Marketing Consultants

I’m a big fan of listening to your intuition.

But what happens when you want to accomplish something meaningful that requires you to go outside of your comfort zone?

The Resistance kicks in. You procrastinate. You play it safe.

It’s especially true if things are going reasonably well for you already. Loss aversion is no joke.

That’s because your brain craves comfort. And as well-meaning as it is, we can’t always listen to it’s demands.

As Jim Kwik says:

“Life is hard for two reasons: because you are choosing to leave your comfort zone or because you decided you’re staying in it.”

If you want to have a better chance of succeeding at your aspirational goals, try one of two things:

1. Connect with a group of your peers whom you trust to push you when you need to be pushed.
2. Find someone who’s taken the path before and is willing to give you the nudges you need.

Whatever you decide, don’t go it alone.

Your best clients are usually the ones who consume your content.

Before they even hire you, they should understand your worldview and want to hire you for your unique way of thinking applied to their specific situation.

So the next time you find yourself convincing someone to work with you, it might be best to stop the sales process and have them consume your content first.

Tell them to see if your worldview and approach will be a fit for them before they commit to working with you.

After all, you’re not cheap, right? You don’t want them to be surprised later on.

And if you’re not creating content already for your consulting business, now’s the time to start.

It will help you fend off the commodification forces and keep you from needing to pitch yourself with every new lead that comes your way.

The result will be better client engagements overall.

I help my clients hire a lot of freelancers and agencies to do execution work.

One mistake I’ve noticed over the years is how some of them get into their pitch straight away in a sales conversation.

They talk about themselves, their process, and their client history right off the bat. Usually with some kind of slide deck or presentation.

It almost seems like a nervous tick.

They neglect to talk about the prospect and their needs until they’re done talking about themselves.

What I’ve noticed, though, is it sucks the air right out of the room.

That’s because the client doesn’t care about you until you show that you care about the problems they have first.

If you want to win a deal, it’s better figure out what problems your clients are trying to solve and the value of solving it before getting into your pitch.

Only then should you consider talking about how you fit into the picture—if you think you can help.

 

 

The longer I do consulting, the easier things get.

It’s not because I’m smarter than I was yesterday. As Alan Weiss says, “I’m constantly surprised by how stupid I was two weeks ago.”

The reason things get easier is because I’ve been able to systemize the work I do—both for myself and my clients.

Some people will dismiss having systems and a “methodology” in a consulting practice.

As if every problem they encounter is so unique thing that can’t possibly be reduced down to a framework or core process.

Those people may be right in some ways, but whether they realize it or not, consultants always follow a process.

Even if yours is not documented, you still have a process. It might be a rough one, but it’s there.

There’s always a pattern of thinking that allows us to deconstruct problems and solve unique challenges using similar approaches.

That’s your process. And it doesn’t have to be rigid.

Life gets easier and results get better when you have a process that improves with every new client.

If you need help with that, check out Mindshare Pro for access to mine, or consider one of my coaching options.

Your prospects are smart.

They’ve read some of your content. They know what you’re about.

By the time you speak to them, they usually have some sense of whether you’re credible for their situation or not.

And that’s why you should never feel compelled to do a hard sell. 

The best thing you can do is focus on creating clarity around your offers—including the who, what, where, why, when, and how—and establishing your credibility.

If your offers are good and people see you as credible, they’ll find a way to do business with you in some way.

No need for the hard sell. It doesn’t work, anyway.

Aim to be clear and credible instead.

I’m reading Differentiate or Die by Jack Trout.

If you have an Audible account, you should be able to listen to it for free, by the way.

In the book, Trout quoted a definition of a value proposition by an old school advertising professional, Rosser Reeves, from his 1961 book Reality in Advertising.

It stood out, so I thought I’d share his definition:

1. Every ad must make a proposition to the consumer—not just words, puffery, or show-window advertising. Every advertisement must say to each reader: “If you buy this product, you will get this specific benefit.”
2. The proposition must be one that the competition cannot or does not offer. It must be unique and make the competitors sweat.
3. The ad proposition must be strong enough to move the masses.

I love so many parts of this, but particularly the second half of the second point.

“It must be unique and make the competitors sweat.”

How do you make your competitors sweat with your value proposition?

That’s the question worth asking.

When choosing a niche, one thing to look for is whether you have access to them in the first place. 

Access could mean personal relationships. Or the ability to join the communities they hang out in online. Or even your ability to find and reach out to them directly.

Some niches are harder to connect with than others—especially if you don’t belong to it or have a history with them already.

The less access you have to a target market, the more difficult it will be to build a business that serves them. 

Access not only helps you spark conversations and generate referrals, it also lets you better understand their needs, pains, and challenges a lot more easily. And these are all critical factors to your success.

Sometimes, the best niche to serve is the one you have the most access to.

(But only if you care).

One of the core things I help my clients with is turning their marketing into a system instead a series of sporadic activities.

It might include 20-30% recurring tasks and the rest of their time working on miscellaneous projects.

In most cases, I tell them to start slowly. Everything will feel difficult and take longer than expected at first.

The first few emails they produce will be onerous. The first few blog posts will take forever. The first few social media posts will feel like molasses.

But eventually, they’ll get quicker. Things will get easier. Work will improve.

All companies (and the individuals that comprise them) need to learn. And learning takes time and repetition.

Better to do just a few things slowly but effectively until they become second nature before loading on more tasks.

Otherwise, they’ll spin their wheels, lose morale, and want to give up.

Manage overwhelm and frustration closely.

P.S. If you want to turn your or your clients’ marketing into a system, consider joining Mindshare Pro to access all my systems, training, templates, support, and more.

I read once that Harrison Ford’s goal was to be easy to work with. He said it was a big reason for his enduring relevance.

This is a good lesson for all consultants. And yet, it’s a hard line to tow.

On the one hand, as an advisor, you need to have a backbone. To say hard things. To stand up for your ideas. To call out the emotions in the room.

You need to get business results—even if it creates occasional discomfort.

And yet at the same time, you need to have tact. To mend weakened relationships. To navigate hard situations with grace. To bring a positive energy.

Being easy to work with doesn’t mean being a pushover, it means being flexible. Like a tree that bends when it needs to without breaking.

Find a way to get business results while being easy to work with. It’s not just important—it’s critical to your success.

It’s hard not to attract clients when you publish your ideas every day.

It may take time. It may take work.

But there’s nothing like daily writing (or other forms of media) to help you establish your credibility, figure out your big ideas, and ultimately build a surface area big enough that your ideal clients have to run into you at some point.

It’s not the only way to get clients. It may not even be the easiest.

But it definitely works if you stick to it.