The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Consulting
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The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Consulting

The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Consulting


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About the Book

Table of Contents:
I. FOUNDATIONS-GETTING TO KNOW THE CONSULTING BUSINESS. 1. The What, Who, and Why of a Mysterious Profession. What Is Consulting-What's in a Name? What Do Consultants Really Do? Money Tree? Why Do People Hire Consultants? How Do Consultants Spend Their Time? 2. More About the Market, More About the Business. Four Major Consulting Markets. Government Contracts. Large Businesses (Corporation) Contracts. Small Business Contracts. Personal Service (Individual) Contracts. Possible Areas of Specialization. 3. Prerequisites for Success. Specialty-Related Skills and Knowledge. Process Skills-Tools of the Trade. Experience and Contacts. Personal Qualities. Business Acumen. 4. Of Successes and Failures. What Does It Mean to Succeed? To Fail? Oops! What Went Wrong? John's Story. Yes! The Stars Are Aligned. 5. Bacal's Laws of Consulting. Bacal's Laws on the Consulting Process. Bacal's Client Laws. Bacal's Laws About Consultants. Stress-Busting-A Cool Learning Technique. II. THE CONSULTING PROCESS. 6. Ethics: Doing the Right Things, Getting the Right Things Done. The Importance of Ethics and Principles. Fixed-in-Stone Consultant Ethics. Client Ethics. Client Violation Prevention. 7. Beginning the Consulting Intervention. Consulting Projects Are Iterative. The Initial Contact/Approach-A Two-Way Process. The First Substantial Meeting-What's It For? The First Meeting-What's It Look Like? Stakeholders and Who Should Attend the First Meeting. Being Prepared. 8. Decision Making and Contracting-Let's Get It On (or Get On With It). Do You Accept This Client to Be...(and Vice Versa). Dealing with the Psychological or Implicit Contract. The Final Agreement-What Should It Contain? Contract Options. 9. The Middle of the Consulting Intervention-Data and Interpretation. Principles of Data Gathering. Data Gathering Techniques and Sources. Survey-Based Gathering Tools. Organizing Your Data. The Final Interpretation. 10. The End Game-Recommending, Reporting, Implementing. Putting Together Your Recommendations. The Final Reporting Process. Implementation-Where the Rubber Meets the Road. Evaluation-Did It Work? Managing Your Exit. III. THE START-UP BUSINESS SIDE. 11. Don't Miss the Multiple-Income Stream Strategy and Other Survival Principles. Multiple Income Streams. Skills Cascading-The Key to M.I.S.S. Now You Try Using the M.I.S.S. Other Business Principles for Survival. 12. Getting into the Profession-Making the Transition. Consulting Job-Working with Partners. Working for Others-Consulting Job. Starting Point? Regular Nonconsulting Job. Straight from School. So You're Unemployed. What Else Do You Need to Know About Transitions? Transition Principles. 13. The Importance of Professionalism in Everything You Do. Personal Demeanor and Conduct. Image in Print. Image on the Internet. Professionalism on the Phone. Customer Service Is Professionalism. 14. Start-Up-Defining a Niche, Defining Services. Defining Your Niche. Defining Your Competitive Edge. Finally, What Services to Offer. Step-by-Step Service Definition. 15. Staying Legal, Solvent, and Sane. Staying on the Right Side of the Law. Location and the Home Office. More About the Right Side of the Law-Taxes. Insurance-Often Neglected. Contract Issues. Your Supporting Cast. IV. THE ONGOING BUSINESS CHALLENGE. 16. Being Seen-Your Marketing Options. Marketing and Selling...Aren't They the Same? Critical Marketing Principles. Personal Approaches to Marketing. Paid Advertising. Direct Mail. Internet Marketing. 17. The Internet-Your Friend, Your Essential Friend. The Critical Role of the Internet. Internet Strategy in a Nutshell. Your Website. Professional Discussion Lists. Private E-mail. Newsgroups. Autoresponders. E-zine Newsletter Publishing. Running Professional Lists. 18. Ins and Outs of a Successful Website. What Your Website Needs to Accomplish. Characteristics of Successful Consulting Websites. Website Design. Some Other Website Issues. 19. Getting the Contract. How Clients Choose Consultants. "Qualifying a Client" to Save Work. The Request for Proposal Process. The Value of Referrals and References. 20. Let's Talk About Money. Your Fee-Structure Options. Firm or Flexible Pricing? Determining Your Fees. The Bottom Line on Setting Fees. Other Things to Consider. 21. To Grow or Not to Grow. The Growth Dilemma. The Joys of Growth. Should You Grow? And How? Options to Growth. V. THE CLIENT RELATIONSHIP. 22. What to Expect from Clients and What You'll Get. What You Can Hope for-The Dream Client. What You Will Get-The Real Client. Three Important Decisions. 23. Getting Your Advice Used. The Different Ways Advice Gets "Lost". Wanted! Client's Desired State of Mind. Warning Signs That Trouble Lies Ahead. Red Flags Early in the Process. Red Flags During the Project. Red Flags at the Reporting Stage. Implementation Screw-ups. 24. Facing and Dealing with Resistance. What Resistance Looks Like. Why Do People Resist? Resistance Anticipation and Prevention. What to Do When Resistance Happens. 25. Consulting Situations from the Dark Side and What to Do About Them. When Your Client Is the Problem. Dealing with the Client with Preconceived Solutions. The Creeping, Growing, Changing Project. The Flawed Implementation Situation. An Assortment of Difficult Situations. 26. Best Professional Development Resources on the Planet. Absolutely Must-Reads for All Consultants. Developing in Your Specialization. Developing Your Business Skills. Developing Your Consulting Skills. VI. APPENDIXES. Appendix A. Glossary. Appendix B. Resources. Index.

About the Author :
Robert Bacal is an accomplished consultant, book author, trainer, and public speaker. His consulting career began 16 years ago when he was employed first as an instructional design consultant, and then as an organizational development consultant for government. In 1992, Robert left government to start his own consulting firm, Bacal & Associates. While many small consulting firms have disappeared from the horizon, and their owners returned to regular jobs (or unemployment), Bacal & Associates continues to exist and thrive. Robert also holds a B.A. and M.A. in psychology, and has completed all course work for his Ph.D. Robert Bacal is the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide To Dealing With Difficult Employees (Alpha Books) and Performance Management, a title in the Briefcase Books series (McGraw-Hill). Under the imprint of Bacal & Associates, Bacal has also published The Defusing Hostile Customers Workbook and Conflict Prevention in the Workplace. Both books have been economic successes in limited distribution. Other writing credits include a regular column in Today's Supervisor, and the use of his articles in a number of internal house publications. His articles have been syndicated on a paid basis on the Internet and he is often interviewed in the media. Much of Bacal's success can be attributed to his consulting, business, and marketing strategies. In particular, his Internet involvement is a major tool in marketing his books and services. Bacal's main websites, http://www.work911.com and www.articles911.com, have hit the million visits mark in less than two years. Many of those visitors are looking for business and management related material. Robert integrates his consulting, training services, and speaking engagements with the books he has authored, increasing visibility to increase book sales.


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Product Details
  • ISBN-13: 9780028642710
  • Publisher: Pearson Professional Education
  • Publisher Imprint: Alpha Books
  • Language: English
  • Spine Width: 21 mm
  • Width: 232 mm
  • ISBN-10: 0028642716
  • Publisher Date: 16 Apr 2002
  • Binding: Paperback
  • No of Pages: 360
  • Weight: 597 gr


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