New business ventures begin operations each week. Many of these new enterprises are consulting firms operated by workers that may have found themselves in possession of good skills, but no job. For many, operating a business after working in the corporate world is one surprise after another. Business functions such as accounting, management and sales – as well as the requirements of providing the consulting service – must now be handled by only one person.

Many new enterprises face stiff challenges in generating new sales and revenue streams. New businesses probably don’t begin with a long client list or an established list of contacts. Even talented consultants may not have extensive skills in the sales arena, so each business operator must confront the issue of revenue generation. There are really only two methods for bringing in new revenue though; personal selling and external marketing.

Personal selling is simply the outreach each business professional performs to reach those that he knows in the target market. External marketing is the method by which an enterprise prospects for potential customers. Many consumer behavior studies have shown that the most effective method of prospecting for new clients is via the internet. As consumers researching the purchase of a high-ticket service or product will utilize the internet search engines to find information, internet marketing has emerged as the most popular and effective way to reach prospective customers that are ready to buy.

Common search engines such as Google and Yahoo are the main tools prospective customers use when researching a purchase. A web page for the consulting business that search engines will display when users search for information can connect the entrepreneur with a customer who is ready to buy. Because the internet is so efficient in executing the prospecting process, on-line marketing is now the favored method to build a customer base.

A web page is then the central part of an on-line marketing program. These can be created by those with moderate computer skills or graphic and web designers are available to do the work at a cost. Once the page is posted and visible to the public, there are three main areas that the business owner must focus on maximizing the return on his internet marketing investments. Optimization Including supporting content Establish value

Optimization: Also known as Search Engine Optimization or SEO, the web page should be constructed in such a way that the search engines can understand the value and content of the page. Accordingly, when users are searching for that bit of information, the search engines will display the web page as a result on its search results list. SEO isn’t difficult, but does require some preparation. Several Low Cost SEO options and strategies are available to a new consulting business as well.

Supporting Content: A web page is highly useful for providing more detail than an entrepreneur would normally have time for during a face-to-face conversation. Inviting others to visit the web page can provide the extra information that a prospect would need to make a buying decision. A good web designer will interview the business owner to find out details about the enterprise and design a page to address the reasons why investing in the consulting service will return value to the hiring organization.

Establishing Value: Internet readers have very short attention spans. Therefore, the core value of the service or products must be established in the mind of the reader within a few seconds of opening the page. Bold claims or statements that give the reader a good reason to continue on the page are necessary to hold reader attention. These bold claims – such as “increase sales by 35% in one month” can be catch, but have also got to be backed up with facts and testimonials if possible.

The internet offers other methods of reaching new customers, including Twitter , Facebook and others. These methods frequently require a great deal of time to make the systems work for promotional purposes. Social Media marketing should only be done after the main optimization and supporting content have been established.

Investing time and energy in learning SEO, page optimization and in personal selling are necessary to compete in today’s economy. However, by managing the process one piece at a time, it is possible for a new consulting practice or new business to attract new clients and build a thriving revenue base using the internet.

Matthew Stone provides Low Cost SEO and Search Engine Marketing services to organizations across the country. Assisting companies of all sizes compete for new revenue and sales using the internet search engines, Matt’s company drives new business to client web environments.

Attracting customers and building a client base is the most challenging part of any business endeavor. New consulting practices are no different. During economic down-turns, many new consulting practices spring up, created by professionals with a unique knowledge of a given field who have found themselves out of work. Selling a new consulting service is a difficult task, but the success of the venture will depend upon the ability of the consultant to not only provide a valuable service, but to reach and convince prospective clients to contract with him/her.

Personal sales ability includes the willingness of the new consultant to go into the field and call on potential clients. Although personal sales ability is key to winning new business, many on-line techniques – including Low Cost SEO – are available to reach many more prospective customers. Achieving profitability in one’s consulting practice then requires both the ability to make cold calls as well as the ability to reach out via the internet to establish a relationship with those likely to need the consultant’s services.

Personal selling ability and on-line efforts should work together. Personal outreach via phone, direct mail or personal visits will never be an outdated business skill. Nothing can illustrate the value of a service better than the one providing it. Still, on-line marketing programs allow the consultant to cover much more ground and reach out to individuals that may have a need for the service at the point in time the prospective client needs it.

Competing for new business over the internet requires the ability and skill to of course deliver the service, but it also requires developing a web page or presence that the common search engines such as Google will recognize and provide to internet users searching for help. There are three ‘keys’ for a successful on-line marketing campaign; Service Differentiation, Niche Identification and Active Positioning via website and direct mail.

Differentiation is simply the part of the service that makes one different or better than competitors. Why one service is unique or better than another is to establish superior value. A new consultant must articulate the reasons she/he provides a more valuable service. This is the core of the consultant’s value proposition.

Niche Identification: A key consideration for identifying a target market is evaluation of which types of companies need the consultant’s services. Additionally, it is important to consider which among these types of companies have the ability to pay the consultant’s fees. Many firms in recessionary times have high need for specialized services, but their ability to pay is compromised by cash flow and sales problems of their own. The consultant must make the case to a prospect that their services will result in either significant additional savings or more sales.

Active Positioning: Forming the value proposition and reaching out to the target market with personal sales and internet marketing constitutes the Active Positioning part of the consultant’s sales effort.

Developing a web page strategy using keywords and on-page optimization techniques first requires the identification of the niche and differentiating characteristics. Keywords or keyword phrases that are short terms describing the prospect’s need or niche must be applied to the web page title, headlines and in other areas to help the search engines understand what the consultant’s page is about. A web page using the keyword phrase “Water Utility Rate Consulting” describes a consultant providing valuable assistance to water utilities or utility customers that are wrestling with the steady upward pressure on their water service rates.

Use of geographic terms in the keyword string is also a useful part of the Active Positioning phase. After all, the consultant may not provide service to all areas of the country. Personal training consultants might be willing to travel for the right consulting fee, but they are practically constrained to doing business in their city or area and may be required to further identify their services for their specialty. This leads to web pages constructed around terms like “knee rehabilitation in Dallas.”

Consulting businesses tend to spring up during times of recession or economic downturn. Positioning a web page to be found when an internet user is searching for information about her/his problem is a great way to increase the number of prospects that are familiar with a consultant’s services.

Matthew Stone delivers Low Cost SEO and Search Engine Marketing services to businesses across the country. Assisting companies of all sizes compete for new revenue and sales using the internet search engines, Matt’s company drives new business to client web environments. Grab a totally unique version of this article from the Uber Article Directory