Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants

The P-Word

Plagiarism. Last month my local paper, The Boston Globe, had articles, editorials, and letters to the editor about plagiarism nearly every single day.

They’ve had plenty of fodder. First, there was the ongoing saga of Harvard sophomore Kaavya Viswanathan, author of How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life who admitted to borrowing passages from another book. Then there was Raytheon’s chief William Swanson who cribbed from a textbook when he wrote his “Swanson's Unwritten Rules of Management.” We also heard about DaVinci Code author Dan Brown’s copyright infringement suit and how the Internet is uncovering rampant plagiarism in China’s academic circles.

So what does this have to do with Guerrilla Consulting? Fans of the book know that publishing your bylined articles is one of the ways a guerrilla consultant stands out from the crowd. But those very same articles that showcase your expertise are susceptible to being copied by competitors.

The flip side of the Web’s ability to disseminate your content to potential clients is that it makes it ridiculously easy to steal. Articles, blog posts, even entire Web sites – I’ve seen examples of all types of content that was stolen.

I had a couple of experiences with this lately. First, while doing a Google search, I discovered a link for an article title that sounded similar to one I wrote and had published in Management Consulting News a few years ago. I clicked on the link, and started reading an article that borrowed quite heavily from mine. The concept, many subheads, and even the content of the sidebar were the same. Although the author expanded the article with her own content, it was obvious that she used mine for her base and didn’t change it enough.

Ironically, the writer has excellent credentials and an impressive client list. To give her the benefit of the doubt, perhaps she read my article, internalized it, and didn’t realize she was plagiarizing. For what it’s worth, that’s the same excuse Kaavya Viswanathan gave. Regardless, I asked her to remove the article, and it’s now gone from her Web site.

The second recent experience came with a client’s article. Actually, this article also appeared in Management Consulting News. In this case I didn’t find a competitor copying her article, but I found it listed on two sites that supply students with essays to plagiarize. For only $9.99 I could have searched their entire database and copied the full text of her article and about a zillion others.

Although not technically plagiarized, another one of my client’s published articles regularly show up word-for-word on a foreign IT blog. They provide his name, but no links to his site, no bio, and no mention of where the material originally appeared.

Curious if some of your content is being used elsewhere? Put a phrase in quotes and Google it. You might be surprised.

-Andrea Harris-

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

Re•fer•ral n.: A person recommended to someone or for something.

Few tools pack the marketing wallop of a strong referral. In fact, a prospective client is three times more likely to buy from someone who comes with a strong referral. So why do consultants struggle with the process of asking for referrals?

One reason is that most of the advice we get about generating referrals just doesn’t work for consultants. Traditional thinking about referrals has us pleading with clients for a list of people we can “help.” That just turns referral marketing into a beg-a-thon.

There’s got to be a better way.

This month’s article in the Guerrilla Consultant discusses how consultants can get those referrals without begging.

Becoming a Master Cyclist

The May issue of Management Consulting News marks the beginning of our fifth year of publishing. To mark the occasion, we're featuring an intriguing interview with Peter Navarro, who believes consultants and executives are missing opportunities for competitive advantage.

Navarro says that's because they fail to manage the impact of the business cycle on business performance. Those few who do take advantage of the opportunities are what Navarro calls "Master Cyclists." He can tell you how to become one.

Also this month, Alan Weiss, a thought leader in the consulting industry, launches a monthly column called “The Writing on the Wall.”  Don’t miss Alan’s musings on everything consulting.

You’ll also find articles on how to get powerful testimonials, turn client conflict into opportunity, avoid the most common consulting project screw ups, and more.

Read the May 2006 issue of Management Consulting News.