Consulting For Dummies
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When putting together a first-class Web site for your consulting business, your goal is to create a professional image, make the site easy to navigate and enhance client contact. Try these Web site building tips:

  • Consider hiring a pro. Your Web site may be the first impression a potential client has of your business, and first impressions are important. By hiring a pro to design and build your Web site, you have a better chance of making the first impression a good one.

  • Be easy to find. Make sure your Web site address (URL) closely matches the name of your business or is otherwise linked to it.

  • Get out the word. Be sure to include your Web site address wherever you can, including on your letterhead and business cards, marketing brochures, within your e-mail signature, on the side of your car — anywhere a potential client might see it.

  • Capture contact information. Encourage visitors to leave their contact information so you can open up a dialog with them. Provide them with a free subscription to a useful monthly newsletter — or a free assessment of their issue or opportunity — in exchange for their e-mail address.

  • Give clients a reason to visit. Your Web site should contain information that is of value to them and that entices them to visit on a regular basis. This information may include articles as well as links to other Web sites and blogs.

  • Visit your site regularly and check Web stats. It’s always a good idea to check your site regularly to make sure it’s up and running, and that all links and interactive elements are working the way they should. And be sure to monitor your Web stats so you know who is visiting and what pages they find of greatest interest.

  • Consider blogging. The latest trend is for people to set up blogs — which are personal online journals that easily can be set up and maintained, and are usually current and interactive — instead of static Web sites. Before you set up a blog, research what other consultants in your field are doing, and be sure to take your findings into account.

About This Article

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About the book authors:

Bob Nelson (San Diego, CA) is founder and president of Nelson Motivation, Inc., a management training and consulting firm based in San Diego, California. As a practicing manager and a best-selling author, he is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of employee recognition, rewards, motivation, morale, retention, productivity, and management. He is author of the bestselling book 1001 Ways to Reward Employees (Workman) — which has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide — and coauthor of the best-selling book Managing For Dummies, 2nd Edition, with Peter Economy (Wiley), as well as 18 other books on management and motivation.
Bob has been featured extensively in the media, including television appearances on CNN, CNBC, PBS, and MSNBC; radio appearances on NPR, USA Radio Network and the Business News Network; and print appearances in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and many more. He writes a weekly column for American City Business Journals and a monthly column for Corporate Meetings & Incentives, among others.
Dr. Nelson received his PhD in management from The Peter F. Drucker Graduate Management Center of Claremont Graduate University in suburban Los Angeles, and received his MBA in organizational behavior from The University of California at Berkeley. For more information on products and services offered by Nelson Motivation, Inc. — including speaking or consulting services — call 800-575-5521. Visit Bob at his Web site: www.nelsonmotivation.com.

Peter Economy (La Jolla, CA) is a freelance business writer and publishing consultant who is associate editor of the Apex award-winning magazine Leader to Leader, and coauthor of the best-selling book Managing For Dummies, 2nd Edition, with Bob Nelson (Wiley), Giving Back with Bert Berkley (Wiley), The SAIC Solution with J. Robert Beyster (Wiley), as well as the author or coauthor of more than 30 other books on a wide variety of business and other topics. Visit Peter at his Web site: www.petereconomy.com and be sure to check out his Free Book Project at: www.booksforfree.org.

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