How to Sell Advice

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 DeckThe role of casual networking and how it led to unexpected opportunities down the lineThe difference between being specific and niching down in business based on your strengths and interestsThe 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 successHow to internally handle the fact we can’t guarantee successful outcomes The value of factoring in word of mouth and referrals into your marketing planThe 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 workThe importance of exercise, habits, and mental health optimizationPlus 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:Reza on LinkedInReza's personal siteReza on X.comPassage.comEpisode 200: Kevan Lee on part-time advisory work, mentorship, equity compensation, and moreThe Win Without Pitching Manifesto (Book)Meditations by Marcus Aurelius 4,000 Weeks by Robert BosmanReadwise App

So, you want to publish content to attract clients.Do you start a blog? Hammer out posts on LinkedIn every day? Start a YouTube channel? A podcast?Good question. I get asked it a lot. In fact, someone in Mindshare asked me about it again today, so I thought I'd break out my mental model for how I think about publishing and distributing content.Here is a visual breakdown to look at while you listen to the latest How to Sell Advice podcast episode: 

I recently had the privilege of interviewing Brad Hussey—a former web designer turned creator, educator, and community builder.In this episode, we talk about things like:How he made the leap from employee to full-time web designerHow he successfully sells web design courses on platforms like Udemy, Awwwards, Teachable, and other placesHow these courses lead to people hiring him for web design services, training, coaching and even requesting more courses—creating a flywheel for his businessHow he leveraged his expertise into a partnership with Wix, where he hosts and maintains the Creative Crew CommunityHow his partnership with Wix is structured and run in terms of compensation and accountabilitiesA breakdown of his revenue streams, including services, community, courses, sponsorships, ad revenue, and affiliatesHis thoughts on publishing his courses on his own website and on learning platforms for a double benefitHow he built and monetized two YouTube channels with tens of thousands of followers across both channelsHis advice on how to grow a YouTube channel—and how it benefits his businessAnd a lot more!Resources & Links MentionedBrad's WebsiteCreative Crew CommunityBrad's audio/video equipmentKevin's audio/video equipmentBeCreatives - Unlimited Video Subscription AgencyVideo Huskey$100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau The Almanac of Raval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson Listen here or subscribe via your podcast player.—kevinP.S. Like this episode? Share it with another marketer and help them build a more leveraged and profitable marketing practice, too!

The other week, I chatted with former software consultant turned CRM SaaS owner, Reuben Swartz about how to do sales in a way that doesn't feel like selling and instead sets up your relationships for success.In this episode, we chat about things like:Why traditional sales processes don't workHow he helps people win clients without being sales-yHow having a clear target market helps your sales successReframing "sales" as "educating" and "networking" as "connecting"Why having a strong marketing engine allows you to be better at salesA mental model for generating more referralsShould you give gifts and thank-you notes to people who refer business to you?Easy ways to maintain contact with people in your networkAnd a lot more!If selling isn't your jam—or even if it is—you'll get a ton of value out of this episode. The mindsets and mental models he shares make it easy to navigate sales conversations without getting mired in tactical "steps" which can often confuse you and put a barrier between you and your prospects.Resources mentioned:The Go-Giver by Bob BergAlchemy by Rory Sutherland Mimiran: The fun, antiCRMReuben on LinkedInThanks for listening, and if you enjoy the show, please share it with a friend!—kw

Do you have a proprietary framework or methodology you can build an entire business around?I recently recorded a podcast with Billy Broas, a copywriter, advisor, and educator who has built a business around his proprietary messaging framework, The Five Lightbulbs. In this episode, Billy and I unpack the Five Lightbulbs and then go deep into how his business works, how he gets clients, and a lot more.We discuss things like:Why having a proprietary framework like the Five Lightbulbs is key to selling adviceHow he leveraged his IP into courses, books, and other more leveraged ways How he evolved his business from doing to advising and now teaching Selling custom services with some productization on the back endWhy he focuses on the evergreen fundamentals of marketing and not just the “new thing”How products get better by empathizing with and better understanding the customerWhy we should systemize and codify our expertise that outlives youHow teaching other audiences—i.e. industry software companies—leads to more business (Golden Goose Strategy)How teaching courses and programs can lead to consulting engagements with studentsHow writing simple emails on a single topic under your own name works well as a format for email newslettersHow to fold the Five Lightbulbs framework into your emails and other marketing materialsFind Billy Online:Billy’s WebsiteBilly’s TwitterBooks Mentioned:Selling the Invisible by Harry BeckwithBreakthrough Advertising by Eugene SchwartzAuthors like:Gary HalbertVictor SchwabbJoe SugarmanClaude Hopkins

I recently decided to rebrand the Mindshare franchise (can I call it that?).Listen in for all the details!—kw

Do you focus much on optimizing your website for search engines? Personally, I don’t really do much beyond the basic best practices. My strategy has been more focused on email, social media, and Golden Goose tactics to build awareness for what I do.But a part of me feels like I’m missing out—especially as I begin to sell knowledge products to a large potential audience.That’s why I wanted to talk to Tsavo Neal about how he approaches his marketing and business model. Tsavo gets almost all of his clients and customers through search engine optimization. It just so happens, he teaches other consultants how to do the same. Which made this episode packed with value.In this episode of Mindshare Radio, Tsavo and I unpack:How he decided to niche down on helping consultants attract clients through their websiteA breakdown of his business model comprised of do-it-yourself and done-with-you offeringsHow raised the price of his course from $197 to $497 without losing deterring new customersHis thoughts on evergreen vs. launch-based (open vs. closed-cart) access to his courseHow he sells $5-6k in digital products each month relying almost exclusively on SEOA walkthrough of his done-with-you SEO service and how he designed the programA deep-dive walkthrough of his SEO process, including research, outlining, writing, editing, publishing, and distributionHow he chooses keywords to write articles for based on competitiveness and difficultyHow he’s applying these same skills and techniques to rank and monetize a website in the Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu niche And a lot more!If you've ever thought you might want to get your website ranking better for search engines, get your pencil ready because this episode will show you how.Mentioned links and resources:Phillip MorganConsulting SuccessAhrefs.comTsavoNeal.comBJJEquipment.com—kP.S. Want a deeper-dive training on how to do exactly this process? Tsavo shared an over-the-shoulder view for Mindshare members last month on how he does it. Sign up to get access to that plus a library of other training, group coaching, a private Slack community and more. Learn more about Mindshare → 

A few weeks ago, I invited Mindshare member and long-time marketing consultant, Mark Evans, to talk shop with me about the business of marketing consulting and fractional CMO work.This was a really fun episode. We went deep into the nerdy nuances of fractional/interim CMO and advisory work.Some topics we explored include:Mark’s transition from reporter to marketing consultantHow he uses his training as a reporter to do positioning and messaging workThe challenges and frustrations of fractional CMO workWhy a strategic advisory work is his preferred way to engage with clientsHis thoughts on coaching, mentoring, and training in-house marketersThe value proposition of interim CMO vs. fractional CMOPricing and value calculations for advisors vs. fCMOsRefund policies and minimum commitment periodsSetting expectations and getting clear on goals before starting engagementsHow and when to turn down clients who aren’t a fitThe importance of continually marketing yourselfUsing video, podcasts, and showing up in person to build trust Books mentioned:The Inside Advantage by Robert Bloom and Dave ContiDon’t Make Me Think by Steve KrugRocket Surgery Made Easy by Steve KrugConnect with Mark:Marketing Spark (consulting website)Twitter

The other day, I replied to a Twitter friend's (@RodBurkert) open question:My question: What is the 'right next best thing' you should do to create the biggest leverage and productivity boost for your practice?I replied with the following:Taking the expertise in your head and putting it into writing/audio/video, then organizing it into a system or framework so others can learn from you without having to repeat yourself forever.But then I wanted to expand on this idea further since it's core to everything I teach.That's what this episode is about: how to take your expertise out of your head so you can deploy it without having to repeat yourself forever.Listen in and let me know what you think.—k

It's easy to believe that as advisors, we get paid to have all the answers.We feel like to add value, we need to be able to tell people what to do.What if instead, our value came from things like:Asking good questionsHaving good tasteRunning ideas through your filtersPattern matching against your experienceCreating visions to considerClarifying ideas that aren't well-consideredBeing an encourager of good ideasWrestling with optionsLooking at things from different perspectivesPlaying devil's advocatePushing people out of their comfort zoneAs technicians, we like knowing the best tool or tactic to use for any situation. As creatives, we like envisioning new ideas and potential futures.But as advisors, what if we didn't feel like we needed to have all answers, and instead helped our clients explore options until the answers became a little more obvious?Your value isn't having all the answers. Your value comes from helping your clients make good decisions.There are a lot of ways to get a result. The key is helping your clients choose the right way for them.Listen to this episode or subscribe via your podcast player.—kwP.S. REGISTER FOR THE UPCOMING WORKSHOPNext week (January 25 at 11:00 am EST) I'm hosting a live 90-minute workshop (with the recording made available) on how to package, price, and sell custom consulting services. We'll go deep on creating custom proposals that convert, so don't miss this one.REGISTER NOW