Mark Arteaga

Just finished reading two books on consulting both written by Alan Weiss (http://www.summitconsulting.com/).

• Getting started in Consulting
• Million Dollar Consulting

I think both books where good.  “Getting Started in Consulting” was a good intro.  I actually started reading “Million Dollar Consulting” first because of the title (I was sold by the “Million Dollar“ in the title) but he kept making references to the “Getting Started in Consulting” so I read the first one.  The first couple of chapters where pretty slow, talked about how to start up and what you need.  Already did all that so that was a quick read.  Later on he offers some great tips on building a consulting practice like offering value based services (fixed cost) instead of Time and Materials and how you can actually make more money from value based fees than T&M fees.  I have yet to prove that :(  Also provides tips on networking, how to sell to the C-Level people, and writing a proposal that always gets accepted.  Million Dollar Consulting builds on the first book and goes into more detail on the proposals and how to get the right information when going to a discovery meeting.   He has a bunch of other books available like How to write a Proposal that's Accepted Every Time ($150!!!) and Money Talks:How to Make a Million as a Speaker.   He also has a free articles section which has some other useful tips.  One of the best tips he gives is balance life and work and your life should always come first....but...if I ever make a million dollars I will definitely be buying myself a Bentley just like him!! 

If you are an independent and want to look at ways at getting better contracts (other than getting them through recruiters) I would recommend his books.  One thing I have realised is I have to get out of my techie mentality and more into a business mentality.  It's also a big marketing and strategy game and how people/potential customers perceive you and your knowledge. 

Anyway...Next books on the table:

• Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture
• Performance Testing .NET Web Applications