Here’s how to kick off your consultancy for less than Fifty bucks a month…

(originally posted on LinkedIn)

Here’s how to kick off your consultancy for less than fifty bucks a month…

1. Register a Domain Name. It Doesn’t Really Matter Where.

I use Media Temple to register all my domain names and have done so for close to a decade. There are cheaper alternatives, but I love their support and raved about it for years.

2. Host Your Domain on a Fast Server with Managed WordPress

This year I discovered the wonders of Managed WordPress support (and hosting) through WPMU DEV. Wowza. They have a 24/7 live chat team, and they’re all smart as all-get-out. Worth every penny. There are, of course, many vendors in this space…shop G2.

3. Purchase a Scalable, Heavily Supported WordPress Theme

In my opinion, there are really only two WordPress Themes you should consider investing your time, money, and energy into learning: Elegant Themes’, Divi, and (maybe) Oxygen Builder.

Why?

Because you want access to a vast support network of people you can go to when things break. Which they will. Divi is known the world over, and #OxygenBuilder is growing like a weed.

4. Get Canva Pro

With Canva Pro, you can draw, layout a margin correctly, find royalty free photographs, icons, and #infographics—even you believe you can’t. It’s 13 bucks. Drop the coin.

5. Write Your Rear-End Off

You don’t need to hire a writer. Do the writing on your own. Follow Donald Miller’s StoryBrand structure to ensure you keep your page count down and your message tight. Find out what it’s like to write your own content. IT WILL BE HARD. That’s okay. Learn by doing.

6. Put in the Hours

I’ve been writing for the web since 1994. My first job out of college was with an Internet service provider (an ISP) when people didn’t even know what the hell the Internet was.

I used ICQ to chat with colleagues when Slack was just a word.

I took advertisements out in trade magazines and advertised on A.M. radio.

I remember my Dad asking me five years later in 1999, what those “names” were on the bottom of television ads he was starting to see all over the place. Those were domain names.

A lot has changed since then. And, things are WAY easier now.

What hasn’t changed, is that it takes time for people to notice you. Sometimes, a really long time.

And this is why I’m big on #sidehustles.

Because they allow us to test things… to get our message right, to find people WE CAN HELP, without turning into the ones who need help because we leapt too early.

Work your hustle for at least a year. Learn from the experience.

If you follow this general blueprint, by the end of 2022, you should spend no more than $500 USD. That’s not a lot of money to spend on getting a fresh consulting practice a bit of real estate.

Knock em out, and knock em dead.

Doc

P.S. As part of my #1000Entrepreneurs initiative, I’ll be working with a small group of consultants wanting to nail down this process beginning in January. Stay tuned… 😉

#b2bmarketing #YourActII

If you’d like more practical tips like this, as well as access to stories I only release in my “Head Down, Beard Out” email, you can get in on that goodness below. Cheers, D