Knowledge Sharing Publication (KSP) Service Information Guide

Knowledge Sharing Publications (KSP)

Detailed information about the Appleton Greene Knowledge Sharing Publications (KSP) service is provided further down on this page. Applications will only be considered from Appleton Greene Accredited Associate, Executive, or Senior Consultants. To apply for the Knowledge Sharing Publications (KSP) service, you will need to complete a (KSP) Application Form, which takes approximately 15 minutes. Please take time to review the available information first and then click on the relevant box below in order to complete your (KSP) Application Form. you would like to register for the Knowledge Sharing Publication (KSP) service, then you will need to complete this Application Form.

Knowledge Sharing Publication (KSP) Application Form

If you are an Appleton Greene Accredited Associate, Executive, or Senior Consultant and you would like to register for the Knowledge Sharing Publication (KSP) service, then you will need to complete this Application Form. CLICK HERE

Executive Summary

Executive Summary

Appleton Greene is proud to introduce the new Knowledge Sharing Publications service, or (KSP) for short. (KSP) is exclusively available to Accredited Associate, Executive and Senior Consultants and represents an innovative and creative way of creating awareness and establishing credibility with potential clients, learning providers and other consultants, effectively eliminating the need for business development. As with all Appleton Greene services, the (KSP) service is entirely optional, but it represents a valuable and cost-effective resource for consultants who want to be proactive about developing new consultancy business over a sustainable period of time, without having to engage in direct business development activities themselves.

Once you have developed your Consultant Profile and your Client Information Guide (CIG), these will be published and distributed throughout the Appleton Greene global client network, but what else could you be doing in order to get yourself noticed? How can you create the opportunity for yourself, to be able to demonstrate what you know and what you can do? Our external market research indicates that consultants who regularly write and publish professional articles, relating to their chosen consulting service subject, achieve 68% more business than those who do not. Our internal client research indicates that if a tangible consulting service has not already been developed by the consultant, clients would expect to see either professional articles or case studies published, in order to be able to understand the consultant’s service offering, methodology and to be able to ascertain service value with each individual consultant. The Knowledge Sharing Publications (KSP) service will provide Accredited Associate, Executive and Senior Consultants with the unique opportunity to promote themselves indirectly using professional and established media publications.

The (KSP) service enables Accredited Consultants to write and publish professional articles relating to their chosen consulting service subject. Once each article has been approved by Appleton Greene, it will be published within the relevant service section of the Appleton Greene web site under Publications and will be linked to the Consultant’s Personal Profile and their Client Information Guide, enabling learning providers and clients to place direct consultancy service orders with the Consultant, if they have been impressed by what they have read. These professional articles will also be individually distributed to approximately 750 Learning Providers, 500 Consultants and 500,000 client contacts within the Appleton Greene global client network via monthly news emails. Selected articles will also be published by Appleton Greene externally using a variety of traditional and online media. The (KSP) service will provide Accredited Associate, Executive and Senior Consultants with a unique opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge within a professional environment and will appeal to those consultants who want to be proactive about creating awareness and establishing credibility. It only takes approximately 1 hour to write a good professional article, featuring between 750 and 1000 words. All that we recommend is that you write one professional article each month in order to achieve the required exposure. So, one hour per month writing short professional articles relating to your chosen consulting service subject, could effectively eliminate any further business development requirements on your part and could enable you to establish a varied client portfolio and a sustainable consulting practice, by developing business through referral and introduction.

The standard advertised annual cost for the (KSP) service will be USD$1,050.00, which in itself represents tremendous value for money, when you consider what a consultant would have to pay just to place one advert in a recognized media source. The (KSP) Service fee entitles Associate, Executive and Senior Consultants to write and publish an unlimited number of professional articles through Appleton Greene, during their designated service period of 12 months and this includes distribution of approved articles throughout the Appleton Greene global client network. However, a Special Introductory Offer is available to Accredited Associate, Executive and Senior Consultants for a limited period only, featuring a 50% discount on all applications that are processed on or before the advertised closing date for this offer. This effectively reduces the cost for the first year to only USD$525.00 as long as your application has been processed on or before the Introductory Offer closing date.

Knowledge Sharing Publications (KSP) – (Create Awareness + Establish Credibility) = Consultancy Sustainability

Quick Analysis

Quick Analysis

The following list represents what we consider to be the Critical Success Factors (CSF) for the Appleton Greene Knowledge Sharing Publication (KSP) service. Each individual factor is explained in more detail within the information guide.

Smart
The consulting industry recognizes that the smart way for consultants to promote themselves is to use cost-effective indirect marketing strategies that enable them to create awareness and to establish credibility without having to sell themselves.
Awareness
Write professional articles relating to your chosen consulting service subject and have these published in order to create awareness with other Learning Providers, Clients and Consultants.
Credibility
This is your opportunity to establish credibility with other Learning Providers, Clients and Consultants by demonstrating what you know and what you can do.
Web Site
Your professional articles will be published on the Appleton Greene web site under the relevant service heading under Publications.
Links
Your own Consultant Profile and Client Information Guide will both have direct links to each and every professional article that you write and which Appleton Greene publishes on your behalf, thus enabling clients to place direct service orders with you.
Promotion
All approved articles will be published and distributed to approximately 750 Learning Providers, 500 Consultants and 500,000 Client contacts within the Appleton Greene global client network via monthly news emails.
Publishing
A selection of the best articles each month will also be published by Appleton Greene externally using a variety of traditional and online media.
Time
It only takes approximately 1 hour to write a good professional article, featuring between 750 and 1000 words. All that we recommend is that you write one professional article each month in order to achieve the required exposure.
Cost
The Knowledge Sharing Publications (KSP) service is exclusively available to Appleton Greene Accredited Associate, Executive and Senior Consultants. The standard advertised annual cost for this service is USD$1,050.00.
Special Offer
A Special Introductory Offer is available featuring a 50% discount on all applications that are processed on or before the offer closing date. This effectively reduces the cost for the first year to only USD$525.00.

Introduction

Introduction

Appleton Greene is committed to innovative product and service development in the shared interests of our clients, learning providers and consultants. It is our experience that our clients, learning providers and consultants are actually all looking to achieve the same objective and Appleton Greene is uniquely positioned to bring everyone together. Our learning providers develop tangible training programs based upon their core skills and interests and each program is process-orientated, in other words they are used as vehicles to implement a tangible business process within clients’ organizations. Each program incorporates the practical integration of academic theory as an integral part of the qualification process and this enables clients to understand the service benefits and to match these with their Key Corporate Objectives (KCO), thus enabling them to make their decisions simply from perusing through the relevant program information guides and effectively eliminating the need for business development. To illustrate this point, each learning provider can only usually service 10 clients with each individual program and this invariably means that learning providers are more often than not managing a waiting list of clients, once they are established. Demand usually outstrips supply when it comes to tangible consulting and training products or services. Clients are just as keen to identify the right products or services to satisfy their corporate needs and they are always eager to engage the services of both learning providers and consultants as long as they understand precisely what they would be buying and can ascertain service value.

It is more difficult of course for consultants, because in the majority of cases a tangible product or service has not yet been developed. Consultants tend to charge clients for their time, rather than for a product or service and are effectively offering skills, experience and knowledge. Successful consultants are those who can translate their knowledge into practical solutions for clients and while clients often need to take a leap of faith in order to experience consulting services for themselves, it is still much easier for clients if they understand precisely what they would be buying, before having to make a decision. This is why Appleton Greene Accredited Associate, Executive and Senior Consultants go to the trouble of developing detailed Client Information Guides (CIG), because it provides their potential clients with all of the information necessary in order to make an informed decision in advance, without consultants having to try to explain their services to clients over the telephone, during an interview, or within a written proposal. The result is that Appleton Greene clients tend to make their decisions after having reviewed the Client Information Guide (CIG) for individual consulting services and this is why service orders are placed using one of the four client service order application forms, which are directly linked to each individual Client Information Guide (CIG). Success will always be determined by the interest generated by each individual Accredited Consultant’s Consultant Profile and Client Information Guide (CIG) and this will of course ultimately be dependent upon third party clients and learning providers, so it is important to supplement your Consultant Profile and Client Information Guide (CIG), with the consistent publication of professional articles, which will help to engage readers, demonstrate your specialist service knowledge and ultimately direct your readers to your Consultant Profile and Client Information Guide (CIG), where interested clients and learning providers can then place direct service orders with you via one of the four optional service order application forms, which will be linked to your Client Information Guide (CIG).

The Need For (KSP)

The Need For (KSP)

The Knowledge Sharing Publication (KSP) service has been designed to enable consultants to promote their Consultant Profile and their Client Information Guide (CIG), without having to undertake unsolicited direct marketing and sales campaigns. Simply by writing and publishing professional articles, which relate to their chosen consulting service, it enables consultants to create awareness for themselves and to establish credibility with potential clients, by having an opportunity to professionally demonstrate the depth of their knowledge. These articles will be made available to learning providers and clients within monthly news emails and they will also be directly accessible from the Appleton Greene Publications section of the web site. If clients and learning providers are interested in what they read, they can click on links which directly transfer them to the individual’s Consultant Profile and Client Information Guide (CIG), where they can learn more about the individual consulting services provided by the consultant and how these services would work in practice. Clients can then place service orders with the consultant by clicking on one of the four optional service order application forms. This is far more valuable to consultants than advertising, because it enables them to actually demonstrate their knowledge in a professional way, without having to resort to unsolicited sales alternatives and to present this information in front of the people who have the interest and the authority to place service orders with them.

Our external market research indicates that consultants who regularly write and publish professional articles, relating to their chosen consulting service subject, achieve 68% more business than those who do not. Our internal client research indicates that if a tangible consulting service has not already been developed by the consultant, clients would expect to see either professional articles or case studies published, in order to be able to understand the consultant’s service offering, methodology and to be able to ascertain service value with each individual consultant. The Knowledge Sharing Publications (KSP) service will provide Accredited Associate, Executive and Senior Consultants with the unique opportunity to promote themselves indirectly using professional and established media publications.

Innovation

Innovation

The (KSP) service enables proactive Accredited Consultants to be innovative about getting their message across to potential clients. It is not sufficient for consultants to just publish information relating to their resume or CV. When companies consider employing someone internally, they will already have developed a job specification and description for the position or vacancy that is available and will therefore already have a clear understanding about precisely who they are looking for. This can usually be determined by reviewing a candidate’s education and employment history and by undertaking interviews with selected candidates as part of a traditional recruitment process. In some cases, tests are required in order to evaluate and assess the ability of individual candidates. However, in the case of consultants, clients ordinarily would not have a specific job or project in mind and are therefore relying upon individual consultants to be able to demonstrate their proposed unique consulting service propositions. This includes establishing a need for their service, the proposed service objectives, the service methodology used, the client resources required, establishing service value, time planning and risk planning, before eventually obtaining client commitment. Consultants usually achieve these objectives by undertaking preliminary meetings with potential clients free of charge and then by preparing detailed service proposals, all of which are extremely time consuming, costly and often stressful because consultants have to think on their feet.

The (KSP) service provides consultants with a unique opportunity to get these messages across to potential clients in a more professional and relaxed way. Think of each professional article as being an individual piece of a jigsaw puzzle. Each article provides you with the unique opportunity to talk about a specific part of the consulting service that you provide, explaining the need for this part of the service, what you would propose to do and how it would work in practice. This is then supplemented by other articles, relating to different parts of your proposed consulting service. Over time these articles enable your prospective clients to form a developing picture, which enables them to understand why this service should be important to them, how it could satisfy their Key Corporate Objectives (KCO) and what the potential service benefits are likely to be. The benefit for consultants is that the (KSP) service enables them to achieve these goals at their own pace and without the stress of having to think on their feet. Each professional article can be carefully planned and written in the consultant’s own time and can be published when the consultant is happy with the article’s quality and purpose. Once this has been published and distributed, the consultant can then work on their next professional article. Over time, the consultant will have developed and established an extremely powerful marketing tool, that is to say, a collection of consulting service-related professional articles which, clearly present all of their key consulting service messages to their potential clients and which are linked to their Consultant Profile and Client Information Guide (CIG). Potential clients can then place service orders with consultants by using one of the four optional service order application forms.

The Knowledge Sharing Publication (KSP) service therefore constitutes a valuable and credible business development resource for consultants, for a one-off annual service fee which costs much less than traditional advertising, attending business development meetings and writing client proposals. If a potential client does request a personal interview or meeting with the consultant, the meeting will effectively be pre-qualified, because the potential client will already understand everything that they need to about the proposed consulting service. This eliminates the need for consultants to have to try and sell potential clients services that they do not really understand and it will inevitably improve a consultant’s conversion rates, both with Appleton Greene clients and with their own independent clients.

Article Writing

Article Writing

So, how do you know if you have the ability to write professional articles featuring the required quality? Everyone will ask themselves the same question of course. Quality will ultimately be determined by your potential clients, but remember that your readers are not companies, they are people. Individual people will all have individual preferences when it comes to writing styles, so you do not have to worry about trying to ensure that your articles will appeal to everyone who reads them. You are just trying to ensure that some people relate to your professional articles and in order to achieve this, it is important to just be yourself. Think of your target audience when writing professional articles, someone that you know perhaps, or have worked with within other client or employer companies, who is employed in a position where they would have the authority to employ your services. Just think of them when you are writing and use a language that they would understand and relate to.

Each professional article should consist of between 750 and 1,000 words and would be written using the English language. They should incorporate an Introduction, Main Part and a Conclusion and should be written in your own words in descriptive form, without resorting to lists, bullet points or numbered points. Your articles should be well written and should be engaging. Your personality will naturally come across within the professional articles that you write, so put some thought into how you would like to be perceived. Would you like to be perceived as easy going, humorous, strict, serious, the choice is yours. Ideally, you should make a list of the key consulting service points that you would like to get across within each professional article. Ideally, use one professional article to demonstrate one consulting service point. This will ensure that your important points do not get lost by featuring too many points at once. Your professional article writing skills will develop over time and as with anything, practice makes perfect! If you can learn to enjoy writing your professional articles, this will naturally come across to your readers and this will also help to engage your readers. Your professional articles just need to relate to your chosen specialist consulting service subject. However, remember that you need to be subtle. Your professional articles should not be construed as direct advertising and should not therefore include invitations to purchase, links to external web sites, or any content which is too direct or sales-orientated. You should just focus upon simply demonstrating your consulting service knowledge. Your professional articles will already be directly linked to your Consultant Profile and Client Information Guide (CIG), where clients can place service orders, so further advertising is not necessary and would be counter-productive. Once you have written one or two articles that have been approved by Appleton Greene, you will soon learn what is required and your confidence in your professional article writing ability will then go from strength to strength. Your confidence will then be apparent to your potential clients.

Support & Training

Support & Training

We have a qualified team of 20+ experts exclusively available within the Accredited Consultant Service Department at Appleton Greene and this includes professional editors who will be responsible for evaluating and assessing each professional article, before it is approved and published by Appleton Greene. This is a valuable resource and we would encourage you to regularly use the support that is available to you. A detailed guide is provided to help you to proactively plan, write and proof-read your own professional articles. This enables you to ensure that your articles achieve their objectives and incorporate all of the key points that you would like to cover. It also enables you to ensure that all of your professional articles meet with the standard required by Appleton Greene, which is ultimately in everyone’s mutual interests. If an article does not meet with the required standard for any reason, then you will be forwarded a detailed email explaining why and you will be provided with a list of tasks that will need to be undertaken in order to ensure that your professional article does meet with the required standard. This is all part of the learning process and helps you to ensure that your professional writing skills are developed, improved and perfected over a sustainable period of time. You can then have as many opportunities as you need to amend each professional article in order to ensure that it meets with the required standard, so you need not worry about this. If a professional article is approved for publication by Appleton Greene, then you can be sure that it is considered to meet the standard required. Our support team are here to provide you with advice, support and assistance and to ensure that your (KSP) objectives are ultimately achieved given time. Remember that our professional editors are highly motivated and have a vested interest in your success. Everyone within the Accredited Consulting Service (ACS) department has a career which develops in accordance with the success of the whole department, so, if you succeed, we succeed.

Exclusivity

Exclusivity

The articles that you write and publish should be exclusively made available to Appleton Greene and should not be published elsewhere within the public domain. It is also important to ensure that your articles are written in your own words and are not copied or duplicated from other articles or content which is available within the public domain. This ensures that you can prove that you are the original author of your articles and prevents any potential plagiarism claims for which you could be held personally liable. Our editors use software that enables them to scour the internet for similar content and if an article is deemed to be too similar to other articles that are available within the public domain, then they will understandably be declined. There is nothing wrong with undertaking your own research into your own specialist consulting service and generating your own ideas from reading other professional articles relating to your chosen specialist consulting service subject, but it is important that all of your professional articles are written in your own words.

Copyright

Each individual Accredited Consultant would retain sole title and ownership to any professional articles that they write and which Appleton Greene publishes and distributes on their behalf. However, the nature of the internet is such that content can be copied and re-published and unless you are prepared to copyright the content within your professional articles, then the content can be re-published without your consent. All content that is published within the Appleton Greene web site is already protected by copyright, but individual professional articles are also published within external established media and as such Appleton Greene cannot be held responsible or liable for content which is re-published externally and is not protected by copyright. The same international laws apply to all content that is published within traditional news media sources. Your statutory rights are not affected.

Time Management

Time Management

It only takes approximately one hour to write a good professional article of between 750 and 1,000 words, so providing one professional article each month should not prove too time consuming and should prove to be an enjoyable and rewarding process. Pick a time of the day, week and month, when you are at your most productive and have uninterrupted time available, ideally when you are alone at home and are in an environment where you feel the most relaxed and the most creative. Put on some easy listening music, light a fire, do whatever you can to ensure that you are relaxed, motivated and in the right frame of mind. This will all contribute towards helping you to be creative and you need to ensure that professional article writing is something that you can look forward to and enjoy each and every month, rather than allow it to become just another chore that you need to find time for in a busy schedule. Remember that if you enjoy professional article writing, this will always be reflected within the quality of content that you produce.

IMPORTANT NOTE
If you do not believe that you will have the time available to write professional articles, in order to support the development of your independent consulting practice, then your consulting practice will probably be doomed to failure. All consultants need to allow some time for business development, regardless of whether this is undertaken directly or indirectly. Professional article writing is much less stressful, less time consuming and less costly than other traditional direct consultancy business development options that are available to consultants and each individual professional article represents an important building block towards creating awareness and establishing credibility as a professional consultant.

Process

Process

The Knowledge Sharing Publications (KSP) service is exclusively available to Appleton Greene Accredited Associate, Executive and Senior Consultants and consultants are welcome to apply for the (KSP) service at any time during their designated period of membership. Ideally however, the (KSP) service should commence from an Accredited Consultant’s proposed start date in order to ensure that they can maximize the benefits of their (KSP) service. Accredited Associate, Executive and Senior Consultants are automatically eligible to register for the Knowledge Sharing Publications (KSP) service if they would like to proactively promote their Appleton Greene Consultant Profile and Client Information Guide (CIG) through the publication and distribution of professional articles and as such any applications that are received from Accredited Consultants will be automatically approved and processed by Appleton Greene. Any introductory offer will also only be made available until the advertised closing date.

Once your (KSP) Application Form and the appropriate service fee payment has been received by Appleton Greene, you will be forwarded an email communication confirming that your application has been processed. A detailed guide is provided to help you to proactively plan, write and proof-read your own articles. This enables you to ensure that your professional articles achieve their objectives and incorporate all of the key points that you would like to cover. It also enables you to ensure that all of your professional articles meet with the standard required by Appleton Greene, which is ultimately in everyone’s mutual interests. You will also be provided with guidelines relating to how and when you should use (KSP) support, enabling you to make the most of this service. Professional articles need to be submitted to Appleton Greene using the appropriate application form and these will usually be evaluated and assessed within 20 business days of receipt, excluding weekends and public holidays. Once approved, professional articles will be published on the Appleton Greene web site under the appropriate service heading and will be linked to the appropriate Consultant Profile and Client Information Guide (CIG). They will also be distributed within monthly news emails to approximately 500,000 client contacts, 500 consultants and 750 learning providers within the Appleton Greene global client network.

Accredited Consultants are recommended to write and publish one professional article each and every month, if possible, in order to create awareness and to establish credibility, but there is no limit on the maximum number of professional articles that an Accredited Consultant can publish using the Knowledge Sharing Publications (KSP) service, during their designated period of membership. The service is available for renewal annually upon written request from Accredited Consultants. This enables Accredited Consultants to establish a significant portfolio of professional articles over a sustainable period of time, thus consolidating their market presence and ensuring that their work and publications are retained for as long as they require them to be, or as long as they plan to trade as an Accredited Associate, Executive, or Senior Consultant at Appleton Greene.

How To Apply

How To Apply

If you would like to place an order for the Knowledge Sharing Publications (KPS) service, please remember to ensure that Appleton Greene has received your application form on or before the closing date for applications, which is clearly featured within the subject line and towards the top of your invitation email communication. The application form will take you approximately 15 minutes to complete and this will then be forwarded onto Appleton Greene. You will also have an opportunity to review our terms and conditions of service before completing your application form. If you would like to receive a copy of your application form, then you can request one by replying to your invitation email, after you have completed the application form. Upon receipt of your (KSP) Application Form, our accounts department will forward you an invoice for the annual service fee.

To complete your application, please click on the Knowledge Sharing Publications (KSP) Application Form box towards the top of this page. This will transfer you directly to the appropriate application form and you then just need to follow the instructions accordingly.

Introductory Offer

Introductory Offer

In order to benefit from the Special Introductory Offer, please insert the following code into the box entitled: Special Offer Code (If Applicable):

KSP-SIO-42178341

You should also use this code as a reference when making your payment.

Please kindly ensure that both your (KSP) Application Form and your discounted service fee payment of USD$525.00 have both been received by Appleton Greene on or before the designated closing date for applications in order to benefit from this special introductory offer. All applications that are processed after this date, will need to be be processed at the standard advertised annual service fee of USD$1,050.00.

Service Fee Payments

Service Fee Payments

You can pay by arranging an international bank transfer direct from your bank account to the Appleton Greene & Co international bank account. Please make your payment to Appleton Greene & Co Global Limited and note that all service fees need to be paid and processed in USD (United States Dollars). Please note that banks can take a period of up to 5 business days in which to process international bank wire transfers if a Standard Payment is requested. This does not include weekends or public holidays, so please allow plenty of time for this. Alternatively, if you request a Priority Payment with your bank, then these transactions are usually processed within 24 hours, but a nominal additional bank charge is usually levied for this service.

Appleton Greene’s international bank wire transfer details will have been provided within your original invitation email. They will also be featured within your invoice, which will be forwarded to you directly from our accounts department upon receipt of your (KSP) Application Form.

What To Do Now

What To Do Now

Please kindly confirm whether you are interested in the Knowledge Sharing Publications (KSP) service and whether you intend to complete your application, by replying to your invitation email communication. We will then be able to either provisionally reserve your position for you, or consider an alternative candidate should this prove necessary. If you have any questions about the Knowledge Sharing Publications (KSP) service, please do not hesitate to contact us by forwarding an email and Elizabeth Johnson (Consultancy Administration Manager) will gladly assist you.

Appleton Greene & Co – Knowledge Sharing Publication (KSP) Service Information Guide

Pharmaceutical

"I have always been fascinated by how differently people consider the value of a return on investment. Using two extremes, the pharmaceutical industry, where I have worked for over 20 years, invests millions of dollars into new product research and development, as you would expect, but in anticipation that only one in a hundred of these products is likely to be successful. The successful product, then returns a profit, as well as covering the cost of the research and development for all of the other products. Of course as individuals and mere mortals, we do not have the resources to make such highly geared investments into our own futures. Yet it still amazes me that many of my colleagues, family and friends, do not expect to have to invest anything in their futures. They are happy to try anything as long as it is free of any cost requirement and free of any time requirement. I firmly believe that you get just what you pay for in life and as such if you are prepared to invest nothing, you will achieve nothing. The smart answer is somewhere in the middle of these two extremes and should be determined by risk analysis. I am risk-averse by nature, but I still accept that risk is necessary. It cost me $45k for my MBA and $55k for my DBA and approximately 7 years of my life. I do not regret this investment of both time and money for a minute and am a much more capable and valuable person as a result of these investments. However, by comparison, I invested $15k and one year into the Appleton Greene CLP program, which I accept is a professional qualification, not an academic qualification, but as a result I have established a viable corporate training practice returning an annual income circa $350kpa. This represents a healthy ROI by any standards. If this does not qualify as a low-risk personal career investment, then I am not sure what would qualify."
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Pharmaceutical industry.

Retail

"When I first looked into Appleton Greene, I thought it was another way to network professionally. I was so tired of networking on LinkedIn, Facebook and a long list of other professional and executive networks and had come to the conclusion that these were all a complete waste of time. The problem with social or professional networks is that you spend so much time on them, just to keep up with communications with people within your network, groups and circles and you really get very little or nothing in return. It always seems that you have to give far more than you can receive. Having become a Certified Learning Provider at Appleton Greene, I now realize that they are not really a network at all. They certainly don’t operate like a network. Sure they have clients, learning providers and consultants worldwide, but everything is managed through Appleton Greene directly, you do not have to waste time networking yourself. This means that everything is managed and controlled professionally and that all of your time is productive and well worthwhile. If I am spending any time with Appleton Greene clients, consultants, or other learning providers, I get paid for it."
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Retail industry.

Energy

"I was working for ESSO in a management capacity when I was approached by Appleton Greene. I had never really considered consulting or training, but I was intrigued enough to complete the candidate assessment form. By the time that I had completed the candidate assessment form, I had completely changed and realigned all of my career objectives. It presented me with the unique opportunity to try something new, without risking what I already had. The financial risk was negligible and the potential gains were enormous, both financially and in terms of work-life balance. I was already earning the income forecast by Appleton Greene at ESSO, but I was working 12 hour days in order to achieve it. Appleton Greene enabled me to re-evaluate what my skills and experience were actually really worth and then to package them in such a way as commercial companies could recognize this as a tangible product. There is no magic involved here, all that Appleton Greene does is provide a process that productizes what we do. Simple but very effective."
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Energy industry.

Restaurants

"I have always had a passion for training and mentoring. I have been fortunate enough to have a very rewarding career and have always thought about consulting as a way to give something back, as it were. As a Senior Executive I have been on the receiving end of many different types of consultancy and I did not want to do anything myself that was project-orientated, or where clients were outsourcing to me. I wanted to advise, mentor and teach. The problem of course is doing this in such a way as it is perceived as having value. Appleton Greene was perfect for me, because it enabled me to develop my own training programs and provided me with the opportunities, support and the resources to make it work."
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Restaurants industry.

Banking & Financial Services

“I had undertaken an MBA and DBA through distance-learning, so I had no qualms about doing the same with Appleton Greene’s CLP. The potential benefits were obvious to me and the risk minimal, compared to what I had already invested in my personal career development. I was pleasantly surprised with CLP, indeed it was not really like a distance-learning program at all. The program and business model is very well thought out and the program was far more interactive than was the case with my MBA and DBA. I received support from a team of Professors and Mentors at Appleton Greene, and I would like to give a special mention to Jenny, my program administrator who was marvelous with me. I was also impressed by the level of interaction between learning providers, consultants and client contacts, which meant that I never felt as if I was studying alone. Appleton Greene proves that distance-learning can work if it is implemented properly. This is most definitely the future of corporate training within a global environment.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Banking & Financial Services industry.

Hypermarket and Supermarket

"I was introduced to Appleton Greene by a friend and colleague who was already a Certified Learning Provider. I found the program very well structured and a great deal of thought had been put into every aspect of it. The attention to detail was apparent throughout and this theme was also reflected in the way that support was provided. I had access to a team of professional mentors, rather than just one and although they worked within very structured guidelines, they each had individual perspectives, which made the program all the more enjoyable and rewarding. I loved the fact that specialist consultants were also involved and that clients took an active interest too. I remember when I was doing my MBA, the most exciting days, when I was the most switched on, were when we had guest speakers or workshop managers who had commercial experience and were invited to do a presentation or take part in some of our workshops. This was far more engaging and rewarding than the academic process. This theme is embraced wholeheartedly by Appleton Greene as you have access to a wide variety of specialist consultants, located all over the world, all with different service and industry experience and it is invaluable to be able to use these resources when facilitating the implementation of your programs with clients."
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Hypermarket and Supermarket industry.

Travel & Tourism

"I had just graduated with my DBA when I started the Appleton Greene Learning Provider Program. I had good qualifications, but little in the way of experience, but I had a very good idea about the programs that I wanted to develop and I believed that they were unique and this helped in terms of getting me accepted onto the program. It proved to be a very good way for me to gain the experience that I was looking for and I was able to work with a portfolio of major clients instead of just working my way up the corporate ladder, one company at a time. I was also able to work at a much more senior level and it has provided me with plenty of quality content for my resume. The nice thing about Appleton Greene is that once your programs have been developed and established, it is always something that you can continue to do. If I want to do other things in the future I can do and I can still enjoy a professional association with Appleton Greene at the same time. I envisage that Appleton Greene will always be a significant part of my career in the future."
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Travel & Tourism industry.

Non-Profit & Charities

"I have specialized within non-profit organizations for many years, but not because I am an idealist. I have no problems with returning a healthy profit, all good companies need to, even non-profit organizations. The difference is that they are committed to re-investment. Without investment we achieve nothing and companies that are motivated by increasing shareholder profits are always subject to complacency. The same is true with individuals. I have always been committed to investing in my future and if I manage to do well with something, I will always re-invest the profits into future self-development. That is the way of progress in my humble opinion. I am always on the look out for new and exciting opportunities and the AGC CLP represented an opportunity that enabled me to diversify into corporate training and I now have a separate corporate training practice, which operates entirely independently of a consultancy that I also operate and a number of other product-related businesses. All of my business ventures operate on a non-profit or re-investment basis as do my clients and I simply take a salary from each company. I share the management and operations of these businesses with like-minded business partners. Appleton Greene itself does not claim non-profit status, but it certainly implements the same re-investment policies and is totally self-financing. This bodes well for the future, for both clients and for learning providers and consultants alike, because it is likely to be operating at the forefront of innovation for some time. Watch this space!"
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Non-Profit & Charities industry.

Construction

“Coming from the construction industry, the business development approach at Appleton Greene appealed to me, because I was used to the practice of taking deposits prior to and during the development process. There is always a significant investment required within the construction industry and while the return on investment is always rewarding, the level of risk is extremely high and most construction companies are highly geared as a result. By contrast, my consulting career at Appleton Greene has been entirely self-financing, which means that the risk is much lower, but the return on investment has still been considerable by comparison. What you invest most of all with CLP is your time, but you need to do that with any business venture. I still own a company within the construction industry, but my sons pretty much run it now and having a separate corporate training company provides me with a good financial and work-life balance. I see myself evolving into a professional trainer and mentor in the future and it feels good to be able to give something back to an industry where I have prospered.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Construction industry.

Consumer Goods

“I would imagine that there are probably many consultants who eventually cross the bridge into corporate training. In reality, it is the only way to provide clients with something more tangible than advice and it is a natural step up for us to take. I have always enjoyed my consulting career and have worked for EY, BCG, KPMG and IBM in my time. I have also worked independently for a number of years as well. However, working as a Learning Provider at Appleton Greene has really opened my eyes and provided me with the opportunity to package my knowledge and experience into a product which is both unique and easy to understand. I am a cup half full kind of person, so I would never look back with any regrets, but I would certainly have been a lot better off financially, had I done this 20 years ago. I am however just grateful that I have taken the plunge now”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Consumer Goods industry.

Aerospace

“I had no prior experience as a trainer or as a consultant, but I had worked in an executive management capacity within a variety of different industries, but primarily within the aviation, aerospace and manufacturing industries. I was introduced to Appleton Greene by taking part in one of their corporate training programs that was being implemented by my employer. I was particularly impressed by how well prepared the learning providers were and the level of support they had from a variety of specialist consultants, who really brought things to life for us. Some time later I took some time off work to care for a close family member who was seriously ill and it gave me time to re-evaluate everything in my life. I contacted Appleton Greene and asked about becoming a learning provider, but was told that they only consider candidates once every year. I went back to work and then applied to Appleton Greene 6 months later. I was delighted to be accepted and grabbed the opportunity with both hands. I still work within the same industries where I have experience, but I am now able to use my knowledge to better effect. I am proud that I have been able to develop and establish my own program, something that I really believe in and something that delivers value and I love the interaction between clients, consultants and other learning providers.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Aerospace industry.

Consultancy

“I would imagine that there are probably many consultants who eventually cross the bridge into corporate training. In reality, it is the only way to provide clients with something more tangible than advice and it is a natural step up for us to take. I have always enjoyed my consulting career and have worked for EY, BCG, KPMG and IBM in my time. I have also worked independently for a number of years as well. However, working as a Learning Provider at Appleton Greene has really opened my eyes and provided me with the opportunity to package my knowledge and experience into a product which is both unique and easy to understand. I am a cup half full kind of person, so I would never look back with any regrets, but I would certainly have been a lot better off financially, had I done this 20 years ago. I am however just grateful that I have taken the plunge now.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Consultancy industry.

Biotechnology

“I have always been attracted to innovative products. I know that this means that you need to take a chance sometimes, but having worked within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, I am used to risk assessment. The risk with the Certified Learning Provider program was not really that great, particularly when you compare the cost to traditional academic programs or other professional programs and I liked the fact that you could study each part of the program and pay for it over a sustainable period of time. I also liked the fact that clients were engaged before I had to develop the program. This provided me with the required peace of mind and motivation to do the work and took pressure off during the development phase. I also scaled down my own client base and started working as an Associate with Appleton Greene while studying, which provided both income and insight into how things worked. When you consider how much it would cost financially to do this on your own, without any support or assistance, then the cost of the CLP program is insignificant by comparison. I was a banker in a previous life, so I always calculate and compare the return on investment with what I could achieve in interest. I would be lucky to receive 5% annual interest at a bank at the moment, my return on investment with Appleton Greene has consistently been over 1,000%, taking into consideration all of my fixed and variable costs. This investment has been well worthwhile”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Biotechnology industry.

Utilities

"I really love developing and creating things. I am a prolific writer and have had several books published. I have also developed a number of programs at Appleton Greene after qualifying as a Certified Learning Provider. I like that program innovation and unique program propositions are valued and rewarded and this provides me with a real sense of value and motivates me to write more. I am not personally involved in program implementation. This is outsourced to other consultants at Appleton Greene and I achieve commissions on all work undertaken in relation to the programs that I develop. It is a win win relationship and I am able to focus upon what I am good at and what I enjoy doing. I have the highest regard for Appleton Greene and would recommend them to any potential client, learning provider, or consultant. It has been a very rewarding experience for me."
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Utilities industry.

Entertainment

"Consulting is a curious career. Many are attracted to it because of the potential for commercial and financial independence and then just end up being a cog in a top 5 consulting machine. I am talking from personal experience unfortunately. My transformation from a consultant into a Learning Provider at Appleton Greene was therefore a welcome opportunity. What enables us to achieve the financial independence that we are looking for is working for ourselves, instead of working for someone else and in order to achieve this objective, as with any business, we need to develop products that companies are willing to buy. The business model at Appleton Greene is a good one. Training programs are implemented over a sustainable period of time with clients, which means that there is less feast and famine and more consistency. I spend very little time developing new business because the client retention levels are extremely high. This all contributes towards having less stress in your life, which is good for everyone, my family, my friends and my work colleagues"
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Entertainment industry.

Real Estate

"I have consulted independently for many years and while I had always considered myself to be reasonably successful, I still felt that I was spending more time developing new business than actually consulting. I think that it is fair to say that most independent consultants experience the feast famine way of life because the problem is that while you are consulting, you are not developing new business. I have tried numerous things to resolve this issue and have spent a lot of money outsourcing to companies who have developed leads on my behalf, not to mention the time that it takes to meet with potential new clients, put proposals together for them and keep communications going until a decision has been made. When I originally read the information relating to the Certified Learning Provider program at Appleton Greene, there were two things that struck a chord with me. Firstly, I recognized that the majority of what I was actually doing, was in fact training, but I had not formalized this into a tangible training product. Secondly, by developing a suite of standalone training programs, it would be much easier for my potential clients to understand what I was selling, without my having to explain it to them, over and over again. The result has been a revelation for me personally. I have reduced my new business development time down by 75% and the sales process has become much easier and I am now able to charge more and earn more for what I do. It has been an opportunity for me to realize my true value in the market place and to take my consulting career to a whole new level. This is the best personal investment that I have ever made!"
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Real Estate industry.

Government

"Public service organizations are possibly more used to relying upon departmental processes, particularly in government, because while the elected personnel invariably change every 4-8 years, the civil service staff and the processes which they use provide a necessary stability. Government are always interested in services that focus upon process improvement and this is why Appleton Greene appealed to me personally. I had some experience with being on the client end of some Appleton Greene programs and their market positioning always made sense to me. As soon as I decided that it was time for me to be independent, they were the first company that I contacted. I had a clear idea of what I wanted to develop and I knew that Appleton Greene had the processes, resources and contacts that would enable me to develop it professionally."
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Government industry.

Internet

"I am not one of these people that is paranoid about doing business on the internet. I trust my judgement and a good business model is always easy to spot. Appleton Greene has a unique market position within the corporate training market and their success factors, as I see them are: their strong focus upon productizing the core skills and experience of individual learning providers; their ability to integrate key service, industry and location factors, by using an impressive international consultancy network and their innovative marketing approach, which enables learning providers to focus entirely upon the development of their product. The common denominator with all of these success factors of course is substance."
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Internet industry.

Department Store

"Continuous learning and self development is important for anyone in order to progress in life. I have always enjoyed learning new things and I have always allocated at least 10% of my time towards self improvement. This does become more difficult later on in life, when you have financial and family commitments and when you are working full time. It is therefore important to ensure that your programs are flexible enough for you to manage them around your other commitments. I have never been a fan of short-term intensive programs, because you tend to miss most of what goes on and quality suffers. The Appleton Greene CLP was ideal for me, because I only needed to allocate 3 or 4 hours per week and could increase or decrease this as and when I needed to. The quality of knowledge transfer was extremely high, due to the practical nature of the program and the qualified support that was always available. I completed the program much quicker that I thought that I would and this was probably due to the motivation of having clients waiting. It has been a very good personal experience for me.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Department Store industry.

Media & Marketing

"I have always had a passion for innovation and I love creating new things. In today’s fast-moving world, I firmly believe that survival is achieved by those who are prepared to evolve, although this has probably always been true. If there is an opportunity for me to change something I embrace it. Given the fact that I had embarked upon a consulting career and had operated independently for two years, the opportunity to learn from the Appleton Greene CLP program was too good an opportunity for me to miss. I was intrigued by the idea of being able to develop my skills into a tangible product and increase my credibility and earning capacity as a result and I absolutely love new challenges like this. The program did not disappoint and I learned a phenomenal amount over a relatively short period of time. The experience has been one that has opened many doors for me personally, that would unquestionably not otherwise have been available and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to become a Certified Learning Provider."
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Media & Marketing industry.

Manufacturing

"Manufacturing companies love training programs like this, because they are all process-driven and can be measured by clearly defined business process improvement KPIs. The clever thing is that the programs that are developed within each individual industry sector are developed by people with the relevant industry experience. They can also be implemented by commercial consultants who have specific industry experience as well. This enables clients to perceive Appleton Greene programs as industry-specific and industry benchmarks. It also makes the programs much more engaging for clients and their employees. It has been a well worthwhile experience for me personally and I would have no hesitation in recommending Appleton Greene programs to my clients."
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Manufacturing industry.

Defense

“I am a practical person by nature and always prefer academic and professional programs which incorporate practical features. This is why I have done so many professional qualifications, as opposed to academic ones, because they tend to be more realistic and beneficial. The Appleton Greene CLP program is probably the most practical of them all, because there are no formal examinations and your standard of work is evaluated and assessed based upon the quality of the corporate training program that you yourself develop. All of the feedback and assistance is both practical and instantly usable and this means that all of the time spent on this is well worthwhile. It also enables you to achieve the same quality standards when developing your own program.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Defense industry.

Telecommunications

"I initially worked as an Executive Consultant at Appleton Greene, but felt that I could be more proactive about obtaining the financial independence that I was looking for if I qualified as a Certified Learning Provider. The difference is that the training programs that I am working on now are my programs, they do not belong to someone else and my earning capacity has doubled as a result and the growth potential in the future is very exciting. I enjoy being in control of my own destiny and I get a great buzz from facilitating others. I am as busy as I want to be and can increase or downsize operations to coincide with my work-life balance needs. I had planned to retire after doing this for 10 years, but I don’t really need to. I could just reduce my workload whenever I need to and scale down operations gradually. I get so much out of this personally that I would hate to give it up completely."
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Telecommunications industry.

Hotel

"The hospitality industry has always invested heavily in corporate training. It is a people industry where customer service is deemed mission critical. I was aware of Appleton Greene for probably 5 years or more, as a result of my employers implementing some of their programs, but I had no personal experience. When I asked a few colleagues about them they gave very complimentary feedback about the programs and the level of support provided and the word innovative kept cropping up. When I had an opportunity to take a closer look at one of their corporate programs, the thing that struck me most was just how specific and unique it was. I started thinking about what I could develop myself and ended up convincing myself that I could do this. I applied to Appleton Greene requesting information and was forwarded information about the CLP program. I thought that the candidate assessment form was an excellent way to pre-qualify candidates and I learned a lot from this process. I also realized that the purpose of this entry examination was to sort out the wheat from the chaff, so I put a lot of effort into this. Interestingly enough the more effort that I put in, the more I realized that this was just what I wanted to do for the rest of my career."
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Hotel industry.

Call Center

“I have worked within marketing for over 30 years. If there is one thing that I have learned during that time, it is that the process of product development can make the process of bringing the product to market either impossible or easy, depending upon the research and development that goes into it. It is always easy to sell good products. It is incredibly difficult to sell a bad one. When I started consulting independently, I was floundering because, although I had good experience, knowledge and skills, I had no tangible product to offer clients and I became increasingly frustrated with trying to explain to clients what I was going to do for them. I spent a small fortune on developing and managing leads and developed and presented a lot of proposals to potential clients. I managed to keep afloat, but always seemed to spend more time developing business than doing it. When I received an invitation from Appleton Greene to develop a tangible product, in the form of a corporate training program of my own, I jumped at it. This was just what I had been looking for and getting clients to make a financial commitment in terms of paying deposits in advance of program development is a terrific business model, because it engages clients at an early stage and provides learning providers with the level of comfort they need. From a marketing perspective, I can understand why clients are so eager to get involved with the development of new Appleton Greene corporate training programs, because we all want to be part of something new and the competitive advantage that these programs provide clients with is considerable. If the programs are not good enough or are not completed, they get their money back, so no risk and clients are used to investing in human resources and corporate training. At least now my clients understand what I am selling them and for that matter so do I.”
A quotation taken from a Learning Provider reference within the Call Center industry.

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