“I don’t want another year like last year.”

Hi! You’re here because you’re a woman who runs a consulting business, and you want to learn how to make it more profitable, more stable, and more fulfilling. In our world, that means being able to get more of the right kind of clients into your business and get paid on your value, not your time, so you can build a business that supports your life, not the other way around.

If you’re like a lot of women consultants, you’re so good at the work you do, but the process of getting new clients feels a bit like unfamiliar territory. You’ve gotten this far with referrals or word of mouth, but you know you should be doing something more proactive (but you don’t want to be salesy). You also know that what got you here won’t get you to the next level in your business.

If that’s you, you’re in the right place.

Here you’ll learn strategies you can use to attract more of the right kinds of consulting clients and get paid more for your consulting contracts, in a way that doesn’t even feel like selling.

Along the way, you’ll discover that you aren’t “bad at sales.” (I promise.) You simply haven’t learned yet. But you can learn how, feel comfortable, and actually be good at it.

We’ll cover the three critical areas to master in order to get higher-paying consulting clients:

Attract (attracting more of the right clients and filling your client pipeline)

Guide (leading a sales process and keeping clients engaged)

Close (helping clients say yes and getting paid more than you ever thought you could).

I'm glad you're here! Let's dive in.

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I was speaking to a consultant who said, “I don’t want another year like last year.” Then she let out a big sigh.

For a moment, I was surprised. Because actually, on a lot of levels, she’d had a really good year last year.

Her revenue was good. She was mostly doing work she loved.?

So I asked her, “What happened last year that you want to change?”

She said, “I felt like I got stuck in the weeds. I focused too much on the minutiae which meant I wasn’t doing my most creative work. I didn’t feel like I brought my best to the table”

This is a theme I hear from a lot of the women consultants I work with.

It’s not like they had a bad year last year. In fact, if they’d known a few years ago that they’d be where they are, they’d have been pretty pleased with themselves.

But now they’re a couple of years into their business, they realize it could be even better. And not just in the money arena but in other ways.

Does this sound familiar?

Maybe you had a lot of work last year, but like my client, you felt like you were in the weeds too much. Maybe this year you want to do more creative or strategic work.?

Maybe last year you worked hard but didn’t quite bring in the money you wanted to make.?

Or maybe you felt like you worked too much, and even if that was work you loved, it reminded you of the corporate years (which were why you left corporate in the first place).

I’ve had years like that, too.

Over the past few years, I’ve made a lot of changes in both my business and my life to make sure I’m doing more of the things I want to do every day.

And what’s helped me make those changes is thinking about profitability differently.

Because often, we only think about profitability in terms of finances.?

And, sure, you want to make great money to support the life you want for yourself and those who are important to you.

But there are plenty of people who have financial profitability, but they’re working way too much, and running a business isn’t how they thought it would be.

Have you been there? I have, for sure. I’ve had jobs in the past that made financial sense and also made me miserable.?

So it’s clear you can’t only focus on money.?

Two more types of profitability are crucial for running a business that’s sustainable and fulfilling long term: professional and emotional.?

Professional profitability comes from doing work you love with clients you enjoy.?

It’s about being known for the things you want to be known for. And a great sign you have professional profitability is a full pipeline so you can choose your projects. Nice, right?

Emotional profitability asks, are you happy? Are you fulfilled? Are you optimistic about where you are and your future?

So, back to the consultant I was talking to. She had financial profitability but not professional or emotional. And that’s what we can do: bring those into line.

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When you reflect on last year, what’s your gut reaction? Do you want more of the same? Or are you ready for something different?

And let’s say you did nothing differently. What would happen then?

Many people start the year hoping things will be different, but then they do the same things as before, so their outcomes stay the same too.

How would you like this year to be different? Is it to be more financially profitable? Professional? Emotional? Or all three?

What’s the first step you can take today to make it so??

Reply and let me know! I’d love to hear from you.

To your success,

Leah

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Hi! I'm Leah Neaderthal. I'm a sales coach for women consultants and the founder of Smart Gets Paid.

When I left my corporate career and started my first consulting business, I learned three things very quickly:

1- It’s 1000x harder to sell your own stuff than to sell someone else’s.

2- Marketing is not selling.

3- I had no idea how to sell.

I needed clients, but I didn’t know how to actually get them, and I was terrified of coming off like a used car salesman. It made me doubt whether I was even cut out to run a business.

So I taught myself how to get new clients in a way that feels authentic, allows me to be myself, and that works, consistently. I now teach these techniques to others. Because I know it’s possible to learn how to land clients, and actually feel comfortable doing it, once you know how.

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Whenever you’re ready to start landing higher-paying clients, here are three ways I can help you.

1. Listen to the Smart Gets Paid Podcast

You’ll hear me chat with my actual clients as we tackle their biggest challenges in getting new clients, and you’ll learn sales strategies you can use today in your own business. It's the only podcast that can help you land higher-paying clients in your B2B consulting business. Listen on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast platform.

2. Get your copy of Referrals on Repeat

If you’ve gotten clients through referrals or word-of-mouth, and you want to start getting referral clients more consistently, get your copy of Referrals on Repeat, and start getting more referrals coming into your business today: smartgetspaid.com/referrals

3. Break through to the next revenue level in your consulting business with help from my team and me.

Learn the proven, step-by-step system women like you are using to get more of the clients they want, get paid way more for their consulting contracts, and build confidence that they know what they’re doing to get clients. Send me a message here on LinkedIn with “Breakthrough” in the first line and I’ll get you the details.