Q4 can be a challenging time for independent consultants. You’re worried corporate clients aren't buying at year's end. You’re thinking you’re too busy because of everything you’re juggling during the busy holiday season and at year end. And, you might even be thinking of “throwing in the towel” on this year because you’re too far behind on your goals. If you have a non-productive mindset about Q4, you’ll leave opportunities on the table. You have the chance to think differently than your indepe...
Oct 05, 2023•29 min
Worrying about a soft market is a common concern for independent consultants. As a business owner, a slow down in contracts or a lack of new leads can bring on stress, doubt, and even panic. In today's episode, Melisa shares techniques and tools to help you navigate and respond in a soft market. A lull or slow down in business does not mean you must take a dreaded return to corporate. Your consultancy is a valid and viable business that can be nurtured through market challenges. Tune in to learn...
Sep 28, 2023•29 min
Do you dream of reaching $1,000,000 in your independent consulting business? So many consultants think one million dollars in 12 months isn't possible. We talk ourselves out of trying because it feels like it would be too much work and will compromise our work/life balance. In today's episode, Melisa shares how to earn $1,000,000 in revenue without overworking or sacrificing family life. When you start thinking of yourself as a $1,000,000 business owner, it is incredible how much that mindset sh...
Sep 21, 2023•32 min
Do you ever feel like a fraud or like you aren’t qualified to deliver the work you’re selling? You are not alone. Many independent consultants struggle with imposter syndrome. Melisa’s message in this episode might surprise you. She shares that experiencing imposter syndrome is good for you as a business owner. It means you’re challenging yourself. However, when imposter syndrome goes unmanaged, the underlying insecurities and self-doubt can be paralyzing and negatively impact your business, res...
Sep 14, 2023•39 min
Are you struggling with lead generation but not entirely sure why? It turns out there’s a surprising blocker. It’s not that you don’t have time for lead gen. It’s not that you don’t know how to generate leads for your consulting business. It’s likely some other reason. What is this common reason you’re struggling to generate leads? This blocker to prioritizing lead generation is that you won’t be able to handle the work if you generate leads. In today’s episode, I offer a solution to unblocking ...
Sep 07, 2023•32 min
By offering retainers, you, as an independent consultant, can create recurring, high-profit, and consistent revenue for your business. There’s a misconception that it’s difficult to sell advisory retainers. So, if you’re like so many consultants, you know you want to offer advisory retainers but you don’t try. It feels daunting and ripe for rejection. I want to demystify this for you so you can start generating a pipeline of advisory leads and ultimately deliver work that is impactful for your c...
Aug 31, 2023•42 min
Every consultant has experienced this scenario: you’re making excellent progress with a potential client and have secured a verbal consulting agreement, only for the project to stall when it comes to final signatures. All of a sudden, you don’t hear back from the stakeholder. Emails and calls go unanswered, and you start to spiral. We know it can take time to finalize agreements at the corporate level, but it’s scary when a potential client seems eager about the work you proposed and then goes s...
Aug 24, 2023•39 min
You are an independent consultant. You solve problems for a living. So, of course, you can make anything work. However, allowing your automatic response to be "yes" is a pitfall that drastically impacts your consulting business operations, bottom line, and overall growth. Today's episode dives into the pitfalls of a “make-it-work” consulting business model. I discuss what it is, why you want to avoid this, and the impacts of piecing together a business instead of establishing clear protocols. An...
Aug 17, 2023•26 min
You want to offer consulting retainers. But, you’re not sure where to start. You’re nervous that retainer clients will call you day and night, and you’ll end up scrambling to support their needs. On the other side, you worry the retainer clients won't engage you enough and they'll question the value you're providing. On top of it, you’re not sure how to sell a retainer. You’re not sure why and how much a client would pay for access to you. In today's episode, I share an easy three-part framework...
Aug 10, 2023•38 min
Escaping a time-based pricing model is a common goal for independent consultants. Not only does hourly billing limit a client's perception of your value to their company, but it can also tempt you to overwork. Many independent consultants want to transition away from time-based billing but need help figuring out how to do it. In today's episode, I share a simple, 5-step process to adopt a new pricing model for your consulting business. Transitioning away from hourly or daily rates into a fixed-f...
Aug 03, 2023•36 min
CRM (customer relationship management) tools help you maximize your time, stay consistent with your business development activities, and balance supply and demand to keep your pipeline constantly flowing. So many independent consultants have questions about how to use and implement a CRM so they manage their business development processes effectively and efficiently. Today’s episode is designed to address frequently asked questions to demystify CRMs for consultants. You might be surprised, but t...
Jul 27, 2023•37 min
Your network is one of the most powerful assets in your business. And we all have relationships in our network that we’ve neglected. It doesn’t matter why you’ve let communication lapse with someone, it’s powerful to reinvigorate those neglected relationships. You never know where a connection in your network might lead. I know it can be uncomfortable to reach out to people you have let slide off your radar for so long, but there is a simple 3-step process to rebuild and strengthen relationships...
Jul 20, 2023•39 min
In this episode, I dive into the critical topic of pricing and how to leverage value-based questioning to transform your consulting sales process, allowing you to command higher fees and showcase your professional skill set. Discover the simple yet impactful micro-adjustments you can make to your sales meetings to maximize their impact and increase your earning potential. By implementing these strategies, you'll be able to demonstrate your expertise from the outset and position yourself as a hig...
Jul 13, 2023•30 min
Consistent lead generation is essential to building a sustainable independent consultant business. It’s easy to understand why business development is vital, so why do independent consultants commonly push this task to the back burner? We overlook lead generation because… We overcomplicate the process It's uncomfortable We don't have a straightforward process to make lead generation easy to complete Episode 121 drills down into how to simplify lead generation so you’re able to stay consistent re...
Jul 06, 2023•36 min
As an independent consultant, getting ghosted by a client feels like the worst thing that could possibly happen. You spend time and resources on discovery, research, and proposals that amount to nothing. You thought you had the deal in the bag. What happened? It’s time to conduct a retrospective. Today’s episode is about leveraging retrospectives to unlock continuous improvement so your independent consulting business is more efficient and successful. In this episode, I walk you through how to d...
Jun 29, 2023•31 min
As an independent consultant, I can safely assume you’re responsive and professional. You provide timely responses to client requests. And, sometimes this responsiveness can backfire. It backfires when we give the potential client what they ask for without questioning it, especially when it comes to writing and sending over consulting proposals. It is crucial that proposals aren’t written too early. Not only do premature proposals cost us time and money, but they also extend the sales cycle and ...
Jun 22, 2023•41 min
It’s common for independent consultants to put client testimonials on the back burner. You know you want to capture testimonials and case studies. You put them on your to-do list but they don’t become a priority. Without a standard operating procedure, there will never be a “good” time to ask a client for a testimonial. It gets pushed off and pushed off, and suddenly, it’s been too long, or the feedback no longer seems relevant. Powerful consulting client testimonials and case studies are crucia...
Jun 15, 2023•33 min
Generating a steady stream of new consulting opportunities is crucial to building a successful independent consulting business. Often we rely on marketplaces, networking, and past employers to generate leads. When you master the ability to land new clients independently, opportunities are endless. Today, I share the best strategy for getting your foot in the door with new consulting clients. Wherever you are in your business, this best practice is applicable. So whether you have a full roster, a...
Jun 08, 2023•26 min
In this episode, I reveal the pricing mistake almost every independent consultant makes while growing their business. When pricing out a consulting proposal, it’s common to think about what a client will be willing to pay and focus on how to hit that number. Most consultants are overly influenced by their assumptions about the client’s acceptance when it comes to pricing. And, as a result, they forget about their own business pricing requirements. In today’s episode, I Drill into the most common...
Jun 01, 2023•30 min
I am excited to introduce Jon Younger Ph.D. on this episode. Jon is a thought leader in the consulting space as a long-term consultant, author, and expert in the Future of Work. Today Jon joins me in discussing the evolution of work for consultants. We look at both sides of the consulting equation. First, Jon talks about the four stages of freelancing and consulting and what success looks like in each of those phases for anyone who wants stability, predictability, and longevity as a consulting b...
May 25, 2023•45 min
In this episode, I share a tool to help you solve problems or blocks that you’re having in your consulting business. This tool helps you unlock strategies you’ve hidden in the back of your brain and will eliminate the hesitation and resistance that have prevented you from implementing those strategies. This tool helps you to see where you might be going through the motions but not actually creating traction for yourself as an independent consultant. This game-changing business tool will help you...
May 18, 2023•32 min
You’ve landed a speaking gig, but now what? You want to make sure your speaking engagement creates leads for your consulting business. It’s important to carefully plan how you’re going to convert the audience members into leads for your consulting business, so you make the most out of the opportunity. This episode is part two of the series focused on leveraging speaking engagements to build your consulting buyer pipeline. In this episode, I cover how to convert scheduled speaking opportunities i...
May 11, 2023•27 min
One of the most effective methods of filling and maintaining a consistent consulting pipeline is speaking. Yet, many independent consultants overlook or avoid speaking. You might be thinking, “I’m not ready to be a public speaker” or “I don’t like public speaking.” Or, you might be thinking you need a portfolio, speaker’s reel, and other assets that feel time-consuming and challenging to create. Or, you might think it’s hard to find the right audience to speak to. These misconceptions hold too m...
May 04, 2023•43 min
Setting up consulting retainers with your clients is a great way to create more predictability and repeatability in your business. Whether you want to center your business around retainers or you want this to be another service offering in your portfolio, it will help you end the “feast-or-famine” cycle. In this episode, I'm going to walk you through the three steps to make this happen for yourself –either transition your business fully into a retainer or add retainers as another service in your...
Apr 27, 2023•35 min
Does running your independent consulting business feel heavy, unsustainable, or dull ? This is a normal part of doing business. If you want longevity in your consulting business, it’s important to build up the skills to r ecognize and shorten these cycles when your business feels hard or unsustainable. In this episode, I share how to recognize and diagnose the root causes of your business feeling hard, so you can address them and avoid the mistake of making changes that target the wrong problem ...
Apr 20, 2023•35 min
A goal I hear so often from my independent consultant business owner clients is, “I want to be making more than I would have been making had I stayed in corporate.” For you, that could translate to making ~$500k in your independent consultant business. You might be far away from $500k, you might be past it, or you might be in a spot where a lot of consultants are, somewhere in the $200k and $300k range. You want to increase your revenue but you’re not sure how or if you’ll be able to find the ti...
Apr 13, 2023•35 min
We’d all love to close 100% of the consulting engagements in our pipeline. Wouldn’t it feel so liberating if every one of your prospects signed a contract for a lucrative consulting project? The reality is that you won’t win every consulting opportunity. In this episode you’ll hear why losing consulting deals is not a problem. In fact, if you're not losing deals, it's highly likely that your business is not as healthy as it could be. It sounds crazy, but losing deals is something that needs to b...
Apr 06, 2023•28 min
Ultimately, your goal in a discovery meeting is to fully understand your consulting prospect’s challenges and goals so you can recommend a compelling set of solutions. In this episode, I share a framework you can use to make your discovery meetings more valuable. Listen in as I share what a discovery meeting is (and what it isn't), the goals of a discovery meeting, what your mindset needs to look like to have a high-quality discovery meeting, several examples of what to do and what not to do in ...
Mar 30, 2023•31 min
Today we’re talking about making more money in your consulting business. One of the ways that you can make more money is by selling follow-on consulting work. Selling follow-on work is an area of opportunity for most independent consultants because most of us don’t have an intentional process to sell work to our existing clients. Having a strategic plan to sell, qualify, and sell follow-on work can be a tremendous revenue generator for your business. And, you know what you’re getting into with e...
Mar 23, 2023•32 min
Most independent consultants either avoid or overcomplicate value propositions because value propositions can feel confusing, complicated, or impossible to get right. Without a clear and compelling value proposition, you can be leaving a lot of money on the table and also making your consulting business harder than it needs to be. I'm excited to share some tangible next steps for you to continue evolving your value proposition and ultimately your business. Listen in as I walk through: The basics...
Mar 16, 2023•44 min
