ABOUT CONSULTANTS OF CHOICE

Accelerate your consulting business with practical tools and frameworks that work in New Zealand and Australia

“Consultants of Choice has practical steps tailored for consultants in the New Zealand market. It isn’t some Americanised hype train.”

DOUG CASEMENT
SCRIBBLER COMMUNICATIONS

There’s nothing else out there like
Consultants of Choice.

We know. We looked.

If you're a solo business owner looking for support, there aren’t many options. 61% of Australian and 70% of NZ businesses are sole traders, but government-funded support focuses on larger enterprises. And consultants offering professional services are even less served.

There are plenty of online courses on how to be an entrepreneur. But they’re often American and very marketing-focused.

Industry bodies for consultants and coaches have good training programmes - but tend to be old school and expensive.

Consultants of Choice is designed for today’s personal brand driven, online gig economy.

In today’s professional services environment, being good at what you do is not enough. To succeed as a consultant, you must build deep relationships with your clients, know how to network, be savvy with digital marketing and become visible as an expert in your field.

It’s a lot—no wonder you’re unsure where to start!

“Consultants of Choice has been such a challenging and rewarding experience. I've gone from 'on the fence' to 'all-in' very quickly! After going deep and trusting the process, I feel so much more prepared, energetic and confident talking about the challenges my target organisations are facing. It's given me a real boost!”

ANGE BRUCE
NOT FOR PROFIT OPERATIONS CONSULTANT

You’re great at what you do, but you don’t know how to run a consulting business?

Makes sense! You’re a seasoned professional - and running your own business is a whole new kettle of fish. If any of this sounds familiar, you might need some extra help:

Not sure you’re getting it right

When you start out as a solo consultant, you don’t know what's normal, you’re flying blind, and there's nothing to benchmark against. Get a backstage view of what every consultant goes through.

Don’t know what to offer

When you work alone, there’s pressure to be everything to everybody. But if you do that, you end up being nothing to anyone, struggle to win work, and start feeling desperate. Have the confidence to niche. 

Wondering if it should be this hard

Finding it hard to get meetings? Having half your proposals declined? It's normal to struggle and get rejected. It doesn't mean you’re a bad consultant. Compare notes with others in the same boat. 

No-one understands?

Will anyone buy my offer? How much should I charge? Who should I reach out to? How should I email them? Sound familiar? We’ve been there too. Consultants of Choice will answer all these questions for you. 

“Alicia’s ability to create such rich and engaging communities online, and role model vulnerability and authenticity is second to none. The practical tools, thought provoking content and connections are really valuable.”

JANE GEORGE
RURAL HEALTH RESEARCHER

This is your full tool kit to stand up a thriving solo consulting business

Know what you want from your new life as a consultant. Understand what makes you valuable to your clients. Shape a compelling service offer people want to buy. Nail your marketing so your inbox is full of enquiries. Build a powerful sales engine and close more deals. Run your business with smart systems so you offer a great client experience.

Get everything you need.

Three pillars for success

Curriculum

Six practical, actionable modules to help you build your consultancy, with useful resources  you can use straight away. Watch the videos then grab the templates and worksheets to get the job done.

Coaching

Monthly coaching calls go deep on topics, with advice from Alicia, and exercises where you  apply your new skills. Fortnightly office hours are a chance to ask questions and hear what others want to know.

Community

A community of your peers where you can see how other consultants run their business. Ask questions, test ideas, celebrate wins, and share your knowledge and learnings with like-minded friends.

“We came off our first group call and the next day
I had three new client coffees set up!"

“Alicia has created the most outstanding community. It is so supportive, so encouraging. It makes me feel like I'm not in this alone, even as I create a solo gig. We came off of our first group call and the next day I had three new client coffees set up!"

ROBIN HOPKINS
4 TREES FACILITATION

Advice you can trust from an expert consultant

Everybody's got theories about what you should be doing with your business. But not all advice carries equal weight.

Consultants of Choice uses frameworks proven in New Zealand and Australian markets and is led by Alicia McKay, a successful strategy consultant.

Get practical answers to everyday questions from a knowledgeable consultant and elevate your business straightaway.

“Consultants of Choice was exactly what I was looking for. As soon as I saw it I felt like it had been designed for me… It has provided me with a clear pathway to get me from where I am to I want to be.”

ADRIANNA BLAIR
ORGANISATIONAL DESIGN SPECIALIST

Combat loneliness with a community of your peers

It’s lonely out on your own. Join our community of like-minded people doing consulting work.

With discussion threads on topics from invoice schedules to time tracking, no matter how weirdly specific your question, other consultants grapple with the same pain. 

Accountability buddies team up to cheer each other on with tricky things like sales calls, while community meet-ups happen offline in cities like Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Melbourne.

“Consultants of Choice is for anyone who’s an independent consultant but feeling a bit lonely or at odds with themselves. It’s for anyone who feels they need to do something with their business, but they’re not sure what.”

DOUG CASEMENT
SCRIBBLER COMMUNICATIONS

Have conviction in your value and learn how to use your time

Get clarity on your value proposition and recognise you’ve something special to offer that your ideal client needs and wants.

Understand what a successful consultant’s week looks like, how much time to invest in sales and marketing, and how many hours to spend running and evolving your business.

Consultants of Choice is for people like me. I really value Alicia's practical, no-nonsense approach to helping me develop my business, my ideas and my ability to communicate them with people.”

CHRIS DESMOND
HEALTH AND WELLBEING CONSULTANT

Consultants of Choice programme details

Join the top coaching community for Australian and New Zealand consultants and maximise your personal and professional growth.

OUTCOMES

  • Design a business that supports your ideal lifestyle.

  • Create an attractive value proposition for marketing.

  • Design a compelling offer to attract the right-fit clients.

  • Build an irresistible personal brand.

  • Deliver high-value consulting projects.

  • Nurture rewarding long-term relationships.

INSTANT ACCESS

Get instant access to an actionable curriculum. Short, practical videos and a comprehensive resource library of worksheets, templates, and swipe files to help you put your learnings to work in your business straight away.

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE

Consultants of Choice is open 365 days a year. We welcome new people every week. Join whenever you want and choose your own adventure. 

TIME COMMITMENT

Members spend an average of 8-12 hours per month in COC.

How long you spend on your development and networking is entirely up to you.

Monthly estimate:

  • Coaching call: 2 hours

  • Office Hours: 2 hours

  • Community: 4 hours

  • Curriculum: 2-10 hours

MEMBERSHIP COST

  • $369 per calendar month or

  • $999 per quarter

“Consultants of Choice helped me shape something out of nothing and get clarity. Without this support, I would've been bashing around in the dark for a really long time to get to this point.”

ANGE BRUCE
NOT FOR PROFIT OPERATIONS CONSULTANT

Included in your membership

Curriculum

Move through the curriculum videos from start to finish, or duck in and out to meet your business needs.

Resource library

Hundreds of templates, worksheets and guides answering every question you have about your consultancy.

Monthly coaching

Learn new tools and go deep on a topic. Join your fellow consultants in an interactive learning experience with Alicia McKay as your facilitator.

Online community

Network with other consultants, share your success and get support with discussion boards, in-person meetups, and accountability buddies.

Fortnightly office hours

Every second Friday from 12-1PM NZST. Alicia tackles your curliest questions and trickiest challenges live in this one-hour AMA session.

Member masterclasses

Other consultants share their expertise on everything from culture to technology to procurement. Learn from your peers and practice presentation skills.

Consultants of Choice FAQs

  • Yes! Consultants of Choice starts from day one in consulting – taking the leap. You'll learn how to convert your career experience into consulting expertise, design your business around your life, and find your unique value proposition.

    We’ve a pretty even split between established consultants here to elevate their practice and build community, newbie consultants just getting started, and people preparing for a future in consulting. There’s also plenty of diversity of age, expertise, and experience. So, you’re not going to be the odd one out.

  • Before you leave your job, know three things:

    1. Your reasons - you’ll need a sense of purpose or motivation to keep you going when it gets hard

    2. Your numbers - you’ll want to know how much it costs to run your life and family. 3 months expenses in the bank is a good rule.

    3. Your network - A list of 10 people you can call, who will take a meeting with you.

    Read this article on what to do before you quit your job to start a business for more advice. There’s a free download to help you plan your life as a consultant at the end.

  • Yes! Consultants of Choice will help you to refine your offer, market yourself more effectively, level up your pricing and positioning, build stronger relationships with clients, deliver better work, and run the back end of your business more effectively.

  • The programme is designed so you can join at any time, start anywhere with the curriculum, and get what you need out of it regardless of where you're at in your journey. We don’t presuppose knowledge. You can join any coaching call or office hour and get immediate value.

    You're not going to feel left behind. We've got people in Consultants of Choice who are brand new, and others who joined the community when it opened and stay on because they get so much value.

  • You can work through the six modules from start to finish, watch the videos, do the exercises, come to coaching sessions to dive deeper, then use the community and office hours to ask any tricky questions. This will give you great results.

    However, if you prefer to dip in and out, or work on particular areas, modules are clearly labelled, the knowledge base of resources is indexed, and all content is searchable by keyword, including community discussions, and recordings of coaching sessions and office hours.

    Consultants of Choice is very much “choose your own adventure.” You can do it in order, or as you need it. You can even use the programme as a resource rather than a learning experience because the knowledge base alone is worth the price of admission.

  • Monthly coaching calls are a two hour deep-dive into a curriculum topic, with breakout discussions and individual working time. These sessions are recorded and made available to all members in the Consultants of Choice Video Library.

    Fortnightly office hours are a one-hour live session. They provide a forum for members to bring their specific questions to Alicia McKay. Office hour recordings are available only if attendees give consent.

  • As much as you put yourself out there!

    Consultants of Choice has a lively discussion board and members reach out to each other directly for conversations and meet-ups.

    Members organise accountability groups, local meetups and online sessions.

  • Alicia runs a fortnightly office hour where you can ask questions. We run these live, so your fellow Consultants of Choice members benefit from seeing your question answered. There are no 1:1 coaching sessions available at this time.

  • As long as you want! For many consultants, the community becomes such an integral part of their networking and professional growth that they stay with us for a long time.

    But if it's not for you, or you've had your value, you can move on any time.

  • Easy peasy. You can cancel any time before the end of your billing cycle – monthly, or quarterly – and you won't be charged again.

Read our wall of love

Start your successful career as a consultant today

Watch the videos, use the resources, take action, and this programme will work. Consistently reach out to people with an offer they want, then follow through, and it’ll be impossible not to succeed.

That’s our promise to you.