Consulting Companies – How to Find the Best Company

If you are seriously considering a career in financial consulting, you need to know the clients that you will be serving. These are the following:

1. Companies or business organizations. Business owners usually hire financial consultants when they need advice about pending government regulations, long-term viability, risk management, and industry trends. Typically, business owners have a solid idea as to how they would like to handle their finances but they want an independent opinion about it to reduce risks. The financial consultant is expected to review the proposed plan and determine its flaws. He will then make recommendations or offer his expert advice to help clients make well-informed decisions about their money.

2. Personal. Financial consultants may also be hired by individuals who have significant financial resources or investment portfolios. These consultants are expected to offer advice on taxation planning, risk assessment, income management, and long-term planning so clients can obtain maximum benefits with the lowest amount of possible risks. Consultants can also offer their services to couples who need financial advice. These types of clients usually look for advice regarding saving for retirement, saving for a college fund, mortgage rate, etc.

For financial consultants to perform what is expected of them, they must have a good basic college education. They must have a degree in economics, business, or education. It’s better if they have advanced business degree and financial adviser certification. They must also have at least 5-10 years experience in finance management. It would also help if they have also attended relevant trainings and seminars that can increase their knowledge in this field.

Consulting Companies – How to Find the Best Company

More and more people are now setting up their own consulting companies as this is one of the most lucrative ways to make money both in the online and offline arena. As clients have now several choices, the process of finding the best consulting company that will meet their needs and demands becomes a bit complicated and time-consuming.

Here’s how you can find the best consulting company without breaking a sweat:

1. The first thing that you need to do is to conduct your research. If you want to save some time, I recommend that you do it online. Visit forums, blogs, and discussion boards where people usually talk about their experiences with different consulting companies. List down 3-5 companies that were highly recommended and visit their website. By doing this, you’ll have an idea what these companies really offer and what sets them apart from the rest.

2. Inquire. Send email inquiry to the top 3-5 consulting companies. You can ask about their rates, the type of assistance that they can offer you (give them a brief background of your goals or pressing issues), etc. Go with the company that reply within 24 hours (the quicker, the better) and the company that obviously took time to answer your questions in details.

3. Ask for free consultation. Most consulting companies do not mind offering their potential clients with free consultations and even free consulting sessions. Take advantage of these so you can gauge if they are the right fit before you sign up. This is the best way to make sure that you’ll work with the company that has what it takes to take you to where you would like to be.

Consulting Jobs – Announcing 4 Top Methods to Jumpstart Your Consulting Career

If you are reading this article, I am pretty sure that you would like to be a consultant. Here’s how you can get started:

1. The first thing that you need to do is to determine what kind of consultant you would like to be. Depending on your knowledge, educational background, and experiences, you can be a business, sales, information technology, or internet marketing consultant. If you are an expert on more than one field, I recommend that you go with the one that you are most about. You would want to do something that you love so you’ll stay motivated.

2. The next thing that you need to do is to determine where you want to work. Would you like to work for consulting firms or would you like to work as a freelance consultant in the online or offline arena? If you are just starting out, I recommend that you work for consulting firms first to get experience and to get easy access to potential clients.

3. Assess your skills. Do you have the necessary skills to become an effective consultant? If not, you may consider attending relevant trainings and seminars to develop or enhance certain skills which include analytical, communication, people, and teaching skills. These are very important so you can carry out your tasks more effectively.

4. Prepare. It would help if you can determine the most common problems of your potential clients and if you can research ahead of time. By doing so, you’ll be able to obtain relevant information that your clients will surely appreciate.

Consulting Jobs – What You Need to Know About Freelance Consulting Careers

Think you know everything about freelance consulting jobs? Think again! Here are some things that you might find interesting.

1. Having a freelance consulting job doesn’t mean pure fun. I’ve read a lot of articles and other online resources that gave me the impression that once you sink you teeth into the field of consulting, you’ll have the greatest time of your life and earn thousands of dollars without breaking a sweat. Well, this isn’t necessarily true.

Being a consultant, I can tell you that this is one of the most overwhelming and sometimes, frustrating jobs especially if you are just starting out. You need to find your own clients (if you are a freelancer), you’ll work odd hours especially if your clients are coming from the other parts of the globe, and you’ll possibly spend more than 8 hours in front of your computer everyday if your clients are demanding.

2. Freelance consulting jobs will allow you to have direct control over your working hours and you’ll have more time with your family and with other things that you are very passionate about. Working as a home based consultant will not give you more time to spend with your family and with other things unless you only get one client per month. Well, you can actually choose. You may opt to get more projects to earn more money or spend more time with your family but get content with few hundred bucks every month.

3. Freelance consulting jobs will triple your earnings. This is only true if you have already established yourself in your chosen industry and if people are willing to spend thousands of dollars just to get your ideas and opinions.

What Happens When Your Financial Consultant Quit?

This is worrying for some especially to those who had put his utmost trust in his consultant. To be honest, if you asked any consultant in the streets if he will stay in this industry for long, he will always say yes! Its like asking a restaurant owner whether his food is nice.

Well, lets be fair, nothing is guaranteed. Its the same as asking whether your the other half will love you forever. We are all human beings, there is also a chance that your consultant will be stricken down with illness and even death. Even if the consultant at that point of time is truly convicted to the loyalty of his financial company, that does not mean few years from then, things will not change. We will never know what the future hold for us, who knows maybe my business is so bad that I have to end up selling hot dogs instead.

As the wise says – The only constant is change. To quote the president of US: “Change, we will” and we always will, be it consciously or subconsciously. Thanks to this ever-growing economy, we find ourselves constantly adapting to the demands of this society (especially ours) and this process of adaptation often than not, entails change in us.

What happens when your financial consultant quit? Even for the most inevitable reasons, there is nothing to worry about. Really. First of all, the financial company will always still be there. What if the financial company bankrupts and close down? Think of this way, if an financial company was to fall one day, the rest of the other insurance companies or even the whole financial industry will fall because this is a collective economy. Remember, all financial companies are regulated by MAS, if MAS has no financial power to withstand a financial company to fall, MAS is most probably crippled already. If that happens, trust me, your insurance is the last thing you worry about :P

Just think of the each of the domino to be a financial company in Singapore and MAS is the platform where all these dominoes are standing on.

OK back to the topic, so what happens when your financial consultant quit? You know, there is nothing you can do. First of all, you don not even have to worry at all. As long as your financial company is still there, you are still insured, you still can claim, you can collect your money upon maturity, you still can collect your dividends, you still can collect your coupons, your policy is basically not affected at all. The only drawback is that if you need to enquire or do any claims, you have to do it without personal assistance.

First of all, you can always call the help desk though they may not be as efficient or even friendly (I’ve had a bad encounter with 1 financial company’s help desk, I’m declining to name the company though) But still no matter what, you can always head down to the office to make an enquiry, troublesome it may be, but hey at least its a guaranteed method! But wait a minute, now you have lesser to worry!

Most major financial companies even have online portals for you to login to see your own financial portfolio, its even faster to check it out yourself than to ask your consultant. If you think you’re not that IT-savvy which I highly doubt so, there is always phone calls and heading down the office which I’ve mentioned earlier.

So really, there is nothing to worry about with regards to servicing or claims. If you need new advise on your financial needs, there are like tonnes of people in city area doing roadshows you can approach. :P

What is truly more important is the advise your consultant give you at the point of time. Make sure you touch your heart and ask yourself if you can really trust him and feel that it is the best one he has given you. That is more important than whether he will stay in this industry for long, once you can do that, the rest is history.

Safety Consulting – How to Make Money As a Consultant

Consulting is one of those jobs which actually do not require immense commitments and knowledge about curing and treating diseases like clinical work or pediatrics. Safety consulting actually is a stress free consultancy which involves you advising your neighborhood or your friends, family or town about safety practices. The word safety should not just be focused on the aspect of driving; safety is a general term which stands for your well being and that of your friends and family.

Consulting about safety could cover broad subjects about safety. This could be home safety. This could be subdivided into various segments like the table room safety practices to kitchen and hallway safety practices and procedures. You can also advice on driving safely, playground equipment safety ad playing safety guidelines.

There are three major ways through which you can increase your outreach and your clientele. Below are these key strategies;

Make brochures and business cards. Have these distributed around town and your neighborhood. These should tell away about everything that you advice on, and how to respond to accidents and emergencies.

Make yourself the man. When emergencies and accidents occur, let families and other people count on you as their number one contact so that you can assist them with quick responses and co-ordinate rescue efforts.

Launch a website and great contacts. Your website will market you and your products. Have a number of very important contacts in the medical field, hospitals and police stations. Also have links with local and senior consultants and other professionals who you can always refer your clients to. This will make you a very reliable person and you will be earning top dollars from you consultancy practice.

Online Image Consulting 101

One of the biggest businesses today has got to be online image consulting, everywhere you look, you are seeing the results of an online image consultant on hand. They are so popular that everyone is wanting to get one for their purposes, they never fail to land a great job opportunity for someone. They are a must to have around if you are in the public eye at all. Online image consultants are available for so many purposes. Not only do they show you how you should be acting at big events, they will also be telling you what to wear and even how to wear your favorite make up, along with the greatest hairstyles for you and how to have proper etiquette when you are in the public.

Online image consultants are being hired all of the time to show people exactly how to make a lasting impression and do it in style. Because of everything they can do for you and teach you, these men and women are paid a whole lotta money! If they do not think your speak properly they will actually go out and get someone to show you just how to speak. Online image consultants have a wide variety of partners working with them for your every need. If you need to perfect your skills in just about anything, they can help you attain that.

They are of great importance for your careers. They have the ability to land you some of the most amazing jobs or to achieve a higher standing at your current job and they are also used to help people find that perfect someone or just to help someone gain a tremendous amount of much needed confidence. These people are expensive but it is well worth the cost. You will be so thrilled with the results, you would not be able to imagine life without having them around for whatever purposes you may have.

It is amazing to me how important a great online image can be. It is just a fact of life people, when your appearance oozes fabulous people are going to look at you differently and because of that, treat you differently. Whether you are in the public eye or not an online image consultant can be of great importance and help you out tremendously. This is their job, what they love to do and they have a very good reputation because of all of their abilities.

Consulting is a hot market. Online image consultants have the opportunity to make thousands of dollars a day teaching people how they should dress, how to speak, how to make a lasting impression, whether it be for finding a new career or a new love of your life that you have been waiting on for so long. Online image consultants have answers to all of your imaging questions. They know what looks best and they know how important it is to establish a fantastic online image, so that when all eyes are on you, you are the star.

How To Become A Successful Internet Marketing Consultant

If you are knowledgeable about e-business in general and the way the online market place works, then you may want to consider a career as an internet marketing consultant. Even if you are relatively new to the online world, but have a marketing background to call on, you can actually still become an internet marketing consultant. All it needs is just a little bit of work. But that’s true for any career. But to be a consultant you need to make sure your knowledge is varied and is solid.

In order to turn yourself into an internet marketing consultant and be able to market yourself, you need to first take stock of your internet marketing skills and knowledge. Figure out where your strengths are and what you need to improve. From that information, put together a plan that will allow you to educate yourself and improve your weak areas. If you find that you are weak in some areas, begin to work on those areas and brush up on them. Once you develop your skills and feel confident, you will be ready to embark on your internet marketing consultant career.

You must be prepared fully, because as an internet marketing consultant you will be called upon to help a number of varying clients. Your clients will vary from being completely “green” to seasoned veterans of their fields. You will have some that know almost nothing about business or the internet and are looking to you for everything. You will have to take them under your wing, so to speak. On the other hand, you may have clients who are essentially marketing gurus, but have no idea how to market on the internet. As an internet marketing consultant, it is your job to help all levels of client. So be prepared.

Perhaps you feel that your strengths are heavy towards just one area of expertise. You may then want to consider working as an internet marketing consultant within that niche. You can specialize in fields like search engine optimization, email marketing, ezines, or even newsletters. Identify the niche you are strong in and make sure you are up to date on it. There are a number of areas where you can work in internet marketing if you do choose to go the way of niche expertise. To identify which niches are “hot” simply type in a typical question into your favorite search engine and see what comes up.

Becoming an internet marketing consultant can be rewarding work. If you enjoy business, marketing, and the internet it may be a career direction you may want to take. All you need to do is take stock of your knowledge and skill, educate yourself, and be ready help all levels of customers. If you think you are more suited to one aspect, then you can always go the way of the niche consulting role. How you choose to function in your internet marketing consultant role is really up to you.

Search Engine Optimization Consulting

Search engine optimization consulting is a logical place to start to improve your website. Even though an online marketer is well aware of the fact that he requires help to boost his business, he is often at a loss to decide which search engine optimization consulting company he can bank upon. This predicament is faced by many people when they are on the lookout for a suitable SEO consultation firm. As an answer to this problem, several companies have been established which boast of outstanding services. Many of them do not meet the standards and are only out to make a fast buck. Owners of websites must execute extreme prudence while seeking search engine optimization consulting.

By conducting thorough research, you will be better prepared to choose a company to improve your website through SEO. A firm backed by experienced staff and a good reputable is a great place to start. The number of years of the company’s existence is another factor to be considered along with its ability grasp its client’s SEO needs. An online business man should inspect the prospective search engine optimization consulting company from every angle before hiring it.

An ideal optimization consulting company will spend a good amount of time studying its client’s website before proposing any recommendations. In this way, it can recognize the customer’s requirements and assist him to devise appropriate approach to meet his individual need. It is wise not to be lured by the first company that promises of getting the website the top rankings in the chief search engines. In all probability, such firms are mere scams as search engines have their own discrete methods of functioning.

Marketing of websites largely depends upon proficiency of the employed search engine optimization consulting company. Ascertain its internal relationship and hold meaningful discussions with the company. The client should ask the professionals to submit a broad proposal how they plan to implement the required changes in the website using SEO techniques. The success rate of an online business is related to the efficiency of the company hired to carry out the task.

Make Your Tax Consultant Happy to Reduce Your Taxes!

Tax losses are becoming more and more complex. Most of the people think that hiring a tax consultant is a better option as he will do some magic to reduce their taxes.

Admitting that there are many competent tax consultants to take care of your return, check what you take with you when you go to request him for preparing your return? Remember he is not a magician. Go to him with organized papers and let him work on them to give you real tax saving tips.

The box system

To begin with, save all your receipts in one box, as and when you get them. They will put real dollars in your pocket. You may walk out of a store without small change but you should never walk out without a receipt. These receipts are very important because IRS is demanding documentation for every claim you make.

Once you grab the receipts, put them in a box or in a special file. After a couple of months sort them out into categories and put the checks and receipts in envelopes with the name of category written on them. So you will have envelopes for charitable contributions, medical expenses, property taxes, mortgage and so on. If you feel there is no category then keep such receipts in a separate envelope. Now it’s easy for your consultant to translate them into deductible expenses.

You can do all this work while listening to music and such light work will save hundreds and thousands of dollars for you.

Never give your consultant a bag full of unsorted receipts. It’s the most irritating thing. It will waste his time and your money. Tax preparation is not a fun and your sincerity will make him happy. Try to minimize his pain.

Using this “box” method your consultant will be able to complete his work faster and with more accuracy. He can concentrate on tax planning issues instead of concentrating on organizing the vouchers, receipts and checks. What you want from your consultant is the key question. More interest you show in your approach, more proficient he will be.

There are some other ways to help your consultant

There are some other methods by which you can help your consultant to get better results. If you are having sale of stock or mutual fund, you should make the cost basis available to your consultant. This can be done by adding the reinvested dividends and capital gains. So you don’t pay taxes on them two times.

For getting the necessary statements you need to call your broker soon after January 1. The broker will take some time to send you the statements but then its well within the deadline of April 15.

It is also important to take an early appointment with your tax consultant so that you are not bothering him at the last moment. If you wait until April, he is going to be very busy and may not be able to concentrate fully on your work. Taking into account the stress and the workload, you get much better results in February or March. Also if your consultant wants some additional papers, you have sufficient time to get them for him.

You may be having certain questions which you wanted to ask your tax consultant. List down those questions and take them with you when you approach him. He may not be able to give you instant answers but he can come back to you after looking at your papers. He may have certain questions for you. You may answer them on the spot or after you come back from the meeting. But then there should be some time for all this activity.

Leave behind the fear of tax audits

Many people feel that tax audit is worst then death! But with these preparations you have already reduced the chances of tax audit considerably. Actually what is the main purpose of tax audit? Getting supportive paperwork for the claims you have made in your return. So for your claim of deduction of charitable contributions, the tax auditor is going to ask you the receipts of your contributions. And if you are already equipped with all of them, what else you want? You have already audited your tax return before IRS does!