This episode is inspired by a listener question that I’ve been hearing a lot lately: how can you pull yourself out of a slump? And does a prolonged slump mean you’re not cut out to be a Soloist?
The gift (and the hidden cost) of a great first year as a Soloist.
Why hitting the wall—where your revenue tanks or plateaus—happens, especially with new-ish Soloists.
When it’s time to invest in positioning yourself appropriately and developing a sales system to consistently fill your pipeline.
One simple action to ensure you’re ready to turn around a difficult revenue situation.
Why it’s never too late to niche down—and how to do it without wasting months getting it right.
LINKS
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TRANSCRIPT
00:00 - 00:45
Rochelle Moulton: If you haven't honed your messaging to focus on your ideal clients and buyers, and you haven't built a recurring system to find, nurture, and close those people, eventually you'll hit that wall. Hello, hello. Welcome to the Soloist Life podcast, where we're all about turning your expertise into wealth and impact. I'm Rochelle Moulton. And today I want to share a listener question about pulling yourself out of a slump because I've been hearing variations on this lately and it's worth addressing. So this particular question goes like this. I'm feeling stuck in my business and I just don't know what
00:45 - 01:21
Rochelle Moulton: to do next. In the past, I hit over $100, 000 in revenue easily. And 2 years ago, I broke $200, 000 for the first time and I was thrilled. The last year though, has been pretty miserable. I just barely hit $100, 000 in 2023 and I won't in 2024 unless something changes dramatically. Is this a sign I need to go get a job or is this fixable? Okay, so let's call this person Chris because they didn't want to identify themselves in the show. Chris and I tossed a few emails back and forth, and this is what
01:21 - 01:57
Rochelle Moulton: else I learned that I think is important to talk about what to do next. 1, Chris is a B2B consultant with a respectable level of expertise, about 8 years in their specialty. 2, if we were to look at Chris's website and social media, we'd see they focus more on talking about their expertise versus identifying their ideal client and the specific problems they solve. 3, Chris has been in business for almost 4 years and they need about $100, 000 in revenue to meet their basic needs, but have targeted $200, 000 as their goal to build a Freedom
01:57 - 02:33
Rochelle Moulton: Fund for their future. So I think of that as their enough goal. They can tighten their belt for a year or so, but they need to be on a $100, 000 plus trajectory soon. 4, Chris does not have any sort of consistent pipeline of new clients, nor do they have any recurring revenue of any consequence. It's mostly project work. 5, Chris has been experimenting a bit, but since nothing is stuck yet, they're starting to doubt themselves to feel less confident. And finally, number 6, all that said, they really, really, really don't want to go back to
02:33 - 03:10
Rochelle Moulton: a job job. All of this is important information when you're making big life decisions. You know in your heart of hearts whether you want to stay independent or go back inside. And it's folly to ignore your very real need for revenue to support yourself and perhaps others. So what we have in Chris is someone who has tasted the good life of being a soloist and wants more. They need to make a certain level of income to feel like the risk of being independent is worthwhile, like they can create the right business for themselves. From what I
03:10 - 03:47
Rochelle Moulton: can see, Chris has hit a wall that many soloists do in the early years of their business. If you've been in a corporate role, built up some good creds and some relationships, hanging out your shingle can feel amazing that first year. Everybody wants to help the newbie and you get plenty of referrals or just, hey, will you do X for me? Kinds of projects handed over without any competition. Year 1 can look and feel surprisingly easy, almost effortless in terms of sourcing new clients. They basically come to you And your job is to close the deal.
03:47 - 04:25
Rochelle Moulton: And then year 2 rolls in. Now if you've got a highly marketable skill with the right reputation, year 2 might be even better than year 1. And if that's the case, like it was with Chris, it's Probably because you're getting referrals from clients or people in your circle who've seen what you can do. But if you haven't honed your messaging to focus on your ideal clients and buyers, and you haven't built a recurring system to find, nurture, and close those people, eventually you'll hit that wall. Now, I don't wanna make this sound like you have to
04:25 - 04:59
Rochelle Moulton: do all of this, niche down and build a sustainable sales system at once. The truth is it's usually a process. Year 1 is when you do a bunch of different things to see what sticks. The last thing you're probably thinking about in that first year is niching down because you're having so much fun getting to do cool work with people who actually pay you. It's a blast. And year 2 tends to be 1 of 2 things. Either your revenue falls off dramatically because you haven't been investing in relationships and business development. Or like Chris, you got
04:59 - 05:41
Rochelle Moulton: lucky with referrals and your revenue ticked up, even though you didn't do much to cultivate it. But eventually, most folks who stay in solo consulting realize they have to invest not only in positioning themselves appropriately, but in selling themselves and their services, which is usually some combination of spade work to turn up opportunities, maybe via some social media interactions, authority marketing, and one-to-one conversations with potential buyers. Chris hit the wall because they assumed that a couple or 3 years of relatively easy revenue Meant that it would simply continue on the upswing It probably won't make Chris
05:41 - 06:21
Rochelle Moulton: feel much better to know they aren't alone But the good news is there is most definitely a solution. And where it starts will probably feel weird, but it's essential to get your headspace where it needs to be to dial into your next best moves. So I want you to do something every single day that reminds you of your value. Because getting ghosted or figuratively kicked in the face while you're selling is hard. You need to be comfortable and confident in the value you deliver to bust through this current situation. Maybe you rummage through your digital or
06:21 - 06:59
Rochelle Moulton: physical glory box, you know, that place where you keep all those reminders of the high points of your career, or you give yourself a 5 minute speech while the theme from Rocky plays in the background. Whatever grounds you in the knowledge that you are providing significant value through your work. Remind yourself of how good you are. Okay? That's step 1. I want you to be in a clear place of confidence before making any major moves. Step 2. Once you're in a calm, confident headspace, I want you to take a clear-eyed view of your sales pipeline and
06:59 - 07:35
Rochelle Moulton: relationships. Is there some low-hanging fruit? People you already know you can help? If you're in a financial pickle, this is 1 place to start, but I'm throwing up a yellow caution flag. The worst time to try and sell something is when you're desperate. Because I guarantee you will say and do things you'd never consider if all was well. Sure, I can do that for half my regular price. Of course I'll work with you, even though every time I see your name in my inbox, I want to vomit. Or worse, you push when the best sales are
07:35 - 08:12
Rochelle Moulton: a pull. So assess the current state of your pipeline. Is it a jumble of different kinds of people looking for different sorts of help? Or can you identify pockets of folks who just need nurturing to become valued clients. Chris has a mixed bag. They have lots of people they can help, but there's not a lot of commonality to their industry, their title, or even their desired outcome. Which means step 3 is to identify a next level cut at their ideal client. In a perfect world, this would be step 2, but when you're in a revenue crunch,
08:12 - 08:55
Rochelle Moulton: most soloists handle this better after they've assessed the current state of their pipeline. 1 easy way to get to your next cut is to just do an autopsy on your past projects. Who did you most like serving? Who felt most like your people? Who didn't agonize over pricing, but saw the value of the outcomes you produce. Who is a natural fit with your talents and passions and has the budget to afford you. Instead of overthinking, just start experimenting. It's as easy as having a conversation with people you've identified as potentials. And social media connections like in
08:55 - 09:35
Rochelle Moulton: LinkedIn can easily grease the skids. As you're Having these conversations, ask questions about the outcomes they most value, and then take a good hard look at your services and products. Are they aligned with your clients most pressing problems? Are they priced in line with their value? You know, a good rule of thumb here is that you wanna deliver 10X the value of your price. So if you charge $10, 000, you want to deliver $100, 000 of value. That 10 to 1 ratio makes saying yes to you so much easier because it's a good investment. Now you
09:35 - 10:15
Rochelle Moulton: may need to adjust how you deliver. Maybe it's an advisory retainer versus a done for you service or vice versa. You may need to adjust when you deliver. Maybe your service is best before or after certain major events or specific calendar dates. And you may need to adjust the price for what you deliver, creating a ladder of increasing cost and value that makes sense to both your ideal client and your business model. You simply have to experiment bit by bit adjusting as you go. You're not going to get it right the first time at every step,
10:15 - 10:52
Rochelle Moulton: but you will learn what sticks and what doesn't. I'd also suggest you get yourself some help. It could be anything from a very low or 0 cost affinity group to serve as a sounding board or a group facilitated by an expert, all the way up to a one-to-one coach to help you jump those hurdles faster than you can on your own. Being a soloist doesn't mean you have to do it all on your own. It does mean that you want to adopt an attitude that says, I'm curious and always learning because chances are excellent that the
10:52 - 11:24
Rochelle Moulton: key to your next big leap is baked into those experiments. I would just keep experimenting, evaluating, and sometimes overhauling, and you'll set yourself firmly on the road to the kind of revenue growth you want. Okay. Now, as we wrap up this episode, if you haven't joined my email list yet, now is the time. Your soloist business and your future self will thank you. The link is in the show notes. That's it for this episode. Please join us next time for the Soloist Live. Bye bye.