A Summary Of My Content - July-September 2021
Luk Smeyers
Consulting Firm Performance Advisor ?? Advisor to Consulting Firm Buyers/Investors ?? Author of 'The Authority' newsletter
We are three-quarters into the year and, before you know it, I'll be looking back and putting together my predictions on consulting trends for 2022.
Luckily, we are not there yet and there are still a couple of solid months in this year to recruit new clients, complete big projects, and map out your plans for next year. Hopefully, the content I've put out over the past three months will be of assistance as you do that.
If you haven't had a chance to read all the content I've posted in the last quarter, you can easily catch up now.
1. 'The Authority', my bi-weekly newsletter
Check out the past editions of my?bi-weekly 'Think Piece' newsletter for consultants. 'The Authority' helps consultants grow their pipeline by sharing intriguing educational stories. It’s my ultimate aspiration to create a bubble of calmness with this bi-weekly ‘think piece’, a place of stillness in the face of everyday stress. A chance to reflect on what really matters in your consulting work.
In each newsletter I address the following:
The big question I address is: What is your advice to consultants when they cannot stop committing to a broad range of projects, because they are genuinely interested, and even competent as subject matter experts?
The big question I address is: Could you advise how to reduce a 60-hour working week to free up time for marketing?
The big question I address is: Could you explain a bit more why and how I should move to the productized consulting services model?
The big question I address is: What's your advice when prospects ask to provide a rate card but I don't want to charge by the day/hour, rather by project or based on a standard, packaged service?
The big question I address is: I do quite a bit of discovery calls with consultants who are interested in working with me. They always ask me - understandably - to explain my point of view with regards to ‘standing out in a crowded consulting market’. Or in other words, what is my approach to help them stand out? This time, I developed an infographic instead of a long text.
The big question I address is: (Part 1) I go a little deeper into the productized consulting services model, explaining what productization in consulting is, my preferred consulting productization model, and its Step 1.
The big question I address is: (Part 2) Continuing on the discussion of productization in consulting, I explain Steps 2 and 3 of my preferred consulting productization model.
The big question I address is: (Part 3) Though technically this newsletter is from October, so not Q3, I want to include it here because it's the final part of my three-newsletter explanation of my preferred consulting productization model. Here, I discuss pricing your productized consulting services and provide examples of models used by consulting firms.
2. The Visible Authority Blog
In this blog, I explain that my personal formula for success is allocating at least 30% of your work time towards marketing. I argue that standard time management strategies will NEVER work if you don't get two basic things right:
(1) Shifting your perspective and mindset towards what you want your consulting business to be like from the work-life perspective;
(2) Learning to narrow down your focus and to say no.
The vast majority of consultants are highly client-oriented. And that makes sense, of course. We’re in the service business. We work with people from different backgrounds, with different experiences, and different expectations.?However, many consultants take this to mean that in order to secure and retain a client, you always have to offer highly customized services that, like window insulating foam, fill in every nook and cranny of a business process.
In this article, I explain why this is a draining experience and urge consultants to switch to a productized consulting services model. I list the advantages and suggest to my readers how they can switch to this model.
领英推荐
Most consultants, no matter how experienced they are, live and work in a constant doom loop. They’re always busy chasing their own tail to find new clients and projects. Once they win the next client or project, they start worrying about finding the next one. Here’s the unpopular truth: being a successful consultant doesn’t need to be hard. You don’t need to work 10+ hours per day, seven days per week. And most importantly, you need to understand that your work as a consultant is not your life.
In this post, I explain why you won’t get what you want unless you are what you want.
3. My Webinar Summaries
The webinar series was on pause during the months of July and August but, as soon as September hit and everyone started activating, I carried on.
On the 8th of September, 2021, I hosted the fifth webinar in my series titled Ditch Your Useless USP’s. Creating Unique Value Propositions as a Consultant. My goal was to explain some of the most common mistakes that I see consultants make over and over again when designing their unique selling proposition. I then share the secrets to creating an authentic, outcome-driven unique value proposition that goes to the heart of your target audience's problems.?
4. My LinkedIn Posts
5. My LinkedIn Articles
I have researched over 200 consultants in the past two years, and it amazes me that >90% of the way consultants position themselves is made of this type of generic, self-centered bragging. They call that their USP. Help!?
In this post, I explain the big mistake most consultants make – telling their prospects an inside-in story with their USP. I urge them to re-think their approach and develop a Unique Value Proposition instead.?
6. My Guest Posts
Authority ally Alastair McDermott from 'The Recognized Authority' podcast (great name - previously the 'Marketing for Consultants' podcast) interviewed me about why consultants say that they don't have time to do marketing, and how this is a fixable problem.
7. Previous Content Summaries
If you'd like to catch up on my content from the beginning of the year:
Interested in receiving all my learnings to become a better consultant? No spam, no BS. Pure teaching!?Subscribe to my newsletter (and the monthly training calendar).
Founder of Credens People Solutions (PTY) Ltd. | Organisational Psychologist
3 年Luk Smeyers, you are some consulting teacher for one consulting teacher. Thank you!'