How to Sell Advice

When creating a productized services offering, you have two choices: Sell just one signature offeringCreate a service ladder with ascending optionsI prefer the latter because I serve a range of clients who need different things. But whatever you choose, this topic will be for you.When creating a high-end productized service, there are a few things to keep in mind, including:Why the scope and price of your services should be based on the value you provide Why it should be pretty obvious to your prospects which one to choose Why you shouldn't sell anything that would weigh down your business too much or for too longWhy you should price heavily anything that involves higher effort or involvement from youSome examples of the levers you can use to add to or remove from the scope of your projectsMore access to you in terms of who cant contact you (business owner, staff, suppliers, etc.)The channels people can contact you in (email, Slack, phone, etc.)The frequency of your interactions (weekly, daily, unlimited, etc.)Whether you will produce deliverables, and if so, what kind (i.e. research or marketing calendars)The value you add or remove (i.e. finding and vetting suppliers vs. access to Rolodex)The scope of what you will advise on (i.e. sales or sales AND marketing)6. Why you should create a scope of work based on custom proposals people actually boughtYour high-end offering should be lucrative but not disabling in terms of your time or energy. Only sell things you want to sell—this is key.If you sell things that are time or energy-depleting, charge a lot, and keep it limited to a day, week, or a couple of months at most. Otherwise, your life will become a drag, and your business will turn into a glorified job. Hope this helps - let me know in the comments what you think or if you have any questions!—kw

This one might be a bit controversial. 🙂Not really, but I do use the current political situation in the US to make a long-discussed point about where and how to build your marketing platform for longevity.Disclaimer:  I mention not liking Mr. Donald Trump in this episode, but it's not a slight at the Republican party, people, nor their values. My friends and colleagues walk down both sides of the aisle and frankly, there are things to be gained from both sides. No judgement from me.So with that said—on with the show!This one is a riff off a post I published on my blog back in June of this year about owning your own platform. There are several reasons for this. Namely, you don't want to build a business on someone else's land.In this episide, I talk about the four ingredients of an independent platform and why it's so important to focus on those key areas for longevity.I also talk about the irony of this group being on Circle, which is a platform I don't own, and how I mitigate some of that risk.Here's the orginal blog post this is based on.—Kevin

> Click here to the conversation on this episode in the Mindshare community.I'm a big fan of productized services. They let you design your business in a way that lets you create predictable outcomes, scalable earnings, and managed effort. But I don't create these services in a vacuum. And they're never completely "done"—I'm always updating them along the way.These services are always born during the sales process. Specifically, it goes something like this: I speak with potential clients in a call and ask them about their goals, challenges, and desired outcomes.I put together a draft list of objectives using as much of their own language as possible. Once they confirm the list is complete and accurate, I then put together a few options to help them get to that outcome. I'll then schedule another call to walk through the options. I don't like sending proposals without a discussion—especially for a new service. The feedback you get is essential to informing whether you hit the mark or not.I make any necessary revisions and then once I'm able to sell the service, I know I have a first version. From there, I usually try to sell it again to the next prospect via 1:1 calls. I go through the same process, dig deeper into things, and see if any of the differences are important. Once I sold a couple, the productized service is officially validated. I publish it and begin promoting it.But then when the next prospect comes around, I begin the process all over again from scratch, watching carefully what they say, need, and why it all matters. I refine the service and now it's even more polished.By the time I've sold a few, the productized service should feel like I am reading my prospect's minds. They usually include a list of pains or scenarios they face and describe the benefits and why they matter to counter-act those pains. The scope is something that involves only the things I do best and only the things I can do which will deliver the most value.Give this a listen and let me know what you do to create your productized services. —k

Today's content comes to you a bit late in the evening. I'm tired and ready for bed, but I didn't get this recording done so I wanted to make sure I delivered on schedule. I committed to Monday, Wednesday, Friday recordings, so that's what I'll do come heck or high water (except holidays ;)).In this episode, I talk about the reasons why you should aim to stick to a set publishing schedule.Give it a listen and let me know what you do to keep on track with your own publishing.Best, —k

Link to episode in the Mindshare communityHey all,I hope you had a great week and were able to take a few days off over the holidays. Today's topic is about how you position your services. I talk about how my two websites work and why Everspaces is really the model to follow.Here are my services pages as discussed in this episode:https://kevin.me/consulting/https://www.everspaces.com/services/The big point is that Everspaces' services are about YOU, the potential client. Whereas my personal website is about how much access you get from ME. People prefer to buy things that fit them like a glove. While my personal site does a fine job RECEIVING leads and opportunities from people in my network of all industries, it doesn't lend well to relying on it for all my marketing. It's too broad and target clients have no idea which one will get them the results they want. Some of you have borrowed language from my personal site for your own services pages, which is fine when you're starting out, but ideally, you want to create service pages that:Maps directly to your target market segmentsSpeaks their language throughoutMakes it obvious which one they should choose based on their goalsGive this a listen and let me know what you think!—k

We’ve all been there. You need to fire your client. Something is not working or feeling right, and it’s just better to part ways.Ideally, you find a way to part ways amicably, learn from these experiences, and watch for red flags in the future so you avoid repeated scenarios. In this episode, I talk about the 8 signs it’s time to fire a client. At a high level, they include:They make you feel bad or stressed often or all the timeThey don’t implement your advice, or they pick and choose what to do but expect the results regardlessThey treat you like an employeeThey expect results too quickly and/or aren’t investing adequate resources to meet their goals They make you do a dog and pony show every month or quarter to reexplain everything you’re suggesting they do and the thought process behind itThey don’t pay you on timeThey’re too needy/can’t do anything without you holding their handYou can’t get an ROI for them in a meaningful time periodI go into a lot of details on these, so give it a listen and tell me if you think I missed any big ones! Eventually, if you learn to sniff it out early, it will save you a lot of headaches in the long run. Have a Merry Christmas and happy holidays!—k

Join the conversation for this episode: https://society.mindshare.fm/c/mentorship/85-should-you-do-project-management-for-your-advisory-clientsLast episode (I said 84 in the recording, I meant 83), I talked about the various ways some advisory clients can’t or won’t implement your advice, and what to do about it when that happens. Mark had a follow up question about whether to do project management in cases where the client doesn’t have an in-house person to implement.The short answer is no. I did it when I first started and I burned out/reached capacity at two clients (and some other smaller work I was doing at the same time). Project management is stressful and energy consuming. It also puts the owness of speed on you instead of the client. Personally, I don’t want that stress and it’s not what I do best. You want to be able to move at the speed of your clients, not the speed of your own internal capability to keep projects moving forward (which you have little control over anyway).Instead, I’d consider finding someone to recommend to your client who can implement the work you agree to and/or manage projects so things stay on track.The closest thing I do to project management is keep a record of notes in Google Drive for each of our calls. I write down what we talk about, who is doing what, and when it should be do.Then, if the client hasn’t completed their end by the next call, it’s in plain black and white who’s responsiblity it was. I don’t babysit.This has relieved immense amounts of stress and pressure off me. Maybe you can be a good advisor and be the one chasing information and managing projects, but I doubt it. It is highly low value and low leverage, which isn’t what you want to be doing as a solo consultant.Lots more in this one, so give it a listen and tell me what you think.—kw

If you’re working in an advisory capacity, it’s critical that your advice gets implemented. If your recommendations aren’t being executed, you aren’t creating enough value for your clients, which means you become a cost. And that’s not good.In this eposide, I share some ideas for what to do when your clients can’t (or won’t) implement your ideas quickly enough, including:Bringing in additional support to introduce to my clients (like a general marketing freelancer)Doing some up-front implementation work as a foundational projectHiring someone in my own business to help me flesh out my methodology (including training, systems and processes) to make implementation more efficientDo you have any other ways of facilitating the implementation in an advisory relationship? Let me know in the comments below!Join the conversation: https://society.mindshare.fm/c/mentorship/84-what-to-do-when-your-advisory-clients-can-t-or-don-t-implement-your-advice

It can be hard to know how to position your services.Are you the high-quality option, the "cheap and cheerful" one, or somewhere in between?I've spoken before about being in a reasonable price range so clients can justify staying with you longer. But "reasonable" is a big vague, so I wanted to explore this topic deeper. To me, it comes down to the pain potential. Not the pain, necessarily, but the potential for pain if they don't hire me (or someone like me). The bigger the downside potential, the more people will pay to avoid it.Give this a listen and tell me if you agree.—kwJoin the conversation for this episode: https://society.mindshare.fm/c/mentorship/82-why-you-should-price-in-accordance-with-the-pain-potential

Join the conversation for this episode here: https://society.mindshare.fm/c/general/81-why-sharing-your-backstory-matters* * * * Have you ever noticed how dramatic movies tend to start with lots of backstory behind the characters?Think about Apollo 13, for example. The first part of the movie is focused on their family life, children, etc.Why do they bother going into all that backstory? What does it have to do with the main plot?They do it so you are emotionally invested in the characters. It gives them meaning and you can empathize with them a lot more.I’ve been thinking lately about how best to use backstory in marketing. As a professional, I think it’s important to share some of your personal life inside of your professional identity.Otherwise, you’re kind of like an interchangeable extra in the film. Nobody cares what happens to you. Like the thousands leading the charge in Braveheart, we only really care about the characters we know. If you want people to care, share some of your backstory.