Services

Your Time is Valuable

These are some of the things I like doing for and with businesses. I'm happy to just sit down and network with you and see if there's a fit for these or any other collaboration. I couldn't possibly write down all the things we might do together so consider my profiles as well as you get to know me. I will not waste your time. If there's not a fit I don't want to take on your project because it's a waste of your time and money and it's not fun for me.

Our Work Must Fit Your Critical Path

What's a critical path? Here are some ideas of what I can help you put on it.

  • Making knowledge management the cornerstone of your business' value. I am a huge advocate of KM but I tend not to use all the buzz words and fancy models. I'll show you how to maximize free or cheap tools to accomplish most of what the fancy tools do because in my experience this is all about habit, discipline and culture. If you can master that part you're 95% there anyway and you won't miss the other 5% for many years.
  • Creating project plans and specifications. Whether or not you want me to manage your project, I can help you design an effective project plan and approach to make sure your in-house or outsourced team can effectively deliver on your specification.
  • Developing strategic web and sales content. I've written professionally for a number of years including more than $7M in winning contract proposals. I've delivered hundreds of websites and my network of SEM and SEO professionals can provide you a lot of value.
  • Doing market research to make sure you can actually make money. My experience has shown me it's very easy to convince yourself that your product or service is so great that people will pay money for it. This is not always the case and if you do the right research, ask the right questions, and talk to the right people you'll find this out for yourself. I will facilitate that process for you.
  • Organize business operations and processes for non-business entrepreneurs. Many times people start businesses because they are good at a thing like making a product or delivering a speech. These same people are often not trained in creating sustainable, manageable business processes. I work to make their businesses manageable and scalable.
  • Reviewing and facilitating Operating Agreements with new business partners. I recently helped do this for a marketing consultancy in Philadelphia. Their lawyer agreed with more than 50 amendments I ordered for their Operating Agreement and admitted that he had pretty much just boilerplated it after I skewered it.
  • Designing cloud-based back and front office systems. I run all of my businesses in the cloud. You could blow up any of my offices and I'd be offline for as long as it took me to drive down the street and fire up a laptop. I can setup this up for you and teach you how to use it effectively using tool sets like Google Apps, the Google Apps Marketplace, Quickbooks Online and a host of other productivity tools.
  • Performing business plan analysis and coaching. I'm not going to write it for you, but if you want a seriously objective look at your business plan then I'm your guy. I will probably half-drown you with comments and questions and send you home near tears, but you'll wake up in the morning and realize it was good for you and that I just saved you years of pain. How do I know? Because I didn't listen to the advice I'm going to give you and now I wish I had.
  • Making yourself a public expert in whatever it is that you want to consult on. I want you to dominate Google's first page for your name and I can show you how I did that. Now, I'm not named "John Smith" so there are limits to the magic, but there are good practices and I can teach them to you and help you move up. I'm not an SEO or social media "guru" (hate that term) but I have used them both very effectively to forward my businesses. What's more, I know when to pass it on to an expert if we determine together that you have the business plan and funding to support that.