Your $20K proposal isn’t failing because of the price — it’s failing because your consulting firm’s value proposition isn’t landing. And ironically? The same clients who ghost your $20K pitch might eagerly say “yes” to $100K — if you position it the right way. In this video, Mandi Ellefson shares the agency positioning strategy that helped one firm move from stalled $30K deals to consistently closing $100K+ engagements — with the same clients. 🎯 You’ll learn: 1. Why smaller offers feel riskier ...
Jun 28, 2025•4 min
Still stuck trying to sell $20K projects… while your competitors are landing $100K+ deals? In this video, Mandi Ellefson breaks down the 4 strategic shifts consulting agency CEOs are using to close premium, high-trust engagements — without chasing leads, discounting your fees, or getting stuck in the weeds of delivery. If you’re delivering great results but getting ghosted, undercut, or passed over for bigger firms… this will change how you sell forever. ⏱️ What You’ll Learn: The mindset shift t...
Jun 26, 2025•3 min
Trying to sell $20K projects — but clients keep ghosting, lowballing, or dragging their feet? This video breaks down 4 powerful shifts that will help you close $100K+ consulting deals with confidence — without chasing leads, discounting your fees, or working more hours. Mandi Ellefson (founder of Hands-Off CEO) shares the exact mindset, offer, and positioning strategies top consulting and agency owners are using to consistently close high-ticket clients — even in a tight market. 💥 If you’ve bee...
Jun 24, 2025•4 min
In this episode, Mandi Ellefson reveals why you don’t need to search for "clients with bigger budgets" - they’re already right in front of you! Discover how to inspire existing clients to unlock budgets they didn’t even know they had. Mandi shows exactly how to transform your business from charging $5K per month on 3-month engagements to commanding $90K for a 90-day ROI builder offer. This is how our clients are building breathtaking case studies that naturally justify premium pricing. 0:00 - Wh...
May 26, 2025•12 min
In this insightful solo episode of Hands-Off CEO, Mandi Ellefson shares critical insights from her extensive experience working with thousands of consulting companies over the past 12 years. She reveals the four key strategies that distinguish thriving consulting firms from those struggling to scale. Drawing from real-world examples and case studies, Mandi breaks down how successful consultancies are adapting to market changes and positioning themselves for sustainable growth. She emphasizes tha...
Feb 20, 2025•30 min•Ep. 114
In this episode of Hands-Off CEO, Mandi Ellefson interviews Liz Elting , author of “Dream Big and Win” and founder of TransPerfect , which she built into the world’s largest language solutions company. Starting from an NYU dorm room at age 26, Liz shares her journey of scaling a business while maintaining exceptional service quality. Liz discusses how she transformed her company by implementing innovative strategies to empower employees to think and act like owners. She emphasizes the importance...
Dec 05, 2024•51 min•Ep. 113
How Digital Agency Increased Profits by Doing Less - with Ralph Burns and Ryan Hodges of Tier 11 - E112How Digital Agency Increased Profits by Doing Less - with Ralph Burns and Ryan Hodges of Tier 11 - E112In this strategic conversation, Mandi interviews Ralph Burns and Ryan Hodges of Tier 11, a digital marketing agency managing over $105M in annual ad spend. They discuss their journey of transforming from a chaotic 70-person agency to a streamlined, more profitable operation with 40 team member...
Nov 16, 2024•50 min•Ep. 112
Are you playing it too safe with your agency's growth? In this thought-provoking episode, Mandi Ellefson challenges agency owners to think bigger about transformation. Drawing from her experience helping agencies scale, Mandi explains why staying "safe" might be the riskiest strategy in today's market. This episode explores: Fear of Business Transformation [00:00:00] Learn why many successful agency owners resist making changes that could unlock massive growth, fearing they'll "blow up" what's a...
Oct 31, 2024•11 min•Ep. 111
Are agency owners feeling trapped by their own success? In this insightful episode, Mandi Ellefson explores how CEOs can scale their consulting agencies to new heights. Drawing from her experience with thousands of agency CEOs, Mandi breaks down critical elements for exponential growth. This episode is packed with actionable insights, including: Setting Ambitious Growth Goals [00:01:46] Discover why basing future success on past performance limits potential, and how to set more expansive targets...
Sep 12, 2024•16 min•Ep. 110
Are you a 7-figure agency owner feeling trapped by your own success? In this eye-opening episode, Mandi Ellefson reveals how top CEOs are scaling to $10 million and beyond by stepping away from day-to-day operations. Drawing from her extensive experience consulting with over 1000 agency CEOs, Mandi breaks down the critical stages of scaling and the mindset shifts necessary for exponential growth. This episode is packed with actionable insights, including: The Three Stages of Scaling from $1M to ...
Sep 05, 2024•19 min•Ep. 109
If you're like most entrepreneurs, you already know that the journey to success is a long and arduous one. You've poured in your sweat, tears, and countless sleepless nights to get where you are today. But despite all your hard work and dedication, there comes a time when you hit a roadblock and find yourself unable to grow any further. You become the bottleneck of your own growth. This is exactly what Ricardo Perez, CEO of OneRhythm, encountered while running his agency. But he didn't let this ...
Nov 29, 2023•38 min•Ep. 108
Two and a half years tend to be the sweet spot where consulting agencies come knocking on Hands-Off CEO’s door. Usually, those two and a half years are the point when CEOs can feel like they are stuck in a never-ending cycle of hard work and stress that is preventing their growth. But there's a better way to scale your company while avoiding those stagnant periods and growth plateaus. Don't fall into the trap of getting ready to get ready. In this solo episode, I'm here to guide you through the ...
Nov 27, 2023•14 min•Ep. 107
When managing a consulting agency, there's always a constant feeling that our current methods for measuring profitability just aren't giving us the whole story. Marcel Petitpas, CEO and Co-Founder of Parakeeto, experienced this very issue while running his own agency. Luckily, he didn't just sit back and accept the status quo. Instead, he set out to find a better way . Get ready to discover what he did to streamline their operations and reporting systems to improve profitability. He found a bett...
Nov 16, 2023•52 min•Ep. 106
Have you ever thought about looking at agencies from a new perspective? Get ready to discover the concept of the "Alt Agencies" - where specialization and specific outcomes for niche clients are favored over the traditional agency model. Our Guest Greg Hickman shares his journey on how to deliver a repeatable sales and onboarding process. The conversation touched insightful topics like: Power of productizing services [04:56] Understanding the concept of "productizing" services, which involves pa...
Jul 27, 2023•39 min•Ep. 105
Did you ever think about the importance of effective account management on scaling your business? If not, prepare for these gems! In this episode Taylor McMaster, founder of Dot and Company, tells her story and how she helps digital marketing agencies with achieving full-service client account management. Here are the essential insights from our riveting conversation with Taylor- feel free to have a powerful read through these most impactful lessons. Important Correlation between Sales and Accou...
Jul 06, 2023•34 min•Ep. 104
Are you ready to take your marketing strategy to new heights? We have a treat for you! Our latest podcast episode features the marketing expert, author, and speaker John Jantsch, owner of Duct Tape Marketing. Get ready to fuel your success with these game-changing insights! In today's fast-paced world, time is everything, and we understand that. That's why we've condensed the best highlights from our conversation with John, ensuring you get the most valuable information without wasting a second....
May 17, 2023•25 min•Ep. 103
As entrepreneurs, we often feel the pressure to sacrifice our personal lives to achieve business success. But is it possible to have both? In this episode, a CEO who was able to maintain a work-life balance is taking me through his iterative process of reaching that sweet spot. We will be discussing the keys to maintaining work-life balance while scaling your business, including tips on setting boundaries, prioritizing self-care, and delegating responsibilities. We'll also explore how to adapt y...
May 11, 2023•52 min•Ep. 102
What do you do when your business hits a ceiling and struggles to scale? In this episode of Hands-Off CEO, Jeff Ennis tells me how he transformed his company's operations, revamped his mindset, and added more value to his clients. From expanding their services, hiring the right team, standardizing their processes, to automating their systems, Jeff shares how he has doubled profits and reduced the number of jobs in his business from 250 to 25, all while working towards serving only 10% of their c...
Apr 20, 2023•40 min•Ep. 101
This is part 2 of a 2-part series on the Hands-Off CEO podcast, where you'll hear host Mandi Ellefson being interviewed by Ross Mayfield, a copywriter and marketing strategist on her team. In this episode, Mandi and Ross share some of the more vulnerable stories and experiences they haven't shared on the podcast before. They dispel the myth of the "seven-figure lifestyle business" and discuss the truth about what it really takes to become a hands-off CEO, including the impact this shift can have...
Feb 16, 2023•40 min•Ep. 100
This is the first episode of a 2-part series on the Hands-Off CEO podcast, where you'll hear host Mandi Ellefson being interviewed by Ross Mayfield, a copywriter and marketing strategist on her team. The conversation takes a deep dive into the mission behind Hands-Off CEO, and you'll hear stories of clients who have experienced real transformations in their business through challenging circumstances. You'll also learn about the topic of "letting go" and the importance of building a culture of ac...
Feb 09, 2023•40 min•Ep. 99
In this week’s episode of Hands-Off CEO, Sharon Toerek discusses how to streamline legal decision-making in your business. She joins host Mandi Ellefson to share insights on setting up systems for making informed legal choices and delve into the importance of master service agreements and key components of a legal service agreement. You will also learn practical tips specifically for agencies and gain a deeper understanding of how to separate CEO involvement in day-to-day operations. Sharon Toer...
Feb 02, 2023•39 min•Ep. 98
Success for clients goes beyond achieving great results. There are several pillars that make up client success, with onboarding being just one of them. Megan Huber of Structured Freedom joins Hands-Off CEO to share her unique perspective on onboarding and how it plays a role in scaling a service-based business. Megan Huber is a scalability expert for coaches and expert-based businesses, specifically those that are teaching based on a curriculum-based learning model. Her organization, Structured ...
Jan 26, 2023•38 min•Ep. 97
One of the keys to becoming a hands-off CEO is having a powerful team you can trust to run your business while you focus on growth. In this solo episode, I share the five barriers to building and running these powerful teams, and what you can do to overcome them. Key Ideas: One of the barriers to building a multiple million dollar company that can run without you is the freelancer mindset that many CEOs have. Many of them often fall into the trap of thinking everyone is there to help them , rath...
Jan 19, 2023•16 min•Ep. 96
Growth as a CEO often looks like more stress, more responsibility, too much work, and not enough profit. Even if making good money, many businesses are slowed by how little profits they retain. Real profitability is what a CEO would actually make if they were paid at market rate instead of their own salary. But how do you measure that? Mandi Ellefson shares how to calculate your business’ real profits in this solo episode of Hands-Off CEO. Key Ideas: It is common for CEOs of consultancy firms to...
Jan 12, 2023•15 min•Ep. 95
How do you determine if the direction your company is taking is the right one? Mandi Ellefson discusses an effective formula for devising the right scalability plan, and shares a step-by-step guide. Key Ideas: If you haven’t established clarity in your vision, it’s easy for your business to end up taking detours. You may eventually reach the right path, but not without wasted time, energy, and resources. Creating a clear vision is the first step to selecting the right scalability plan. Adding a ...
Jan 05, 2023•13 min•Ep. 94
There is a big misconception around operations, sales, and marketing and how they all intersect. Mandi Ellefson debunks some of these misconceptions and discusses how operations and sales impact scalability in a consulting agency. Key Ideas: Most approaches to scaling a consulting agency are actually more applicable to scaling a general company - they don’t account for the nuances of a consulting agency. Many operational challenges in a consulting agency are actually sales challenges. The root p...
Dec 15, 2022•13 min•Ep. 93
Delegating ownership frees up time for CEOs so they can focus on the business. Mandi Ellefson talks about the right way to let go of your business and hand the reins over to capable leaders, and how this helps you actually work on growing the business. Key Ideas: The challenge with delegating ownership is that if you don't scale the right way, you'll find that your client results start to decline, Mandi shares. Oftentimes, you can find yourself in a position where you need to be hands-on with th...
Dec 08, 2022•19 min•Ep. 92
What defining moments or milestones have happened to you along the way towards your current level of success? Mandi Ellefson shares her story as she discusses milestones that people typically experience in their business journey, and how to identify and address common challenges. Key Ideas: Very few business women ever reach 7 figures in their company. “Whenever there's a certain goal that we are shooting for, the gap [between it and us] personifies itself as something external, but the biggest ...
Dec 01, 2022•14 min•Ep. 91
How can you succeed while doing less? Focusing on the present may allow you to create more value. Mandi Ellefson describes her Wim Hoff ice bath meditation experience as she shares tips on overcoming fear. Key Ideas: Taking deep breaths to center yourself grounds you in the present and helps you see past your fear. Mandi describes how she was able to shift from fight-or-flight to a place of calm. “I went from suffering to surrender,” she explains. This shift changed her perception of the experie...
Nov 17, 2022•13 min•Ep. 90
This week we have a replay of one of Hands Off CEO's most popular episodes. Mandi Ellefson is discussing why popular scaling advice is terrible for consulting agencies. She shares insights about marketing, systems, and what you should actually do to scale. You’ll hear Mandi talk about: “Do you really want to systematize and accelerate a process that's just getting okay and mediocre results?” Mandi shares a story about a company that grew from referrals, but was challenged when they attempted pro...
Nov 03, 2022•14 min•Ep. 89
