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Communication plans are key to project success
Rick Freedman discusses the difference between project and constituent communications, and explains why both are critical to an IT consultant's success on a job.
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Keep clients in the loop with a good communication plan
Rick Freedman offers his tips on creating a communication plan that ensures your client's experience will be a superior one.
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Manage expectations with IT consulting clients
Most veteran IT consultants have war stories about failed expectations. Chip Camden offers pointers on how you can appropriately manage expectations with your clients.
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Six tips for handling vendor problems without losing clients
If a vendor leaves you hanging, Erik Eckel says there are six steps you can take to protect your IT consultancy and your client relationships.
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Why are you an independent consultant?
Does freedom, money, status, adventure, or something else drive you to be an independent consultant? Let us know by taking this poll.
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Move to a paperless system for client documentation
Here are six reasons why IT consultants may want to consider switching from paper-based documentation to electronic documentation.
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Consultants, know how the IRS determines employee status
Chip Camden offers independent consultants tips on how to be savvy when it comes to the IRS's 20 factors for determining whether a worker is an employee under common law rules.
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How do I create and memorize reports in QuickBooks Point of Sale?
Learn how to create a customized report in QuickBooks Point of Sale software and then save the report so it's easily accessible.
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Review: RingCentral Office, a phone system in the cloud
RingCentral provides a business-class phone system in the cloud that can be accessed from anywhere at a relatively low fixed cost.
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Sanity saving tips for newbie IT consultants
An IT consultant's first year in the field can be maddening. Jack Wallen offers newbies a few tips for staying sane.
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Use the consulting relationship for your client's good
Chip Camden says good consultants are business therapists who make their client's success (rather than their payment) the primary goal.
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Improve your consultancy's productivity with these iPhone apps
IT consultant Erik Eckel lists six iPhone applications that he says have helped his productivity. Find out which one is his absolute favorite.
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When IT consultants should outsource work
Chip Camden outlines several instances in which outsourcing some of your IT consulting responsibilities might be good decision.
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Three steps to improve service call scheduling
Here are steps any IT consultancy can take to better schedule service calls and better position itself to accommodate clients' emergency requests.
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How to offer the Linux option to IT consulting clients
Jack Wallen shares tips on how to pitch Linux to clients. He also explains how convincing a client to go with Linux can have long-term benefits for your consultancy.
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Why IT consultants must master basic retailing
Erik Eckel says all IT consultancies must manage an inventory of commonly needed equipment. This inventory requires staff to master basic retail skills. Read his pointers on retailing.
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Increase service agreement renewal rates with these tips
If a client seems unsure about whether to renew a service agreement with your IT consultancy, you should try these strategies for keeping your contract renewal rates high.
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Advice for the IT consultant's significant other
Chip Camden advises IT consultants to watch out if their relationship with their significant other isn't based on mutual support.
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Keep your mind sharp to defeat ageism in IT consulting
The best approach to defeating ageism is to demonstrate to IT consulting prospects that your age is not a liability.
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Create a one-page status report with Microsoft Project 2010
See how easy it is to customize Microsoft Project 2010 to create a custom view that filters detailed tasks and highlights the major deliverables that need reviewing in a status report.
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Manage accountability in outsourced projects
Dr. Andrew Maker shares his advice about accountability for project managers seeking to apply PM processes to outsourced suppliers.
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Gain insight into your project by using LiquidPlanner Analytics
Will Kelly reviews LiquidPlanner Analytics, a recent addition to the LiquidPlanner SaaS project management platform.
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Build a better test bench for your IT consultancy
The design of your test bench can have a big impact on productivity and profitability. Based on real-world experience, IT consultant Erik Eckel offers five proven tenets of efficient work bench design...
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Nontraditional cures for keeping a project on schedule and on budget
Telling a client that a project is behind schedule and running over budget is unpleasant and possibly humiliating. Two nontraditional methods for involving in-house personnel from the project's incept...
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Listen, learn, question, and think before you consult
Chip Camden believes consulting is a five-stage process, and the consult is the final stage. Read how being a listener, student, interrogator, and thinker helps to inform your consulting decisions.
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Never assume engineers have mastered all the fundamentals
Erik Eckel argues that it's unreasonable to assume every technician can master the vast technologies consultancies are commonly tasked to support. Read his suggestions for building specific areas of e...
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Short-term contracting work may have long-term benefits
Blogger Jay Rollins thinks now is a good time for companies to hire independent contractors to work on small projects. One possible benefit is that the short-term arrangement could lead to a long-term...
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Why should clients hire you?
With an increase of people in the job market, there's more competition for independent contractor gigs. Get tips on how to make prospective clients know that hiring you will help their bottom line.
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Three ways IT consultants can streamline vendor relationships
Erik Eckel says limiting the list of vendors his IT consultancy uses has improved his profitability and his life. Here are the three simple ways that he was able to streamline vendor relationships.
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Keep IT consulting project scope small for success
Negativity can kill a project, but the opposite is also true: You can stuff a project with so many features that it's crushed by its own weight.