Stop making this writing mistake

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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A few weeks ago, I spoke with a group of women business owners, and they asked me for one thing that people can do right now to help them sell better and more quickly.

Now, I have to tell you. I actually struggle with questions like that.

Because there’s no “one thing” that you can do to get clients. Or three things. Or quick tips. Or something we can do right away.

I mean, perhaps if you’re selling a $99 course to individuals. But when you’re selling consulting services to businesses or organizations, and your contracts are in the tens of thousands of dollars, there’s nothing that’s like, “Do this and get clients.”

But I realized: there IS something you can do to help at every stage of the sales process, whether it’s in your marketing, when you’re emailing your clients, putting a proposal together, or following up.

That’s because it’s fixing a writing mistake I see women making all the time.

So ready for the one thing I told this group of women business owners? Here’s what I said.

Most women consultants write as if their words are going to be READ. But people don’t read; they skim.

So stop writing for READING. Instead, write for SKIMMING.

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Consultants, I hate to break it to you, but no matter how amazing a writer you are, no one reads what you write.

They are SKIMMING what you write.

Think about how you read things. Think honestly: when you’re reading an article on your phone. Or reading an email on your computer. Or scrolling a website on your tablet.

Your eyes move quickly. You pick up the first few letters of a word. Your eyes bounce around. Your eyes take in a fraction of the words and your mind fills in the rest. You’re reading to get the gist.

You’re not reading. You’re skimming.

I was reading an article recently about how Gen Z and Millennials are choosing to read physical books instead of e-readers because they spend so much time reading on a device and skimming, and reading an actual printed book forces their eye (and their brain) to slow down and take in more of the story.

(Elder Millennial here: I can vouch that I’ve moved towards physical books too.)

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When you write for READING, you write how we all learned to write growing up. But this isn’t a research paper. It’s an email, a proposal, or a follow-up message. And the recipient interacts with it in a completely different context.

In fact, when I write anything, I envision the recipient reading it on their phone while waiting for their Lyft.?

In that context, they’re definitely not reading; they’re skimming.

Writing for skimming looks like this:

• Short sentences
• Short paragraphs
• Breaking up thoughts into distinct sections
• Not burying the call to action; putting it early in an email
• Using bullets and formatting to help people get key points
• Putting bulky information below the signature

These are just a few ways my clients learn how to write so that Crazy Busy Clients can understand and respond, and they can help you too.

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Listen, our clients are crazy busy, just like we are. So it’s our job to help them know what we want them to know.

Or, as my grandfather said, to let them have our way.

So write for skimming, and you’ll get better outcomes at every stage of the sales process.

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.