Consultants Books

Lilly Walters has assembled a collection of terrific ways to create new income streams, get more bookings, generate publicity and more. The book is a series of short tips and ideas that got my brain popping. A quick perusal left my copy dotted with sticky notes marking pages containing ideas I can use now and in the future. I am currently working through the book, a section at a time, putting the tips into action.

Although absolute beginners may want more detail for some tips, wherever you are in your speaking career you will certainly find some gems to help you become a better, more successful (and profitable!) speaker. Beginners looking for more information should also read "Speak and Grow Rich" and other excellent books on building a speaking career.

I hate to say this since I have most of Lilly Walters' books and absolutely live by them in my consulting/speaking business, but this book held very few surprises or new ideas for me. For me, though, the best part and worth the price of the book was the Glossary of Terms. Totally invaluable.

A terrific read. Lilly has compiled a detailed list of tips and tricks that would be helpful to anyone in the communication game. Experienced speakers will certainly find something in this book for them. I know i did, all that is left to do now is to public speak my way to wealth.

This book is a major rip-off. Its title leads you to believe you'll get ideas that you can immediately put into action to generate relatively immediate sales. Allow me to quote some random examples:

#385: Focus your marketing efforts on those companies and industries that can afford to pay for your services.

#393: Market to your best bets first--those you are fairly sure will buy.

#766: Keep a map of your country and world map with time zones, zip codes, and telephone area codes.

#1189: Get it in writing.

She even includes a couple of tips on what to do if you receive a suspicious parcel -- a bomb, I presume.

The bomb is this book. Her tips are not about making more money. They're about walking and chewing gum at the same time. It's a great book for rank beginners. But she should change the title. The only reason why it gets any star at all is because Amazon won't allow us to give zero stars. I suppose she gets a star for good spelling.

I've worked in the Document Management, Image Management, Knowledge Management and Content Management world as a project manager working to implement technologies for various teams. I've worked with Microsoft, FileNet, IBM, Novell, MarkView and Documentum products. I've lead the implementation of systems in Europe, North America and India. I'm a consultant that works to bring together the business and technical sides of a project through the communication of each team's needs and restraints.

I own the book and have loaned it to team members, I have found it to be packed full of information about FileNet products, concepts of system architecture, ideas for getting a project off the ground in your company, negotiation tips, and tons of descriptions of technical concepts tied to content management in general.

I found that where Groff and Jones' book lacked very specific technical detail, it made up for it with discussions of using FileNet to architect solutions. This is an area of information that is sorely lacking.

I found that the FileNet terminology was accurate and even though some of the names are dated through FileNet's constant renaming (all of the above companies do this), my technical team understood what the components were.

This is not an end all book on FileNet products, but it is an excellent tool for educating business teams as to what is possible when using workflow and a document repository. It is also the only independently published book on FileNet that I've found.

I recommend this book to anyone that is working on a DM, KM, CM or imaging project for the first time.

I found this book to be a valuable overview of one of the top products in the document imaging and content management market. Not only did it lay out the common implementation strategies and architectures, it's scope went beyond FileNet's own very pricey training programs. In addition to technical details like setting up offshore indexing centers, the book covers topics like how to ensure sustainable funding for imaging and KM related projects, knowing which FileNet product suites you may need, best practices for negotiating with Filenet corporation and how to set up and manage centralized document capture operations.

For me, the book was the only alternative to completely relying on vendor supplies training alone!

A Second Opinion - Non-FileNet

Todd R. Groff - Co-Author "FileNet: A Consultant's Guide to Enterprise Content Management"

Thank you for the feedback Mr. Tom Woodward and your comments about missing the mark regarding Enterprise Content Management (ECM) from FileNet. Thomas and I have not worked directly for FileNet. Our knowledge of the products has been gathered from experience, FileNet classes, FileNet engineers including Professional Services and from FileNet's Extra.

I disagree with your book review, because although the FileNet sales team has assigned new names to the products, their field engineers are telling a different story when contacted. They are saying that P8 is an upgrade, not a new product and that the majority of the comments around Enterprise Content Management (ECM) are tied to a sales drive to hit an emerging market.

FileNet's P8 suite is the upgrade and repackaging of their previous products and this book describes the application of these products in detail. If not having the latest market driven name of a product makes you an idiot, then most individuals in the IT field are idiots at some point in their career.

Those interested in a FileNet book can browse this book before they buy. This book is a 200-page look at FileNet and their products. There are over 45 figures and tables covering distributed capture, records retention, implementations and costs, some product pricing, media options, web farms and more.

The book comes from years of working with FileNet products, implementing FileNet projects, attending FileNet schools and paying $250 per hour for FileNet Professional Services. This book is not an end-all technical guide, but a consultants / project managers book to help understand the overall products and processes used within enterprise content management tools.

I believe this book to be very relevant, because it is a consolidation of the questions we have been asked by managers over the years. A member of the Department of Homeland Security in reference to FileNet products recently contacted me. He was looking for information and knowledge of how to apply FileNet products to his organization's problems. Regardless of FileNet's description of ECM, the description did not readily provide a solution. People provide solutions.

Amazon.com knows enterprise content management and they have provided an excellent technology, "Search Inside". Please use it to search on the different figures or areas of interest that you might have. The search results will be in the form of the actual book pages. If you don't like what you see, then don't buy the book.

Because Mr. Woodward spent the time to review this book, I did not want to post a rating and undermine the rating system. However Amazon requires a rating to post, so I'm rating this book as "3" stars. I believe it to be a "5" star book, however the other two postings are averaging out at "3" stars.

I purchased this book and yes it does have many, many truths, like there fact that there is little available information on FileNet's products.

However, while this book has some insights into FileNet the company and certain esoterics, it completly misses the mark regarding Enterprise Content Managment from FileNet.

The book seems to be a rehash/update of a white paper focussed on the FileNet Imaging Product, formerly Image Services now Image Manager.

When they discuss management tools and clients it a discussion of FileNet's legacy applicationos XAPEX and IDM Client. There is absolutely no discussion of the current FileNet P8 ECM suites other than some overview, nothing on the ECM Enterprise Manager, Virtual Content Manager, eForms for P8, etc. etc.

They complete miss so many basic details, key critical details in the FileNet ECM suite, such as the Application Engine, Routers, etc. that this isn't worth the paper it's printed on. I am so sorry I bought it!

As someone who has worked with the FileNet products for over 10 years and former FileNet "Sales Engineer" (they are actually Systems Consultants) I must warn you that if you try to apply 80% of this book to FileNet's ECM products you will appear a 100% idiot!

This book comprises lots of practical lists, forms and broad advice about starting and building an successful consulting practice. Therefore it's worthwhile reading and investing your time. There is a confinement. The book is at large a bit to subtle for an inexperienced reader. For instance: When elaborating the use of paid advertising for client development Jack uses extensive argument that it could be useful for branding etc. Instead for just saying blunt: for most small consultant business or solo practitioners it's a waste of money and it won't lead you to an assignment.
Reading this book in combination with Guy Kawasaki's book: "The art of a start" provide you with sufficient building bricks for laying a fundament under your business.

This is the most practical and realistic book on consulting I've read. I've owned two consulting practices and have learned through trial and error what works and what doesn't. Save yourself the time (and financial heartache) of experimentation and follow the recommendations outlined by Phillips. The section on ROI is particularly useful as most consultants fail to demonstrate their value to the client. Phillips offers an ROI methodology that ensures success, credibility and a sustainable consulting business.

The book provides a good collection of current consulting references and resources in one easy to navigate package. For the person new to consulting it is a great resource. For experienced consultants looking for new or innovative ideas for your practice this is not the best source.

So much of the information in here is so basic or just no-brainers, and all these silly checklists that fill up the pages - such as a whole section on what to get for your office (including a desk chair!-well, duh.). A serious consultant should be smart enough to know much of the information themselves, or they shouldn't be consulting. There are much better books out there.

I was never able to make anything until I attempted some of the garnishes in this book. All my friends want me to make their parties a success with these clever designs. The book was easy to understand and the illustrations were Right On Target. A great investment for Everyone!

K. Well, I'm a 12 yr old who cooks. I can make lots of stuff, sushi is my specialty. One time, we were gonna have a dinner party, and I'm like, Wahoo! more people to feed sushi to. But theres gotta something more I can do. And then I go, I'll make it look pretty. So I go and order this book, and I get it, and then I try some simple stuff. It turned out great, everyone complimented on it. It would be better if the steps were illustrated w/ pictures, but they're only drawings. The do hve pics of wat it will turn out to look like.

I was very excited when I received my book. Unfortunatly my excitement turned to dissapointment as I thumbed through the pages. While the book was filled with easy to do garnishes it was elementary and below my expectations. While the beginning of the book had some good points and conveyed a general understanding of garnishing, It was less than what I expected from 4 well educated chefs.

This book is good for beginner like me. This book teaches us how to garnish in simple way. One of the good things about this book is that it carries tools. For me it helps a lot because first I didn't know which tools to use. Another reason is that this book shows many fun ways to carve with cute & beautiful shapes. And that work with children who dislike eating fruits or vegetables. By seeing their cute shape, children are so fond of them that they eat it without knowing that they used to hate those particular fruits or vegetables. This is a useful book. Too bad the pages guidelines aren't colored. Plus the guide pictures are only drawn not photos. It will be nice if this book show actual pictures and colored. Anyhow the result is definitely beautiful but simple to make.

Yes, the price is steep. It's only a foldable card set. Full of table names with logical names, lists of logical database names, indexes, transaction codes. If you've ever wished for a list of useful transaction codes or table names - this is it! A bit dated - but still the single most useful piece of written SAP documentation I have.

Thats a huge price! Not worth it. Instead making one ourself would cost us time, but its worth it! one would not need the cheat sheet then!

If you thought you knew something about SAP, check out this data filled 2 card set. Each card has 6 or 7 pages, both sides, of transaction codes, how-to sections, and usage notes. If you want to have SAP MM right at your fingertips, grab this set of SAP flash cards.

I want to know all about SAP, I'd like obtain everytool from it. Well, learn to use.

Excellent book with great background information on Bush as well. The Texas politics parts are fascinating. A really good writer. I hope he does a follow-up on Gonzales and his role in the government in the nearer past.

This is an astounding study of Alberto Gonzales for the conclusions it leaves unsaid. You have an incredible story of a poor boy with an alcoholic father (who never questions the root causes of his father's alcoholism), who rises to power by toiling for the scion of privileged political and industrial barrons. It is an incredible pull yourself by your bootstraps story, even if it is perfectly clear that said rise involved the licking of other boots. In what I have never understood about South American, and for that manner Spanish derived countries, is the move toward dictatorships, juntas, inquisitions, tyranny that seems to sprout in each and every political descendant of the European country that gave us Jesuits gone Wild in the middle ages. Doesn't make any difference if the country is communist or or fascist, the results are the same: the poor are belittled and beleagured, abused and neglected. So, you would think such an upbringing would convince a young man to stem that cycle of abuse.
Not in the case of Gonzales. Maybe if we take a psychoanalytic study of this tome, what we would see is a self-hatred that wanted to enable the cycle of violence to continue. How else might one explain the social inequities this man pursues, the abbrogations of the US Constitution, the violation of both letter and law of the Bill of Rights so that others are punished, as severely as possible, for their disobedience? I would suggest that if you read this book critically, you'll come away with a very disturbing portrait of the man to whom the Justice Department is entrusted. And Justice? Well, there is justice for the wealthy and pwoerful, and there is what everyone else deserves for not labouring and honouring those who grant you the boons of survival.
Mind you, I admire his rise from his family history. I just can't understand the psychoses that prevent him from wanting to do what he could to enable others to rise, preserve the right to dissent from an abusive and, formerly in the case of the current PaapaDoc Dauphin, alcoholic patriarch, to protect, forgive (I mean he IS Catholic) and struggle for the underprivileged because that above all else is what Senor Jesus preached. The answers to my questions are clearly and dramatically spelled out in this suspenseful story. I can't wait until it ends.....

Alberto Gonzales was recently confirmed as the 80th Attorney General of the United States. Bill Minutaglio, in his new book, The President's Counselor, describes how Mr. Gonzales rose from abject poverty at the outset of his life to become the nation's top law enforcement official.

Minutaglio presents us with a vivid and spectacular opening to the book - 2 wonderfully written chapters detailing Gonzales' early years in Humble, Texas. We are given a very evocative portrait of the sufferings of migrant workers deep in the heart of Texas - this really gives the reader a unique perspective on the upbringing of this man Alberto Gonzales.

Minutaglio recounts for the reader with the story of how Gonzales escaped this poverty, became a lawyer, and befriended George W. Bush, who was later to become the 43rd President of the United States. As an utterly loyal servant to his client, Gonzales seems to be completely subservient to the wishes of his client, including his revered friend George Bush.

As the counselor to Bush in Texas and again in Washington, Gonzales has demonstrated his loyalty and willingness to find the legal loopholes to ensure that the Bush agenda is compliant with the laws as it is promoted. However, as Minutaglio discusses, this has come at a price to Gonzales - he has been subjected to many questions about the so called "Bybee memo" which appears to have condoned torture at Abu Ghraib, and about his involvement in the domestic wiretapping program undertaken by the Bush Administration.

As George Bush rose through the political ranks to become President, Alberto Gonzales also rose through the political ranks, became a much more political player than ever before, and has now risen to the level of the nation's first Hispanic Attorney General. Many writings have speculated that Bush will elevate Gonzales to a spot on the Supreme Court bench if there is another opening during his Presidency. This book certainly lends some credence to the theory that Bush rewards his inner circle of friends and confidants, but I believe that Bush will not offer Gonzales a seat on the high tribunal of the United States Supreme Court for fear that he is not conservative enough.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Bush administration. I think that the author does not always give due to his audience - he often repeats specific phrases in an effort to get his point across. However, the book is (for the most part) well written and gives us an unbiased picture of the subject.

The only reason I read past the second chapter of this book was my innate stubborness to see where this so-called "author" eventually brings this diatribe. For background, I am a 71 year old WASP, raised in the public school system of El Paso, Texas in the 1940's-50's, arguably one of the most culturally diverse cities for it's size in the U.S. at that time, with some 65% Hispanics. We all went to the same classrooms, played on the athletic fields together, used the same facilities to shower and dress, learned each other's languages, and dated together. In reading this book, none of that inter-cultural knowledge is evident, and "Methinks" that this author knows NOT whereof he writes. He distinguishes between Christian and Hispanic voters (??) and singles out Mr. Gonzales as a "token" Hispanic for special treatment.
The author continually points a finger at Judge Gonzales' "alcoholic" father, and beats a steady, LOUD drumbeat into the reader's psyche of the President's "criminal background", a 30 year old self-confessed vehicular traffic offence that harmed no one, as if it were greater than, or exceeded the death of Mary Jo Kopechne.
This book appears to have been written more as an "expose" with an agenda rather than for the enlightenment of the readers concerning this nation's most unusual and accomplished Attorney General.

As a textiles student this swatch kit is a required purchase. At $60 this is a very expensive plastic folder with some photo copied pages, a cheap pen and even cheaper tape that isn't even acid free. The 126 fabric samples - which were DONATED- are listed, presumabley in order, on a master list which reads like the Rosetta stone. This company can charge any amount they desire for this product as there is no compition and students must purchase it, so they have made no effort to provide us with a quality product.

As a student I used this swatch book in my class along with the text, Textiles 9th edition. I found it to be very user friendly and an excellent reference of apparel and interior fabrics. Compared to other kits I am familiar with, the Basic Kit is lower priced considering all of the swatches and the extra materials (tape, pen, stitch counter) that it comes with. I have recently graduated and am still using this swatch book as a guide to textiles as I begin working in the apparel design industry. This is a great fabric resource for anyone in the apparel or interior design field!

I totally disagree with the person who gave the swatch kit one of five stars. I have researched different swatch kits from other companies (so yes there are competitors) and found that this kit is far superior to any of the other swatch kits available. You will not find a better value or selection of fabrics. The swatches are in order as they are described on the master list. It is an excellent hand-on fabric reference.

This excellent book shows a wide variety of coloured photographs taken by various professional and amateur photographers. It clearly explains how they can be improved upon by those who might appreciate or prefer the wonderful medium of B & W photography by manipulation in a graphics program, here, mainly Adobe Photoshop.
The book is fairly concise but the better for it. It has a practicality about it which you can only tap into by serious application; a passionate joy for some, a chore for others.
I have examined a number of books on the same theme; this is the better.

I was expecting more detailed examples beyond what every typical photoshop book has to offer, but it only delivered about 60% of what I was wanting. This book is nothing more than a Cliff Notes version of "Mastering Black and White Digital Photography" by Michael Freeman, which is truely a "comprehensive" exploration on the subject.

I tried to like the book. However its not very well laid out and what content it has can be found in just about any other photoshop book. Really the main gripe here is that the book is poory laid out. The information is not presented clealy and the pages are very busy and hard to read.

This is an excellent guide for the novice or expereinced consultant. It is also very useful to anyone functioning in an internal consulting capacity. The book is easy to read and is laid out in a very orderly manner.

Considering that this book is almost 20 years out of date (all the report examples were done on typewriters!) it is still a meaty assessment of what management consulting is about from some senior people who have a lot of experience under their belts. I appreciated the blend of conceptual discussions, detail (without being overwhelming), savvy insights on office politics and concrete examples that brought issues to life. If nothing else, it gives a good picture of where consultants are coming from for those who hire them. Unlike other reviewer, I was not put off by "big league" name dropping. Many Fortune 500 firms will would only consider hiring these type of consultants, and if you work in such a place, it is a fact of life.

I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of pages without a reference to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, this high profile firm and that high profile firm, etc. It becomes VERY annoying and unfortunately takes away from the message of the book.

It is also severly out of date, but that is to be expected from a 1983 book.

Before buying this book, I would seriously consider getting something more recent and less inclined to "name-dropping".

The overall book is not that ground breaking and a lot of other books, I am sure, have the same information (i.e. ISBN 2760616789 it's in French though).

Not the best reading...

If you really are just starting out and have no clue what you're doing then this book might be helpful. Might. For me, most of the book was too vague to be useful. Comments to the effect of "choose the best possible system [or arrangement] for X" drove me crazy. What, in his opinion, is the best system, and why? Also, the sentences were so short and basic that I felt like I was in grammar school. This book might serve as a useful checklist for things to think about, but I didn't find many answers or very good advice. Skim it at the library.

I just finished reading Going Solo, and by the time I was finished, I had a fairly complete business plan already completed. Not only did this book contain valuable information, it also stimulated pages of ideas and things to do. I definitely recommend reading this book with a pen and notebook handy.

William J. Bond presents a guide for people who want to become home-based consultants. His manual covers every aspect of freelance consulting, from finding, landing, and keeping clients, to maintaining records and understanding the marketplace. This common-sense book is part narrative and part workbook, including questionnaires and fill-in list forms. It is detailed, but if you have any experience as a solo practitioner, the elementary basic business practices outlined may cover material you already know. We at getAbstract recommend this book as a primer for anyone who wants to become a consultant working from a home-office and to those who are already doing exactly that and would like a few more tips about how to make a better living at it.