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Chris Newton and the Age of Experience

Is your professional profile stopping you from getting consulting work?: July 2011

Let's be blunt. If you want to stand out and be 'in demand' as a contractor or consultant, your 'positioning' in your marketplace must also stand out. Head and shoulders above the rest, in fact.

Yet in reality, what do we see with most professional profiles, CVs and professional services websites?

Sure, there's an impressive list of their expertise perhaps. Lots and lots of references to specific projects even. But they all look ... THE SAME!

Especially now with the explosion in the 'grey hair' talent out there seeking work, having lots of experience and projects under the belt is becoming the minimum expectation. Which begs the question.

How do you get YOUR professional profile to stand head and shoulders above the crowd, so that potential clients will welcome you when you come knocking?

Or better by far, how do you 'position yourself' as the most valuable performer in your field, so that potential clients and plum contracts actively come knocking on YOUR door?

It's all got to do with Theodore Levitt and drill bits!
You see, as professor of economics at the Harvard Business School, Levitt used to challenge his students, "When someone goes into a hardware store to buy a 1/4" drill bit, they don't WANT a 1/4" drill bit! What DO they really want?"

The answer of course is they really want a 1/4" hole. The drill bit is merely a means to an end.

This is actually a very powerful analogy for your own professional skills when you think about it. When companies hire a Systems Analyst (for example), they don't WANT a Systems Analyst. So what do they want?

They want the outcomes. They want to reduce wastage, increase productivity, they want to avoid cost overruns, they want their projects completed on time to appease shareholders. And so on.

In short, the 'hole' here is the outcome! Not the 'label' of Systems Analyst. Nor even the laundry list of labels attached to the things that the Systems Analyst puts in their resume.

How is this relevant for you?
Think about it. In your profile, are your promotional messages positioned as a series of 'drill bits'? Or do you come across as a finely tuned, highly accomplished, diagnostically talented PROBLEM SOLVER?

Bottom line, the more your communication pieces, (and I mean all of them), focus on your expertise as a solutions provider, the more you'll be valued in your marketplace.

I'll go a step further. Just consider how many companies or organisations (or government departments) have underlying problems for which they don't have solutions. And what's more, how many of them don't even know they HAVE those problems.

Which means, for someone with the 'positioning' in the market, and the right mindset and skills to be a problem FINDER and solutions provider, the opportunities for you to get consulting work become virtually unlimited!

Self-Employed consulting---the secret is in seeing the big picture: June 2011

Are you a contractor ... or a 'consultant'? Perhaps you don't see there's much of a distinction. Well, allow me to suggest one, along with why it can help you launch (or re-vitalise) a very profitable consulting business.

By my interpretation, 'contractors' are those with specific skills and expertise who are called in to fill a need where there's a pre-defined project to be completed. They are given the job outline and the parameters within which they must work, and the approximate time frame. And they're contracted on a set negotiated fee.

And that's fine if you prefer to trade your skills for a set contract rate, albeit somewhat beholden to the availability of projects 'out there'.

Now let's look at the 'consultant scenario' ...

By my interpretation, a consultant is not constrained by pre-defined projects. Self employed consultants, in particular, are (or should be) PRO-active in generating projects. Proactive in FINDING opportunities, finding problems, and in demonstrating bottom-line outcomes in the solutions they can deliver.

If you put this type of 'consulting hat' on, you'd be forgiven for feeling like a 'kid in a candy shop' when you see what's out there. There's going to be just SO much opportunity for applying your consulting within organisations, uncovering problems that are causing them pain (along with opportunities that are untapped).

Let's agree on one thing ... organisations big and small DO have problems they can't fix. They have opportunities they don't know how to tap. And what's more, (and this is the real key to a lucrative consulting career), often they don't even KNOW they have the problem.

As the saying goes, they often don't even know that they DON'T know!

Imagine then, that YOU come along, armed with your 'grey hair' experience in uncovering problems and opportunities. You get an appointment with the business decision maker (a topic for another blog article!) and you outline the sort of problems they could be experiencing and the ramifications of those problems.

And then you provide examples of how you've addressed these problems in the past. (It could have been in your past employment! It's still valid experience.)

What's more, with your self-employed consulting mindset of 'extrapolating' the potential outcomes in dollars, in savings in lost productivity, in improving morale and holding on to key people, in avoiding losing lifetime customers ... you'll get ATTENTION!

And here's the exciting bit when you've got a 'consulting hat' on ...

By focusing PRO-actively on the bigger picture outcomes, it's not hard to demonstrate that the value you bring to the table with your solutions can be well into six (or seven) figures!

And when you demonstrate results like that, what is your expertise to fix things worth? I'll leave you to answer that question. But here's a hint. It's got nothing to do with charging an hourly rate, or a weekly rate, or any time-based fee for that matter. It's all about being rewarded in proportion to the OUTCOMES you produce!

Introducing the Age of Experience: March 2011

Is a 'too old to get work' mindset costing you a lucrative career? Picture this scene. An 'old gentleman' of 60 has applied for a sales and promotions job at a young and vibrant credit card company. Now, you're thinking, "He's really too old for that sort of position", right?

Oh, what we didn't mention is that this 60-year-old interviewee is Sir Richard Branson. Would a potential employer tell Branson he was too old? What about getting a job application from someone around 80? Laughable. But what if it were Rupert Murdoch? What about Hilary Clinton? June Dally Watkins. Or Ita Buttrose? Or Dick Smith? It is NOT their age that matters. It is your ability to sum up a situation and come up with solutions, based on years of experience at the coalface. And your BELIEF in yourself. According to Chris Newton of the Age of Experience Network, even thinking about 'getting a job' is MISSING the point. His advice: "CREATE work opportunities for yourself---as a self-employed consultant." Chris's Age of Experience Business Academy is about to launch a course for consultants called 'Taking the Leap' into HIGH INCOME CONSULTING. Check it out!

About Chris Newton: All power to 'Grey Hair' Experience!

Marketing expert and author Chris Newton has been shaking up the small business world since 1984, showing business owners how to take control of their own marketing and stand out from their competition.

Much in demand on the speaking circuit, he fondly remembers one occasion that made a huge impact on a room full of 352, mostly arms-crossed, sceptical hardware retailers at a conference.

Before his presentation began, Chris was secreted behind a giant 2 metre high advertisement mounted on the stage. As his name was announced, instead of walking on stage like any normal speaker, he power-sawed his way through the oversized ad and leapt out onto the stage. His audience was left mouths open and eyes like saucers. The point he wanted to make to the stunned audience was, "Whatever you do in your marketing, make sure your message jumps out and gets attention, just as if you jumped off the page yourself!". He reckons those hardware people are still talking about that stunt to this day.

Well, Chris is again shaking things up. Only this time, he has taken up the cause of mature individuals who are feeling disempowered and, well, frankly ... judged as 'too old' for the job market.

His message is that your tinge of grey hair can be your most powerful asset. He is passionate that those with 'grey hair' experience and expertise (plus lots of drive and determination) need NEVER stand in line competing with younger people for jobs.

Instead, Chris says these 'grey hair' powerhouses of knowledge need to realise their vast untapped potential to add value, and to go out and make their own income opportunities, offering their consulting services to organisations in their own area of expertise.

In fact, he's so committed to this, Chris has spent over a year putting together an intensive 5-Part course for mature age 'entrepreneurial types' called 'Taking the Leap' into HIGH INCOME Consulting. Click here to learn more.


Age of Experience (Chris Newton) is an ICA corporate supporter