Most people don’t know what you do. They’re not even sure if you can help them. It’s your job to help them understand it, and the best way to do that is to show, not tell. Consult a little during the sales calls. Open up your methodology Trello board to an interested prospect. Teach what …
161. Why you should have (and stick to) a core process
This is a preview episode of the private podcast that comes with a free Mindshare Community membership. Join today for more members-only content and community. It can be tempting to ignore all or parts of your core process with a new client. I call this your Methodology. You might find yourself jumping into an engagement …
Build credibility with a research-backed, clearly-stated problem
What do you do when you’re new to a niche and don’t yet have lots of credibility in that market? You research as much as you can. Instead of trying to prove you’re credible with results you may not have yet, try to understand and articulate the real problems of that niche better than anyone …
Life gets easier with a process
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 …
The importance of good onboarding
When a new client commits to working with you, how you onboard them is critical to how your engagement will go. It sets the tone for everything to follow. Once the deal is approved, your job is to sweep them off their feet and guide them swiftly into your process. How you get signatures, gather …
Wildly profitable, cash flow stable, low stress
Do you feel like your business is starting to stagnate, or worse—beginning to decline? Are you working too many hours and not seeing the results you know you should be? Do you feel scatter-brained and nervous about where your next client will come from? If so, I have something that can help. I’m launching a …
Are you consuming or creating?
Some days, when I don’t have a lot of calls in my calendar, I find myself consuming a lot of content. Some of it is useful, like a good course, article, book, or podcast. But a lot of it is mindless email checking and flipping through social media. What I’m really doing in the latter …
Once you specialize, it’s hard to go back
Picking a niche or area of specialization is terrifying for many. It was for me the first time I “made the leap”. You feel like you’ll quickly get bored of doing the same thing day in and day out. But what actually happens is the opposite. Your work becomes more like art. Each client you …
How to make creating case studies easy
The five core parts the Mindshare Framework are: Niche/Specialization Credibility Methodology Business Model Marketing Credibility is not considered as much as it should be. And yet, there’s a reason I put it number two in my framework. It’s that important. Credibility for a consultant means being seen as capable of achieving the outcomes you promise. It …
Defining the perfect examples
Your job as an advisor is not to do all the tasks for your clients. Your job is to know which tasks to do and then to create, find, or describe a perfect way of doing them when the time is right. Once you get into “perfect example creation mode”, the rest of your work …