The Ultimate Consultant

Become an Ultimate Consultant and take your already successful consulting business to the next level.

The Ultimate Consultant, the first book in The Ultimate Consultant Series, is a hands-on resource written for the successful consultant (and those who want to be!) who are ready to turn it up a notch and watch their businesses grow to new heights. The Ultimate Consultant goes beyond the ommonplace advice of how to get started or to get to the next level — it acts as a practical field guide for consultants who already have a thriving practice. Filled with down-to-earth advice that you can use to improve your practice immediately, The Ultimate Consultant shows how you can:

• Control the nature of business you accept
• Choose your clients
• Increase your income
• Find work and interactions that are constantly stimulating and educational

• Chapter 1: Acquiring Fortune 1000 Clients
  Why Size Doesn't Matter
• Establishing Relationships with Major Buyers: Rainmaking
• Ten Techniques to Build High-Level Buyer Relationships: Making Rain
• Why Size Doesn't Matter
• Using the SpringBoard to Other Potential Clients
• Ten Techniques or Springboard Marketing
• The Ultimate Rules
• Chapter 2: Value-Based Fees
  If Your Charging by the Hour or Day, You're an Amateur
• The Concept of Value-Based Fees
• The Key to High Fees Is Not to Mention Fees
• Thirty-Eight Ways to Increase Your Fees, Beginning Tomorrow
• The Ultimate Rules
• Chapter 3: Marketing and Publicity
  Creating Gravitational Pull
• Creating a Strong Gravitational Field
• Pro Bono Work
• Commercial Publishing
  
• Position Papers
• Radia and Television Interviews
• Advertising and Passive Listings
• Speaking Engagements
• Websites and Electronic Newsletters
• Word of Mouth, Refererals, and Third-Partu Endorsements
• Trade Association Leadership
• Classroom Teaching
• Alliances and Networking
• The Ultimate Rules
• Chapter 4: Branding and Celebrity
  A Brand in the Hand Beats Feet on the Street
• What Is a Brand and Why Do It?
• How Do You Attain a Brand Without Pulling a Muscle?
• The Fine Art of Contrarianism
• Capitalizing on Your Brand
• Testing and Protecting Your Brand
• Obtaining Celebrity Status
• Ten Ways to Promote Celebrity
• The Ultimate Rules
• Chapter 5: Passive Income
  Making Money While You Sleep
• Commercial Publishing
• Self-Publishing
• Audio and Video
• Newsletters
• Offsite Advice
• Transitioning to Softer Landings
• The Ultimate Rules
• Chapter 6: Joint Ventures
  When 1 + 1 = 64
• Forming Partnerships with Colleagues
• Forming Alliances with Larger Entities
• And Now a Word from Our Sponsor
• The Blight of Brokers
• The Ultimate Rules
• Chapter 7: International Business
  The Peripatetic Consultant
• Ten Reasons Why You Should Get Out of Town
• Approaching and Exploiting U.S. Multi-Nationals
• Working with Foreign-Based Firms
• Overseas Alliances
• Ten Ways to Establish an International Presence
• Protecting ourself as an Internationalist
• The Ultimate Rules
• Chapter 8: Managing Time
  Or How to Be at the Pool by Two in the Afternoon
• Avoiding Scope Creep
• Minimizing Labor-Intensive Requirements
• Utilizing Client Resources
• Managing Concurrent Projects
• Ten Techniques to Always Squeeze in More Business
• The Simplest, Most Effective Time Management Tool Ever Created
• Tips for the Truly Time-Challenged
• The Ultimate Rules
• Chapter 9: Working With Family-Owned and Smaller Businesses
  What to Do When You're Competing with the Mortgage Payments
• The Large and the Small of the Small Business Market
• Competing with the Rent Money
• Managing the Owner's Emotions and Expectations
• Special Section: Accepting Equity for Your Services
• Ten Ways to Avoid the Perils of Consulting with Smaller Businesses
• The Ultimate Rules
• Chapter 10: Avoiding the Success Traps
  Creating New Approaches and Taking Prudent Risks
• Signs of the Success Trap
• Using New Technologies
• Creating Proprietary Models and Techniques
• The Consultant as Entrepreneur
• Things to Come
• The Ultimate Rules
• Chapter 11: Life Balance
  The Ultimate Outlook
• Working Less and Living More
• The Future of the Business
• Ultimate Rewards
• The Ultimate Rules
• Appendix A: Questions to Ask for Objectives, Measure, and Value
• Appendix B: Components of a Sample Book Treatment
• Appendix C: Sources for Media and Advertising "Experts"
  

Better than expected

While reading the Contents, you get a feeling that this is a very anglican approach, but after having read the book in its entire scope, you find that you may easily translate "US" to "whatever country of origin" without any specific loss of understanding.

But be warned, as the synopsis (and subtitle, mind you) tells you, this is for the already established practitioner, that wants to get some ideas on where to improve and/or expand his/her current practice (i.e., not for the ones starting out in the business). Some of the advice seems redundant and obvious, but I expect that to be dependent on your viewpoint and prior experience.

Still, it is a good book, but not very revolutionary.