Since the original 
Overlooked Expert was written in 2008, the predicted recession occurred and many individuals who were laid off fell into the unemployment or underemployment lines. Yet others, resourceful and enterprising, struck out on their own, taking their skills, knowledge and know-how to the world by starting a small business. Today, we are on the verge of another downturn. The time was right to revise and update a resource that has helped so many realize the dream of additional income at low or no startup costs.

The first edition proved so successful that the ebook of the 10th Annivesary Edition is being provided free on the following sites B & N, Smashwords, free-ebooks.  It is also available in alternative formats at Amazon, iTunes, Kobo, Scribd, 24symbols, Playster, and Google Play. To receive a free copy of the book and opt-in to Sarah’s newsletter, click here.

This 10th anniversary edition of The Overlooked Expert takes you further and deeper into the details of twenty-four overlooked experts who realized their strengths and formed profitable businesses. In this revised edition, strategic insights, business rules, hard-earned wisdom, tips, and bullet-point lists to be followed and checked off have been added.

Some of the Overlooked Experts featured in this book never attended college, while others have multiple graduate degrees. Many continue to work full-time jobs while moonlighting in the off-hours to satisfy financial goals. People from all types of backgrounds who possess the same drive and desire: to run a profitable business.

While the ages, industries and careers of those profiled vary, all have a few things in common: we (and I include myself in this category) all had an A-Ha! moment and realized we could be doing more. Beyond the initial discovery of an overlooked skillset, we used a commonsense approach to determine if our skills had a value on the open market. The natural result was starting a business for little or no cost and realizing immediate income.

Consider a few of The Overlooked Experts profiled within this book:

• A stay at home mom turned organizing consultant, earning $1,200 per month working within a twenty-mile radius of her home
• A doctor who consults to the military and the technology industry earning over $75,000 in annual supplemental income
• An attorney who works as an editorial consultant for fiction books who earns 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
• An automotive technician running a 10-day shop, but who wants to sock extra money away and hosts (presents) 2, 5-day workshops a month, earning an average of $14,000 per month in extra income
• A family counselor turned dog consultant to veterinarians and universities and within three years became a leading expert in the US
• A woman who turned her ability to train her puppy into a puppy training business. She now grosses $350,000 per year between puppy training, boarding and product sales
• A human resources staff member who became a resume consultant, maintaining his income, but enjoying the flexibility of working from home
• A former restaurant general manager who now creates marketing programs for small businesses in multiple industries while working a day job as a GM for a drug testing laboratory, earning nearly $50,000 in three years in her time off

As you gain value knowledge and identify with the examples of others, it’s my hope you will take that first stop to a major life improvement, and in the process, be better able to weather the economic ups and downs that will surely come again.

The path to creating the optimal value for your company is to achieve long-term, sustainable revenue. Partnerships are the key to quickly accelerating growth, maintaining sales and returning the highest margins and profitability.

Navigating the Partnership Maze: Creating Alliances has been published in 14 countries since it’s initial release in 2002 and continues to be the go-to resource for creating, sustaining and leveraging revenue for companies of all sizes. NTPM is a literal how-to resource of determining the best path to profitability through partnerships. The chapters of NTPM explain all the types of partnerships, from simple sales, marketing and distribution partnerships, to more complex, multi-faceted relationships that include licensing, co- and joint development. Further, NTPM details the steps to acquiring resources, be it personnel, product or financial investments from potential partners. The ultimate goal of many companies is to merge, sell or go public.

Clients of Sarah Gerdes have used NTPM for internal training, seminars and as the basis for dissecting the value proposition of products and services in relation to potential partners. The Circle of Influence, the Acquisition Sweet Spot and Partnership Alignment Matrixes are but a few of the proven models Sarah Gerdes created and has used with clients ranging from start-ups to Microsoft, , Warp Film, and many others.

SoftwareCEO editor Bruce Hadley said “I love it. This is the best book about partnerships I’ve encountered for the software industry. It’s required reading.” Cliff Encino, host of PBS Moneyhunt wrote “Gerdes has developed AllianceMapping, by which companies can match their key attributes with those of potential partners. A great resource.”

Out of Print as of Nov 1, 2017. Replaced with the 10th Anniversary Edition

Find a niche and stick to it. If you can’t find one, create one.”

Analyst and consultant Tim Bajarin proffered these words of advice when Sarah sought his council about starting a consulting business. It officially marked the beginning of her consulting career in the nineties. After more than a decade spent perfecting the processes, tools and techniques Sarah used for hundreds of clients in over thirty industries, Sarah wrote the Overlooked Expert to provide others a roadmap for successfully starting and growing a business.