CONSULTING BY FACE OR PHONE, FAX & FEDEX:  Determine the best method of  communication  for both of you. It may be a combination of all of these methods.  

LENGTH & FREQUENCY OF CONSULTATIONS: Determine the length of time of your initial consultations, (mine are one hour,) and whether you are willing to provide limited or ongoing follow-up sessions; specifying how many, and length of each. Keep in mind how much of your time this takes away from your ‘core’ business service. 

FEES: Evaluate the least amount you can afford to charge, based on time spent away from your core business. (When I figure this fee, I throw in a generosity or ‘X’ factor.) Consulting is an opportunity for you to give back to the community. Considering the mistreatment that many inventors suffer from ‘Scam’ companies that take tens of thousands of dollars from them, by making promises on which they do not deliver; you want to provide them with more value than they are paying for.       

DISCLAIMERS: Acknowledge that you are not always right and that the advice you provide is based purely on your personal experience and opinion, and not on hard and fast rules. 

AUTHENTICITY: Be real for your client. No consultant is an island. If there is an area where your client would be better served by other experts more experienced in that niche, freely refer the inventor to experts whom you respect. Everyone will benefit. I became a consultant with no intention of becoming one. However, what I was doing by freely sharing my knowledge and experience with inventors, was consulting. You are a consultant, when you realize that this activity is taking X % of your time from your core business, and you declare that you are one.  Now that you are a consultant, delete ‘Reluctant’, and enjoy what consulting provides to both the inventor, who gains instant access to your years of experience, and to yourself, for the gift of contributing to people.  

Joan Lefkowitz is president of ACCESSORY BRAINSTORMS, NYC, a marketing, licensing agent (and yes) a consulting firm. She specializes in Fashion and Beauty Accessories, Lifestyle and Comfort Inventions. She can be reached on the web at www.accessorybrainstorms.com .

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