Almost every sought-after consultant and agency practices these twenty things you should apply starting now if you wanna go from freelancer to CEO
Listen.
You might be very smart and big-brained with an IQ of 147 and the expert knowledge of a Wall Street banker facing insider trading charges.
Many are!
But guess who's dominating 80% of the market?
The top 20% of your industry.
This is called the Pareto rule, and it is the most repetitive analogy I use to explain to people why do winners win and losers lose.
Most experts inside a vertical aren't the authority they might deserve to be - In fact, I'd be willing to bet that the firm that holds the #1 place as the "go-to guys" knows a lot less than the guys at the 6th place.
Kind of like... McDonald's.
You, me, and McDonald's themselves know their burgers are mediocre.
But if someone asked you about burgers, what name comes to mind?
Yep, McDonald's.
Let me tell you a secret.
You don't have to be a Fortune 500 company in order to get treated like one.
Here are some high-level pointers in your best interest to start applying as soon as possible especially if you want to get treated like a lawyer charging $1000/hour and not an abused UpWork contractor.
What does this mean for you?
Well...
a. People will respect your opinion more, even about the smallest things.
b. The right people with the right money will perceive you as an expert at the one thing you are good at.
c. Your favorite payment processor will see a 3x - 5x increase in revenue.
d. Wealthier and better clients will desire to work with you because they don't have the money and, most importantly, the time to waste with subpar consultants.
e. You'll experience the entrepreneurial life as an executive and not an exploited sweatshop worker.
Are you ready? All it takes is a mindset shift.
1. Be a specialist in a niche inside a niche:
The easiest way to stand out is to be simply built differently.
How many copywriters are out there? A trillion.
How many web designers are there? I don't care.
How many eCom consultants are there? I don't know.
However...
How many specialize in tailored eCom workflow automation?
How many are pro email copywriters?
How many just focus on engineering mesmerizing Webflow websites with all the modern quirks of code and aesthetics?
Embrace what you're good at and triple down if you know that your offer and/or knowledge is validated and desired by the market you want to dominate.
2. Have a personality (Of your own):
This one goes to all the coaches, experts, gurus, sales agents, and influencers.
Don't try to be Tai Lopez or Alex Becker or some famous TikTok girl.
First, that's not you; and second, people can tell you're trying too hard.
Do you think they are going to choose you over the celeb you're trying to copy?
Reality check!
Be the cooler version of yourself but never somebody else.
3. Demonstrate competency:
This is the surefire way to get clients for everyone that is starting out.
Find where your desired clients are, put yourself out there and just show them what you can do.
Meaningful work will attract prospects with big pockets.
Does that mean you should work for free at the beginning?
That's how I started out.
That's how many other highly successful bizmen have done so too.
You're one demonstration away from landing great clients.
For the ones that are already in motion, accumulate as much social proof as you can.
Let the clients do the marketing for you.
4. Detach yourself from the process:
Never force outcomes and deals.
The more you want their money, the less they will want you to have it.
Your friends, your crush, your prospects, they all can smell neediness from a mile away.
And it stinks.
Always remember that there is always a better client, always more money, and an unlimited supply of opportunities.
5. Beauty is status, and status is wealth:
I'm a firm believer that everything should be as aesthetic as possible.
To the right people, the small details count.
They notice just like women notice your shoes.
6. Customer experience is king:
The customer journey should be a comfortable and nurturing experience from the moment you onboard them to the moment you send the final deliverables.
There are no rules set in stone regarding this matter, so feel free to go the extra mile than your competitors.
Our firm sends clients a complimentary, tailored market analysis report for their vertical and a ten-page PDF in which we explain every step we will go through as partners.
7. Do the opposite (It's an art):
We don't care what the industry says or what the blue checkmarks think because most of the time, they're wrong, and all they have to show for is RTs from other blue checkmarks.
Apply what you discover to be efficient, profitable, and beneficial to you and your clients regardless of any opinion.
Everyone is wrong until proven otherwise (Block every DTC account or corporate marketing guy if you're in this space).
Going back to the Pareto analogy, the top 20% does not do what the bottom 80% does.
8. Subtlety is king:
Let your work do the talking, and your clients do the marketing.
It's literally that simple.
9. Don't take shxt from anyone:
You do you and ignore everybody else.
If they aren't putting dollars in your bank account, they do not exist.
Which takes me to my next point.
10. Set boundaries to preserve your reputation and your sanity:
Close your DMs.
Enforce business hours.
Do not reply to emails on weekends unless it's an emergency.
Make people fill out intake and onboarding forms.
Be very clear on payment dates.
Vibe check every client that thinks you're their personal assistant.
Get into the partnership mindset, not the worker mindset.
Lots of low-quality people out there that feel entitled to your time and effort.
The right clients will always respect your requests, honor the agreement, and find a way to contact you at the beginning.
11. Ignore the competition:
Business is not a zero-sum game.
There's money for everyone.
Channel your energy and your attention on you and your own enterprise.
Study your rivals but never let them live in your head rent-free.
12. People want what they can't have:
Position every single bit of your offers as high-end and exclusive as possible.
Make prospects become worthy of you.
Disqualify often.
13. People want what others have:
This is the magic of social proof.
Leverage it and portray status always to amplify your displays of competency.
14. Desire is proportional to availability:
If you're always "there", you will be taken for granted.
Stay busy; have people wait for you.
Don't play hard to get and fake being busy.
Act like a businessperson, not a high school teenager.
15. Be both the generalist and the specialist:
Master your craft while having a basic understanding of the surrounding fields related to your skill.
Every CEO fits this description.
16. Increase your prices:
If you needed a life-saving surgery, would you go to the doctor charging $200 or the one that costs $8000?
Your current prices reflect your opinion on your work.
17. Never underprice or discount your work:
This is the greatest sin of consulting.
Hurts your reputation, undervalues your work, reduces your worth in the eyes of the client, and attracts all kinds of scarcity-minded losers that will make your life miserable.
A nightmare! Avoid.
18. Be scarce:
You shouldn't work with anyone because you're not for everyone.
If you were for everyone, nobody would want you.
20%.
19. Polish your frontend because first impressions matter, and they can make or break a deal:
Don't let that whale client catch you with a .carrd.co domain or a @gmail address or a website with typos.
If you don't care how you look on the internet, are you going to care about how you make clients look in the eyes of their audience?
20. Will not explain:
Don't argue or defend your work against people that aren't paying you.
The only people with a say on business matters should be your partners, clients during feedback sessions, and other consultants you hire for a specific reason.