Would you call yourself a contractor ... or a 'consultant'?  Perhaps you don't feel there's any real difference.  Well, let me give you my take on this.  And at the same time, I hope it will give you some insights to help you launch (or re-vitalise) a very profitable consulting business.

As I see it, 'contractors' are people with specific skills who are contracted to fill a need on a pre-defined project.  They receive the job outline and the parameters in which to work.  And they work on a set negotiated fee for a specified time frame.

And that's fine if a set contract rate is how you like to work, although you become somewhat dependent on the availability of projects 'out there'.  So what about the 'consultant scenario' ...

Ever been at a networking function and someone asks 'And what do you do for a living?' ...

If you say something like "I'm a systems analyst" ... or "I'm a project manager" ... or "I'm in sales" ... the response is likely to be something like, "That's interesting ... who do you think is going to win the football on the weekend?"

In other words, labels are BORING.  They make people glaze over.  Which is fine if you like talking football.  But if you're wanting to get 'out there' and generate business as a self-employed consultant - labels have no intrinsic value.  They will never excite a potential client into hiring your services.

For a start, that potential client will have his or her OWN pre-conceptions of what your 'label' does!  And secondly, a label doesn't bring to life the things you CAN do.  The VALUE you bring to the table.  No company WANTS a financial controller for example.  What they WANT is for their funds to be managed so they can continue to grow, they want their tax done correctly so they stay out of trouble with the tax department, and so on.  They want the OUTCOME, not the 'label'.

To explain this a little more, let me relate a brief story from one of our recent Incubator Workshops.  As part of our process of helping participants see the true value they bring to the table for a potential client, we do what we call a 'What does THAT mean?' exercise.

One delightful lady at our event, when asked to explain what she brings to the table in terms of value, said that she's a 'Project Manager' specialising in systems. (Yes, a 'label'!  And it means nothing unless it's dimensionalised.)

"And what does that mean?", I asked her.  "Well, it means that when I go into a company, there's often tension and lack of communication between the key departments, and I bring them together in a common purpose."

"And what does that mean?", I asked her again, drilling down.  "Well, when everybody in a project has a different agenda, things just don't get done, or they take a lot longer to do, and the outcomes are not as good.  I bring cohesiveness to the project."

"So would it be fair to say," I asked, "that when you bring this harmony and integration to a project, you get the project delivered faster?  And perhaps you save the company money in potential cost overruns?"

"Oh, absolutely!!", she responded, now seeing where this was leading.  "Cost overruns can cost an organisation many hundreds of thousands of dollars.  What's more, getting everyone on the same page improves morale and that means valuable people don't leave.  And that saves the company even more hundreds of thousands of dollars over time!"

Can you see the thought process here?  Without the skills to drill down and articulate the VALUE inherent in her skill base, she was ... just a 'label'!

In our course, 'Taking the Leap' into High Income Consulting, one of the key skills we teach is how to identify and ARTICULATE the value you bring to the table.  It can be the difference between a nice salary each month, and the ability to charge a fee ten or twenty times as much, and have clients happy to PAY it.

Remember that 1976 movie 'Network' with Peter Finch ... where he expodes with "I'm mad as hell and I'm not taking it anymore".  There's no doubt being made redundant can feel like that.  But it IS a wake up call that you have to stop 'taking it', and start 'MAKING IT'.  Making your own destiny instead of going cap in hand looking for 'jobs'.

All too often I hear formerly top execs - now made redundant - tell me how they are unable to get work, often with a tinge of bitterness that they were loyal employess, working their tails off making someone ELSE wealthy. I tell them to get a bit of that Peter Finch adrenalin happening.  There is a way out.  And it's a far BETTER life anyway ...

By now, you'll probably be used to me occasionally 'rolling a grenade' into the comfort zone of conventional thinking. Well, let me do that one more time.

Resumes! I've lost count of how often people, especially those with 'grey hair', express concern about their resume. Those 'grey hair' individuals admit to being intimidated at having to compete with younger applicants. They're fearful that their resume just won't stack up, and maybe I've got some magic prose to fix it.

Well, whenever these otherwise talented and dynamic people ask my advice on how to fix their resume, I challenge them on why they should even HAVE a resume. I've made this point in a previous article. A resume is a document that helps you plead your case for being considered for a job. But why even PUT yourself in a position of pleading for a job?

As part of our launch for the 'Taking the Leap' into High Income Consulting program, I've been personally doing some of the coaching sessions with our new program participants.

Frankly I LOVE engaging with businesspeople on the TRUE VALUE of their skills (and showing them how to become more 'marketable'). But these sessions open up all sorts of issues too.

One issue that comes up often is participants telling me they're constantly being told they're OVER QUALIFIED when they apply for jobs. I have two responses to that!

My first response is, "How is it that no one ever tells their heart surgeon they're over qualified!" I hope you see my point. In a business context, it is NOT that the person is overqualified. It's that they have failed to POSITION themselves and their qualifications effectively as assets to the organisation.

Over the last few days, I’ve had something of a revelation. A ‘whack around the head’ might be a better way of putting it.

You see, I’ve had the opportunity to speak to lots of ‘over 45s’ who visited our Age of Experience Network website and enquired about what we do. Seeking their feedback, I picked up the phone to talk to them about their career path plans and expectations. To be truthful, it was pretty heart rending to hear some of the stories.

I had really talented and experienced executive level people telling me of their despair at sending out hundreds of applications, (over 300 in one case), and not even getting an acknowledgement from employers. No wonder there’s so much talk about a mature age employment crisis!

But you know, the more I spoke to these fine individuals, the more I got frustrated. Frustrated that they’re actually MISSING the point.

If you're an Australian Tax Office 'client' ... a little known tax ruling may come as a bit of a (timely) shock

Last week, I had an eye-opening discussion with Neil Fairley, an old colleague of mine, and what he told me needs to be out there. It’s a ruling mandated by the Australian Tax Office that could have you saying, “WHAT! You’ve got to be kidding!”.

It’s this …

If you contract out your personal services, OR you own or manage a company that engages contractors who do, you may be failing to comply with an ATO ruling. According to Neil, lots and lots of companies and contractors are unwittingly NON-compliant. And the risks are just not worth it.

If you're a mature aged individual keen on staying in the workforce, and you've been doubting your employability due to 'your age', then this blog is for you.

First up, let me tell you about two phone conversations I had some years ago. Co-incidentally, they were from two business people in exactly the same industry. And they called out of the blue within a couple of weeks of each other.

What was REALLY fascinating was ...

There are lots and lots of ways to promote your expertise, but when it comes to where to START, the answer is really quite simple ...

The old adage of 'someone who knows someone who knows someone' is alive and well. Just this morning ...

I was having a discussion with a delightful professional lady about the Age of Experience "How to Build Your SELF EMPLOYED CONSULTANT Business". She got really excited about what we're doing and within minutes, she was firing off suggestions on people we should talk to. "I would love you to meet such and such about this." ... and "And do you know such and such? I'll give you an introduction." ... "Oh, also there's also an expo coming up that you should be involved in. Let me introduce you to the organiser" ...

Ever wondered what the secret is when it comes to getting your message across in a memorable way? The old story tellers' formula is the key. And it is elegant in its simplicity ...

"First, tell them what you're going to tell them. Then tell them. Then tell them what you told them." Great advice for anyone in the business of communicating a message. So how does this relate to YOU when it comes to being more successful in consulting?