Diversity
professionals need competitive expertise and high impact
marketing to compete today. This is to a considerable
extent due to the increase in number of consultants in
other professions who offer diversity services. It is
also due to the increased use of in-house professionals
to steer diversity initiatives and training projects.
In addition, the diversity profession is a multi-billion
dollar industry, so the number of professionals who have
developed the expertise to become consultants has increased.
How can you stand out above the pack?
Competing
successfully requires strategic marketing your expertise
and knowing how to package what you offer. You can read
about how to become a top-paid professional below. We
concentrate in the section on gaining visibility. One
strategy is to network. A Latino company in San Diego
was great at networking. You would see
one of the owners at nearly every community and citywide
business-related function. They introduce themselves and
shake hands with new and old faces. You are always given
a business card. It took them nearly three years to land
a big contract, but it was a half million dollars. Networking
is critical, but it takes a lot of energy, time, and great
networking skills. In addition, you only focus on local
opportunities. Pick up a networking book to get started.
You
can also give talks to various organizations, such as
the Rotary Club, sorority and fraternal organizations,
human resource organizations, EEO groups, etc. Presenting
your ideas to such audiences is an ideal way to meet people,
let them know what you offer, and start building relationships.
Giving presentations is another form of network, so it
takes time and effort. However, you must also prepare
good presentations and more than likely offer them for
FREE. Again, the focus is on local opportunities. In addition,
I have not found giving talks lucrative. If you are paid
to give the presentations, then the cost-benefit increases.
In addition, organizations that offer you compensation
will more likely have an audience with money.
You
can also pay to advertise your practice. I have not found
local newspapers and magazines helpful. These are for
organizations with considerable advertisement budgets
and primarily offer exposure. Television is too costly
and not really much better than newspapers. I have not
found the Yellow Pages to pay off at all. It is great
to have your number in the phone book, but the cost is
considerable for an ad and the return on investment is
not worth it.
One
of the most promising advertising media is the internet.
This is because many of those seeking diversity experts
have two possibilities for finding a professional--recommendations
from colleagues or the internet. You would think that
they'd always start with asking colleagues. They do, but
mostly by sending an email. They surf the net while they
work. The internet is used for getting information needed
to figure out how to address the diversity need. The first
ten diversity sites listed in their search will most likely
get their attention. Sites that look like they have a
look of FREE information will be the first they access.
This means that diversity websites that merely come off
as advertisements will not likely be visited, unless that
company is clearly in the vicinity. Most websites are
designed so poorly that the potential visitor cannot determine
where the business is located. However, the potential
visitor is always looking for information to assist them
in making good decisions. Perhaps the most valuable information
for such visitors includes both tips for selecting a diversity
professional, how to find a professional, and where they
are located. This is what the DTUI Referral Service offers
them.
The
service benefits you because DTUI is in the top ten positions
in the most popular search engines, such as Yahoo! and
Google. Most often you will find it in the top five positions.
In addition, the fact that we have the word university
in the title and potential visitors can see that we offer
FREE information increases the likelihood that they will
visit us. DTUI is also a popular link as a result. Nearly
half of the 90,000 visitors each month represent traffic
from links offered by other sites--many of which have
not asked us for a mutual link.
It
is estimated that the majority of diversity trainers do
not receive compensation for their expertise. One reason
is that they do not realize that the diversity profession
is increasingly recognized as a special area of organizational
development. Organizational development involves organizational
assessment, organizational effectiveness, strategic planning,
intervention identification and implementation, as well
as training and facilitation. Successful organizational
development specialists receive top dollar for their services.
This means diversity professionals can receive as much
as $5000 to $7500 per day, $1500 to $4500 per half day,
or $150-$250 per hour. Anyone making less than than $1500
per day is underpaid. Given that the competition is high
among diversity trainers, acquiring organizational development
expertise offers the trainer a competitive edge.