Solo Consulting Bootcamp "Lima Cohort"

About the bootcamp:

When you’re just starting out as an independent consultant, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. There’s so much to learn, and even more to do! This nine-week solo consulting bootcamp will help.

Limited to just eight participants, your "PICA pod" will meet every other week for nine weeks to help you…

• Set up your business (including naming it, if you haven’t already)

• Refine your branding and service offerings

• Figure out your pricing

• Create an online presence for your business

• Do your initial outreach and business development

• And tackle whatever else you may need help with!

Led by PICA Chief Advocate, Liz Steblay, you’ll get the help you need, and you’ll appreciate the sense of accountability and esprit de corps with your colleagues.

Format:

These are interactive roundtable discussions, not webinars, so be prepared to participate, ideally using your webcam.

Each session will focus on a particular topic, with assignments in between sessions. Assignments may include taking PICA workshop if you haven’t already, and/or creating a first draft of something so we can discuss it in the next session.

Duration: Each session is 90 minutes (450 minutes total)

Timing:

Fridays starting September 2nd at 10:00 Pacific. Sessions are roughly every other Friday.

When you register for the bootcamp, you will get a confirmation email with the calendar invitation for just the first session. We will manually send you the calendar invitations for the other four sessions.

Syllabus

(Click here to download a PDF of the syllabus.)

September 2nd: Module 1, Laying Your Foundation

Get to know each other and your objectives for the next 9 weeks. Discuss the key components for setting up your business.

Assignments and prep for next session:

• Make progress on your foundational steps (e.g. business license, insurance, your domain/URL, etc.)
  • Getting Started as Your Own Business (with checklist)*
  • Creating a Foundation for Consulting Success
  • Registering Your Business and Getting a License *
  • Registering Your DBA (Doing Business As) *
  • Business Structure: Sole-proprietor, LLC, Corporation, or Other? *
  • One Easy Step to a Professional Image (Use an email domain.)
  • To Boost Your Business, Track Your Time (Nearly All of It!)
• Take Know Your Niche: Branding to Build Your Business (Friday, September 9th) and/or use PICA articles to help you: Why Personal Branding is Vital and How to Do It* and Know Your Niche* (These articles contain links to worksheets.)
• Draft your tagline and we'll fine-tune it in our next session.
• Develop a short summary of your service offerings. (What services do you provide and to whom?)

September 16th: Module 2, Your Go-to-Market Positioning

Check in on your progress on laying your foundation. Work on refining your branding, go-to-market messaging, and service offerings. Group input on your tagline and service offerings. 

Assignments and prep for next session:

• Take Billing Rates and Pricing Strategies (Friday, September 23rd)
  • How to Figure Out Your Consulting Bill Rate
  • Negotiation Tips for Independent Consultants
  • Quote Your Consulting Billing Rate with Confidence
• Create or get a logo for your business
  • Reference: PICA's list of sources/services
• Create an email signature with your tagline (and your new logo?)
  • Reference: Is Your Email Signature Helping You Stand Out from the Crowd?

September 30th: Module 3, Creating Visibility 

Discuss/refine branding; review LinkedIn profile and business pages. Discuss your pricing strategy. 

Assignments and prep for next session:

• Take Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile for Consulting (Tuesday, October 18th) or use the PICA reference guide*
• "Optimize" your personal LinkedIn profile, including your new tagline as your headline
  • PICA Reference Guide: Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile
• Create your LinkedIn business page and connect it to your personal profile
  • Eliminate the Gray Square on Your LinkedIn Profile!
• Watch Creating Your Solopreneur Website (video on-demand, to be completed October 1st - October 15th)
  • PICA Reference Guide: How to Build Your Website
• Create an outline for your website. Bonus points if you get a first draft of your website done, too!

October 21st: Module 4, Getting Clients

Review/discuss marketing efforts and website outlines (or actual websites). 

Assignments and prep for next session: 

• Take Business Development for Solopreneurs (Friday, October 28th) 
  • or read the five articles in PICA's Business Development Library *
• Export contacts from LinkedIn and prioritize
• Draft outreach message(s)
• Prepare two stories or case studies
• Prepare samples so you have them ready for prospective clients
  • Use Work Samples to Seal the Deal
• Take Legal Aspects of Solo Consulting (Tuesday, November 1st)

November 4th: Module 5, Preparing for Launch

Review outreach messages. Develop goals for next quarter

Assignment: Officially launch your business!

* Members-only content

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FAQs:

Q: Do I have to participate in every session?
A: No, but like most things you’ll get out of it what you put into it. That said, the first session is mandatory. If you can’t make it to the first session, you’ll need to wait until the next bootcamp or use the course syllabus above as your own “independent study” course.

Q: What if I miss a session?
A: You'll get the slides and notes from the discussion but you’ll miss the coaching and peer input which is the most valuable part.

Q: What if I have questions between sessions?
A: Come to weekly office hours or send an email to the bootcamp leader.

Q: What is the time commitment?
A: 5 sessions of 90 minutes each, plus other workshops as needed, and of course doing your assignments. (If anyone told you that starting your own consulting business would be fast and easy, they were lying.)

Q: How many people will be in the cohort?
A: A maximum of eight, plus the leader.

About the Bootcamp Leader:

Liz Steblay has worked in consulting over 20 years, most of those as a successful independent consultant. (Liz’s definition of success: working few hours, making more money, lowering her effective tax rate; having a 7-figure retirement account and a fully-funded 529 savings plan for her daughter’s college tuition; taking at least one international vacation a year and fostering relationships with friends and family.)