Billable with Baby^® Blog

Are you running into clients who say you are too expensive?  Then you need to lower your prices, right?  WRONG!  First, you need to make sure your target market can afford you.  You may need to make a shift.  Second, you need to learn to spot the bottom-feeders...

Billing by the hour may not be sexy but it works. It has kept my family fed for 15 years and it’s the easiest place to start.

As a consultant, you are a water faucet resource – easy on, easy off.  A big part of your value proposition as a consultant is being able to throw you in on a big problem or special situation, often very quickly if it’s urgent, and shut you off as soon as the issue is...

Case studies are a great way to illustrate the impact of your work.  They can provide content for many things: value proposition, elevator pitch, networking discussions, sales meetings and web site to name a few.  You may be thinking, “But wait, I’m new to consulting,...

A good value proposition is a short statement of who you are, what you do, and how your services can offer value to customers.  It outlines your service and its promise to deliver.  The focus is on the benefit to the customer.  As Mark Twain once said, "I didn't have...

I recently received an email from someone asking me to reference their research on baby monitors on my site.  She is asking me to put a link to their guide comparing the best baby monitors on my web site.   Here is the email I received: Hi Amy, I wanted to let you...

The hardest thing any consultant does is bring in the business.  Doing the billable work is the easy part. If you are a partner in a consulting or law firm what is job #1? If you are a partner in a big consulting company, what is your top priority?  Bringing in the...

Another summer is winding down. Are you ready for the Q4 push? Do you have projects or tasks that must be completed this year? Do you have extra budget money to get things done? Do you want to get started on an initiative for 2017?

I am frequently asked how to bill for travel time.  There are several factors to consider: How much travel will be involved in the project? How far will you need to travel? What is the total value of the client project? What’s customary in your industry? Will most of...

Have you heard of Thrive Global?  Thrive Global was founded by Arianna Huffington to end the burnout epidemic and accelerate the culture that allows people to reclaim their lives and move from merely surviving to thriving.  This is very much in line with our mission...

Proposals are hard! I remember my first proposal.  It was for a 100-hour market research project and it took me 40 hours to write the proposal!  40 hours to write a proposal for 100 hours of work???  Houston, we have a problem… Proposals are really hard at first but I...

How many hours a week do you think you can bill? In the early days, I thought I could bill at least 40 hours a week and maybe 50 or 60. After all, like you, I had been working upwards of 60 hours a week for several years in my corporate jobs. I mean, who works 40...