5 Unique Ways of Marketing Yourself

Read time: 3 minutes

This email is sent to you and 4,224 others

Hi there!

A few years ago, I used Catalant to pitch a huge new project. The client was a $30B conglomerate.

There was an army of 20+ independent consultants working on different aspects of the business.

Some consultants had been hired directly, without a marketplace app like Catalant.

So, I asked one of those consultants how the client found them. Her answer shocked me:

“Oh, I wrote an ebook!”

This was the first time I thought about “unique” ways of marketing yourself as a solopreneur consultant.

Today, we’re going to talk about my four favorite & unique ways to market yourself

#1: The eBook

This is simple: you write a 5,000-word eBook that shows any specific knowledge you might have. Then, upload it to Amazon KDP.

Examples could be:

• How to successfully implement Salesforce for a medium-sized business

• The 10 most common mistakes industrial goods companies make in their supply chain

• How to stand up an international call center

As you can imagine, none of these books will be a best-seller! But, your goal isn’t to make money selling your book.

Your goal is to put your email address on the last page of the book. Write this:

“If you’ve found this information helpful, please feel free to contact me at [email protected]. I work with clients to help them achieve this kind of result.”

If your book shows your expertise, you can land clients from this.

The consultant I mentioned earlier won so much work from this strategy, she paid off her house in cash.

#2: The Deliverable

All painters sign their work. You should sign yours too

Your clients hire you to “make” something for them.

It could be a Word document, PowerPoint, Tableau dashboard, Alteryx workflow, Excel file, Salesforce instance, etc. The list goes on.

Put this text on it.

“This document was prepared by Sean O’Dowd, an independent consultant. For any questions that emerge, please contact him at: [email protected]”

A lot of people at the client company are going to see that work.

If someone in a different division likes the work and wants you to do something similar for them, they can now contact you!

I learned this trick from BCG, my old employer. 100% of the Excel files they hand over to clients have contact information on the first tab.

#3: The Research

We gave the client the deliverable with our name on it. Now, let’s give them the research too.

When I first start a project, my freelancer researcher and I gather 500+ documents into a nice Google drive. This drive contains everything you could ever want to know about a client.

It’s the equivalent of the “thud factor”, where you have so much work done that when you put a print out of it on a desk, it “thuds.”

The cool thing is that I get Google requests to approve access to someone else in the client’s organization.

Meaning, the person I worked for at the client is trying to forward the link to the Drive to someone new at the company. As Drive owner, I need to grant them access.

I’ve sold projects from this. I approve a request for “Joe Smith” to access the Drive, and a few weeks later, Joe emails me about a potential project.

#4: Implementation Partner

There’s always an “up and coming” software in your industry.

• Alteryx is an up-and-coming data analysis software.

• Tealium is having a moment in marketing automation

• FloQast is booming within finance

Most of these need significant implementation work. Unlike more established software like Salesforce, few consultants specialize in up-and-coming software.

And, these companies are often new and don’t have full time implementation teams.

I know of two consultants who have built their entire business around this principle. They built relationships with up-and-coming software companies.

Then, the software companies refer all their implementation work to the consultants.

In this way, the solo consultant doesn’t need to do much. The software company finds new clients for you. You just respond to the email introductions when it comes through.

The conversion rate from email reach out to sale is also almost 100%. After all, the software company is recommending you by introducing you to their clients.

How can I help?

If you reply to this email, it will come directly to me & I’ll respond early next week.

To head off a very common question: I’m sorry, but I don’t have any quickstart guides, courses, communities, or other paid resources!

What would be most helpful to read about next week?

Let me know what would be most helpful for you!

Normally, I have a poll here! Instead of “anchoring” you this week, I’m curious what you think!

If there’s something you’d like to hear about, email back to this note :)

What am I up to these days?

This newsletter isn’t about me; it’s about you. However, I keep getting asked, so I’ve added this section.

Traditional consulting

My existing client had an offsite this week. The big question: does a new offering to the market “work”?

It hasn’t looked good thus far.

I think the client needs to pull the plug, but that’s an emotional and political decision. People at the client have publicly staked their reputations on this new offering working.

Skin-in-the-game consulting

I consult with “skin in the game” for small companies where I have a minority piece of equity (10-20%) instead of a regular consulting fee.

For one of these companies, we secured a huge partnership this week that comes with investment. A big win here that I’m excited to talk about later.

I’m also talking with another business about joining them under this model.

Real Estate

My partner and I haven’t “officially” started raising money yet, but we have taken some calls with prospective investors.

The legal docs aren’t done, so no one can officially sign anything.

But, we are now at $750,000 raised (verbal commitments) in a week or two of meetings!

We’ve found that almost every parent intuitively understands the thesis. Therefore, it’s been “easier” to raise than expected.

If you are interested in following along, click here!