FIND YOUR CONSULTANT
JOIN OUR COMMUNITY
FIND YOUR CONSULTANT
JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

Setting Up Your Consulting Practice

Course navigation

1 Overview
  1. Course Intro
2 Strategy
  1. Set Intentions and Goals
  2. Assess Your Core Network
  3. Identify the Problem
  4. Set Your Fishing Line
  5. Name Your Firm
  6. Establish Your Vacation Policy
  7. Managing Your Time
3 Office
  1. Find a Place To Work
  2. Setting Up Your Office
  3. Packing Your Laptop Bag
  4. Building a Facilitator Toolkit
4 Team
  1. Building Your Team
  2. Finding an Administrative Assistant
  3. Find a Bookkeeper
  4. Finding a Graphic Production Service – Independent Management Consultants
  5. Choosing an Attorney
  6. Selecting a Tax Accountant
  7. Getting Health Insurance
  8. Setting Up Business Insurance
  9. Finding a Remote IT Professional
  10. Hiring a Research Assistant
  11. Swing Capacity
  12. Get an Advisor
  13. Expand Your Team
5 Legal
  1. Register Your LLC
  2. Obtain Employer Identification Number (EIN)
  3. Using Contract Templates
  4. Publish That You Are in Business
  5. Apply for MWBE Certification
6 Financial
  1. Calculating Your Cash Cushion
  2. Set Up a Business Checking Account – Independent Management Consultants
  3. Set Up a Retirement Account
  4. Getting Life Insurance
  5. Obtain Disability Insurance
  6. Choosing a Business Credit Card
  7. Selecting Bookkeeping Software
  8. Making Quarterly Tax Payments
  9. Using Loyalty Programs
  10. Estate Planning
  11. Automate Your Financial Life
  12. Using an Invoice Template
  13. Tracking Invoices
  14. Paying a Subcontractor
  15. Setting Up International Wire Transfers
  16. Pricing Your Services
7 Technology
  1. Setting Up a Backup Computer
  2. Keeping Passwords Secure
  3. Maintain a Backup
  4. Use Two-step Verification
  5. Getting a Branded Email
  6. Setting Up Your Email Signature
  7. Manage Your Contact Information
  8. Set up a CRM system
  9. Setting Up DocuSign
  10. Selecting an Email Marketing Tool
  11. Tracking Expenses
  12. Taking Notes
  13. Getting a Scanner App
  14. Scheduling Appointments
  15. Video Conferencing
  16. Setting Up International Calling
8 Marketing
  1. Get a Logo Designed
  2. Print Business Cards
  3. Buy Correspondence Cards
  4. Get a Professional Photo
  5. Update Alumni Sites
  6. Design a PowerPoint Template
  7. Update Your LinkedIn Profile
  8. Update Your Traditional Resume
  9. Create a Bio Page
  10. Create a One-page Overview
  11. Invest in Branded Gifts
  12. Create a Project List
  13. Build a Proposal Template
  14. Line Up References
  15. Create Work Samples
  16. Build a Website
9 Business Development
  1. Business Development Overview
  2. Raise Your Visibility
  3. Create a Newsletter
  4. Write Headlines
  5. Create Human Interactions
  6. Build Relationships
  7. Sign Up With Industry Intermediaries
10 Preparation
  1. Preparing to Transition to Consulting
  2. Build Industry Relationships
  3. Develop Skills
  4. Research Industry Problems
  5. Build Your Thought Leadership Platform
SECTION

Marketing

Topic: Get a Logo Designed

You can create a logo using a tool like Looka, or get a logo designed on a design site such as crowdSPRING or 99designs by allowing designers to propose a design and only paying for the one you like best.

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Downloadable Resources

Useful links

  • Umbrex Resource: Directory of Website Professionals (including graphic/logo designers).
  • We recommend Looka for designing your own logo (an update since this video was filmed).
  • Consider using design crowdsourcing sites such as crowdSPRING or 99designs. On these sites, you post the project and multiple designers offer their solution. You pick the winner. To get a quality logo, you should guarantee that someone wins the prize, and make the prize higher than the minimum fee.
  • Or choose a designer whose style you like. On Fiverr you can find designers and see a portfolio of their work.

Transcript

The first step in developing all your marketing collateral is to get a logo designed. Now, if you design your logo yourself, it will probably look like you designed it yourself….unless you happen to have a background in graphic design.

I recommend you get a professional to do it. One path that some people take is to use one of the crowdsourcing design sites, such as crowdspring.com or 99designs.

Typically on these sites, you commit to paying a certain amount of money. Any one of the participants on the sites can propose a design. You select one of those designs; The one that you select, that person gets paid. Everyone else gets nothing. That’s one way to go.

If you go in at the lower end on crowdspring and other types of crowdsourcing sites, you’ll get a lot of designs that look pretty generic out of the box. You could consider offering a higher fee or you may decide to work directly with a graphic designer. Either way, you’re going to need a logo before you do your business cards, before you do correspondence cards, before you do (a)PowerPoint template, or just about all your other marketing collateral.

So, as soon as you have your name, go ahead and get a logo designed.