January 14, 2009, 7:48 PM — Do you have a consistent strategy for pursuing IT contract job opportunities?
If Yes, you're in better shape than most. But if not, then you need to focus on targeted marketing to reach your intended audience.
First, establish yourself as a specialist who solves problems for your niche that no other consultant in your area can solve. Then, gather important information about your niche prospects, so you can create a targeted marketing campaign that addresses the most common points of pain..
In this article we’ll look at 4 IT contract job hunting tips to fine-tune your marketing campaign so you can get high-quality prospects, customers and clients.
#1: Study Exactly What Your Niche Clients Do. For example, if your client list or resume is loaded with health care-specific IT experience, create a marketing campaign that addresses the hot buttons of those with small medical offices. Begin by figuring out which business issues impact main decision makers. Get subscriptions to industry publications, e-mail newsletters and other industry publications that you know your prospects read. This way, you can understand the big problems your niche faces, what drives their decisions, and which security and IT problems are front-burner now. This strategy allows you to become a real specialist and helps you get each big IT contract job that comes your way.
#2: Learn Which Solutions You Can Offer Clients. Find out how those within your niche, again for example small medical offices, are using IT to change their way of doing business. Find out how they get reimbursed faster by insurance companies, how they make patient and doctor scheduling more efficient, and how they keep track of their charts more effectively. No matter which industry you choose, make sure you understand big-picture trends that are happening right now, so you can be an expert at solving problems and be more efficient at securing each valuable IT contract job within your niche.
#3: Always Think of Yourself as a Virtual CIO. When you market yourself, position yourself as a Virtual CIO. This means when you approach prospects, you will not just be the consultant that sells PC’s, installs LANs or fixes software problems. You are a true Virtual CIO that can analyze sophisticated business needs, make recommendations, and implement long-term IT plans.
#4: Never Present Yourself as a Commodity. When you market yourself the right way, you are not just a techie. You are someone that truly understands each prospect’s business. And when you have built solid relationships with prospects that become customers and clients, they will know they are not going to spend six months training you. Your expertise will be obvious because you’ve done your homework on their real IT business problems and worked with a lot of other offices their size in their industry.
In this article, we discussed 4 tips that increase your chances of getting every great IT contract job that comes your way as an IT specialist. Learn more about how you can attract great, steady, high-paying IT Contract Job clients now at http://www.ITContractJob.com
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