Monday, December 31, 2018

2019 Goals- and HAPPY NEW YEAR!


What’s on Your New Year’s Business To-Do List?

Have you thought about your profession goals for in 2019? What do you want to do better? What things would you like to get done? Has something been on the back burner too long?

Two weeks back I wrote about becoming even more engaged in the GovCon community through networking events, LinkedIn and speaking. Becoming more engaged is my primary goal for 2019.

This includes my work with the AFCEA Small Business Committee, attending PSC MarCom events (as long as I am invited), attending Bloomberg events, and others.

LinkedIn will be a big part of this, reaching out to people I have not spoken with in a while, and occasionally going for coffee.

My own seminars will be back on a quarterly basis through my partnership with Offit Kurman, so I will be hosting seminars in Tysons and Maple Lawn.

I will work hard to sustain my speaking schedule of 20+ events a year, so if you need a speaker with an opinion, you know where to find me.

Oh yeah- and I’ll write more, and start podcasting.

What’s on your list?

I wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year!

Mark Amtower    markamtower@gmail.com


Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Building Your Subject Matter Expert Platform to Fill Your Pipeline


Building Your SME Platform to Fill Your Pipeline:
Consultant Advisory Program

If you are looking to establish, grow and fill the pipeline of your solo or small consulting practice, we need to talk now.

I have been operating as Amtower & Company in the government contracting arena since January, 1985, and I have always been a one-man band. Over the years I have learned, usually the hard way, was that filling the pipeline does not occur by itself: it takes planning, careful execution and often revised or updated planning.

Among the things I did in my early years was to start a newsletter that offered both tips and observations on what others were doing. Then I produced the first ever “Marketing to the Government” seminar in January of 1991, which led me to produce a bunch of public seminars and three conferences (1992-1994).

One of my seminar attendees told me about a business marketing conference that would benefit from a B2G workshop, so the following year (and 4 after that) I was a featured speaker at Direct Marketing to Business (DMB, 1993-1996) – which led me to consulting with over thirty B2B catalog companies and helping them successfully enter the government market.

It was also at DMB where one of my session attenders suggested I write a book. I ended up consulting with her company for several years, writing the book (Government Marketing Best Practices) and still being friends with her more than 25 years later.

During this period I also developed relationships with reporters and editors at business and marketing magazines as well as the government trade press – and I started getting quoted and writing articles, getting more speaking gigs…and getting more business as a result.

At each step along the way I took action, often resulting in business with new clients.

And somewhere along the line I became a recognized Subject Matter Expertand I want to share that with you.


I am offering a six-month, one-on-one program to help you take your consulting business to the next level, to expedite the process of attaining your SME status.

The program consists of online coaching, telephone and email support to help you define your goals and build your SME platform.

     -         Defining your area of expertise in terms that resonate with your audience

-         Creating a content marketing strategy that will put you on the radar of your prospect audience and move you up the visibility food chain

-         Fine-tuning your LinkedIn profile and company page and develop a results-focused LinkedIn presence that works for you 24/7/365

-         Developing an ongoing learning system for you so you can stay among the “most informed” and have the ability to share pertinent information with your network

-    Identifying and reaching out to key GovCon media

-         Ultimately assisting you in creating a subject matter expert platform in the market which will help you grow your business.

My goal with this program is to help you build your SME platform and make it easier to get your message to a targeted audience.



Isn’t it time to invest in yourself?

After signing up, we’ll have a one-on-one strategy session to map out where you are and where you want to go, defining your goals and creating an action plan we can both follow. During the session we’ll discuss the areas where you need assistance and how to sequence them.

We will continue our one-on-one sessions weekly focusing on those areas we mapped out in the strategy session and monitoring your progress. Some calls will be preceded by me sending a short PowerPoint or bullet sheet on the action items and my thoughts on what you’ve done and what you need to do.

Six months of 1:1 coaching to take your consulting business to the next level includes

     -         weekly 30 minute calls to keep you focused on your goals, discuss your progress and adjust. These will be mini-brainstorm sessions and include LinkedIn tips/tricks, media coaching, content development and more;

-    regular news feeds from me to help you find information you can absorb, share and comment on;

-    ideas and suggestions for getting speaking engagements;

-   trade association selection and involvement;

-    I will also be available for short (unscheduled) calls (via my calendly app) and through email inquiries.
While I’d love to do mentoring for free, we all need to make a living. However, I want to make this as affordable as possible so the investment for this is $495/month, payable on the first of each month (total $2,970).
I offer a discount with a one-time up-front investment of $2,475, which gives you one month for free.
This program runs six months starting the first of the next calendar month.
All training will be done via phone or Skype. Taking into account most of us have day jobs, some one-on-one time may be scheduled for early evening or occasional Saturdays. 
If you are good at what you do and are interested in going to the next level, send me an email or give me a call.
And let's get started!
Mark Amtower
301 854 9493
mark@FederalDirect.net

https://calendly.com/markamtower



Recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Government Marketing