I recently interviewed Reza Saeedi—a marketing strategist and former Director of Marketing at On Deck—about his transition from employee to marketing advisor to employee again with advising as a side venture.

In this episode, we chatted about things like:

How Reza got into marketing and eventually, as a mentor/advisor to entrepreneurs
How he was able to get one fractional CMO and two advisory clients quickly after leaving his job at On Deck
The role of casual networking and how it led to unexpected opportunities down the line
The difference between being specific and niching down in business based on your strengths and interests
The role of risk-reversing guarantees and discussing prices against value during sales conversations
Why turning away poor-fit clients helped with his overall confidence and contributed to his early success
How to internally handle the fact we can’t guarantee successful outcomes
The value of factoring in word of mouth and referrals into your marketing plan
The intersection and overlap between teaching and advisory work
How Reza plans to do part-time advising in a low-labour, sustainable way
How Reza stays productize and organized in his work
The importance of exercise, habits, and mental health optimization

Plus many fun tangents along the way!

Whether you currently have a job and are thinking about advising full or part-time, or you’re already independent but looking to get into advisory work, this episode will have a ton of insights to offer you.

Key links and mentioned resources:

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