PCC Newsletter
News & Events for the Pittsburgh Consulting Community
December 2011 |
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Greetings! |
The year 2011 has been a banner year for Michael Couch & Associates. Business is way up in a tough economy and 2012 is starting off with a bang.
Much of that success comes from the knowledge I've gained and the alliances I've formed with the region's best and brightest that make up the Pittsburgh Consulting Community. Thanks to everyone's contribution to our Tribe.
We've had lots of great suggestions for 2012 and are going to start off the year with two of them.
Join us on January 31 with a multi-tasking session on Keys to Staying Successful in the Consulting Business with this month's featured consultant, Andy Birol. We will also be starting another round of Mastermind Groups, this time with two levels - a Mastermind Group for New/Emerging consultants and an Advanced Mastermind group. We will talk about the details of both at the January 31 event.
On tap, we are planning a workshop with Hank Walshak, the Communications Expert for Experts. Watch for more details in the January newsletter.
Enjoy the holidays and best wishes for a prospersous 2012. Keep those great ideas coming.
Michael Couch Michael@mcassociatesinc.com |
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Keys to Consulting Success, Consulting Masterminds, & More |
A Special PCC Event on January 31, 2012
Free Breakfast Briefing
Just starting out and want to learn how to build a successful consulting practice?
Are you an experienced consultant who wants to take your business to the next level?
Want to know the keys to sustaining a successful consulting business?
Looking to network with your consulting peers?
Our next Consulting Community event will be a multi-purpose session focused on starting, expanding and sustaining a successful consulting practice. We're going to cover three things at this free breakfast event:
- Back by popular demand, Andy Birol will be presenting Keys to Sustaining Your Advanced Consulting Practice (You can learn more about Andy and his topic in the articles below.)
- An overview of the two levels of Mastermind Groups that we will start in 2012. One for those just starting their consulting practice and another for experienced consultants who want to take their practice to the next level.
- And, of course, plenty of opportunity for networking with your consulting peers.
The event is co-sponsored by Birol Growth Consulting and Michael Couch & Associates so there is no cost for those who register. Space will be limited.
Click here to get more details and to register for our first event of 2012.
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Featured Consultant - Andy Birol |

After 20 years of corporate sales and marketing leadership and his MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School, Andy Birol founded Birol Growth Consulting in 1997 to help driven business owners create profitable growth by focusing on their Best and Highest Use�. He has helped more than 430 business owners increase their sales by more than $400 million and presents workshops worldwide on profitable growth for small business owners. Andy has traveled and worked in 65 countries and all seven continents.
The media have turned to Andy for his expertise in small business growth. He has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN's Dollar Signs, Entrepreneur, Business Week, and Inc. Magazine. Andy is a prolific writer of over 400 articles which are republished internationally and is the author of the following five books, The Five Catalysts of Seven Figure Growth (CareerPress, 2006), Accelerating Your Growth; Growing Your Business During Succession or Transition; Returning Your Business to Growth; and Focus. Accomplish. Grow. Active on his blog profitablegrowth.com and website, www.andybirol.com, Andy's Profitable Growth newsletter is read by thousands of business owners and is in its 168th monthly edition.
Birol Growth Consulting won four Weatherhead 100 Awards as Northeast Ohio's fastest growing single-employee business and 34th fastest growing company of any size and won MSN/StartupNation's Top Ten Home-Based Businesses Award. In 2009, the Cleveland Council of Small Enterprises (America's second largest Chamber of Commerce) awarded Andy its 10 Under 10 Award as one of Cleveland's most successful small businesses.
This past July 2010, Andy and his family moved to Pittsburgh, PA. Since moving here Andy has appeared locally on the Our Region's Business Show, American Entrepreneur, and he is regularly published in The Pittsburgh Business Times, Dynamic Business and TEQ Magazine. In June of 2011, Andy graduated from Leadership Pittsburgh. He lives with his wife Joan, Brand Manager with PNC Bank, and his daughter Margo in Pittsburgh's cultural district. Andy's interest in the Marcellus Shale has been driven by his clients' hiring him to help enter this market. |
Keys to Sustaining Your Advanced Consulting Business |
By Andy Birol
Birol Growth Consulting
After 14 years of consulting and relocating my business to Western Pennsylvania, many of you have asked, "What keeps you going, Andy?" In advance of my introducing an "Advanced Consulting Mastermind Group" with Michael Couch and the Pittsburgh Consulting Community on January 31st, here's a preview of my keys to keeping your consulting business healthy and wealthy.
- Sustain and nurture your professional passion. Constantly learn about your clients' challenges and help them succeed on their terms. Live to learn, but advise with detached passion. Stay devoted to your clients' success and your market's evolving needs and challenges. Develop a contagious curiosity for what could be and the unwillingness to accept the status quo. Your clients need this the most from you
- Focus on Your Best and Highest Use. Refine what you're good at, like doing and what the market has paid you most for doing. Repackage, repurpose and reinvent how you provide your Best and Highest Use. Constantly check what's selling, how content is being is being adapted and what new problems and opportunities are confronting your buyers.
- Embace the ups and downs. No client, methodology, problem or market will sustain you forever. Change is constant in the consulting business. What was once scarce becomes abundant. Clients change and problems ebb and flow. Recognize the differences between business fads and timeless principles.
- Learn from the best, but do it your way. Surround yourself with the best practitioners as teachers and as peers. Consulting is a business where clients repeatedly paying and referring you is your best measure of success. Beware of those who spend more time teaching than consulting. Longevity in this unforgiving business is the best measure of success
- Above all, do no harm Your clients are in your hands. Consulting is unregulated, unlicensed and requires no education or certification. You are your only judge of what's ethical. Always take the high road.
Read more about the Five Keys on Andy's Blog or attend the next PCC event on January 31.
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PCC LinkedIn Group |
Start a discussion, look for resources, ask a question, find a colleague
The Consulting Community's LinkedIn Group has grown to more than 500 members. If you haven't connected to the Group yet, now's the time. It's a great source of informative discussions, news and information about Community Members. We've also linked the news feed from the Institute for Management Consultants so that you can see the invaluable "Daily Tips for Consultants".
It's a restricted group, so click here to request to join and I'll approve your membership. |
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The Pittsburgh Consulting Community and the Consulting Mastermind Groups are sponsored by:
Michael A. Couch, President
412-952-9036 |
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