Six-Figure Consultant

For a variety of well-documented reasons, the overall market for business consultants--and the fierce competition among them to garner clients--continues to grow at an astounding rate. Robert Bly's The Six-Figure Consultant provides a series of clear guidelines for anyone hoping to grab a piece of this $30 billion annual industry. Whether your aim is to carve out a lucrative niche as a long-range strategy counselor, short-term implementation specialist, training-and-development guru, information provider, or temporary advisor, Bly presents solid advice on getting started, becoming an acknowledged expert on specific disciplines and industries, selling yourself, managing time and contacts, and boosting income with ancillary products and services. He concludes with a lengthy list of relevant books, magazines, software products, Web sites, vendors, organizations, and conferences, as well as various documents for everything from outlining a monthly retainer arrangement to advising clients when you're on vacation. --Howard Rothman