Got big dreams for your career and business?

Chances are - you also got big fears.

Part of you is SO EXCITED about the vision! It can see the potential and cannot wait to make it real!

And another part of you is completely overwhelmed and terrified by the same idea.

Part of you is saying, "Let's do this!"

And another part says, "Who are you kidding?"

And all of internal conflict is keeping you stuck. 

If this sounds like you, you are going to love this video I created on how to transcend fear. You'll definitely want to pay close attention to all the steps on how to productively engage fear and make it your ally in your future success.

My hope for you after watching this video is to first accept and appreciate how normal fear is. Fear is actually a sign that you're on the right track and what you want really matters to you. That "sick to your stomach" feeling is the essence of vulnerability which means "the ability to be wounded" and is a necessary part of the growth...

Hiring a mentor is the most significant business development decision you'll make. 

It signifies three things:

1. You're done with trying to cobble together best practices from podcasts, webinars and books and are ready for real traction. You're wanting to grow your business right without wasting time and money on what won't work. 
2. You want your business to be the best. You're starting to see and believe that you can and will be a thought leader and want to position yourself in that way.
3. You're finally ready to fully commit to your business and be okay with not knowing what you don't know. You're coming to a place where you realize that learning the skills to run your business effectively is an integral part to your long-term success.

But how do you know that the mentor that you're considering is the right one?

This is what I'll show you in this video. I'll give you 10 ways to assess whether or not the mentor you're considering:

• Has the relevant expertise that you're...

The majority of us who take the leap from high-paying corporate jobs into full-time business ownership do so because we want control over our career, time and earning power. 

We are SO done with those 70-hour workweeks investing in someone else's bottom line!

So, it can be totally soul-sucking when after making this big move, we find ourselves in the chase for small-paying or labor-intensive gigs, working as many hours as we did before. Without the steady paycheck and benefits...

In this video, I share with you how to sidestep the avoidable mistakes that even the smartest new entrepreneurs make. I walk you through the 5 steps to follow if you want to ensure that your business is set up for stable and scalable profits.

When you're done watching this video - I'd love to hear from you on which of the common mistakes you have made and actions you'll be taking moving forward. 

Interview Transcript:

Betsy Jordyn:    Well hey there, it's Betsy Jordyn and I am so excited to interview our latest Consultants Institute grad, Dave Saliaris, who has his own consulting group that he is launching officially.  So welcome.  I'm so glad to have you here and I'm so glad you're willing to take the time to talk to us.

Dave Saliaris:    Well hi Betsy.  I really appreciate the time you're giving me to talk with you.  I'm really excited about doing it.

Betsy Jordyn:    Well the first thing I'd love to dive into is just you're one of those unusual people that is able to take the big risk.  I know there's a lot of people who are currently in a job that they're not thrilled at and they wanted to take your leap; the leap into this kind of world.  So tell me a little bit about your back story.  So tell me a little bit about your background and what was it that made you decide; like you know what, I...

There's two types of consultants. The ones who are drawn to the profession because of the potential for making great money and  the prestige that comes from working with the executives.

Then there's the ones who are in it for so much more than money. They also want to make a real difference in our overly stressed workplaces. 

Both types of consultants want and need to be profitable and deserve equitable compensation for their contribution. But the latter group also wants to be PROPHET-able meaning that they can hold their own with senior leaders and speak truth to power to encourage the creation of socially just workplaces.

We can look at our consulting as a way to make a living without being on the full-time payroll. OR we can see it through the lens of the higher purpose of our role - which is to come alongside leaders and help them be their best and create the type of workplaces where everyone can show up and do their best work.

The reality is consulting isn't a...

It takes a lot of effort to get to the point where you as a consultant are meeting with a buyer to discuss the potential of a strategic partnership. The true payoff for all of your hard work is when you and your future client are able to come to shared agreement on the work involved and your equitable compensation for the value you create.

It is for this reason, mastering your ability to close the deal is critical. The purpose of this article is to give you some tips on how to increase your close rates and your per contract fees while building trust and credibility.

Here are 10 things you can do to increase your close rates:

1. Improve your ability to frame client’s requests as business performance gaps

   To deliver your full value as a consultant, you have to know how to take charge of the initial client conversations and transition the discussion from one about delivery of a specific methodology to resolving a business performance gap. Your ability to draw out of a client...

If you want to achieve sustainable success as a consultant - ideally you want to create a marketing system to ensure you have a consistently full pipeline of right-fit clients.

However, there will be times when you have to feel the cash flow pressure and need to find clients...right now!

This article is designed to give you some immediate traction while still setting you up for long-term success.

Before we get started...

In order for you get the instant results you're looking for -  3 things need to be in place:

1. Your mindset still has to be one of service and value for what you bring to the table vs. letting fear and need drive your marketing. You cannot need your clients more than they need you. They will feel the desperation and it'll affect your close rates. Make sure you breathe through your money fears and approach this task from a standpoint of abundance and avoid letting scarcity drive your marketing. 

2. You have to understand that you when you...

After 10+ years of running my own consulting practice, you can bet that I made my fair share of mistakes. I want to share with you my top 5 mistakes so you can sidestep the agony of wasted time and resources. Along with my mistakes, I will also be sharing my hard earned best practices so that you can accelerate the growth of your consulting practice. 

MISTAKE #1: WASTING MONEY ON A BROCHURE WEBSITE

When I started out, money was tight. It’s not that I didn’t have any money, but I was terrified of parting with any of the little cushion I had safely in the bank. I almost had a heart attack when I started researching how much it was going to cost me to get a website up and running. So, I did what many of my mentees do – they go with the cheapest option they can find and get little to no results from their website. Once I finally invested properly in my web presence, my business took off and I literally doubled my revenue within the first year.

• Best Practice: Your...

The most common go-to solution for any performance gap is to throw training at it. The truth is, while training is often necessary, it is NEVER sufficient. To move the needle on performance, you have to isolate the root cause to what is getting in the way.

These questions are designed to help you get to the root of individual performance problems – which may or not not require training to solve (and help you extend the value of your leadership training contracts.)

STEP 1: UNDERSTAND PERFORMANCE GAPS 

Task/Responsibility performed poorly

• What is the required performance?
• Who is responsible for performing this task?
• Where and when does the problem appear?
• What impact does it have?
• What is the difference between good and poor performance?
• What has been done to solve the problem?

STEP 2: DO A ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

Knowledge and Skill

• Did they ever perform the task properly?
• Is the task performed often enough to ensure retention?
• Do they know the task is skill expected of...

It’s a common career trajectory: An employee becomes a front-line supervisor, then a manager, then a leader of leaders and then eventually an executive over a department or an even broader entity.  From that perspective, leadership is leadership and executives merely have a larger scope and span of control.

Despite common perception - executives are not simply managers with a broader scope and span of control. It's a new job with a whole new set of behaviors which weren't drawn on previously. 

If you're a consultant to executives (or have aspirations towards this end) you need to fully appreciate the unique competencies (attitudes, attributes and behaviors essential for a role) they need to possess to be successful so that you can:

• Connect with executives with an understanding of what they are responsible for
• Assess executive performance
• Develop effective executive development and coaching solutions

In this article I'll introduce you to five essential...