Casting a Long Shadow Find out how to make your organization look bigger than it really is with these tips.

Carl L. Gould touts his firm, CMT International, as the "farthest reaching business mentoring organization in the world." Yet Gould's New Jersey-based operation has just three full-time employees.

Is that a hollow claim, deceptive marketing or, worse, a bald-faced lie? None of the above, says Gould. It's merely the case of a small to medium-sized business using honest, legitimate tactics to look bigger than it is. By building a network of some 110 independent consulting offices, all of which function as contractors to CMT while retaining full autonomy, Gould says his firm can rightfully call itself the biggest of its kind.

The goal in trying to cast a long shadow as a small company, he explains, is to foster a perception among clients, prospects and the public that the company can match or surpass much larger organizations in terms of resources, reach, capabilities and quality. "It's a marketing strategy on one hand," Gould explains, "but it's an incredibly solid business practice on the other. It gives a company credibility, and at the same time, it gives your clients certainty that you can do the job and that you will be around for the long haul."