Starting and Building a Thriving Consulting Business
Community, courses, guides, tutorials, and tools
to build a thriving consulting business
Critical to Success Guides You Step-by-Step in Building Your Thriving Consulting Business
Imagine Yourself as a Highly Successful Consultant...
As an expert ready to start independent consulting, Critical to Success helps you,
As a new consultant, Critical to Success helps you,
As an experienced consultant, Critical to Success helps you,
Are You Held Back by the Hidden Traps in
Building a Consulting Business?
Every consultant has stories of how they wasted time and money trying to build their business.
Learn the strategies, systems and tools that will help you build a thriving consulting business. Don't be held back by these common traps,
Critical to Success is built on 30+ years of consulting experience, two years of research, and hundreds of hours of interviews. It contains the lessons you need to grow a highly successful solo or boutique consulting businesses.
Transform Your Consulting Business
Transform Your Life
Don’t waste years and miss opportunities by trying to learn on your own how to build your consulting business.
Critical to Success teaches you proven consulting business practices, strategies, skills and tools that will help you start and build a thriving consulting business and add more time to your life.
The courses, tools, and community in Critical to Success will help you,
You Can Spend 10 Years Building a
Thriving Consulting Business
or
You Can Do Build It Quickly with
Critical to Success!
I remember earning about $37,000 a year during my first few years as a consultant. It took almost ten years for me to learn how to make a six-figure income as a consultant.
I remember my excitement the first time I reported $983,000 to the US Internal Revenue service. To me it was proof that I had learned what it takes to build a six-figure, solo-consultant income, deliver great value to my clients, and have work-life balance.
Most consultants go through this same struggle - they are experts in their field and dedicated to helping clients, but they don't know how to find a niche that values them, how to build a pipeline of prospects, and how to build automated systems that market and leverage the value they deliver.
Most consultants face years of Feast-or-Famine!
It was an amazing "Ah Hah!" moment for me when I realized there was a way to deliver more value to more clients and work less. And in the process I was earning more. My income did not have to depend upon how many hours I worked. And boy, had I worked long, hard hours!
I don't want you to take years to learn how to start and build a highly successful six- or seven-figure consulting business.
Ron’s Critical to Success course has totally changed my life. I'm not kidding!
I operate a one-person consulting business, and Ron’s Critical to Success class has totally changed my life. I’m not kidding! . . . I’m a very enthusiastic fan of Critical to Success. If you decide to sign up, be prepared for big changes and lots of work. But I promise you, you’ll greatly appreciate it!
John Lamy // Management Consultant, Southern Oregon
Lamy Consulting
Ron Person has brought a lifetime of successful consulting to his Critical to Success course.
Ron Person has brought a lifetime of successful consulting to his Critical to Success course. I’ve learned so much from him! He knows it how to make it work and he knows it well. He helped me find my niche, focus my brand, and then work with LinkedIn in a way that’s natural to my own easygoing communications style. I can’t say enough good things about him and his work.
Leslie Lawton // Copywriter, Content Marketing Strategist
What is it Like Having a
Thriving Consulting Business?
Join the Ranks of High Earning Solo-Professionals
Often, it’s just a few things that separate being average from being great.
In 2015, the average self-employed person in the US earned $47,200. In that same year,
Imagine earning high six- and seven-figure incomes!
What difference would that make in your life,
your family’s life, and your children’s future?
What was the difference between average earners and high income solo-professionals?
What where the factors Critical to Success?
In Elaine Pofeldt’s ground-breaking research on high-earning self-employed people she discovered the Critical to Success factors,
Pofeldt, E. (2018). “The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business”, Lorena Jones Books.
After 30+ years as a six- and seven-figure independent consultant and two years researching success factors, I’ve distilled what is "Critical to Success" into step-by-step guides, videos, and checklists.
Now it is quick, easy, and straightforward to apply the systems, strategies, and skills used by highly successful solo-consultants and professionals.
It's Not Just About Money.
Consultants Enjoy a Satisfied, Healthy and
Independent Lifestyle.
Satisfied, Healthy and Independent
You might think that the “hard work” it takes to make high six- and seven-figure incomes would add serious stress to your life. In fact, the opposite is true. Being unsuccessful creates more stress.
74% of full-time self-employed independents in 2017 reported they were very satisfied, the highest level reported in seven years by
In this same survey 65% said they chose to be self-employed. They were in control of their life and work.
70% of full-time self-employed said that working independently was better for their health.
MBO Partners, "State of Independents Report", 2017
I highly recommend Ron Person's course to anyone who wants to grow their consulting business
When I gave a presentation at a meeting or a conference in the past, people would seem excited, and then I rarely heard anything from them. Then, Ron taught a class on how to get leads from presentations. We got half a dozen serious leads from our next two presentations, and are having conversations with those people now. And we know how to do this in the future as well.
I recommend Ron Person's course highly to anyone who wants to grow their consulting business. In addition to giving comprehensive information about every aspect of marketing and sales for consultants, he is generous in answering our questions and critiquing our materials. In the classes he creates a community among the students, and we are also able to help each other.
I wish I had had this course earlier.
Sheella Mierson, Ph.D. Biophysics // Creative Collaboration, Team Dynamics
Founding Member, The Sociocracy Consulting Group
Partner and Certified Facilitator, Blueprint of We California
Start Building Your Consulting Business
With Critical to Success you can impact your consulting business in minimal time. Follow the proven Fast Track courses to quickly build your foundation. They take only a few hours each week.
As you learn more and work with client you can dive into the Mastery Library that will accelerate your business with lessons and tools that go from Finding a Niche to Building Recurring Revenue.
You improve your client's business.
Now it's time to improve your business.
There's just enough concept so you know how and why strategies, systems and tools work. Then you dig in and use the short, easily accessible videos, step-by-step guides, checklists, and tool kits to build your consulting business.
Throughout your Fast Track you work with your cohort and the lead instructor, Ron Person, in a private community where you can ask questions and check real-world situations during weekly online sessions.
After completing your Fast Tracks you have access to the both the Mastery Library, a huge resource of courses, scripts, and worksheets, as well as the consulting community and weekly live sessions
.
Fast Tracks
Each stage has a Fast Track that gets produces Quick Wins fast. Fast Tracks guide you with one to two hours of videos and worksheets each week to make the biggest impact in the least time.
Critical to Success has a huge library of step-by-step guides, videos, scripts, templates, and worksheets for each stage in building your thriving consulting business. The Master Mind Library is accessible to members of the Consulting Community.
Consulting Community
Being an independent consultant can be isolating. Join the online community to make connections, get feedback on ideas, work together on problems, and access our online events.
Consultant's Directory
All members of the consulting community are in the consulting directory, but consultants who complete the course get top billing. The directory showcases your consulting services to prospects, press, and partners.
Live Office Hours
Once a week Open Office Hours lets you ask questions and discuss client management. Office Hours are recorded so students can watch at any time.
Leading Edge Learning Events
Watch live and recorded events with experts, experienced consultants, and authors who are on the leading edge of consulting and professional productivity.
Any Device
Need access to video, tips or scripts while you’re away from your computer?
No problem. Critical to Success is fully accessible from your Smartphone or tablet.
Flow Chart Guides
Beginner or experienced, it doesn't matter. Flow charts show you where to start and what modules will give you the greatest impact on your business.
Chunked Videos
5 to 15 minute “over the shoulder” and “step-by-step” videos mean no more long boring lectures. Get what you need quickly and make an impact.
Step-by-Step Guides
Work quickly and confidently on business and marketing projects with “over the shoulder” videos and step-by-step guides that take you through business, marketing, and technical projects.
Checklists and Cheat Sheets
Checklists and cheat sheets keep you on track at your client and finishing business and marketing projects.
Workbooks and Tool Kits
Workbooks, tool kits, and spreadsheets help you calculate fees, manage projects, and more.
Scripts and Templates
Proven email and LinkedIn scripts and blog headline swipe files make it fast to get out the content that keeps your prospects engaged. A library of blog templates makes it easier to publish blogs to stay in front of your clients.
Just Enough, Just in Time
Bypass the long lectures that drag you down in other courses. Content and tool kits are chunked into small segments so you can use just what you need, when you need it. Find it quickly. Get the job done. Make your business grow.
Course Modules
The stages of building a thriving consulting business have Fast Track and Mastery modules. Fast Tracks give you Quick Wins in one or two hours each week. Once you complete the Fast Track for a stage you have access to the Mastery library for that stage containing videos, step-by-step guides, and tools.
Stage
01
Finding Your Best Consulting Niche(s)
It's an old saying, but it's true. "The Riches are in the Niches." Creating a high-income, professionally satisfying business is easier and more profitable when you find a niche where your are highly valued.
Stage
02
Finding Your Ideal Consulting Clients and Knowing Their Pain
You need to know who your clients are, how to identify them, their highest-value needs and problems, and how you can guide them on the journey from lead to client.
Stage
03
Promoting Your Consulting Services
You want prospects to know and trust you before they even meet you. They should have confidence that you can solve their pain. If you have been working on your logo, stop now. This stage will show you how to promote your consulting services and build trust and authority.
Stage
04
Getting Consulting Clients Quickly
You need a proven process that identifies qualified leads, engages prospects and leads them to ask you, "When can you start?" The lead generation systems in this stage cost $800 to $3,000 a month if you hired an agency to do it for you. The sales methods you'll learn come naturally to consultants - you aren't selling to a prospect, you are consulting and helping them find the best solution, YOU!
Stage
05
Calculating and Setting Consulting Rates
You can win new clients, deliver high value, and have an impressive brand and still not create a thriving, successful consulting business. You must price your offerings so you are profitable if you want to stay in business and grow.
Stage
06
Writing Consulting Retainers and Proposals that Win
While every consulting assignment is different, they all include a few important pieces of paperwork. The paperwork is for far more than just legal issues. You can boost your income and increase productivity with documents that define responsibilities, deliverables, tasks, times, and more.
Stage
07
Marketing Your Consulting Services
Eliminate the Feast-or-Famine cycle. Create a marketing machine that attracts and qualifies leads, then engages and nurtures your prospects while building trust and authority. A good marketing machine means you no longer have to spend 30% of your time looking for new clients.
Stage
08
Building Multiple Streams of Income with Packaged and Productized Consulting Services
One of the greatest benefits of independent consulting is independence and the opportunity to make high six- or seven-figure incomes through multiple streams of income. Packaging and productizing your consulting gives you a chance to work when you want, where you want, and with whom you want.
I cannot rave loudly enough about Ron and his precise and wise advice!
I cannot rave loudly enough about Ron and his precise and wise advice! For decades I have had a wide approach: consulting to everyone thinking that all companies could benefit from our work. His quote rings constantly in my ears: “marketing to everyone is like marketing to no one.” We now focus on three markets and specific client profiles. It makes finding leads easier, we know their challenges, and how to talk to them, and we have put together sets of solutions more specific to our client’s needs.
Rachel Eryn Kalish, M.C. // Creative Collaboration, Team Dynamics
Certified Facilitator, Blueprint of We California
Lead author "Challenging Communications" training, Blanchard Companies
What Clients and Students Say
I've had the opportunity to work with many consultants. Ron Person goes right to the top of my list of the most effective.
I’ve had the opportunity to work with many consultants and facilitators in my career, and Ron Person goes right to the top of my list of the most effective. In fact, it’s not fair to Ron to refer to him as a facilitator, as he’s really more of a learned guide, humble educator, process cop and teammate. Most importantly, he added true value to our project. It’s an understatement to say that we never would have attained the results we did had it not been for Ron. I’ve referred him to colleagues at other companies and look forward to working with him again.
Peter Cohen // VP Marketing and Retail Strategy
We have a clear vision of what we will become and we know exactly what we must do to get there.
Your guidance helped us through the sometimes difficult process of developing a strategic plan. Not only did we capture the widely diverse needs of our stakeholders, but we produced an executable plan in record time. We have a clear vision of what we will become and we know exactly what we must do to get there.
Some strategic planning processes are little more than pointless exercises that end up on a shelf. This plan is one we know how to execute.
General Manager // One of California's Leading Performing Arts Centers
I must tell you that your book is an excellent read...
I must tell you that your book is an excellent read. In fact, it's like a checklist which one should carry while implementing a Balanced Scorecard in any company.
Nitin Singh Bhadauria //
Your book was a great guideline for us in improving our strategic planning.
I just wanted to drop you a quick e-mail to congratulate you on your great book. It was a great guideline for us in improving our strategic planning.
Alex Robbio // Vice-President, Business Development
It Took Me Ten Years to Build a
Thriving Six- and Seven-Figure
Independent Consulting Business
You Can Get There a Lot Quicker!
I want to pass on to you the strategies, systems, and tools I've
learned and used in,
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I've always been fascinated by business and science. At 12, I started my first business washing retail store windows in our small town. At 16, I picked tomatoes in hot dusty fields. After flying as an Air Force pilot I thought it was finally my chance to work in a real business.
My Corporate Job was Boring and Unsatisfying
After joining a large high-tech company I went crazy. I was trapped in a cubicle. I kept waiting to see a world of customer-oriented products, innovation and data-driven decisions. I never saw it.
I quit to become a solo-consultant. Two years later that "safe", very large, high-tech division I worked in, went bankrupt.
With No Mentor or Community
It was Hard to Build My Consulting Business
The first few years of solo-consulting was not easy. In fact, it was grim. I barely made enough to keep going. I sold my house and downsized.
Without a mentor I went through years of painful "learning opportunities" on my own. I started building libraries of systems and tools that separated average from high performance consultants. It took me years to grow my consulting business, starting at the local level and working up to international clients.
I put together business and marketing systems, strategies, and tools that consistently earned high-six figures with multiple years earning more than a million dollars. And, I was still a solo-consultant.
I want You to Learn Proven Strategies, Systems and Tools
I've Used with My Fortune 1000 and Global 1000 Clients
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I Want You to Thrive
I personally want you to learn how to,
Quickly build your own thriving consulting business. All videos, guides and tools are concise so you can quickly impact your business. There are no hour-long droning sessions about irrelevant business philosophy. Follow a workflow map, take action and improve your business. It's action oriented.
Learn and use real world lessons that work, not misleading promises from people who haven’t been there. Critical to Success distills the practices from 30+ years of successful solo-consulting as well as proven best-practices from Silicon Valley startups.
Use your skills to become a change agent in the business world. The world faces immense challenges and we can help businesses do well by doing good.
Copyright 2019, Critical to Success