Three Good Books for Consultants

Here are three good books for consultants that I routinely recommend: “Trusted Advisor”, “Secrets of Consulting”, and “Rainmaking.”

Three Good Books for Consultants

I continue to run into folks who find themselves encouraged to launching a consulting career by their former employer and what is proving to be a very deep recession. Here are three books I recommend to them to help get some perspective on the career they now find themselves in.

• David Maister “The Trusted Advisor” (blog at http://davidmaister.com/blog/ )
  • http://www.amazon.com/Trusted-Advisor-David-H-Maister/dp/0743212347
  • Key quote “Good business development is a sincere interest in clients and their problems, and spending time to be helpful to them.”
• Gerald Weinberg “Secrets of Consulting” (blog at http://secretsofconsulting.blogspot.com/ )
  • http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Consulting-Giving-Getting-Successfully/dp/0932633013
  • Key advice: on average spend two days a week doing billable work, two days getting work, and one day getting better.
• Ford Harding “Rain Making” (blog at http://www.hardingco.com/blog/  )
  • First Edition http://www.amazon.com/Rain-Making-Professionals-Attracting-Clients/dp/1558504206/
  • Second Edition http://www.amazon.com/Rain-Making-Attract-Clients-Matter/dp/1598695886/

Related Blog Posts

I have a related blog post from October of last year on “Customer Development for a Consulting Practice in a Downturn” and another one from July of 2007 on “Networking in Silicon Valley” that is still accurate.

Here are some other good ones

• Using the Downturn to Launch Your Consulting Career
• Carl Angotti on “How to Decide How Much to Charge for Your Services”
• Walt Maclay: SKMurphy Has Contributed Significantly to Our Growth
• Q: Free Advice and Doing Business With Friends
• Professional Services Innovation: Customer Insight, Expertise, and Technology

Photo Credit: Emmi Land “This is not going to end well“ (Used under a Creative Commons license for attribution).