I was visiting my father the other day and he was gloating over his garden, and rightfully so, as I was able to enjoy a salad with some of his bounty. One thing that was missing however was tomatoes. Naturally I asked my dad, “hey what happened to your tomatoes? Last time I was here they looked like they were making progress.”

My father then explained to me that something went wrong with all of the plants of tomatoes and he had to rip them out. In fact he was told to make sure he got out every last root out. Now keep in mind my father is 80 years old and the son of an Italian couple that were gardener extraordinariness. Therefore my father has been in gardens his entire life. And he does not recall one time that he had to go to such extremes and never has had an entire selection of plants go bad.

But the story is not over. My father is a believer that you can always learn more. As a result he looked further into his quandary and found out that he should till that ground and leave it alone for a couple years before he plants anything new there.

The lesson here is twofold. The first lesson is that even the best laid plans and following through on your part does not guarantee success. That may be the case with some of our efforts in our Internet business. That said, it is not the end of the world or the end of your garden. It is just a matter of adaptation and learning from your mistakes. Then it is a process of moving past your setback.

The second lesson is that no matter how experienced or lacking in experience someone is there is always a demand for assistance. Yes help will always be a commodity. A commodity that holds a certain value that can be turned into a job of consulting.

So there you are with the talent and know how to guide people through, advise, develop a plan, and the like and you are stuck trying to figure out what the next move is.

This is an area that it may behoove you to set your future by getting your feet wet in an already established consulting firm. Going that route will require you to pursue a position the same as you would in most any other field. The advantages would be that you could create a network and also observe more experienced people on the job. You will also get a taste of the different aspects of the business: Operations, compensation, billing, and so on.

Of course there are numerous areas of expertise. Consultation is sought in industry, office, finance, and business fields. So while the basic elements are the same the trade of choice will have its own nuances.

Now if you are gainfully employed and branching out into the field of consultation that is fine also. For the remainder of this topic, let’s assume that you have made this a goal. Let us also presume that you have done your homework on the in and outs of consulting. Your area of expertise is industry. You have years of factory management and production relating to computer management and software operation.

The ideal approach would be to build a trade relevant network. Put together a professional portfolio featuring your credentials and of your value to potential clients. This would be followed by putting the word out. Spreading the word will likely include a professional web site detailing many of the same highlights. Any references ad past satisfied customers and/or examples of your work is beneficial to include.

Your web page should be marketed through the common applications like newsletters, web ads, forums, business banners, e-zine articles, and so on. Candidly speaking if you are good at consulting and charge a market value fee, the word will get out. But do not take anything for granted.

Hey remember our example of a back yard garden? You don’t stop weeding and keeping produce stealing animals out of your garden just because the harvest starts out good.

In the field of consulting it is also vital that you stay up to date with the latest equipment, programming, and philosophies out there. You can’t be behind the times.

So what about it? Are you a good helper? A troubleshooter, a developer, or a designer? Or are you a numbers guru or a waste management specialist? The areas of which consultants are needed continues to grow. Yes more and more companies are opting to hire a specialist to come in for the needed amount of hours and then move on. This has proven cost effective for many companies.

Now it is a matter of you finding the fit for you or doing what is necessary to fit into a position. Yes whether you start by working with an established consultant firm of starting your own consulting business there are companies that need you. It is up to you to be available and able to be found. Don’t be a submarine in a battle ship society. You have to surface and be seen.

So where are you?

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