Grow Your Independent Consulting Business

If you're thinking, “I'm bad at business development”, it’s imperative to tackle this head-on. You're running a business and you need to be able to sell. Otherwise, you don’t have a business. I am here to help you with this work by sharing everything you need to know about overcoming “being bad at business development.” It might be true that you’re bad at it, what should you do? You...

As an independent consultant, when you think about negotiations, one of two things occurs. You either try to do everything in your power to avoid negotiating because it feels so uncomfortable, or you end up rushing through the process, just trying to make it go away.  In either case, what ends up happening is you're running a business that feels regretful since you've agreed to something...

In this episode, I interview one of my independent consulting business owner clients, Jennifer Lemmert.  Listen in as Jennifer shares her expertise in communication and how you can claim your own unique voice and branding so that you establish a reputation in your industry and are sought after for the type of services and impact that you offer.  Jennifer also shares some behind-the-screen insights...

You may be in a position where it feels like you have a pretty short window left to generate any impactful revenue for the remainder of this year, but there's no reason to write off this year.  I want to talk with you about something that you can be implementing now to impact the rest of your year.  I'm calling it the Quick Wins Business Development Strategy. The quick wins business deve...

If you’re like most independent consultants, lead generation is not your favorite business activity. It feels awkward and uncomfortable. As a result, it’s common to procrastinate, defer and delay your business development routines. This inconsistency creates choppiness (or even a big, gaping hole) in your business development pipeline.  Balancing lead generation with working on/in our business can...

An economic downturn and its impact on your business might be the last thing you want to think about, but it’s important to take a critical look at various aspects of your business to ensure it thrives in tough times. And so today we're going to talk about what you can be doing to prepare for a potential recession or downturn in the economy.  To help put you in the best possible scenario wher...

“Giving Yourself Credit” is such a critical practice to succeed (and feel fulfilled) as a business owner. But, I notice time and time again that independent consultants (myself included at times) aren’t giving themselves credit for what they have accomplished and what they do know.  Without giving yourself credit as a business owner, you end up self-sabotaging, plateauing, stalling, and feeling mu...

In this episode, I interview one of my podcast listeners turned independent consulting business owner coaching clients, LeAnne Lagasse.  Listen in as LeAnne shares a broad range of insights and strategies including how she's created a very strong reputation where ideal clients think of her immediately when they need a consultant who does what she does, how she's created a clear, compelli...

If you think about it, taking a vacation as a business owner is making an investment.  When you, as a business owner, go on vacation, you’re making two investments: (1) on the vacation itself and (2) an investment of your time, the time that you've decided to use for a vacation. You want to make sure that you maximize the time you’re taking off so that it can be as rejuvenating and as impactf...

It can be a challenging shift from being an employee with paid vacation to being an independent consulting business owner whose vacation time is unpaid. Taking a vacation as an IC business owner requires diligent planning and forethought, but it’s possible. And, not only is it possible – it is important for your physical and mental health. In this episode, I share the 3-part formula for taking vac...

In this episode, I interview one of my independent consulting business owner clients, Susan K. Moore.  Listen in as we discuss her journey as an IC business owner over the past 31 years. This certainly makes Susan a pioneer of the independent consulting industry and someone from whom we can gain valuable insights as she’s built a successful 7-figure business over multiple decades. Click here to ge...

When I meet with independent consultant business owners like you, one of the questions I ask them is, “tell me about your business plan?”  How do they answer? It’s very common, whether it's someone who's been an independent consultant for six months or six years, for them to look at me like a deer in the headlights and admit that they don’t have a business plan. And I get it because I&ap...

I often find that independent consultants are waiting for someone else to give them permission to increase their consulting fees. This hesitation likely originated in your corporate career when you had to wait for somebody to give you permission for something, whether it was a budget that gave you permission to spend money or someone in finance or sales had to bless it. Now you’re the consulting b...

In this episode, I interview one of my independent consulting business owner clients, Nicola Kastner. Listen in as we discuss her journey as an independent consulting business owner and her unique perspective having launched an independent consulting business twice.  Nicola generously shares all the lessons learned and what she's done differently the second time to create a much more sustaina...

When it comes to lead generation, I find that so many independent consultants are overcomplicating the process. Then, they’re ineffective with their lead generation activities. Listen in as I share with you the three must-haves that you’ll want to incorporate into your standard operating procedure (SOP) so that you've got a really effective, easily repeatable, and results-creating independent...

Having opportunities approach you, as an independent consulting business owner, can be exciting but also really difficult when it comes to making the best decision for you and your business. And, by opportunities I mean everything from new consulting client engagements, client extensions, client follow-on work, consulting partnering opportunities, teaming, and so on. The question becomes, how do y...

Last week we discussed what's standing in the way of you making more money in your consulting business. If you haven't done so as yet, you'll want to go back and listen to EP. 061 - What's Standing In the Way of You Making More Money With Less Worry In Your Consulting Business . To summarize, the main thing that’s standing in your way of making more money in your consulting bus...

Are you experiencing revenue plateaus in your IC business? Most consultants think that this cycle of feast or famine is caused by the market, the constraints that companies put on their spending, that we’re bad a sales or because we’re time-deprived meaning that we don't have enough time to work both in our business or on our business, etc.  What I would love to share in this episode is that...

If you hate everything to do with selling or think that you’re terrible at it, then this episode is for you. Listen in as I share the three most common mindset mistakes when it comes to selling your consulting services, how you can determine if you’re making these mistakes and then I'll pull it all together for you with a three-step process that you can implement to make sure you're avoi...

If you’ve ever thought, “I know what I do is valuable. I know I'm great at helping my clients solve problems, save money, innovate, and become more efficient. I know that I'm great at what I do as a consultant, but I am afraid that asking the clients for things, especially money, will make me look greedy.” Your subconscious thoughts about greed end up running your business. And when this...

A common question I get from independent consultants is “what’s a typical margin for a consulting business?”  When an IC asks me this question, they’re thinking about it from a financial perspective. In today’s episode, I share another type of consulting margin that most independent consultants overlook…the life margin. My own fractional CFO brought the life margin concept to my attention, and on...

We all know that lead generation is extremely important to the health of an IC business. Without lead generation, it’s challenging to maximize growth and revenue as an independent consultant.  And so today, I share with you a powerful lead generation that leverages assessments to elevate your consulting lead generation. I’ll also share a software tool that will make this strategy incredibly easy t...

Video marketing is using videos to promote and market your independent consulting services. Using video increases engagement on your digital and social channels educates your prospects and customers, and reaches your audience with a new medium.  Video is a powerful lead generation tool and as you will hear from our guest today, RJ Parrish, “video is this huge opportunity for all of us, but there&a...

For your Independent Consulting business to properly function, you need to have an accurate, efficient and repeatable set of back-office processes for invoicing, collection, bookkeeping, taxes, and insurance. Our guest today is Sara Conde. She has two decades of hands-on experience in the independent consulting world and she shares strategies and tips regarding your IC back office and the future o...

Ready to hire support for your consulting business but not sure where to start? In this episode, you will hear from Silas Kim, Co-founder, and CEO of Atlas Assistant Staffing and Recruiting agency.  He shares when to hire a VA as well as how to hire, manage, communicate with and retain a VA. This episode is jam-packed with tips and advice to help ensure that your partnership with a virtual assista...