The New Consultant's Quick Start Guide

8Finding Clients

In this chapter you will

• Determine your niche in the market
• Analyze your competition
• Identify your first clients
• Create a plan to land your first work

Determine Your Market Niche

In Chapter One you declared that you were a ________ consultant who helps your clients to ________, which benefits them ________. We’ll begin with this statement as you identify your market niche.

Your niche is the position you wish to occupy that sets you apart from as many other consultants as possible. This niche may be based on the type of service or product you provide that solves a client problem, the type of client or industry you serve, how you provide your services, or the specific expertise or experience you have that validates your services.

So far you have explored your areas of expertise, the experience you’ve had, your natural abilities, the benefits you could provide a client, the results that might be valuable to a client, and other things. To identify your niche in the marketplace, you will examine what you will do from a client’s perspective and begin to describe your clients more specifically, thus homing in on your potential client base.

To what part of the market will you offer your consulting? You need to clarify this before you create your marketing plan in the next chapter. A portion of your marketing plan will target a market segment on which you will focus your marketing efforts. You need this focus so that you are not trying to be everything to everyone. ...