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From the outside, executive leadership can look easy. But on the inside, its difficulties lead many executives to seek advice from a business consultant. Consultants who advise executives focus on improving executive insight, which improves business performance. The problem, of course, is realizing that consultation is needed when you aren’t receiving consultation. If you feel that consultation could improve your company’s performance (and your individual performance), but you remain unsure, below are four signs that it could.

Problems with Project Management

Project management issues such as poor task delegation, poor progress oversight, and lack of technical insight (e.g. an inability to generate strategic reports) are common at companies whose project management isn’t tailored to their project needs.

At many companies, poor project management results from technical and managerial deficiencies-a scenario that requires a new management system (e.g. project management software) and leadership training for project managers.

If your company delivers quality results at the expense of project deadlines, or timely results at the expense of project quality, it should pursue consulting for project management.

Difficulty Retaining Top Performers

As good as your company’s philosophy and business plans may be, it needs the right people to uphold and execute them, hence the emphasis on obtaining and retaining “top talent.”

The loss of top performers is devastating in three ways: you lose the training you invest in them, the income potential they brought, and you potentially lose them to your competitors.

Losing top performers seldom makes companies close their doors, but it can saddle them with mediocre results, which defeats the purpose of being in business.

Poor Assessment of Financial Interest

Almost everything a business does is a type of investment. If your company’s investments aren’t paying off, it’s time to reconsider your financial assessment strategies. Far from requiring complex financial analysis, many companies’ financial problems stem from leadership issues, such as investing too much money in projects that had minor profit potential to begin with.

If your companies’ market investments are performing poorly, however, calling on financial experts is the obvious choice.

Difficulty Retaining Customers

If you sell products or services on a business-to-business (B2B) model, the time and money you invest in nurturing potential customers and retaining established ones could be significant. In fact, depending on the size and duration of their accounts, the defection of even a few customers could mean financial trouble.

At some companies, more effort is put toward nurturing new customers than retaining existing ones. When a company fails to nurture its existing customer base, this means it could lack the incentives to make those customers stay instead of stray. The same applies to companies that sell on a business-to-consumer (B2C) model.

If your company has difficulty retaining customers, it isn’t realizing its full income potential and should seek an executive consultant who specializes in customer acquisition and retainment.

For businesses in the Atlanta area, finding a consultant through Atlanta Vistage, the Atlanta chapter of Vistage International-a peer-to-peer membership organization that focuses on business leadership-is the best option.

If you want to be an Excel consultant, but you do not know how to use Excel past the beginner level you need to determine where your current skills set is, and based on that you need to determine where to start. Once that has been achieved you need to get a few things in order before you can begin to learn Microsoft Excel at the intermediate level. To start you need to buy a copy of Microsoft Excel 2010 (Windows) or 2011 (Mac). Both Excel 2007 and 2010 will both work, but 2010 has some new features that are very powerful and that should be used. As such, stick with the newest version. 2011 will work on the Mac, 2008 for the Mac does not have VBA, and so you will need to work in Office 2011.

The next step is to buy one or more books on how to use Excel. You will want beginner level books to start and intermediate level books once you have made some progress. Many books cover both. You will also want to get a book or two on Excel VBA, once again, a beginner book and an intermediate book. John Walkenbach, Michael Alexander, and Bill Jelen write some of the better books. You should stick with those for now..

You will also want to join LinkedIn.Com. They have free Excel and Excel VBA user groups so that you can post questions. You can also go to MrExcel, Experts-Exchange, or VBA Express to use their forums. Experts-Exchange does charge a fee, but it is the best of the three groups..

You will also want to locate sites that have videos for your learning experience. You-Tube is a great resource to learn Excel. Learning via video is a great way to quickly grasp a concept.

The next step is for you to grab your beginner level Excel books and to take a seat in front of your computer with Microsoft Excel running. Open the first book and go to page one. Repeat as needed.

On your journey to being an Excel Consultant you will undoubtedly come to a stopping point where you have a question. This will happen a lot. So now you need to find the best way to get answers for your pending questions. Generally, if you cannot find the answer in any of your Excel books, log into Google. Once in Google, type your question using the key words that pertain to your problem, such as how to create a PivotTable. Google will return 10 results per page, but the results may not have the answer you are looking for. If not, rephrase your question and submit again. Give this up to 5 or 6 tries before giving up on Google.

If you are unable to find the answer via Google go to Experts-Exchange and search for your question there. Most likely the answer has been answered before and so you may find your solution right then. If no, post your question on their site. While you wait for your answer to be provided go to LinkedIn.Com and check the Excel groups there, once again searching for an answer to your question. If that also does not work, go to MrExcel and check the forums there. Once again, giving it 5 or 6 tries before you give-up. Check back with the sites until your answer is posted on one of them. You should give this a few hours. If you have done this you should get an answer if you can post your question correctly.

Basically you will repeat this process until you have decided to stop learning. If you know others that use Excel you can also ask them question along the way. Speaking with people at work for help is a great way to learn how to become a Microsoft Excel consultant.

Learning how to become an Excel Consultant is not hard, but it takes time. And you will have many questions along the way. If you use the advice above, you will learn Excel well enough to be a n Excel consultant. It typically takes years, many years, but you will get there. Just exactly how many years depend on you, how quickly you learn, and how much time you commit to learning.

Summer internships are a rite of passage for aspiring management consultants. They are a chance to get some real experience, increase your exposure with a firm, and see if you even like consulting. Whether your ultimate goal is a job offer or just to try before you buy, here are six ways to make the most of your time as an intern.

Establish a strong track record.Internships are a tryout for the real deal. If you expect to get an offer at the end of your summer stint, make sure you nail whatever assignment you get. If the request is unclear, ask questions until it is. There is no better way to ensure you get hired than to actually demonstrate that you can do the job and do it well!

Start defining your brand.Your brand is what you will be known for by your colleagues and clients. It’s your values, strengths, experiences and skills that others will associate with you. With a clear vision of the work you want to do, you can shape this brand with the projects and work you pursue. If your career vision is still a bit hazy, use this time to sharpen your focus. A good place to start is to figure out what types of work activities really excite you and which ones are just big yawns.

Ask for feedback… more than once.Feedback, especially constructive feedback, will be the most valuable tool to inform your career development for years to come. So, start asking for it now. Requesting specific feedback will accomplish two things. First, it will foster your relationship with senior team members who will be valuable connections for you should you officially be hired. Second, it will tell you places you may need to make course corrections to increase the likelihood of landing an offer at the end of the summer. Check in at least two to three times to see how others perceive the work you are doing. Don’t wait until the end to find out if they think you’re doing what it takes to make the cut.

Expand your network.As a consultant, your network will be your most valuable asset. Your internship is a great chance to get to know a lot of people and build rapport with them. There are three things you’ll want to find out (and track) that will help you down the road. First, where does their expertise lie? Second, what type of work do they do? Third, what is one thing you have in common? These tidbits will come in handy for getting staffed on projects once hired, finding expertise when you need it and having topics to start future conversations. Don’t forget to stay in touch with them after your internship ends and add them to your network on LinkedIn.

Make an impression.In addition to making new connections, you also want to grab the attention of key individuals that have influence over the decision to hire you. Senior managers and partners running your client engagement are the best place to start. Share opinions, present something you worked on, volunteer to work with them on a special project – anything that can highlight your skills and shed light on the great work you’re doing.

Make sure you and the firm fit.An internship is a trial period for the firm, but for you as well. It’s one of your best opportunities to get a real insider’s view of the company culture and the work they do. If you find out it’s not your dream job, congrats! You’ve ruled out one option and can go on to explore the next!
With these simple steps, by the end of the summer, you’ll be poised to start off strong as a new hire or you’ll have great experience to use to market yourself to other firms that are a better fit for you.

Different organizations often require their managers and employees to possess specific skills needed to complete the projects and assignment on time and within a defined budget and scope. However, not all of these companies have someone who embodies all these qualities and has the ability to manage all aspects of the task, underscoring the need for project management consulting.

These services can help clients fulfill their company’s respective strategic and tactical objectives as well as measure the cost and time required to complete assignments successfully. Furthermore, firms that offer this service also promote and implement best practices, which can also help clients comply with certain industry standards.

Most of the firms that offer consulting services for project management normally employ highly trained, certified Project Managers (PMs) who are able to apply specific knowledge, skills, tools, and methods that effectively manage the activities needed to ensure successful task completion. These people will be the ones initiating, assessing, executing, and controlling all the aspects of a client’s project from the time it is conceived through completion.

The best PMs are those who are experienced and knowledgeable in the fields of communications and employee relations – people skills. This experience ensures their ability to implement a streamlined approach in the integration of methods and ensure smooth interaction with project stakeholders.

Capable PMs are also in charge of defining a project’s scope and developing time and cost estimates and plans. They also assess and mitigate risks or potential problems before they can occur. At the end of the assessment process, PMs usually propose a new, more effective and streamlined model that outlines the critical tools and necessary employee training and processes that need to be implemented.

Organizations seeking project management consulting services need to make sure that they can benefit from the expertise of PMs who are certified in Project Management. Individuals who have a Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification have the essential skills to effectively manage available resources to successfully complete a project, regardless of their current industry or sector.

Whether companies or organizations need the expertise of an IT-trained PM, or require someone capable of managing all aspects of a project, they can rely on the services provided by established project management consulting firms. This can help ensure the effective and economical use of a company’s resources, the effective interaction between team members and clients, and the successful and timely completion of projects.

What SEO is about

If you find that your business gains one tough competitor within the market where you offer your services, you would be surprised to know that you’ll get way more competitors online.

You not only compete with businesses within your area, you start competing with businesses all over the world. If you are not able to reach the top rank in search engine listings, it is more likely that you will lose business, regardless of how well you serve your customers.

This is why a Search engine consultant is necessary to provide you with a search engine optimization strategy that should be applied from the very start of website planning.

SEO consultant services have the expertise of working with the best search engines as well as web directories that could help generate targeted traffic towards your website, despite of the hundreds of search engines online.

By saying targeted traffic, this means that the traffic that SEO consultation would help generate is not just any kind of traffic that might just clog your web servers.

It means quality traffic that is sure to cover 80% of the web marketing strategy offered to business owners.

A Search engine consultant can help with website analysis, valuable traffic sources identification, and optimization strategies.

SEO Consultant Services

SEO consultants have a range of expertise that they can provide website owners and each of these strategies is a sure-fire way to make your website more visible and successful.

One is competition analysis wherein the consultant would help you identify your competitors. It also involves observing your competitor’s advertising methods and marketing strategies. The information gathered will now be used to develop a plan on how to get your business out there.

Search engine submission is the submission of website directly to search engines. This is a way to promote your site online. Although it may seem unnecessary, it still helps with the marketing plan.

Inbound link building is the techniques used to help generate inbound links to a certain website. This is usually done to help generate relevant traffic and increase the popularity rate of a website or an online business.

Social bookmarking is a strategy used by websites to help with the organization, storage, management, and the search for bookmarks or relevant resources online.

However, the main resources are not shared; bookmarks are there only to reference them. Users do this by saving links that interests them on web pages to help them remember and to make it easier to share.

Bookmarks are public but it can also be saved privately, disabling the option to share them with anyone but specific people or a specific group within a network.

These bookmarks are viewed through categories or tags, or through search engine advertising.

Content writing is also another method to help promote a website. This service is usually offered to website owners as well as businesses. These articles can help direct customers to a certain website that contains the article or its bookmark.

Sale through websites that focus in individual product is a more effective sales promotion method than maintaining a lot of products under one hub alone.

Other search engine consultants’ priorities include the recommendation of unique product selling propositions, the setup of certain conversion points within a website, campaigns with regards to inbound link building, search engine sitemap designs, competition analysis, keyword list tool, social media marketing strategies that include social networks like Twitter and Face book.

All these methods will not be applied on all websites. Only those methods that they think are necessary or beneficial to the progress of the website will be applied.