Omar Sultan ⋅ Elk Grove, CA Cisco ⋅ 25 years experience

You can burn through a lot of time and money marketing, so I would try and approach things in a very focused manner:

1) What sets you apart--in a sea of security consultants, what is you hook that will make you stand out--specific skills, experience, area of expertise, then figure out who specifically would be interested and approach them directly

2) Prove your skills - get references for work you have done that aligns with your hook from step #1, participate in the security community some how, start a blog, etc, basically, you want to become a known quantity--you might even consider some freebies to build a portfolio of client references

3) Work your personal network - friends, colleagues, vendors - get them all to be marketing with you

Hope that helps and good luck.

Heather Gillbanks ⋅ Houston, TX General Electric ⋅ 26 years experience

Henry,

As an IT Manager (until a few months ago, when I moved into the business) I can tell you that I get a TON of marketing solicitations every week (in a slow week, I might still get 8-10).

The best way to stand out is to be an active community member in some way. Since you sell security training, offer a free sample at a local CISSP (or similar) group meeting (even better if they can earn a CEU in the process!). Attend those meetings regularly, even if you don't get to speak - as long as people recognize your name when you call, and they have vague/ positive associations with you, they are more likely to take your call.

Finally, just because you are based in DFW does not mean your market needs to be only there. You may be able to develop a new niche in some way that extends your market (virtual delivery? traveling, at least within Texas? some other idea?)

Best of luck!
-heather

david cho ⋅ New York, NY blackrock ⋅ 19 years experience

2 quick, cost effective suggestions:

1. Referrals are ideal. Do a terrific job and expansion in scope / renewals come quickly. Sounds easy but if you're able land a gig, make sure you go above and beyond especially your first few consulting engagements. Prove that you add significant value and your recommendations for follow up work will have credibility for serious consideration. The stakeholder can point you to other like-minded clients... of course, this assumes you have a gig already - if not, go with suggestion 2 first:
2. Put some skin in the game. If you're confident your services are above the norm (great value perhaps or tangible benefits that can be measured for example), offer some free initial work for QUALIFIED leads. If the client lead appears to be trustworthy and the opportunity may be sizeable enough with a firm that has cash to scale, it may be worth your investment to show what you/your firm can do as a thought partner/advisor. I've done free assessments or opportunity diagnostics with just expenses paid for. After that, the ideal candidate to actually execute after the assessment work will be the one who actually conducted that initial work... you.

Liz Campanelli ⋅ East Brunswick, NJ Johnson & Johnson ⋅ 25 years experience

Dear Henry,

First, I thank you for your service! I too manage a small business that I began a few years ago. I'm a young retiree with plenty of corporate and managerial experience including supply chain management and customer service skills. If I can help you in any way when you get started, please reach out to me, either with web page development, résumé writing and searching, editing, proofreading customer calling. I have helped many veterans with résumé writing and cover letter scripting as they transition from military to civilian status. My website is www.campscreations.com
and i would be happy to help where possible.. Good luck in this exciting venture.

Regards,

Liz Campanelli

Ryerson Gorman ⋅ Colleyville, TX U.S. Marine Corps, Sergeant ⋅ 9 years served

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the reply. Would it be awkward to random request connection with some companies' CTO's or CIO's? Honestly, I don't have added anyone in LinkedIn even though I have 195 connections. I usually accepted them.

Steve Bain ⋅ Virginia Beach, VA U.S. Coast Guard, Lieutenant Junior Grade ⋅ 6 years served

Henry, there's lots of ways to market for clients for your business. The most effective way is to start with your own network. Call on people you know - tell them you're looking for advice and what your goals are for your company - and if they know of people who might use your skills. It may be them - or it may be someone else. Secondly, I'd use LinkedIn - great networking tool - build your profile, request connections (ALWAYS customize the invitation request!). Look for the types of people and companies who could use your services and connect with them.