Starting this week, OST Global Solutions, a ProposalCafe.com Premium Sponsor, will conduct a three-part webinar series: How to Succeed as a Proposal Consultant. It appears that this training can help the wannabe, new, or experienced proposal consultant. For details about these webinars, see http://www.ostglobalsolutions.com/successful-proposal-consultant.

I'm confident that the webinar instructor, Olessia Smotrava-Taylor, will conduct very informative and beneficial webinars -- and won't need my help in doing so. However, I'd like to offer my advice for proposal consultants (regardless of their experience) about something I think is necessary to be a successful proposal consultant: networking.

My advice, simply stated, is network, and when you've done that, network some more.

Networking is marketing yourself. Not only can networking help you find prospective clients (and vice versa), it can help you build credibility as a proposal professional.  It can also help you develop a supporting network of proposal consultant colleagues who can help you find work by referring prospective clients to you (and vice versa).

More specifically, here are 12 recommendations for networking as a consultant whether you offer proposal development/management services to for-profit or non-profit clients.

1. Join proposal-related professional organizations (organization examples: the Association of Proposal Management Professionals, www.apmp.org, the Grant Professionals Association, http://grantprofessionals.org, Society for Technical Communication, www.stc.org,  and the National Contract Management Association, www.ncmahq.org).

2. Become active in a local chapter in said professional organizations attending meetings and serving as a chapter officer.

3. Attend the events of said proposal organizations (event examples: conference, symposium, training day, or chapter meeting), and when you attend -- network (see http://entrepreneurs.about.com/b/2009/03/13/top-10-conference-networking-tips.htm).

4. Be a speaker about proposal-related topics at said events (as per #3).

5. Write articles about proposal-related topics or book reviews for publications of said professional organizations (publication examples: newsletter or journal).

6. Closely related to #3 above, speak at events that serve small businesses (event examples: training seminars, classes, conferences, and workshops sponsored by a local Procurement Technical Assistance Center, http://www.dla.mil/db/procurem.htm, or Small Business Development Center, http://www.sba.gov/about-offices-content/1/2894).

7. Use your own web site to advertise your experience, qualifications, and service (http://www.guerrillaconsulting.com/newsletter/issue11-sep-05.html). On the web site, write a blog with your proposal advice (and musings) (see http://website101.com/social-media/how-write-blog-writing/).

8. Use social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to connect and communicate with prospective clients and other proposal consultants (see http://www.startupnation.com/business-articles/9457/1/social-media-network-marketing.htm). Integrate their use with your web site. (In particular, I think membership in the many groups on LinkedIn associated with bids, proposals, grants, and capture management can be a very a valuable networking resource. LinkedIn groups also have job boards for posting available jobs.)

9. Post your availability as a proposal consultant on professional organization web sites. (Many APMP chapters offer this service. To find them, see http://www.apmp.org/siteSpecific/chapter/chapters.aspx?us=true. Check with the chapter to see if it requires APMP/APMP chapter membership to post. Also the GPA provides this service free to its members; see http://grantprofessionals.org/grant-consultants/all-listings.aspx.)

10. Post your availability for consultant work on the Job Seeker List of ProposalCafe.com (see http://proposalcafe.com/jobs/job-seeker-list). It's a free service.

11. Offer your services to proposal service companies that recruit staff for the "stable" of proposal consultants they offer prospective clients. (Before you commit to working for such companies, learn if they will require you to be an exclusive consultant for them or will allow you to be an independent consultant between jobs they provide for you.)

12. Wherever you go, be prepared to distribute your business card and to give your "elevator pitch" (see http://www.psprint.com/resources/small-business-marketing/business-cards/unique-ways-business-cards.asp, and http://www.businessknowhow.com/money/elevator.htm).

If you have any recommendations for networking as a proposal consultant or anything else with being a successful proposal consultant, please share your thoughts with the ProposalCafe.com's Proposal Consultants group; see http://proposalcafe.com/community/groups/viewgroup/9-Proposal+Consultants.