After a long career in H&S I am now branching out on my own as a consultant. I had long intended to do that however I have had to do it very suddenly when my employer suddenly shut. The challenge is, how to market myself, where, and to whom? No good advertising in SHP since it is read by safety professionals - I can't see much chance of being asked for advice there? Yes I have a website, and am now on Yell, any other great ideas would be welcome.

Pikeman First, good luck. Website - think of the keywords that your prospective clients will be googling eg accident investigation, Stockton and get these put on your home page in the same font as background colour i.e. not visible to the eye but visible to web browser.

Hi Pikeman, First, good luck with your new venture! Going freelance isn't easy but it does have its rewards (like having the freedom to walk away from a prospective client if you feel he's going to be more trouble than he's worth! Done that - and it was quite satisfying!) The key thing is to decide exactly what it is you're offering prospective clients. It's not enough to say "I offer health & safety" because the market is so crowded and the term covers so many different aspects of the work. Clients need to know how you can solve their problems (assuming they actually know they have problems - which is another issue!) and so they need to know exactly what specialist skills you can offer them. And once you've decided which particular skills you can offer then you'll be in a position to identify which market sectors/ client types you need to target. As has been mentioned already by TSC a key activity is networking. Meeting people, letting them decide that they can trust you, letting them know (gently) that you exist - it's not going to work overnight but it does work. Social media (I hate that expression!) is also valuable. I've attracted work from the USA via my Twitter account, and I work with a client company who've obtained work in a very specialist sector simply because people had been following them on Twitter and had decided they were a company they could trust. One final point - guard your cash very carefully. It's very tempting to spend a bit here on a press advert, and a bit there on website development, and a bit more on a very tempting offer for 5,000 glossy fliers - but all these little bits soon add up and the money going out has to earn its keep by generating a return. I don't bother with press advertising (expensive lesson learnt) because I don't find that it works. But using Twitter (and LinkedIn) builds my profile internationally and doesn't cost a penny. Other people may have a different story to tell, but that's business for you. There's no magic formula. If you'd like to chat one-to-one about business development then feel free to contact me directly via info@managementandsafety.co.uk and I'll forward you my contact number.

After >30 years in OH&S, working full-time for major organisations, I entered the world of consultancy some 10 months ago. I have been very fortunate to gain "nice" work, & have been able to turn down other offers which didn't quite fit in with what I want to do with my life & all this has been through word of mouth. Yes, I designed & bought a lot of business cards (use both sides!) that I gave out freely at networking events which did pay dividends; the headed paper - jury still out, & compliment slips, a waste of money! I opted for a freebie website, so at least people could have a browse & see where my experiences lie & probably worth it for a few hours work (if I can do it...anybody can!). I made sure that I had a reasonable level of PI & PL Insurance, & met with an established consultant over coffee to pick his brains (thanks again David) which was an excellent insight into this new world I was entering. Good luck with your venture, & I for one have never regretted my decision. Zyggy

Pikeman - I feel a bit of 'tough love' may be required here - you have entered a tough world. There is wealth of difference between working in health and safety vs. becoming a successful consultant. Marketing yourself is one of them. The fact that you considered advertising in SHP suggests to me that you may not fully understand the market you have entered, and I am afraid your registration on Yell was probably a waste of money. You first need to be clear about what you want to do. Is consultancy going to be a full time job or are you becoming semi-retired? Is it the idea of being self-employed (i.e. working on your own) that appeals or is it the consultancy (i.e. getting to work for lots of different companies)? You then need to be clear what you are offering. It is great that you have a "long career in H&S" but do you know what the customer wants? If you are only offering general H&S I am afraid it is a hugely competitive market. It is unlikely to earn you much in the short term but could still be very rewarding if money is not your main motivator. However, if you have a niche specialism that people have a need for you will be in a completely different situation.