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A review by prolificliving
Million Dollar Consulting: the Professional's Guide to Growing a Practice by Alan Weiss
2.0
Eh. That is my quick reaction to this book. I'm a voracious reader and one of my apprentices recommended this book so highly that I took her up on it. I'm afraid it just didn't do it for me.
I listened to the audio version and kept an open mind. There are certainly some good ideas here which I have long since implemented in my business:
1. You're a professional so never charge by the hour, that's amateur, charge by value.
2. Work from your home office and keep your overhead expenses minimal.
3. Discuss work with your family members at the end of the day and even ask for advice from them.
4. Don't do business with family or friends and never exchange services.
5. Let your reputation speak for itself and charge appropriately.
6. Create content, produce work, grow your IP.
To me, these are pretty basic concepts and Alan describes them at very high levels because he covers so much, he cannot really go into any level of detail in any one area. And there is massive oversimplification across the board on all the topics.
He also uses very direct language. Now I am a very direct person (just ask my husband) but my books use a language that welcomes change and encourages ideas even if I am being firm in my stance. Something about the tone of the book did not resonate with me. Maybe it's the cold unfriendly approach to here's how it's done and you need to do it this way if you want to make it work. I like to hear the advice with some compassion and some motivation behind it.
Also, I did not feel that there was much compassion or love or care for his clients. It was about getting the best deal, charging them a ton of money (which is fine!) and giving them as little time as possible so that he could live a nice life or at least that's the sense I got. There was no implication that he is really a caring partner along the way for his clients but more that they can have him if he is available and at astronomical rates and only for 5 minutes. Eh. Not an approach that I will be implementing anytime soon.
There are also some good ideas that I will implement, but overall, I won't be recommending this book. Perhaps there is more value for others.
I listened to the audio version and kept an open mind. There are certainly some good ideas here which I have long since implemented in my business:
1. You're a professional so never charge by the hour, that's amateur, charge by value.
2. Work from your home office and keep your overhead expenses minimal.
3. Discuss work with your family members at the end of the day and even ask for advice from them.
4. Don't do business with family or friends and never exchange services.
5. Let your reputation speak for itself and charge appropriately.
6. Create content, produce work, grow your IP.
To me, these are pretty basic concepts and Alan describes them at very high levels because he covers so much, he cannot really go into any level of detail in any one area. And there is massive oversimplification across the board on all the topics.
He also uses very direct language. Now I am a very direct person (just ask my husband) but my books use a language that welcomes change and encourages ideas even if I am being firm in my stance. Something about the tone of the book did not resonate with me. Maybe it's the cold unfriendly approach to here's how it's done and you need to do it this way if you want to make it work. I like to hear the advice with some compassion and some motivation behind it.
Also, I did not feel that there was much compassion or love or care for his clients. It was about getting the best deal, charging them a ton of money (which is fine!) and giving them as little time as possible so that he could live a nice life or at least that's the sense I got. There was no implication that he is really a caring partner along the way for his clients but more that they can have him if he is available and at astronomical rates and only for 5 minutes. Eh. Not an approach that I will be implementing anytime soon.
There are also some good ideas that I will implement, but overall, I won't be recommending this book. Perhaps there is more value for others.