Tuesday, August 5, 2009, Seattle, WA---According to the US Small Business Administration, the number of new businesses started by individuals with full or part time jobs doubled in ‘07 from 3.5M to over 10.5M. Many of these individuals tapped into skills and knowledge that was perhaps overlooked or underappreciated at their existing places of employment. Consultant Sarah Gerdes was once a corporate desk-jockey before founding her own consulting firm, BMG (http://Click here), and within a year, was featured in Fortune, Inc and Entrepreneur Magazine.

Available exclusively on Amazon.com, The Overlooked Expert: Turning your skills into a profitable consulting firm/RPM Publishing; June 2009 $11.95; 0978-0-979516-5-0, details the step-by-step process to identifying a skill, validating a market and pricing and market services. Author Sarah Gerdes reveals personal stories of success and failure, as well as those of a dozen self-made consultants in fields ranging from organizational consulting, sales consulting, IT consulting, government, manufacturing and medical consulting. Business critical topics such as compensation of workers, charging hourly or by project, and pitching and closing business are are thoroughly covered. Sarah also lists 100 consulting vocations in dozens of industries, using and setting guarantees, and networking with partners to jump start revenue and maintain consistent growth.

Consider a few of The Overlooked Experts

·       A stay at home mom turned home organizing consultant makes hundreds of dollars every month working within a ten-mile radius of her home

·       A doctor who consults to the military and the technology industry earning over $75,000 in supplemental income annually

·       A attorney who added editorial consultant for fiction books who makes enough each year to pay for his 401K

·       A network IT specialist turned business IT strategy consultant, and equaled his former corporate salary by the end of year two

·       A family counselor turned dog consultant to veterinarians and universities and within three years became a leading expert in the US

·       A former major league baseball player and his friend, a sales executive, turned partnership development consultants, and in the first year, landed partnerships with the UFC and other world-class companies

·       A human resources staff member who became a resume consultant, maintain his income, but enjoying the flexibility of working from home

About Sarah Gerdes

Forty-one year old Sarah Gerdes is the founder and CEO of Business Marketing Group (BMG) a Maple Valley, Washington based consulting firm that specializes in helping firms increase revenue through partnerships. She started her consulting at twenty-seven, after realizing she needed extra money to pay for a wedding. To test her theory of a new consulting niche, she started moonlighting after hours, until she gained the confidence to start her own business. Wihtin two years, she was profile by a variety of business, general interest and women’s publications, including Fortune Magazine, Inc., Entrepreneur and Women in Business.  BMG clients include global fifty and start-ups such as Microsoft, IBM and Sony.  She used the very principles she writes about to establish a new field, tap into a hidden talent, develop a track record, then establish an expert status. Today, Ms. Gerdes is a sought after speaker, a contributing writer for business and trade publications and serves as an advisor to profit and non-profit organizations.