Then, make a good proposal with a clear statement of your strategies
and objectives. Since you are the mentor, you are expected to solve
majority of the organization’s problems. Clearly state on your proposal
the services you will provide and the price you will be asking. Strongly
emphasize the advantages that your client will enjoy once they deal with
you. You can only do this by presenting the benefits they can reap after
getting your services.
Now, create a marketing plan to grab the most profitable client’s
attention. You can briefly present your marketing plan; actually you can
devise a seven sentence marketing plan.
– The first sentence explains the purpose of your project.
– Second sentence explains the ways on how to achieve the purpose
and the benefits that the clients can get.
– Third sentence describes the target market.
– Fourth sentence describes the niche.
– Fifth sentence is about the weapons you will utilize.
– Sixth sentence is about your business identity.
– And the seventh is all about the budget.
Present a refined, professional image. Being in the image business,
your clients will perceive you as an ultimate maker of sales. One sure
way to draw new clients is to be categorized as an expert in the
consulting industry.
Project yourself as an expert having marketable skills produced from a
combination of education and knowledge you gained from years of
experience. Since your skills are rare, many companies will be willing
to pay your premium. But they also need to see you as in demand,
successful and one of the top quality mentors of all time. Make sure
that you have all the necessary materials such as sample videos and
business cards. Convey an image of an expert who have all the
knowledge clients can benefit from.
Consider offering a free introductory session when needed. Often,
consultants are conscious of the bills and are hesitant to give their
services. Being a mentor does not always mean charging per hour
of your precious service. If you are just starting with your business, you
must first build client’s awareness about your services so free short
consultation will not hurt you. Ensure that your client will be interested on
your services by conducting free information seminar once in a while.
This can give you exposure and referrals.
Be keen with results. The clearest path to have new clients is a
promotion from those who saw your first successful project. Keep your
network of employers and other persons that you know. Always keep in
mind that in mentoring business, results are the viable tool to acquire
clients. To be successful, you must deliver and offer undisputed value to
your clients and all other members of your network.
These are just some simple steps that can be followed when starting a
new mentoring business. This might not be enough though since a
great effort must be exerted when running any chosen business. With all
these ingredients, your mentoring business will surely give you huge
money.
That’s it for today’s lesson. In your next lesson we will be talking more
about some of reasons why you should consider offering your business
consulting for free!
Again, I appreciate your joining me for this short course. If you have
any questions or need any assistance please feel free to contact me at
anytime. I will be glad to help.
Until then,
Power Maven
PowerAchievers.com
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3
subject line: Third Lesson – Mentoring for Money
Hello PowerAchievers member,
It’s Power Maven, with your third lesson in the Consulting For
Cash crash course. In your last lesson we talked about some simple
steps to help you start your mentoring business the right way. In today’s
lesson we are going to talk about some of reasons why you should
consider offering your business consulting for free!
I know, I know… You must be thinking that I’m crazy, suggesting that you
offer your business consulting for free. We touched briefly on this in your
last lesson and as we move forward I feel it is important that you
understand the benefits of offering your services for free.
The big question you may be asking yourself is; “How can I make
money by providing my consulting services for free?” You may be
thinking that will turn your business into a charity, right?
Wrong!
What I’m talking about here is giving out free consultancy as a teaser, a
free taste or free sample, so to speak. People don’t just buy new
products from a stranger without testing the product first. When you are
just getting started chances are that you aren’t very well-known, so it will
be more difficult to get new clients to invest in you.
Nobody invests in something that is not reliable to generate good
results. Unless you are backed by someone very famous and reliable,
you are not going to get clients for your business.
By providing free consultancies, you are giving them a taste of what it is
like to have you as a mentor. You are not going to hand them
everything you have got in a silver platter. No, that’s not what I am
saying. It just about giving them a free sample-a small sachet
of your service. It is a very good way of enticing and luring them to your
business. Once you have proven that you can help them and you made
them happy with the result of your sample service, they are left with
little choice but to hire your services. They wouldn’t be able to deny a
good tangible result!
So, what you have to do is advertise on your website that you are
offering free business consulting. Nothing lures customer more
effectively than the screaming word “FREE”. People’s weaknesses
always include freebies.
Create a downloadable request for consulting form on your website so
that they can send you their contact information and initial details of
their consulting needs. This would also give you chance to build your
list of possible clients as they would be leaving their company’s
contact information and their own contact information as well.
Once you have gained enough names on your list, try to become
friends with them. In every business, good relationship is the key. So
don’t just build mountains of contacts, but build networks of
relationships.
Establish a good working relationship with everyone you meet in your
free consulting services, and you are sure to get referrals. This way, you
are slowly building a network that would work for you and your business.
When you have lots of friends in the business world who believe in your
talent, they would surely tap you in every endeavor related to your
expertise.
Soon afterwards, you would find yourself speaking at their conferences
or seminars. And that is another opportunity for you to market yourself
and your business consulting services. You can do the public speeches
for free, too! This way, you are establishing goodwill and gaining their
trust. And in a way, they become indebted to you and would doubtlessly
return the favor in the future.
Offering free business consulting services and free public speeches
are even better and cheaper than advertisements using professional
advertising agencies. You can also consider it as a practice in
honing your consulting skills. But of course, you still do your own
advertising from your own website, publishing newsletters and
distributing brochures and leaflets.
That’s it for today’s lesson. In your next lesson we will talk about Most in
Demand Business Consulting Services
Until then,
Power Maven
PowerAchievers.com
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4
subject line: Fourth Lesson – Mentoring for Money
Hello PowerAchievers member,
How are you? We’re winding down to the end of this short course. But
we still need to go over a few things so that you can be sure to get your
mentoring business off to a great start.
Today we are going to jump right into some of the things that you should
know about running a mentoring business. Remember, you don’t have
to reinvent the wheel. You just have to have the right mind set and the
proper information to get on the right track.
According to the Harvard Business School research, about 100 billion
dollars are generated by the business consulting industry. This is from
the annual revenues gained by consultants solely in the United States.
Consultants are really needed by companies in a slow economy to
assist them in cutting their costs and increasing their revenues.
As a business mentor, you will be relied on and respected in every
industry and in every country. Being a business mentor, you will be
admired for both your independence and expertise.
The bottom line of business consulting is to help organization leverage
their business performances to produce viable results. Among the
services that can be offered by business consulting are:
– Improving productivity.
You can assist your clients to work more efficiently or redesign the work
processes. You can also institutionalize and design metrics for process
enhancements.
– Optimizing workload and applications.
You can help clients align applications for business strategy, plan
internal resources and prioritize critical work requests.
– Ensuring effective outsourcing.
You can also ensure the outsourcing suitability of the organizations
infrastructure and applications. You can also help them design
governance structure that will lead to better management of relationship
issues and organizational change.
You can also choose to specialize in other different areas such as:
marketing consulting,
small business consulting,
communications consulting,
organizational development consulting,
IT consulting,
strategic planning consulting,
HR consulting and any other areas that need professional advice.
With all the expertise gained by a business mentor, it’s no wonder
that they are one of the most highly paid professionals. On a recent
survey conducted by Association of Management Consulting
Firms, it was found out that entry level consultants earn an average
annual income of $65,000 or more.
When it comes to being a highly sought after mentor just remember
that hard work and perseverance equates the profit and fame that you
may acquire from this business. There are also some good rules of
thumb that you should always keep in mind:
You and the client should have a good working relationship. Establish a
relationship that will go beyond your first sale. Clarify the expectations
from your first assignment. Describe the things that you do and identify
the benefits a client will achieve. Clients hire you because of your skills
and expertise so you should be able to produce a quality work for them.
You are hired as a mentor to help the client’s problem; clearly state
your proposal that is beneficial enough for the client, that way the price
that you are asking them is worth the pay. From your proposal, let them
feel that they really need your expertise. Always emphasize the benefits
that they will obtain from your services.
Always present a professional image. The client’s perception of what
you are is really important. Always show them that you have the
expertise and skills that are highly based on the combination of your
education and knowledge from your chosen field. Because of this,
client would willingly pay you because your skills will help them improve
their firms. Always keep in mind that clients expect to see an in demand
and successful business mentor.
You are just establishing a mentoring business, so offer free sessions.
This will be the chance for you to expose yourself and gain referrals.
Always keep in mind that as a starting consultant you need not bill
them right away. First, think of ways you can help them, not monetize
every hour you talk to them.
Charge your clients by your hourly rate, not by the whole job. A
consultant is being paid for the hours that will be used for the project.
Make sure that the rate your rate is equivalent to your expertise, type
of field and your contracting firm’s size. Also, include in your fees the
overhead expenses, the time spent in marketing and other
administrative endeavors.
Make an update of your client’s portfolio. It’s not bad to remove clients
that generate small income. After all, you are talking about your own
business here. You can get referrals from good clients and even fish for
some new industries to widen your horizon. But remember; take on the
assignments that you think you will enjoy and never forget to follow up
for your clients.
These are just a few simple guidelines that will help you establish a a
successful mentoring business. Entering the business consulting arena
can be a daunting task, but if you have the needed skills and expertise,
you’ll have no problem becoming successful in this field.
Just remember that, business consulting is a win-win situation if you
are a good mentor. You can help improve other firms and also
improve your mentoring business. So start your mentoring business
and move your way for a higher income.
Don’t forget to keep an eye out for my next email. There will
be some great stuff in your last lesson. We are going to talk about
some great ways to help keep your mentoring business sustainable.
Until then,
Power Maven
PowerAchievers.com
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5
subject line: Fifth Lesson – Mentoring for Money
Hello PowerAchievers member,
Well, we have come to the final lesson in the Mentoring for Money crash
course. I sure hope you have enjoyed your lessons and learned a lot
about starting your own profitable mentoring business.
In this last lesson we are going to talk about some great ways to help
keep your mentoring business sustainable and profitable for years to
come.
Like every other business endeavor, business consulting has its own
risks. There will always be doubts and second thoughts and lots and
lots of after thoughts. Nothing in this life is sure to last forever.
In fact, nothing really will last forever. So if what you want is to have a
business that would last forever, you are trying to hit the moon.
However, there is always hope, to keep your business afloat and
thriving in the jungle world of entrepreneurship for a very long time.
Yes, there is always hope. But you have to work really hard for that hope
to materialize. The best thing you can aim at is keeping your business
consulting firm sustainable. If you can achieve that, then you can
start working on keeping it abreast with other companies in the field.
So how do you keep your mentoring business sustainable? You only
have a few contacts or connections, so what happens when you have
used up your existing resources?
Simple. Create and build new resources. The only way to keep your
business going is to have an ample supply of resources. So, here are a
few things you could do to keep business going and growing.
First thing to do is to firmly establish your business plan. You are going
to engage in a very serious business so you have to be serious about.
Your clients should take you as a serious, no-nonsense person that
would deliver them good results. So do your homework and be
prepared.
Have a comprehensive business kit containing details of your services
in a neatly packaged brochure, with hourly rates, project rates, retainer
basis rate and whatever package you want to serve your client.
This brochure would be your salesperson in your absence, so make it
the best brochure you can ever make. This is the blood of your
business, keep it pulsing through your veins.
Second is finding clients. You can find clients through friends’ referrals
but that would not last very long. Even if you have a long list of friends,
that is still not enough to last your business a lifetime.
So you have to exert more effort. Try cold calling. It may sound a little to
below your level, but hey, this is business! You need to do whatever it
takes to get clients and cold calling is not as bad as you may
think. You just have to do it right and do it nicely.
You know how irritating it is to be offered things over the phone, so try
not to be irritating. Try not to do the things that those telemarketers do
to irritate you.
Prepare a nice introductory script before making your first call. Try not
to bombard your prospective client with the details of your business.
Your goal is to get him interested enough to agree on a meeting with
you for further discussion of your services.
It also pays to remember that very person you meet, great or small is a
possible connection. So be nice to all people all the time. He may just
be a janitor or a food attendant at a restaurant, but for all you know,
you may be talking the person who could lead you to your biggest catch
ever. So be nice all the time.
As we close this final lesson I would like to thank you again for joining
me and I sincerely hope that you have learned a lot about how to start
your own profitable mentoring business!
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I will be glad
to help!
Good luck with your all of your business endeavors,
Power Maven
PowerAchievers.com
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Originally posted 2011-07-05 02:58:32.
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