Every small business owner needs a marketing plan to come up with effective ways to advertise their goods or services and create their brand. It’s just a part of doing business – a necessity that can’t be overlooked. And today, that usually means an aggressive online marketing campaign. Most consumers use social media and Google searches in order to find companies with which they want to do business. You have to go where your target market hangs out, so to speak, in order to reach them.

But how many busy entrepreneurs actually have time to properly do the job of marketing their business? It’s often better to simply leave those tasks to a professional. Here’s why an online marketing consultant can achieve much better results marketing your business than you can.

Online Marketing Consultants Do a Better Job

Having a marketing plan in place is only one part of the equation. The other part is making that marketing plan work for your business. Not only must the tasks necessary to reach each goal be effective, they need to produce tangible results. In fact, online marketing consultants are more efficient and can produce better results than simply using an in-house person for internet marketing.

These are the five key areas where busy entrepreneurs simply can’t compete.

1. Knowledge

Online marketing consultants have prior marketing experience. They know how to do the job of marketing and advertising businesses.

Part of that involves staying up-to-date on the latest trends. Is Google currently using Panda, Penguin or Phantom page ranking algorithms? Do you know how to find out – and do you need to care? Unless your business directly involves optimizing websites or internet marketing, chances are you simply don’t have the time and resources to stay on top of all the trends and changes in the world of search engines.

2. Connections

When you need a specific piece of information, who do you turn to? If your car is making a loud, unexpected noise, you probably take it to a mechanic. If your website marketing efforts aren’t producing the expected results, an online marketing consultant – who often knows key industry insiders – is your go-to resource. The truth is, it’s all in who you know. For trusty, reliable references, an online marketing consultant is the right person to know.

3. Dedication

Whether yours is a sole proprietorship or a company with a handful of employees, chances are there simply isn’t enough manpower to properly market your business online. Unlike an employee who has to worry about day-to-day tasks, an online marketing consultant is dedicated to doing one thing and one thing only – marketing your business.

4. Skill Set

Wondering how to put together a PPC campaign or how to gather leads through your website? A consultant already knows how – and can offer the right advice to achieve the desired results. Sure, you could probably learn a few things by doing the research and receiving the training, but do you really have the time to dedicate to this? Is it really something you would enjoy doing anyway? If you hate it, delegate it.

5. Time

And, finally, it all comes down to time. It’s already been mentioned a lot. You know an entrepreneur’s work is never done. How can you fit internet marketing into the long list of tasks you already have outlined? Often it’s cheaper in the long run to hire someone with the necessary skills and know-how to more efficiently market your business than trying to do it yourself. After all, time is money!

Do you need to hire an online marketing consultant? Maybe, maybe not. But you’ll never know the types of fantastic results you could be missing out on unless you try outsourcing internet marketing.

Want to know more about how to use inexpensive ways to market your small business? For the new business owner looking for help, Web Navigator Gal will steer you in the right direction for success and profitability. With experience marketing for companies with global renown, such as Disney, Fox. Sony and Mattel, Web Navigator Gal knows how to get your online presence going and your internet marketing up to speed. Visit her

Today we are going to talk about how to run a consulting business. One of the most important things you can do is to defend your Big Picture. You are probably thinking that your consulting expertise is the most important element of your business. You trust in the fact that you know a lot about your specific topic, have a deep understanding of it and can use your knowledge to connect with the client. I am not saying that those things are not important, what I am saying is that as you run your consulting business there are some other things that become even more important. Let me explain those things.

You must have a Big Picture. You need to have an assessment of where you are, a statement of where you need to be, as well as major milestones along the path. Whether you realize it or not, your business is on a path… somewhere and you have to be clear on what that direction is. Identify where you are now, where you want to be, and what the major milestones are in-between. Give your business direction so that every day your company exists, it gets better and better at its core activity.

You must nurture this Big Picture. There are a variety of ways you can nurture the Big Picture. You can hire quality employees, work with quality partners, and secure great clients. Hiring well and working with great vendors keeps your Big Picture fulfilled. Having healthy internal systems keeps your daily effort consistent so that you can deliver at a high level over and over. Having great mentors, both formal and informal, helps nurture the Big Picture. The key word here is “nurture”. You want your Big Picture to grow and expand. You want it to be as strong as it can. This kind of strength doesn’t happen on accident, it happens on purpose. These are some of the things you need to be doing in order for your Big Picture to be easily understand and positioned for growth.

You must protect the Big Picture. You have to understand that your Big Picture is under attack. If it’s not growing, it’s dying. Therefore, you have to commit to protect your Big Picture each day. For example, developing your employees is very important. You have to give your employees more opportunity to learn, grow, develop and give even greater value to your business and to your Big Picture. Next, check your company’s “buzz”. You have to know what other people are saying about your business. Where do you fall in your niche? Have you gotten to top-tier status or are you still on your way to top-tier status? No matter where you stand you have to know what people are saying about your business and how it’s being perceived. Also, you can’t be afraid to take vacations. It is possible to stare at your business for too long and lose perspective and insight. Sometimes you have to leave, step away, go on vacation, recharge and come back to your Big Picture. If not, you can simply tear away at your Big Picture as you keep moving things around in your consulting business without the right kind of perspective.

Have the courage to make adjustments. Just because you wrote the plan down on paper, the world is not going to react the way that you think it should. You need the courage to change things along the way.

Most change too early. Most of my clients change their plan too early. Changing too quickly may result in the pursuit of a different Big Picture. Stay the course, understand where you are really trying to go with your business, and have the courage to stand when you should.

Remember just because a person (or the marketplace) gives you a singular opinion, doesn’t mean you have to change your entire business. Keep the clarity and the fortitude to stand when it’s time to stand.

Push past first rejections. People are going to tell you “no”. People are going to hear what you have to say and be unexcited. Again, you have to believe in your picture and move beyond that rejection. In fact, you should expect rejection to come a second, third, and fourth time. It’s the nature of growing a business.

Having a clear Big Picture is a great step in the right direction of growing your business. However, you must also have the fortitude and clarity to stay your course in the face of adversity. You should be prepared to make adjustments, but be careful of emotional responses to short-term situations. Your best work is done when you make decisions in perfect alignment with your Big Picture.

Today we are going to talk about your business consultant business plan and I am going to challenge you to leave the hole. Let me explain what I mean. As consultants we do a lot of thinking. Our job is to think on behalf of our clients, but when it comes to our own business we think too much. Whether you are creating your first business plan or fifth generation new growth plan, I am going to challenge you to leave the hole. Don’t try to think through all the iterations before you actually roll the plan out. Don’t try to come up with every contingency, every plan A, B, C, D, E, F and G. Do your best to come up with sharp thinking, trust your thinking, and then roll the plan.

Old Mindset: Holes are bad and you must fill them. The old mindset that most of us have is that holes are bad and you must fix them. There is a fear that comes along with holes. We don’t want anybody to assume we haven’t thought our plan all the way through; we don’t want the public embarrassment. However, one thing about holes is that holes don’t make mistakes. If you allow your fear of failure to drive you, you will rush to create a new process to solve for a problem that may not exist at all. That rushed process can create plenty of mistakes. But if you have the courage to leave the hole then no new problems will arise. You can manage the situation with more patience and savvy.

Also, consider that a hole is a legitimate data point. Customer complaints are data. Lost revenue is data. Low employee morale is data. Even if you get a zero as the specific output, that is a data point as well. The holes you find are prompts to ask great questions. Think about how the work is supposed to be done. If you realize a hole, this is an opportunity to brainstorm around how the hole got there and solve for the root cause.

New Mindset: Holes make us better. In the spirit of a new mindset, holes actually make us better. Holes remind us of how our best work is done. You review a process, see a hole and think about what’s supposed to be there. How do you want it to work in a best case scenario? The existence of holes allows you to brainstorm in that way. Thinking this way gives you an eye for greater opportunity. Perhaps the existing process is healthy, but maybe you notice a hole before that process begins, or after the process ends. Those holes allow you to see what additional value can be added as an introduction or conclusion to your process.

Holes also represent real (and valuable) business pain. If you are supposed to have a five step process and you consistently miss step two, the consistent miss causes your business pain and pain teaches lessons. Pain attracts attention. None of us like to be around pain, but it’s hard for us to forget real pain. Business pains are things like lost clients, lost revenue, lost employees, lost opportunities, and lost bid prospects. These pains allow you to zero in on the holes that exist and fix them. Take the opportunity to become a better company.

Have the courage to leave the holes. Sometimes you have to go through loss or pain in order to appreciate what in that process needs to be changed.

The system doesn’t work if you cheat it. With that said, you must have the courage to leave the holes and the system doesn’t work if you cheat it. If you insert yourself in certain parts of the plan to cover up holes, you are cheating. You are not allowing the process to stand on its own and that’s necessary if you are going to make an honest analysis of it.

You can’t be afraid to discover a hole. You do your best thinking, put together your best strategy, and realize errors after roll-out. That’s what happens in business. You can’t be afraid of finding a hole later on in the process.

Don’t rob your company of the discipline it needs. You need the courage to leave a hole so that your entire business can see that an error has developed in how you do business. Because the solution may not reside in you as the lead consultant, that solution may reside in some other business relationship. But if you don’t have the courage to leave the hole, then your entire community can’t notice the hole and rally to fix it. Your business community includes your team, employees, vendors, customers, and clients. You all work together to create the best possible business environment. Be transparent with the holes so everyone can be part of the solution.

As the leader of your consulting business you have to be okay with making a mistake and you have to be OK with possible embarrassment. You’ve got to be OK with certain systems and certain processes failing. Those failures give you an opportunity to improve and that constant spirit of improvement is what makes you attractive as a consulting company. The fear that drives perfection only makes you weak and it’s a matter of time when that weakness is revealed to the marketplace. Have the courage to reveal the holes in your business and then work hard to improve them.

Today we are talking about leading your consulting business and I’m going to use the analogy of being the mayor of a city. This is important because I don’t want you to think that running a consulting business happens on accident or all by itself. Your job is to lead the consulting business and not just be a consultant to clients.

Building a community. The mayor’s job is to build a community. The citizens of a city are just like the employees of your company. Citizens need to work together in a city so the right things happen at the right time and everybody gets what they need. Your job as the mayor (leader) is to provide resources to those people so they can work together. Your job is to provide structure to help people work together. Your job is not to do every job in the city. Being everywhere doesn’t make sense, not to mention impossible. Your job is to lead the city and be the mayor.

Fire Department. The fire department puts out fires. Those things that are urgent and burning are taken care of by the fire department. The fire department is also a rescue service. If someone is stuck in a building, it’s the fire department that’s trained in navigating those buildings so they can get that person down safely. At times, the fire department even provides emergency medical assistance. They respond quickly when someone needs help and they care for that person on site. The fire department is under the mayor’s leadership, but the mayor is not personally responsible for delivering each and every service. In fact, it is unfair to expect one person to have expertise and availability in each of these areas.

Police Department. This is another service that the mayor would preside over. The police department reminds us of the rules. The police department helps remind us of the rules regarding driving on the highway, entering someone’s home, and interacting with another person’s property. Without their presence, we may forget (or discard) their importance. The police help remind us of how to behave so that the city is safe for all of us. For the people who don’t want to follow the rules, the police administer punishment, thus removing them from our healthy community.

The police also serve as an escort service. If there is a funeral or dignitary that comes to town, the police help escort that person efficiently. In a business sense, there are projects that need to be done quickly and you need a process to turn the primary streetlights green and the other streetlights red, so that we can get this particular project where it needs to go. Again, the mayor’s job is to provide for the police department, but the mayor cannot be the police department.

Hospital. Another example is the hospital system, which takes care of people when they get sick. The hospital cares for people when they need emergency care. So if someone has been shot, is missing a leg, or had severe eye injury, then they can be rushed to the hospital where people are prepared to care for them. The hospital also helps us understand preventive care in order to prevent certain emergencies from happening in the future. The mayor’s job is not to be the hospital. The mayor’s job is to make sure that hospitals exist, so that these kinds of services can happen.

In connection to the business environment, if there are employees that are sick, feel weary about their job, fatigued by the latest assignment, or who are panicked by a work related emergency, then they can go to the “hospital”. They can go to human resources, their supervisor, or their boss to get help with that particular issue. They can also get preventive care by having a conversation on how to not get overwhelmed the next time this issue comes about.

These kinds of things need to be happening inside your company, but it is not your job to do all of these things. That is the point here. The mayor’s job is to preside over the city, the same way it is your job to preside over your business. You have to make sure that there is a structure in place that keeps your environment healthy, so that the good work that needs to be done can be done. No one else can do this job but you, so you have to make sure that you stay focused on it.

The topic of today is how to create a business plan for a business consulting business. You are a professional, you’ve worked in your field for a number of years, and now you’re prepared to offer your specific expertise to other businesses. What should you focus on as you plan out your new business? My suggestion is to focus on a successful client attraction model.

What problem will you solve? Every business has its own unique set of problems, but there are some things that are consistent in almost every business. Here are some short examples: lead generation, customer service, management consulting, legal structure, social media, public relations, and salesmanship. These are just some of the issues you could consult on as a business consultant. What you have to do is be clear about which problem you are solving. Be careful, do not focus on the service you are offering. Instead, focus on the specific problem your client has in their business. What words are they using to define their problem and what solution are you prepared to offer that matches their problem as they describe it?

How will you reach them, consistently? There are a number of ways to market or promote a business. You can do it through networking, referrals, live events, and direct mail just to name a few. Here is the part you have to focus on, you have to be clear and confident that you can use your resources, your advantages, and your strengths create a strategy to find your best client over and over again. Be careful of the silver bullet dynamic where certain strategies seem impactful, but require resources that your business doesn’t have. Focus on what you have access to, what you understand, and what you know how to do and use those methods to consistently attract your best client.

Make a decision! You have to commit to trying your chosen strategy until it works. You have to know that when you use a certain strategy, you’re going to get a certain response. You have to work the strategy until you really understand what that response is. To that end, regard all information as feedback. It doesn’t matter whether you like your feedback or not, all information helps you make smarter business decisions. You have to be consistent with your strategy in order to clearly understand the quality of the feedback you are getting in response. Respond to your feedback by revising the plan accordingly. Whether you choose to try the plan again with no changes or you choose make specific tweaks, you have to revise the plan as you go. The plan is not a static document that lasts forever. Just because you’ve written something down, it doesn’t mean the world is going to respond exactly how you intended. You have to make some adjustments to stay relevant in your marketplace.

There are a lot of ways to craft a business plan, but there are some things that need your immediate attention. One of those urgent things is your client attraction strategy. You have to know what service you are offering, what problem it solves, who you plan to reach, how you plan to reach them, and commit to refining your process over time. This is a core fundamental that must be included in your business consulting business plan.