Crimson is a resource for independent marketing professionals, providing an avenue to new consulting opportunities. We engage consultants for a variety of strategic engagements and on-site contracts. Although many of our needs fall into the areas of Market Assessment, Partner Programs, and Sales Tools, we receive requests in all functional areas of marketing. Inclusion in our database is free of charge.

Please take time to read the following information. It will help you determine whether your skillset is a match with Crimson’s needs, and give you answers to our consultants’ most frequently asked questions:

Register with Crimson

What Crimson can do for you

Registration requirements

What should I include in my resume?

How do I register?

What happens after I register?

Identifying the right candidate

Classifying consultants – 1099 vs. W-2

Important contacts

Important documents

What Crimson can do for you

If you are a technology marketing consultant (or interested in becoming one), then you should make Crimson Consulting Group one of your resources for locating your next project.

Crimson provides strategic marketing consulting, and on-site marketing consultants to technology companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. Over the past 10 years, we have built a solid reputation and extensive relationships with clients at companies including AOL, BEA, Cisco, HP, IBM, Intel, Oracle, Palm, Peoplesoft, and Sun, as well as hundreds of emerging companies.

Registering with us will make you part of our network of consultants. You will also be added to our e-mail distribution list, providing you with:

There is never a charge to consultants working with Crimson, and registration takes just minutes to complete.  

Registration Requirements

To be included in the Crimson database, you must have at least 5 years of high-tech marketing experience in one or more of the following areas:

Market Assessment

Partner Programs

Strategic Sales Tools

Product Management

Product Marketing

Marketing Research/Analysis

Internet/Web Marketing

E-Commerce/E-Business Marketing

Marketing Communications

Public Relations

Business Development

Project/Program Management

Events/Tradeshow Management

Our online registration form makes it easy to be a part of the Crimson team.  

FAQs

What if I don’t live in the San Francisco Bay Area?
Most of our projects require that the consultant live in the San Francisco Bay Area. However, we occasionally have opportunities where this is not the case. If you fit our general criteria for registration, then we encourage you to register with us. Be aware that your current location could hinder the possibility of finding an opportunity with us, but will not exclude you entirely. Many of our out-of-town consultants look to Crimson as one of many resources for finding assignments.

I’m currently in a permanent job, but am very interested in consulting. Should I register anyway?
Yes! We are always open to speaking with individuals looking to make the transition into consulting. Registering with Crimson will give you a chance to see what kinds of opportunities are currently available, and is the first step to making the leap into the world of consulting.

How quickly do Crimson projects begin?
Crimson has a history of extremely quick turnaround in identifying the right resource for a client/project. Within days (or even hours) of the initial project posting, we typically have several strong candidates lined up. The time to actual project start is less clear. Since the market has changed, clients are slower to make decisions and the approval process at the client company is more arduous than in days past. The interview and/or proposal process now generally takes 1-2 weeks. Once the client has decided to move forward, it may be another week or two to project start.  

What should I include in my resume?

Before submitting your resume to Crimson, please take a moment to review the following standards. When looking for the appropriate consultant for an opportunity, it is imperative that we have a detailed account of your previous experience.

We need an up-to-date, reverse-chronological resume – be sure to include:

You can view a sample resume here. This sample requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.  

FAQs

Can I submit a bio or CV instead of a resume?
Our preference is a standard resume, but if you feel that your bio or CV includes the basics, by all means submit it. We may contact you if we feel additional information is needed.

How important is formatting?
For our purposes, it’s not important at all. Our online registration system converts your pasted resume into simple ASCII text, removing all fancy formatting. CONTENT is what counts – the more details the better, so we can get to know your background.

How can I update my email address (or phone number, or “pay-to” name, or resume) in my consultant profile?
Either:
– Visit our website and click on the link that says Update your Consultant Profile. Then just fill out the form, or
– Send an email with your changes to cons-changes@crimsonconsulting.com. Please make sure that your changes are as detailed as possible, and be sure to give us a way to contact you if there are any questions! If you are updating your resume, PLEASE include plain ASCII text in the body of the email, as we can’t accept attachments.  

How do I register?

All you need to do is fill out the on-line form, and then paste your current resume text into the appropriate field. The whole thing will take less (probably MUCH less) than 10 minutes.

Your profile will then be reviewed by a member of our team, and if you meet our registration requirements, you will receive a welcome letter confirming your registration in a few days.

If you have any additional questions, or trouble registering, please contact Consultant Services at 650.960.3600.

Continue with Crimson’s online registration.

Registration FAQs  

What happens after I register?

Once you’re registered with Crimson, you will begin receiving regular notification (via email) of new consulting opportunities.

Each message will consist of:

A brief description of the project

A listing of “Must Haves” or absolute requirements the consultant must meet in order to be considered for the opportunity

A listing of “Strongly Prefers” or other functional areas/skills that would be helpful, but are not absolutely necessary, for the role

An estimate of project duration

The project location, as well as whether or not it is on/off-site

If you feel that you are a match for the project/assignment, we urge you to respond immediately. This is the best way for you to make yourself stand out as a candidate for a new opportunity.

Reply directly to the email, without changing the subject line, and include:

Several bullet points detailing why you think you are a fit for the role – please be as specific as possible, since no one’s resume reflects everything he or she has done

Your current availability (e.g. full time, just wrapping up a project, can start in three weeks, etc.)

Daytime contact information (if different from your resume)

If you express interest in a consulting opportunity, we will get back to you one way or another. For each mailing sent we receive as many as 100 replies, so the process may take a while. Our goal is to get back to you with a status report within two weeks.  

Identifying the right candidate

Crimson uses two primary sources to fill our clients’ needs:

Keyword searches in our extensive database of more than 4,000 consultants

Responses to our Consultants Needed Mailings

When you are identified as a potential candidate for a position, there are several steps we follow to make our final decision:

We will do a brief phone interview to determine availability, qualifications, and overall fit for the role

You will be required to sign a Document of Understanding which includes non-competition and confidentiality agreements so that we can discuss the specifics of the role/company.

If it appears after the phone interview that there is a potential match, we will set up a face-to-face interview with members of our Business Development team.

Simultaneously, we will request a list of 3–5 references – preferably individuals you have consulted for/reported to in the past.

If Crimson feels that you are the consultant for the project, and you agree, we will work to get you connected with the client as quickly as possible. This may involve an in-person interview, which Crimson will arrange.  

FAQs

Do I have to come into Crimson and have my references checked every time I’m identified as a candidate for a new opportunity?
No, because we know your time is valuable, Crimson conducts only one face-to-face interview and a set of reference checks. Once you've completed these steps, we will simply call you about new opportunities, and skip ahead to setting up a meeting with the client if you’re available and a fit for the role.

I’ve been responding to quite a few of your mailings and have never heard from Crimson. Why is that?
Since the specifics of each new opportunity vary greatly, there can be a wide range of reasons why you haven’t been contacted for a Crimson opportunity yet. If you feel you are being overlooked for roles in which you are a good fit, please let us know. Your feedback is valuable, and we will make every effort to connect with you and review the situation.  

Classifying consultants – 1099 vs.W-2

When it comes to worker classification, the overriding determining factor is the type of project you will be working on. If you are identified as a candidate for a consulting opportunity, we will cover these classifications, and how they pertain to the task at hand, in greater detail.

In the meantime, here is a brief overview of the two different categories into which our projects fall:

Independent Contractor (IC or 1099)
In general, consulting opportunities which are project based, with clearly defined deliverables, will be Independent Contractor opportunities. For example, if the goal of the project is to create a white paper, develop a strategic plan, or to do competitive analysis, and we are able to define these as specific deliverables, then we are usually able to classify it as IC. Consultants on these projects will work on a 1099 basis – the consultant will invoice Crimson directly against predetermined project milestones and deliverables. More information on independent contractors is located on our Consulting Information and Resources page.

Temporary Employee (W-2)
If an opportunity requires you to work onsite, follow schedules and priorities set by the client, and work on a variety of tasks (which could change regularly), it will most likely be classified as temporary employee. Consultants on these projects will work on a W-2 basis, and get paid through a third-party payroll service.  

Important documents

Before discussing a new consulting opportunity in detail, consultants are required to sign our Document of Understanding which includes non-competition and confidentiality agreements.

You can view the Document of Understanding here. This requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.