jwcolby
jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com
Wed Jan 6 07:28:11 CST 2010
Mark, Understand that I am NOT a very active "partner", in fact as far as I can tell I am more an "associate". I have never made any effort to do the qualifications etc. From what I can tell, for various reasons it is not a good idea to approach the "partnership" from a "how many referrals" angle. While MS does have a "referral" process, if you are going to pursue the partnership it would probably work best to approach it from a "what can I learn" and "what software can I get" all for a reduced price. If you ever get any referrals that is a bonus. All of that said with the understanding that I am not really active in their program. I would like to be, but more in order to get trained up a little. There are areas that I would like to know more about. Personally, I have never had much use for Microsoft's "credentials", but many people do get them. I have always been about "what do I know" more than "what strings of characters can I put after my name". OTOH if I had spent 10 years getting a "doctor" title that would probably be important to me. In terms of my proposal however I think forming a "virtual consulting company" would be about referrals, however the referrals would likely come from other members of the company. If there are 10 guys from this list, we would undoubtedly have a wide range of backgrounds and expertise. If someone asks if I can do virtualization, I would be able to say "I'll get back to you" and go see if any of you are strong in that area. Or maybe even have a spreadsheet or word document that would tell me "Member XYZ claims to be an 'expert' in these areas". That kind of thing. AND... those "strings of characters" are important to some clients. Thus being able to put a whole string of Microsoft credentials on my web site might attract business. I would not necessarily perform the work, it might go to another partner in the company. More and more, where you live affects your ability to perform your work very little. We can remote in to do programming, database design or maintenance and so forth. If you don't have to physically touch something then it can often be done remotely. A "virtual" company consisting of highly skilled people scattered around the world could work well. John W. Colby www.ColbyConsulting.com Mark Simms wrote: > John - I'm just kind of curious about the MSFT Partnership program.... > Do you get any decent leads or referals from them ? > > >