 Dear
Readers,
Everything you need to know you learned from watching old Bugs
Bunny cartoons: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
Our top article today provides advice for those who are having trouble "beating
'em," and are leaning more towards the "joining 'em" persuasion.
Or, as Ed Rigsbee, the author, calls it, "Synergistic Partnering Alliances."
Whatever the terminology, the end result is the same - more profit for everyone.
Once you're done marrying your company to another, read Charlene's latest article
on the perils of being an independent consultant. Do you have advice for other
consultants? Feel free to send it in and we'll share your advice with other WebPros
like you.
If you're looking for a spooky read, you can't get much creepier than "The
Fall of the House of Usher," by Edgar Allen Poe. By the way, that story's
in the public domain now - you own it! (but so do I...)
If you're looking for a spooky site, try bonegarden.
OK, so you're not going to have to change your shorts, but it should get you in
the mood for tonight.
Have a good one, and let me know
if you find these articles useful.
Garrett
 In
Bed With the Enemy: How to Successfully Partner With Your Competition
By Ed Rigsbee, CSP
Strategic alliances are today commonplace among large corporations. The advantages
allow these companies to successfully compete in the global marketplace. Powerful
synergies are the outcropping of these alliances. Smaller companies can derive
the same advantages through alliance relationships. In this article, I will focus
on what I call Synergistic Partnering Alliances where competitors can realize
great value by building relationships of integrity with one another.
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To begin, you must search for the perfect mate. How do you find competitors
with whom who can successfully become a synergistic alliance partner? First, talk
to your suppliers. They already have a great deal of experience with your competitors.
They also have a good handle on the integrity or lack there of. Also, your trade
associations can be quite helpful. The board members and staffers are usually
knowledgeable about the players in your industry. Other possibilities are your
local chambers of commerce and the better business bureau.
The key is to find a partner with the same core values as you. This will make
life together better. Ask IBM and Apple why their alliance did not work out. If
you can find anyone that will tell the truth, they will most likely blame the
fact that the cultures of the two companies were too different. A significant
point in selecting a partner is to keep in mind that your alliance will only be
as strong as its weakest link. What I mean to say is that you want a winner, not
a looser on your team. Do not build an alliance with a needy person or organization,
especially if they/it that cannot make it on their own. Trust me—you will
regret it if you do.
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Next, you must court your future alliance partner to start building a relationship.
Assisting your future synergistic alliance partner to have an emotional ownership
in the partnering paradigm will be your primary mission at this point. Intellectually,
your partner can see and realize the benefits of a synergistic relationship but
the fear of losing control might block their emotional ownership to a commitment.
Without their emotional ownership, not buy-in, any commitment made will have been
done on a shaky foundation.
Read more here
 The
Greatest Challenges the Consultant Faces
By Charlene Rashkow
While there are few career paths that some would call perfect, being a consultant
comes pretty close to having it all. Yet there are challenges and pitfalls that
are sometimes overwhelming and unexpected. Whether it's helping a client increase
sales, improve efficiency, prevent a crisis or convince a client why a particular
strategy might work, challenges are always to be faced. When analyzing, identifying
and exploring the most specific challenges high on the consultant's list, there
are a few that would probably be considered the greatest of all. Following are
some of those challenges and how a few successful consultants have overcome them.
Clients Expectations
One very huge challenge most consultants face is dealing with a client who
has lofty goals, but lacks a forward thinking attitude. When it comes to a client's
business, more often than not they're fearful about spending money. Usually they'll
expect big results from very small investments.
Quoting Beth Gasser of Vivid Image, said
"Often our clients are short term oriented and don't consider the most important
longer term strategies. Clients may be willing to put money into advertisements
for today but when encouraged to consider more effective campaigns, which span
a year or five-year period, they hold back."
Beth also told me that client's are shortsighted making it more difficult to
observe and track ROI progress. " When we ask a client, which we do unfailingly,
if our services are showing progress, they either don't know or guess." For
Beth, this has been a very frustrating component as she is extremely conscientious
about helping her clients achieve. "We began questioning ourselves as to
how we could get client's to return if we couldn't prove to them that we've made
a difference." To alleviate this dilemma, Beth explained that they've now
hired a Marketing Strategist to help their company develop measurement tools that
are given to their clients. "We teach them how to use these tools so there
will be no more guessing," stated Beth.
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Creative Ways of Attracting
Clients
Another huge challenge that confronts all consultants has to do with getting
past the "How Much Does it Cost?" phase. That of course not only requires
patience, but a lot of inventiveness and creativity as well. Writing letters,
introducing your company, creating press releases, developing a web site and of
course networking are all critical to the success of any business, but in a competitive
market such as the Internet, the challenge is even greater. What that means to
the consultant is that he or she must conceive of unique measures for opening
doors to their services and that demands different approaches.
Patrick Bremer, Marketing Consultant of
www.exposure.com, an Internet consulting firm, recently shared an idea that
helped him overcome a particular challenge. "Limited thinking in regard to
the immense importance of a web site in today's marketplace surprises me,"
said Patrick. "When approaching a prospective client, often their first question
is how much will a web site cost? Getting past that first inquiry is one of the
greatest challenges for a marketing consultant since costs vary so greatly.
Read more here
For information about advertising within an iEntry email newsletter
or via a targeted direct emailing contact Susan Coppersmith at susan@ientry.com.
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