Publications

Newsletters

Under The Oak Tree (monthly) - the newsletter of Solid Oak Consulting focused on helping your business grow.

Business Alert - Institute for Independent Business (IIB) Newsletters Archive (quarterly) - the IIB is an International not-for-profit research and accreditation organization established in 1984 to give independent businesses direct access to some of the country's most experienced business executives who bring practical advice and timely ideas to those independent businesses.

Exit For Success (monthly) - BizMach is an affiliates-based business focused on helping business owners successfully transition their businesses.

Smart Business Matters Newsletters Archive (quarterly) - a newsletter for business owners seeking growth and success.

 

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Presentations

In addition to my teaching, I often give presentations to various business groups. A selection of presentations, including some with audio, are presented below. To hear the audio, you must first download and install the Audio Player included below.

If you would like to have me present these or other business topics related to growth, change or management, please email me at: telong@SolidOakConsulting.com.

• Are your Employees Preventing Company Growth? (500KB)
• Are your Employees Preventing Company Growth? - Audio (9MB)
• How To Succeed In Business By Really Trying (178KB)
• The Biggest Mistake An Owner May Make (849KB)
• The Biggest Mistake An Owner May Make - Audio (3MB)
• Why Small Businesses Fail (329KB)
• Develop Your Elevator Speech (58KB)
• Develop Your Elevator Speech - Audio (7MB)
• Elevator Speech Forms (Zip-MS word)
• So You Want To Be An Independent Consultant - Presentation(91KB)
  

Marketing - Reach Your Target Audience

Marketing is much more than just advertising; it includes a wide range of activities, many of which are low-cost or even free. Learn how to identify new markets, leverage existing lines of communication, sell your company's benefits and convert "suspects" and "prospects" into customers.

Marketing - Reach Your Target Audience - Presentation(74KB)

Marketing - Reach Your Target Audience - Audio(20MB)

I’ve Started My Independent Consulting Practice – Now What?
Tom Long - Solid Oak Consulting – Oak Park, IL

As people in the retiring baby-boomer generation leave the traditional workforce, they are seeking new careers in their own businesses. One of the more frequent choices is independent consulting. This presentation focuses on the key issues new consultants face and some approaches to resolve them. How you face and resolve these issues will determine your success or failure. The first and foremost issue to be faced is the fact that you are starting your own business. For someone who has been an employee, this is no small consideration. For some, the most disturbing part of having a business is the financial uncertainty. For others it is the loss of a social infrastructure. And for others, it is the realization that you are not as employable as you used to be. This session deals with the conscious and deliberate decision to start your own business and the things you have to do to make it successful.


What a new independent consultant typically wants to do is practice his or her craft, which is based on some kind of technical skill. Regardless of the technical skill, the long-term success of a consulting practice lies in the building of a firm foundation. This presentation and discussion will focus on the elements of the firm foundation and the actions necessary for the new practice to be successful.
Presentation Audio(16MB)

Guerrilla Marketing For Consultants

For guerrillas, marketing is a full-time business that includes every aspect of a consulting practice. It begins the moment you decide to become a consultant and never stops. Marketing involves more than just trying to sell your services; it affects how you comport yourself, run your practice, bid on projects, perform for clients and build relationships.

This presentation will introduce the basic concepts of Guerrilla Marketing, include the key secrets of Guerrilla Marketing and identify a number of marketing weapons well suited to consultants.
Presentation AudioPart 1(16MB) Audio Part 2(12MB)

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Articles & Whitepapers

The following articles were published in a variety of sources and are available for your download.

• I Don't Need A Business Plan
• Social Status and Resistance To Change
• Reaching Goals
• Dealing With Diversity - Article in Inc. Magazine
• So You Want To Be An Independent Consultant
• Tom Long is Interviewed by Crain's for SmallTalk Issue 7-17-07
• Tom Long is Interviewed in Entrepreneur Magazine, October 2007 Article - Oh, Grow Up!
• Tom Long is Interviewed in Crain's, December 2008 - You can't sell; Now what?
• Tom Long is Interviewed in the Wall Street Journal, January 20, 2009 - Small Businesses Cut Costs by Renegotiation
• Tom Long is Interviewed in Entrepreneur Magazine May 2009, -Creative Ways to Get the Cash Flowing

Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference (BCERC) - Founded by Babson College in 1981, BCERC is considered by many to be the premier entrepreneurship research conference in the world. Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research contains the proceedings of the conference and is the most comprehensive collection of empirical research papers on entrepreneurship.

Patrick Murphy's and Thomas Long's BCERC Paper and Presentation: Disease Epidemics and Entrepreneurial Tipping Points: Models of Venture Viability from Customer and Financier Perspectives

If you have a topic for which you would like an article written, please contact me at: telong@SolidOakConsulting.com.

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