Introduction to the third edition.
About the author.
Other works by Alan Weiss.
Acknowledgments.
Chapter 1. Establishing Goals and Expectations (Including
Your Own).
You will be what you decide to be, nothing less, nothing
more.
? Starting at square zero: financial needs.
? Personal attributes: the investment from within.
? Focus: we're all working part-time.
? Why collaboration can kill you.
? Summary.
? Questions and Answers.
Chapter 2. Physical Space and Environmental Needs.
Act like you have a business and you'll have one.
? Alternative work spaces.
? The basics around you.
? Beyond the basics.
? Communicating at the speed of light.
? Getting some help from some friends.
? Questions and Answers.
Chapter 3. Sorting Out the Legal, Financial, and
Administrative.
First, let's kill all the lawyers.
? Legal requirements and organizational options.
? Accounting, financial, and tax matters?exploiting
opportunities.
? Finding a banker and obtaining credit.
? Other professional help.
? Questions and Answers.
Chapter 4. Marketing 101.
Creating a marketing gravity for your business.
? Creating a press kit.
? Stationery and related image products.
? Networking.
? Pro bono work.
? Listings, ads, and passive sources.
? Summary.
? Questions and Answers.
Chapter 5. Advanced Marketing.
? Creating a brand.
? Establishing a web site.
? Publishing.
? Obtaining media interviews.
? Speaking.
? Newsletters.
? Questions and Answers.
Interlude: Leveraging Technology.
How to get started at the speed of light.
? The importance of being earnest.
? The budget sampler.
? Best practices in leverage.
Chapter 6. Initiating the Sales Process and Acquiring
Business.
Building relationships.
? Finding the right buyer.
? What to do about gatekeepers.
? Gaining conceptual agreement.
? Creating a succession of "yeses".
? Questions and Answers.
Chapter 7. Closing the Sale.
How to write proposals and cash checks.
? The nature of excellent proposals.
? The nine steps of great proposals.
? When to follow up.
? Eight rules for a command appearance.
? Ten steps to follow if the buyer is non-responsive.
? Horrors, what if the buyer says "NO": six steps to
redemption.
? Questions and Answers.
Chapter 8. Establishing Fees.
If you bill by the hour you cheat your client and
yourself.
? The fallacy and lunacy of time-based fees and per
diems.
? Preparing and educating the client.
? Fifty-one ways to increase your fees.
? Summary.
? Questions and Answers.
Chapter 9. Moving to the Next Level.
You may be ready for dramatic growth before you know
it.
? Finding resources: the pros and cons of staffs.
? Business planning.
? Creating passive income.
? Working internationally.
? Investing in longer term potential.
? Summary.
? Questions and Answers.
Chapter 10. Giving Yourself Permission to Succeed.
How to continue to grow by paying back.
? Maximize retirement investing.
? Mentoring.
? Professional growth.
? Retainers.
? Selective project acquisition.
? Travel.
? Celebrity status.
? The firm's future.
? Giving back.
? Questions and Answers.
Chapter 11. The Quick Start.
How to hit the consulting ground running at full
speed.
? First dimension: creating infrastructure.
? Second dimension: reaching out for business.
? Summary.
* Questions and Answers.
Appendices.
A. Business Plan to Attract Investment.
B. Sample "To Do" Lists.
C. Office Equipment Recommendations.
D. Trade Associations, Professional Groups, Publicity
Sources.
E. Sample Biographical Sketch for a New Consultant.
F. Sample Position Paper.
H. Sample Magazine Inquiry Letter.
I. Glossary.
ALAN WEISS is a consultant, speaker, and bestselling author. His firm, Summit Consulting Group, Inc., has consulted with such clients as Merck, Hewlett-Packard, GE, and Mercedes-Benz, among many others. His thirty other books include the bestseller Million Dollar Consulting. For more information, contact him at his blog, www.contrarianconsulting.com, or Web site, www.summitconsulting.com.
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