Inbound lead generation can be the difference between a thriving consulting business and a stagnant one. 

In this episode, Melisa Liberman breaks down the essential strategies to attract leads who actively seek out your expertise, so you can spend more time on meaningful work and less on chasing down potential clients.

You’ll learn the prerequisites to drive inbound leads effectively, develop the right mindset, and get actionable steps you can start implementing today. If you’ve been wanting to bring in more business without the constant hustle, this episode is your roadmap.

In This Episode:

• The definition and importance of inbound leads for consultants
• Three key prerequisites for creating a sustainable inbound lead generation system
• Five mindset shifts that foster successful inbound strategies
• Practical examples of inbound lead generation tailored to consultants
• Five steps to put these strategies into action immediately

Listen now to unlock the potential of generating inbound leads for your independent consulting business.

Companion Resource:

🔗 Chapter 9 “Your Lead Generation System to Uncover High Quality Opportunities” from my book, available here.

Resources:

• Consultant’s Business Health Check - icassessment.com
• "Grow Your Consulting Business: The 14-Step Roadmap to Make Your Independent Consulting Goals a Reality" by Melisa Liberman - https://www.melisaliberman.com/book
• Full show notes and more information: https://shownotes.melisaliberman.com/episode-192/

Interested in working with Melisa? Visit consultmelisa.com to apply for a consultation and explore coaching opportunities.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

In this episode of Grow Your Independent Consulting Business, Melisa Liberman dives into a transformative mindset shift—treating your business as your own best client. She shares some practical steps and strategies that independent consultants can adopt to ensure they prioritize their business growth and maintain consistency in their operations.

Key Topics Covered:

• Why you should view your business as one of your clients.
• The four major benefits of applying this mindset.
• Tactical and logistical ways to onboard and engage with yourself as a client.
• Real-life case studies showcasing this practice in action.
• Strategies for balancing personal workload and prioritizing your business.
• Actionable steps to implement these insights into your consulting routine.

Listen now to learn how adopting this perspective can help you manage your business more effectively and achieve your long-term goals.

Companion Resource:

🔗 Private coaching with Melisa to help you with Strategy, Processes, Mindset, and Accountability. Book at consultMelisa.com or learn more by visiting consultingbusiness.coach.

Resources:

• Consultant’s Business Health Check - icassessment.com
• "Grow Your Consulting Business: The 14-Step Roadmap to Make Your Independent Consulting Goals a Reality" by Melisa Liberman - https://www.melisaliberman.com/book
• Full show notes and more information: https://shownotes.melisaliberman.com/episode-191/

Interested in working with Melisa? Visit consultmelisa.com to apply for a consultation and explore coaching opportunities.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

Why are some consultants able to charge an effective rate of $500+ per hour while others are stuck at $120 or $200 or $250?

Many independent consultants face the challenge of increasing their rates, feeling constrained by industry norms or self-imposed personal limitations. In this episode, Melisa Liberman dives deep into the mindset shifts and practical strategies needed to raise your consulting fees and break through your pricing ceiling.

She introduces a powerful tool—your pricing set point—to help you rethink how much you charge and why. Whether you're billing hourly, daily, project-based, or value-based, this tool can help you elevate your effective rate.

In This Episode:

• What to do if you’re struggling to raise your rates and are feeling stuck at your current pricing level.
• Unpack the key differences that enable certain consultants to command higher fees.
• Melisa shares a tool to help you identify and adjust your mental pricing set point.
• John's journey from being stuck at $150/hour to confidently charging $275/hour and beyond.
• Practical steps to help you increase your rates and build a more profitable consulting business.

If you're ready to break through your pricing ceiling and increase your consulting rates, this episode will provide you with the tools and mindset shifts you need to succeed.

Listen now to learn how to elevate your consulting business and increase your rates now.

Resources:

• Full show notes and more information: https://shownotes.melisaliberman.com/episode-182/
• "Grow Your Consulting Business: The 14-Step Roadmap to Make Your Independent Consulting Goals a Reality" by Melisa Liberman - https://www.melisaliberman.com/book

Interested in working with Melisa? Visit consultmelisa.com to apply for a consultation and explore coaching opportunities.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

It's planning season!

As we prepare to turn the calendar over and welcome in a new year, I’m going to be sharing the 5-step strategy to plan for independent business success in the next 12 months.

Over the next five weeks, I'm going to walk you through a five-part process you can use to plan for the best year you've ever had in your independent consulting business.

This process will be broken down into bite-sized pieces, so that you can implement it in between episodes and really step into January with a fully comprehensive plan for you to have the most success in 2023.

This week, we're going to review all five steps of this process and then take a deep dive into step one, assessing this past year to better understand where you are in your business right now.

Click here for the full show notes and more information here.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.melisaliberman.com/coaching-for-consultants.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

If you find that your business isn't hitting the numbers and giving you the fulfillment, joy, and value you want then I encourage you to tune in to this episode.

I’ve been working on new tools to simplify and make business more effective for my clients and this concept of micro-skills was born. It’s been so valuable in making it easier to be a successful business owner, and I want to share it with you.

 Listen in as I discuss 

• what these micro-skills are, 
• a three-step framework that you can use to select your chosen micro-skill, 
• what to do after making the selection, and 
• some real-life examples of how this concept works in practice 

so that you can do it in a very doable, non-overwhelming way that builds up this foundation, month over month, quarter over quarter to transform your business. 

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

In this episode, I share an incredible game changer I recently implemented in my business. I recommend this strategy for you, as I know for sure it will be a game changer for you too. 

What is this game changer? I had a four day solo corporate retreat and it brought so much clarity and rejuvenation to my business.

So in this episode, I’m sharing all the behind-the-scenes.

In this episode, I will share my experience with having a corporate retreat for my business, why you should have one for your independent consulting business, what not to do when you have one, and strategies that you can leverage to schedule, host, attend and take value from your own corporate retreat.

 Download the podcast companion checklist at https://www.melisaliberman.com/retreat-checklist

Click here to get the full show notes and more information.

 And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

Relationships are the best way to fill your consulting pipeline.

However, consultants frequently hit a challenge when they want to transition from a “networking” call into an opportunity.  

There are three common reasons your conversations aren't converting. 

In this episode, I will share what those three reasons are, examples of best practices to convert an opportunity and strategies to convert conversations into opportunities.   

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

As an independent consultant who’s juggling everything for your business. Everything is on your shoulders. 

 It’s so common for independent consultants to experience burnout, either situational burnout or overall burnout. 

 
Burnout isn’t inevitable. It’s not part and parcel of being an independent consulting business owner. 

 In this episode, I share the formula to overcome and prevent burnout and specific strategies to implement for yourself so you’re able replace the stress, doubt and worry with feeling in control and fulfilled as business owner. 

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

This is the time of year when pricing becomes a hot topic for you as a consulting business owner as you think about your pricing strategy and what you want it to look like moving into the new year. 

 With so many pricing options out there to choose from, I want to present you with a risk-free pricing approach you can take as an independent consultant to ensure you’re not leaving money on the table and your pricing is commensurate with the value you're delivering to your clients.

Regardless of whether you have a value based, hourly based, daily based, retainer based, or fixed fee pricing, this approach is something you can incorporate into your business and make it part of your repeatable operating system.

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

Value-based consulting fees are where you base your consulting fees on the client’s perceived value (tangible and intangible) from the services you provide. Value-based pricing is a form of fixed fee pricing. 

 You probably either have it in place, been thinking about putting it in place or you might be curious about value-based pricing and its benefits. 

 This is a pricing concept that’s very widely discussed in our industry and one of the things I see so often is that there’s an underlying fear of value based pricing. And so I want to break it down for you in a way that can help you to overcome the fear of value based pricing, whether you decide to implement it or not.

 The concepts that I'm going to share with you today are very applicable and will help you to increase the quality of your sales process, regardless of the pricing model that you choose. 

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

When what you do comes naturally to you, it’s common to underestimate, overlook, or even completely miss the value, benefits, and impact you create for your clients. This results in common pricing mistakes that have a huge impact on your business.

 Understanding the effects of these pricing mistakes will help you decide on what to do when it comes to the overall growth and success of your business.

Listen in as I share the seven specific consulting pricing mistakes we want you to avoid and what each of them are through some examples so that you can identify whether or not you're making these mistakes and make the necessary adjustments so that you can start making more money in your business. 

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

For the Independent Consultant’s Pricing Assessment: https://www.ICpricing.com

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

Whether your business is slow or thriving, I highly encourage you to listen to this 2-part series on what to do when your business is slow.

Last week in EP. 083 Why Your Consulting Business Is Slow, I shared the 4-root causes that are slowing down your consulting business.

This week l am giving you four detailed examples of these root causes and the 4-step process you can use to overcome this “slow period” and really build a strong foundation for you as a business owner so you can regain momentum toward a successful independent consulting business.

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

This may feel like a gut punch, but the REAL reason your consulting business is slow is YOU. You created the slow cycle in your consulting business and on today’s podcast, I walk you through why that’s true and how to turn this around to get back to a robust pipeline and ultimately a thriving business.

 Whether your business is slow or thriving, I highly encourage you to listen to this 2-part series on what to do when your business is slow. 

 This week I am sharing the 4-root causes that are slowing down your consulting business. 

 
Then, listen to Episode 084 where l give you four detailed examples of these root causes and the 4-step process you can use to overcome this “slow period” and regain momentum toward a successful independent consulting business. 

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

Wondering if you and your partner can build a thriving consulting business together?

Running a consulting business as a couple comes with its own unique challenges and opportunities. It’s normal to worry about balancing your personal and professional lives, especially when you’re also trying to niche down and grow a sustainable practice.

In this episode, Melisa Liberman sits down with Stephen Dummit and Olivia Leigh of Tradewinds Leadership to discuss how they navigated these challenges. 

They share their journey from generalists to niche experts and how they balance their relationship while running a successful boutique consulting firm.

In This Episode:

• Struggling to find your niche while worrying about turning away potential clients? How Stephen and Olivia moved past their concerns to create a stand-out brand.
• Practical tips from Stephen and Olivia on maintaining a healthy relationship while growing a business together.
• Discover how to move from feeling “salesy” to building genuine relationships that lead to long-term clients.
• Insights into creating a consulting practice that aligns with your values and lifestyle goals.

If you’re wondering whether you and your partner can successfully build a consulting business or if you’re struggling to find your niche, this episode will provide you with the insights and strategies you need to succeed.

Listen now to discover how to navigate the challenges of running a consulting business as a couple and create a sustainable, fulfilling practice.

Resources:

• "Grow Your Consulting Business: The 14-Step Roadmap to Make Your Independent Consulting Goals a Reality" by Melisa Liberman - https://www.melisaliberman.com/book
• Full show notes and more information: https://shownotes.melisaliberman.com/episode-181/
  
  

Interested in working with Melisa? Visit consultmelisa.com to apply for a consultation and explore coaching opportunities. 

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

In this episode, I interview one of my independent consultant clients, Maria Balcazar Tellez.

Listen in as she provides invaluable insights from behind-the-scenes into how she’s running a successful independent consulting business. 

Maria shares 

• how she's been able to transform from employee-based thinking into the CEO-level mindset required for a successful business owner, 
• how she’s increased her pricing and her pricing decision-making process,
• what's led to her creating a well-known reputation for herself so she’s consistently sought after for the type of work she does,
• how she has intentionally transformed her business from burnout and overwhelm into passion and joy,
• and so much more.

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

This may come as a surprise but believe it or not, for some IC business owners having a full pipeline is a source of anxiety. 

Without some intervention, it’s common to self-sabotage and kill the momentum that you've created in your independent consulting business.

In this episode, I share how to handle the times when you’ve landed too much consulting business, or are on the verge of landing too much consulting business.

I share insights into the business owner mindsets that work best when it comes to landing new client work, and then I'll give you practical examples on how to handle this situation.  

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

Last week, I talked about the three components of the successful IC business owners' routine, and this week I am giving you a deep dive into one of those components, which is the Quarterly Business Focus Project.
 

Tune in as I outline this concept of a Quarterly Focus Project in more detail, so you can put it into practice in your own consulting business.

In this episode, I share what The Quarterly Focus Project is and why you need one.

I walk you through the 8-part anatomy of an effective Quarterly Focus Project so you have the exact formula to build out your focus projects. 

I also share two very tangible real-life examples of what you should and should not do with a Quarterly Focus Project so you know exactly how to put a successful business owner routine in place for you and your business.

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

Having a routine is critical to your success as an independent consulting business owner. Routines help you 

• Maximize your independent consultant business owner time
• Manage through conflicting priorities
• Balance working on your business with working in your business
• Ensure you’re proactively progressing toward your goals and business vision 
• Cut down on being reactive and wasting time on business activities that don’t move the needle

You know how important routines are. 

But, what should you include in your routine, to make it effective so you make the most of your time?

In this episode, I share the three components of the successful consulting business owners' routine. 

Listen in to learn more. 

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

If you're thinking, “I'm bad at business development”, it’s imperative to tackle this head-on. You're running a business and you need to be able to sell. Otherwise, you don’t have a business.

I am here to help you with this work by sharing everything you need to know about overcoming “being bad at business development.”

It might be true that you’re bad at it, what should you do?

You might be lying to yourself that you’re bad at business development. I’ll explain how to figure out if you are (unintentionally) lying and what to do about it.

And finally, I share the 4-part remedy to overcome “being bad at business development.” 

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

As an independent consultant, when you think about negotiations, one of two things occurs. You either try to do everything in your power to avoid negotiating because it feels so uncomfortable, or you end up rushing through the process, just trying to make it go away. 

In either case, what ends up happening is you're running a business that feels regretful since you've agreed to something that you wish you hadn't, or you question and self-doubt wondering what you may have left on the table. 

In this episode, I want to share with you the best approach to consulting contract negotiations so you can run a business where you replace the regret and second-guessing with a process that generates new business, where you feel fairly compensated, and where your clients are getting value.  

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

In this episode, I interview one of my independent consulting business owner clients, Jennifer Lemmert. 

Listen in as Jennifer shares her expertise in communication and how you can claim your own unique voice and branding so that you establish a reputation in your industry and are sought after for the type of services and impact that you offer. 

Jennifer also shares some behind-the-screen insights into her business. Specifically, she talks about the fear of failure that kept her stuck in her business, and how she was able to start tearing that down and rebuilding herself and her business in a more intentional way.

Jennifer is a master of networking and shares her strategies around using networking for lead generation and building a bench of sub-contractors.

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

You may be in a position where it feels like you have a pretty short window left to generate any impactful revenue for the remainder of this year, but there's no reason to write off this year. 

I want to talk with you about something that you can be implementing now to impact the rest of your year. 

I'm calling it the Quick Wins Business Development Strategy.

The quick wins business development strategy will help you make a powerful impact on your business pipeline, your revenue for the remainder of the year, and really set yourself up for strong growth in the direction where you want to take your business over the next year. 

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

If you’re like most independent consultants, lead generation is not your favorite business activity. It feels awkward and uncomfortable. As a result, it’s common to procrastinate, defer and delay your business development routines. This inconsistency creates choppiness (or even a big, gaping hole) in your business development pipeline. 

Balancing lead generation with working on/in our business can be challenging. Today, we're going to fix this! 

Listen in as I share the 3 red herrings of why we defer lead generation, the 5 most common root causes of procrastination, and the 3-part lead generation procrastination remedy that you can implement for yourself.

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

An economic downturn and its impact on your business might be the last thing you want to think about, but it’s important to take a critical look at various aspects of your business to ensure it thrives in tough times.

And so today we're going to talk about what you can be doing to prepare for a potential recession or downturn in the economy. 

To help put you in the best possible scenario where you're actually able to turn a recession into a competitive advantage for yourself, I'm going to share with you several tangible strategies and tips both from my own experience running my consulting business, my coaching business, and also a software business startup during recession times so that you can apply those to your own business to ensure that you are recession-ready.

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

Are you questioning the sustainability of your consulting business?

It's common for independent consultants to second-guess their decision to pursue a solo business, especially when the ups and downs of running a business feel like such a big responsibility.

In this episode, Melisa Liberman tackles the emotional and mental challenges independent consultants face when trying to grow their businesses. 

She dives deep into the mindset needed to overcome hurdles and find the resilience to push forward, even when the journey gets tough.

In This Episode:

• Does this sound familiar? It's important to know that second-guessing is a normal part of running your consulting business.
• How to handle the question "Should I go back to full-time corporate?" in a way that doesn't sabotage your business
• A 3-part framework to decide if running a consulting business is worth it

If you're struggling to maintain momentum in your consulting business and questioning if your business is sustainable, this episode will provide you with the tools and insights you need.

Mentioned in this Episode:

• Take the Consultant's Business Health Assessment - https://icassessment.com

Resources:

• Grow Your Consulting Business: The 14-Step Roadmap to Make Your Independent Consulting Goals a Reality by Melisa Liberman at ConsultingBusinessBook.com
• Full show notes and more information: https://shownotes.melisaliberman.com/episode-180/

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Visit consultmelisa.com to apply for a consultation and discuss how her coaching can support your growth.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

“Giving Yourself Credit” is such a critical practice to succeed (and feel fulfilled) as a business owner. But, I notice time and time again that independent consultants (myself included at times) aren’t giving themselves credit for what they have accomplished and what they do know. 

Without giving yourself credit as a business owner, you end up self-sabotaging, plateauing, stalling, and feeling much less joy and fulfillment.

And so in this episode, I share with you why this concept of giving yourself credit is so important to the success of your business and what it looks like when you’re not giving yourself credit. 

You’ll learn to identify where you’re not giving yourself credit in your business (blatantly and/or subtly) and how to turn it around so you improve the quality of your business decisions, truly feel and act like the CEO, and feel successful and in control.

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

In this episode, I interview one of my podcast listeners turned independent consulting business owner coaching clients, LeAnne Lagasse. 

Listen in as LeAnne shares a broad range of insights and strategies including how she's created a very strong reputation where ideal clients think of her immediately when they need a consultant who does what she does, how she's created a clear, compelling consulting services offer, and ultimately how she's been able to price her consulting services using a value-based pricing approach rather than an hourly or time-based approach.

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

If you think about it, taking a vacation as a business owner is making an investment. 

When you, as a business owner, go on vacation, you’re making two investments: (1) on the vacation itself and (2) an investment of your time, the time that you've decided to use for a vacation. You want to make sure that you maximize the time you’re taking off so that it can be as rejuvenating and as impactful as you want it to be.

Today's topic will help you accomplish just that. I share the three vacation success strategies that you can leverage as an independent consulting business owner to maximize the return on your vacation and also mitigate the re-entry challenges it’s common to face when you return.

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

It can be a challenging shift from being an employee with paid vacation to being an independent consulting business owner whose vacation time is unpaid. Taking a vacation as an IC business owner requires diligent planning and forethought, but it’s possible. And, not only is it possible – it is important for your physical and mental health.

In this episode, I share the 3-part formula for taking vacation as an IC business owner without worrying about leaving money on the table. I want to make sure you follow through with taking time off, and that you don’t defer it like I see so many consultants doing. 

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

In this episode, I interview one of my independent consulting business owner clients, Susan K. Moore. 

Listen in as we discuss her journey as an IC business owner over the past 31 years. This certainly makes Susan a pioneer of the independent consulting industry and someone from whom we can gain valuable insights as she’s built a successful 7-figure business over multiple decades.

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

When I meet with independent consultant business owners like you, one of the questions I ask them is, “tell me about your business plan?” 

How do they answer? It’s very common, whether it's someone who's been an independent consultant for six months or six years, for them to look at me like a deer in the headlights and admit that they don’t have a business plan.

And I get it because I've been that business owner without a plan. 

That’s why in this episode I'm sharing a really simple way for you to create an effective business plan for your independent consulting business. This “bottom-up” approach to the business plan will ensure you’re crystal clear on the results you want to create and that you have a simple, yet powerful way to achieve those results.

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

I often find that independent consultants are waiting for someone else to give them permission to increase their consulting fees. This hesitation likely originated in your corporate career when you had to wait for somebody to give you permission for something, whether it was a budget that gave you permission to spend money or someone in finance or sales had to bless it.

Now you’re the consulting business owner. You are the person in charge. So my question to you is, who gives you permission to raise your consulting fees? 

Listen as I share the three prerequisites to raising your consulting fees. I can't wait to share this with you because it really is a formula to help you get to the place where you're not leaving money on the table in your consulting business.

Get full show notes and more information here:https://www.melisaliberman.com/blog/66

And for more on private coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner, go to https://www.icyourway.com

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

In this episode, I interview one of my independent consulting business owner clients, Nicola Kastner.

Listen in as we discuss her journey as an independent consulting business owner and her unique perspective having launched an independent consulting business twice. 

Nicola generously shares all the lessons learned and what she's done differently the second time to create a much more sustainable, fulfilling, and predictable business for herself. We cover a lot of ground so I know this episode will be extremely valuable for you. Enjoy the conversation.

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

When it comes to lead generation, I find that so many independent consultants are overcomplicating the process. Then, they’re ineffective with their lead generation activities.

Listen in as I share with you the three must-haves that you’ll want to incorporate into your standard operating procedure (SOP) so that you've got a really effective, easily repeatable, and results-creating independent consulting lead generation routine.

These three lead generation elements are so incredibly important. They’re the difference between having a feast or famine type of lead generation process versus a predictable, sustainable, healthy lead generation process for your independent consulting business.

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

Having opportunities approach you, as an independent consulting business owner, can be exciting but also really difficult when it comes to making the best decision for you and your business.

And, by opportunities I mean everything from new consulting client engagements, client extensions, client follow-on work, consulting partnering opportunities, teaming, and so on.

The question becomes, how do you know which consulting opportunities to take on, and which opportunities to decline?

I'm glad you asked because, in this episode, I will walk you through a process that I like to use both for myself and for my clients. It’s a 5-part framework that will help you to figure out whether or not to turn down an opportunity. And if you are going to turn down a consulting opportunity, how to do that without burning a bridge or feeling regret.

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

Are you overlooking a valuable service offering in your independent consulting business?

In this episode, Melisa Liberman discusses a commonly ignored service offering that independent consultants should consider adding to their portfolios.

If you're struggling to find ways to increase revenue and stand out as an independent consultant while also making a meaningful difference in your clients' lives, you'll definitely want to listen carefully to this episode.

Melisa addresses the common misconceptions and obstacles that prevent consultants from offering this valuable service, and shares compelling reasons why it may be the perfect fit for your business.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Discover the service that could add more flexibility and revenue to your consulting practice
• Learn about the prerequisites and qualifications needed to offer this service effectively
• Understand the benefits of incorporating this offering, both for your clients and your business
• Explore three strategic ways to package and sell this service to your target audience

If you've been searching for a fulfilling way to leverage your expertise, create lasting change, and grow your consulting business, this episode will provide you with the insights and inspiration you need to take action.

Don't miss this opportunity to expand your service offerings and make a profound impact on your clients' success.

RESOURCES

- Evaluate and optimize your consulting service offerings by getting the Consultant's Offer Scorecard - https://assessments.melisaliberman.com/consultingoffer

- Full show notes and more information: https://shownotes.melisaliberman.com/episode-179/

- Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Visit consultmelisa.com to apply for a consultation and discuss how her coaching can support your growth.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

Last week we discussed what's standing in the way of you making more money in your consulting business. If you haven't done so as yet, you'll want to go back and listen to EP. 061 - What's Standing In the Way of You Making More Money With Less Worry In Your Consulting Business. To summarize, the main thing that’s standing in your way of making more money in your consulting business is the way you're thinking about your business and your potential clients.

In this episode, I will explain how you can uplevel your thinking from an employee-based mindset into a CEO-quality mindset. I provide you with the six thought components, the six C's, that you'll want to develop and optimize as an independent consulting business owner. When you improve these six areas of your business owner thinking you'll be more confident, capable, and in command as a business owner.

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

Are you experiencing revenue plateaus in your IC business? Most consultants think that this cycle of feast or famine is caused by the market, the constraints that companies put on their spending, that we’re bad a sales or because we’re time-deprived meaning that we don't have enough time to work both in our business or on our business, etc. 

What I would love to share in this episode is that these external factors are not what is causing your ups and downs. They’re not causing your consulting revenue to plateau. They don’t create feast or famine. And quite frankly, these things are not preventing you from making more money with less worry in your IC business.

Listen in to learn what is standing the way of you making more money with less worry in your consulting business so that you're consistently increasing your revenue without working more hours.

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

If you hate everything to do with selling or think that you’re terrible at it, then this episode is for you.

Listen in as I share the three most common mindset mistakes when it comes to selling your consulting services, how you can determine if you’re making these mistakes and then I'll pull it all together for you with a three-step process that you can implement to make sure you're avoiding these three mindsets mistakes when it comes to selling your consulting services.

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

If you’ve ever thought, “I know what I do is valuable. I know I'm great at helping my clients solve problems, save money, innovate, and become more efficient. I know that I'm great at what I do as a consultant, but I am afraid that asking the clients for things, especially money, will make me look greedy.”

Your subconscious thoughts about greed end up running your business. And when this happens, it creates a dynamic where you're underearning and overworking. 

In this episode, I share how your underlying beliefs about greed are impacting your business and what to do about it.

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

A common question I get from independent consultants is “what’s a typical margin for a consulting business?”  When an IC asks me this question, they’re thinking about it from a financial perspective.

In today’s episode, I share another type of consulting margin that most independent consultants overlook…the life margin.

My own fractional CFO brought the life margin concept to my attention, and on this episode, I’m paying it forward so that you include your life margin in all the decisions you make about your business model, capacity, and consulting offers.

In the episode, I explain to you what life margin is, how to align your business model to your life margin goals, and then I'll give you a detailed case study showing how this all comes together so you can put it in place in your own business. 

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

We all know that lead generation is extremely important to the health of an IC business. Without lead generation, it’s challenging to maximize growth and revenue as an independent consultant. 

And so today, I share with you a powerful lead generation that leverages assessments to elevate your consulting lead generation. I’ll also share a software tool that will make this strategy incredibly easy to implement.

Tune in to learn how you're able to use this lead generation strategy for your own solo consulting business, to generate leads and elevate the conversations that you're having with your ideal consulting prospects.
 

Click here  to get full show notes and more information.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

Video marketing is using videos to promote and market your independent consulting services. Using video increases engagement on your digital and social channels educates your prospects and customers, and reaches your audience with a new medium. 

Video is a powerful lead generation tool and as you will hear from our guest today, RJ Parrish, “video is this huge opportunity for all of us, but there's still some friction and reluctance for a lot of people to use it and maybe today (on this episode) we might be able to break down some of those barriers.” 

The good news is that your audience will value the more simple and raw and authentic content. It doesn’t need to be highly polished. 

So if you want to learn how to leverage video in order to become sought after and known for what you do as an independent consultant, press play now for tips and strategies on how to get started and maximize your efforts for the biggest impact.

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

For your Independent Consulting business to properly function, you need to have an accurate, efficient and repeatable set of back-office processes for invoicing, collection, bookkeeping, taxes, and insurance. Our guest today is Sara Conde. She has two decades of hands-on experience in the independent consulting world and she shares strategies and tips regarding your IC back office and the future of independent consulting. She shares an insightful behind-the-scenes perspective on what it means to run a consulting business versus to be a consultant and just have a business.

This conversation will help you to get further into that business owner mindset that we talk about so frequently on this podcast. Press play to listen now. 

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

Ready to hire support for your consulting business but not sure where to start? In this episode, you will hear from Silas Kim, Co-founder, and CEO of Atlas Assistant Staffing and Recruiting agency.  He shares when to hire a VA as well as how to hire, manage, communicate with and retain a VA.

This episode is jam-packed with tips and advice to help ensure that your partnership with a virtual assistant is effective and productive. 

For additional support, you can also download the full VA Playbook: The Playbook to Leveraging a Virtual Assistant in Your Consulting Business at: https://www.melisaliberman.com/va

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

Juggling client delivery with advancing your business goals can be a big challenge for independent consultants. While there are many solutions to this challenge, I want to focus on one that I’ve found to be very effective. And that is hiring a Virtual Assistant or VA for your consulting business.

Listen in as I share with you the nine mistakes that you should avoid when hiring a VA and also the six steps to hiring a VA so that you can effectively create more capacity for yourself to then focus on more revenue-generating tasks in your business. 

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

Do you find yourself accepting any client that comes your way, even if they're not the right fit?

Do you talk yourself into taking on clients despite red flags?

If you're an independent consultant who wants to land more ideal clients and take on more high-paying and fulfilling work, this episode is a must-listen.

IN THIS EPISODE:

- Discover a common mistake consultants make in their sales process, a mistake that often leads to underearning and less fulfilling engagements
- Learn how a structured qualifying process can help you come across as more confident, in demand, and trustworthy
- Understand the long-term impact of focusing on ideal clients over generating income from non-ideal clients
- Melisa will introduce a powerful tool to help you make informed decisions about which clients to take on

If you've been struggling to consistently land ideal consulting clients, this episode will provide you with a tool to help you be more effective in your consulting sales process.

RESOURCES

• Full show notes and more information: https://shownotes.melisaliberman.com/episode-178/
• Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Schedule a call with Melisa: https://consultmelisa.com/

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

In this episode, I share the 5-step process to overcome undercharging as a consultant. I give you the 5 steps to stop undercharging as an independent consultant. And then, to bring it to life, I share two examples of how to apply these 5 steps, including (1) when you’re initially creating your consulting proposal and (2) when you’re pricing follow-on work for an existing client.

This episode concludes a 3 part series about undercharging in your independent consulting business. In EP. 50 we discussed the five methods that you can use to determine if you are undercharging in your IC business. In EP. 51 we talked about the four reasons why you might be doing this and what to do about it. And in this EP I’ll share what to do now that you know where you’re undercharging and the root causes leading you to undercharge in your consulting business.

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

In EP. 50 we discussed the five methods that you can use to determine if you are undercharging in your IC business. Assuming that you’re undercharging, which almost every consultant is in some way, we're going to talk about the four reasons why you might be doing this and what to do about it.

Listen in to learn more about the four root causes that could be leading to you undercharging in your independent consulting business and how to identify them for yourself.

And, watch out for next week’s episode (052), when I’ll share how to stop undercharging as a consultant.

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.

Almost every consultant I talked to is undercharging in some way. Undercharging can be blatant or subtle. No matter where you're at in that spectrum, whether you're unaware of what's possible, or you've literally been avoiding this, it's not a problem.

There are five methods or tools that work really well to help you to figure out for yourself if you are undercharging as an independent consultant. Listen in to learn more about these five methods and how to apply them. 

Click here to get full show notes and more information.

Want help achieving your consulting business goals? Melisa can help. Click here for more on coaching tailored to you as an independent consulting business owner.