As you work through your annual business plans, you’re probably looking for that competitive edge. You’re probably asking yourself “how can I decrease downtime in between projects, improve the profitability of my current projects and win new projects to drive additional revenue?” In this episode, I will provide you with a tool you can use to improve and sustain your business results for this year and beyond. Listen in as I share the business metrics that you should be tracking for your consultin...
Jan 13, 2022•14 min
Setting yearly goals isn’t always exciting. It can feel overwhelming and daunting. There’s one major adjustment that you can make to your planning process to create the feeling of inevitability for yourself and your business. Want to know more? Tune in as I share exactly how you can make achieving this year’s consulting business plan inevitable. Click here to get full show notes and more information. Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coac...
Jan 06, 2022•26 min
If you're like me and you love planning, then this is a really exciting time as you close out the current year and start thinking about the new year and what you want to achieve. After all, if we don't know where we want to head, we're never going to get there. We all know this, but a lot of times, we let planning fall by the wayside. So on today's episode, I want to share a process with you that will help you to get very clear on your IC business vision so that you can achieve more than you eve...
Dec 30, 2021•28 min
When it comes to your consulting business, do you have a regular routine of evaluating your results? As entrepreneurs, to know where you’re going, it’s important to look at where you’ve been. That's why year-end business reviews are so important. The year-end review is the difference between you having a successful year or you hitting a plateau. Conducting a year-end review process makes you aware of what you want to amplify, eliminate or adjust. Listen in as I share how to conduct a year-end re...
Dec 23, 2021•22 min
Looking to grow your impact in the next 12 months? Then this conversation is for you! Today we’re joined by McLean Robbins. McLean comes to us with a well-rounded experience and vantage point as she is the Vice President of Enterprise Marketing at MBO Partners and an independent consultant herself. McLean interacts with independent consultants on a daily basis and meets with enterprise leaders regularly so she has gained first-hand insights from people who are buying the services that you sell. ...
Dec 16, 2021•40 min
Spending the time to think strategically and purposefully is a critical component to the success of your consulting business. When you’re not making strategic thinking part of our success habits, you're basically acting like an employee would and waiting on your client to tell you what to do. The result is other people are managing your priorities and ultimately the strategy of your business. And so in this episode, we're going to dive into strategic thinking, which is one of the most, if not th...
Dec 09, 2021•24 min
I’m frequently asked questions about coaching such as “what is a coach”, “who needs a coach” and “what are the benefits of working with a coach?” As a coach myself who’s coached 100s of different people, and also as a client who has had my own coach for the last six years, I want to give you a well-rounded perspective of what it looks like to be coached from both of these points of view. You’ll get an understanding of the tangible and intangible benefits of working with a coach. And, if you’re c...
Dec 02, 2021•36 min
As a coach, I’m honored to work with independent consultants to grow their businesses. As a coach, I see common themes and mistakes almost every IC makes in their business at some point. One of these themes I see across almost all ICs is under-earning. The issue with under-earning is that you can often look outside yourself for things to blame and for external justifications. However, as an independent consultant, you're creating your under-earning and you’re doing this in five very subtle ways ...
Nov 25, 2021•32 min
The world of an independent consultant can be lonely at times. A remedy for this loneliness can be found in a collaborative community. Collaborating with other independent consultants can ease the sense of isolation and help your business to become successful in many ways. My guest today, Will Bachman, was very aware of this fact and as a result, he founded Umbrex, a global community specifically for independent consultants that creates opportunities to build relationships with peers, share less...
Nov 18, 2021•27 min
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4 million Americans quit their jobs in July 2021. Resignations peaked in April and have remained abnormally high for the last several months, with a record-breaking 10.9 million open jobs at the end of July. How can you use the Great Resignation to create consulting clients? Listen in to learn how you can use the Great Resignation to create client acquisition for your business. I will share with you three specific ways that you can leverage this ...
Nov 11, 2021•23 min
Our guest today is Brian Hoffmeyer, SVP Market Strategies at Beeline. Brian shares with us that right now they have “325 clients and 50 billion in spend running through their system every year.” That's a massive number. There is so much opportunity out there for independent consultants who know how to take advantage of it. Brian shares insights from his 17+ years working with the Fortune 1000 procurement and business teams who purchase contract labor and consulting. Listen in as Brian shares act...
Nov 04, 2021•34 min
Have you ever completed a business task like making a presentation or had a consulting call and afterward you were second-guessing yourself? Did you wish that you’d never revealed something, or that you could go back in time and undo the action that made you question yourself after the fact? This is called the “Vulnerability Hangover”. It’s a term coined by Dr. Brené Brown. She defines it as “the gut-wrenching feeling of shame and fear right after we undertake an emotional risk.” As consultants,...
Oct 28, 2021•22 min
There are five mistakes that I see independent consultants make with their service offerings that ultimately lead to low close rates and the feast or famine cycle. In this episode, I want to bring these 5 mistakes to your attention so you can address them. After you do, you’ll set yourself up to start earning more, continuously filling your pipeline, and ultimately feel more fulfilled in the work that you do because you're landing ideal clients you can’t wait to work with. This is the work that ...
Oct 21, 2021•23 min
Are you approaching your consulting sales process based on what your prospects care about or based on what you have to offer? This is a very common deal-killing mistake that Independent Consultants make. The mistake is when you are approaching the sales process based on you assuming that a client needs what you have rather than what the client cares about. This mistake can end up killing your deals. In this episode, I will help you to identify if you are making this common mistake so that you ca...
Oct 14, 2021•26 min
Are you working as a consultant or as a contractor, a staff augmentation-type resource, in your consulting business? If you’re like many independent consultants, you’re trapped taking staff augmentation roles, and as a result, overworking, underpaid, and not making the level of impact that led you to consulting in the first place. Listen in as I share with you how to get out of the staff augmentation abyss and elevate into the business owner zone so that you create the business you desire. Click...
Oct 07, 2021•27 min
Are you ready to finish the year strong in your consulting business? Listen in as I share with you a tool that you can use to create consistent revenue in your consulting business. This tool can be used at any point in the year, but especially in Q4, so that you finish the year strong and build momentum as you move into next year. Click here to get full show notes and more information. Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored t...
Sep 30, 2021•25 min
There are several critical differences between searching for a job and selling consulting services. In this episode, I walk you through two additional differences between a job search and your consulting business development process. After you recognize the differences, you’ll be able to position yourself more effectively, and in turn, land more lucrative and fulfilling consulting clients. Click here to get full show notes and more information. Want help achieving your consulting business goals?...
Sep 23, 2021•22 min
Independent consultants who treat their business development process like a job search create a feast or famine situation in their consulting business. There are several critical differences between searching for a job and selling consulting services that I’ll dive into in this episode, so you can increase the income and impact you’re making in your independent consulting business. Click here to get full show notes and more information. Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa ...
Sep 16, 2021•20 min
This episode is part six of the six-episode series that gives you a glimpse into the DOUBLE Method I created to help independent consultants double their revenue without working more. Today, I want to focus on the last one, which is the E in double, to ESTABLISH your ongoing business processes and routines. These processes and routines serve as a blueprint for your IC business, to ensure you meet your business goals without sacrificing your personal life. Listen in as I share the six must-have s...
Sep 09, 2021•25 min
If you hate selling, you’re not alone. Most independent consultants would rather get a root canal than work on business development and selling their services. Yet selling is a necessary part of building an impactful and revenue-generating business. If you're stuck in this quandary of hating sales but knowing you need to sell in order to succeed as an independent consultant, this episode is for you. I share three strategies you can use to sell like a pro, even if you hate sales. Click here to ge...
Sep 02, 2021•27 min
Today we're going to talk about the one success strategy that most independent consultants are not even aware of. As a consultant, you’re good at helping clients solve problems and you’re usually knee-deep in projects and facing deadlines. And, in the meantime, it’s easy to overlook this one thing. You might be surprised when you hear what it is. But, it’s absolutely necessary and important for the long-term success and longevity of your consulting business. Listen in to learn more. Click here t...
Aug 26, 2021•18 min
For most independent consultants, lead generation feels hard, time-consuming, and slow. But lead generation doesn’t have to be a struggle. You can make it easier by avoiding the three most common lead generation mistakes that I will share with you in today's episode. These mistakes are causing you to underearn, and I want to help you make sure that stops today. In today’s episode, I’ll help you diagnose why you don’t have any (or as many) leads as you need to sustain and grow your IC practice by...
Aug 19, 2021•27 min
Are you taking consulting work that comes to you even if it's below your targeted rate because you don't want to leave money on the table? To avoid operating in this desperation mode, you need to create a compelling consulting offer. A compelling consulting offer is a powerful message, something that evokes interest that satisfies a need or a want of your ideal client. The purpose of a compelling offer is to attract demand for your business so you’re not dependent on other people to sell what yo...
Aug 12, 2021•21 min
Are you at the mercy of your business, feeling forced to choose between taking time off and leaving billable money on the table? Do you feel like you should maximize the billing that you've got on a project because you never know what next year is going to bring? Does it feel impossible to get out in front of your business and that you’re stuck in a reactionary cycle? Listen in as I share the first pillar of my Double Method for Independent Consultants, a strategy you can use to get out in front...
Aug 05, 2021•20 min
Most consultants think the most important skill they need is selling or negotiating. No, your success as a business owner is directly tied to how well you manage your negative emotions. Is that surprising? It was for me. In this episode, I’m sharing with you exactly why managing negative emotions is so crucial, and how you can manage through and continue working in spite of the negative emotions. Click here to get full show notes and more information. Want help achieving your consulting business...
Jul 29, 2021•23 min
It happens to all of us where at some point in your business, your immediate network doesn't have work for you, or they don't have work you want to be doing. And you also get to a point where you don't want to rely on recruiters or agencies or brokers anymore. You’re then faced with the challenge of creating new consulting client opportunities for yourself. And, you’re ready to take on higher-value consulting work now that you've exhausted this low-hanging fruit. So how do you meet new potential...
Jul 22, 2021•19 min
When you were an employee, you mastered the techniques and strategies to get your ideas approved, to convince stakeholders to follow your recommendations, and to keep the organization moving forward. As an independent consultant, it’s important to recognize that the strategies and tactics you leveraged when you were an employee won’t work the same way and can even backfire on you. Today I want to offer you a way to step out of the employee mindset so that you can let go of the spoken and unspoke...
Jul 15, 2021•21 min
Today I will share with you the critical business question that you should ask to set yourself up for success in the second half of the year, so you finish the end of the year strong. In the episode, I help you ask ONE CRUCIAL question to categorize your business results for the 1st half of the year. Then, I help you understand what action plan to put in place based on your answer. I finish the episode with the two goal traps to avoid and 3 success strategies to make sure you hit (and even excee...
Jul 08, 2021•16 min
As an Independent Consultant, it’s important to refresh the way you think about money so you don’t fall into the trap of underearning and overworking. It’s a shift from the old employee mindset to a business owner mindset in the way you think about money. Gone are the days where you wait on approval to spend money or where you spend it with the expectation of getting reimbursed. You are the business owner and CEO. It's all up to you now. Listen in to learn how to avoid the employee mindset money...
Jul 01, 2021•23 min
Being an Independent Consultant is very different from being an employee. Quitting your job and starting your own consulting business is only half the battle. You need to prepare to be a business owner, and this includes preparing your mind by shifting from employee thinking to a business owner. If you hold on to the employee mindset, you limit your vision and soon sabotage your success. Here are 3 ways to drop the employee mindset around time and start managing your time like a successful IC bu...
Jun 24, 2021•19 min
