3 BIG Consulting Mistakes To Avoid! Start Your Consulting Business The Right Way

Before you start consulting, you need to protect yourself from these common pitfalls. Make your consulting business something you love, not something that drains all your time and energy. Most consultants are doing it wrong...
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Table of Contents:
0:00 - Intro
0:35 - 3 keys to succes
0:45 - Key #1 Focus
1:03 - Key #2 Skill
1:42 - Key #3 Emotional
3:03 - Mistake #1 Charging High Prices
5:39 - Mistake #2 Follow-up
7:31 - Mistake #3 No Free Time
12:29 - Outro
3 BIG Consulting Mistakes To Avoid! Start Your Consulting Business The Right Way
Online Consulting Proposal and Business Mistakes - how to start a consulting business
Do you want to accelerate your business growth and actually enjoy being a consultant? Wondering how to start a consulting business? Avoid just one of the consulting traps I talk about in this video plus when you stick around till the end I’ll share with you the BIG proposal mistake that can drain hours of your time.
As an online consultant, failing to know your expertise is a big mistake to avoid to accelerate your consulting busines. You should know your expertise. What are you good at? You can be a copywriter, creative writer, digital marketer. You might be a pro at designing, fashion, food etc. To become a successful freelancer knowing a specific niche is highly essential. Start building extensive knowledge on your niche.
Now this actually flies in the face of a lot of consulting advice out there that talks about charging higher prices. I talk about it in this video why this is a bad idea when your just starting your consulting business online.
When you start out your career as an online consultant, you will learn a lot of things and those lessons will help you make better decisions over the time.
Failing to follow up with the prospects is one of the consulting biggest mistakes that might cause you your consulting firm.Before you leave a meeting or get off a call, schedule a follow-up unless you have no desire to work with them. If the prospect says like “oh next week”, you can say “great would Tuesday work for you?”.... And get to a specific time. If the prospect pushes back and doesn’t want to commit to a time, you just saved yourself a ton of headache.
Another common mistake in consulting is the writing of the proposals. Proposals shouldn’t take more than an hour or so. They should be extremely short and only recap what was discussed in the sales call or meeting. It’s pretty much just a summary of what you plan to do, the results they are going to get, and how much it costs. That’s it!
Watch this how to start a consulting business guide to know what things you need to make sure to avoid when you are starting your consulting business.
Avoid these consulting mistakes to be able to get a stream of consultancy potential clients. These steps will surely make you a highly paid consultant. Apply your skilful, analytical, innovative mind and increase your business horizons. You can be a consulting pro when you avoid these mistakes.
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[@JasonAWhaling]

Comment below with your consulting business questions!

[@matthewszostek1819]

the emotional disconnection to sales bit is pure gold. i am really enjoying your videos.

[@PatrickLavergne]

Great advice Jason. And don't worry about misspelling "success". Mistakes are part of the game and it absolutely doesn't reduce the quality of the value you shared here!

[@JasonAWhaling]

😅Thank you!

[@jamilgotcher5456]

Exactly. There are more people that could win their class spelling bee than there are people successful at business and consulting.

[@FishingWithMichaelTruong]

Some good advice however I wouldn't ask a potential client permission on a follow up. I would recommend that consultants IDENTIFY what it is the client would like to think about. Then immediately handle the objection then and there. You letting the client off the hook with a follow up trail is a quick way to lose out on potential business. Identify the underlying objection and focus on dealing with it directly. If you can do that successfully, you will win the business.

[@JasonAWhaling]

Agreed....That would be the ideal situation, but not every sales call is going to be like that. If you can't ID the objection or they just need time to sleep on it, pushing is only going to hurt the potential close. Thank you for the insight 👍 I'll do a better job of explaining when the follow-up should be used in future content.

[@spirit5737]

Great advice! Thank you!

[@JasonAWhaling]

👍

[@matthewkodilinye3222]

Love this video Jason! I'm a recently qualified physician looking to branch into consulting on the side and I've seen dozens and dozens of youtube videos and ads from young "consultants". Your content is much more believable and professional compared to others I've seen. Subscribed!

[@JasonAWhaling]

🙏Thank you. I always aim to be straight with the reality of things. Hope you find a path to consulting that makes sense!

[@blessingsbest6838]

Thank you for sharing

[@JasonAWhaling]

Happy to help!

[@voltairepabustan]

Great video! I'll remember this for next time.

[@JasonAWhaling]

Best of luck! 🙌

[@jeremythompson3859]

Definitely needed this advice. I didn't understand that I needed to focus on telling people what I HAVE DONE for myself rather than talk about what I CAN DO for them.

[@JasonAWhaling]

🙌Client focus for the win!

[@mercurious6699]

Great advice, perspective, realism and professionalism

[@JasonAWhaling]

Happy to help! You've got this 🔥

[@OatmealAtMidnight]

looks like your new ad editing guy or gal is doing well, you are pumping some good vids out.

[@JasonAWhaling]

Thank you! I'll pass that along to them, I think the videos are coming out way better than when it was just me. Content will ramp up once we get our rhythm down 🔥🔥 Thank you for the support 🙏

[@katmatlou]

Very informative!

[@JasonAWhaling]

Thank you 🙏

[@jerrymartinez1048]

Very helpful

[@JasonAWhaling]

Glad to hear that! Thanks for watching! 🔥

[@GauravSharma-gz7qo]

You've made my day.

[@JasonAWhaling]

😁 Happy consulting!

[@chapelleshow4759]

Great video!! New subscriber here!! Thanks!!

[@JasonAWhaling]

Thank you! Hope you continue to find the content helpful!

[@Dojababe42]

Hey there, thanks for the great content! I’d there any chance you could share or show your proposal template in canva that you mention and how to determine pricing. Thanks!

[@JasonAWhaling]

Here's a video on using Canva to create a Pitch Deck: Canva Pitch Deck Tutorial: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j5_Co4Cwhrl0obc

[@1deplatt]

I like your hand gestures

[@JasonAWhaling]

😄

[@saeedmirshekari]

thanks for video, quick note to share: I think you can safely remove the background sound and your video will be better.

[@JasonAWhaling]

Thank you for the constructive feedback on the music

[@gerrickratliff7620]

Really good advice, I am new to consulting and you mention needing the right experience and skill level. Is there a tenure that you use as a rule of thumb for how much is enough to be seen as credible? Is it the typical “10,000 Hours”?

[@JasonAWhaling]

Thank you and that's a great question. You can start way before you reach your 10,000 hours... You just need to have delivered the result at least a few times; either for yourself or for others.... My main reason for adding that portion is to combat the bad advice of just taking a course and the immediately going out to sell your services. You don't have to be the best, but you do need to know what your doing 👍

[@ammaralqady6011]

Hi Jason, Thanks for the content, I really can't find the content you provide anywhere online. Keep up the good work. I have a question that may not be related to this video! Have you tested facebook ads for gaining subs on your youtube channel? is it really effective? do you think creating those ads within youtube itself using google ads is better and effective for this specific goal? also I'm having a problem with social proof on youtube. espicially with the long content videos. sometimes my goal for certain videos is to gain good amount of views in short time for the cheapest price, do you think youtube discovery ads is better for this case? P.S my type of content isn't really searchable , it's more related to trends so it doesn't have that long life cycle of educational videos for example. Thanks again.

[@JasonAWhaling]

Thank you for the support! Those are some good questions.... 1) I haven't tried it. I've seen some videos about people doing it but I'm pretty confident using KZbin ads is going to be more cost effective. 2) Yes, creating video ads is the way to go. I don't think Google search ads are a good use of ad spend because they are so expensive, but search specific to KZbin is something to test. 3) If you just want traffic and don't care about killing your watch time, then discovery ads are the way to go

[@starta]

First off, thank you so much for sharing this video Jason! I've been reluctant to research consulting business growth strategies and tips on KZbin because there is a lot of "fluff" out there, but I thoroughly enjoyed this, watched all the way through, and took what you had to say as insightful and genuinely helpful (as opposed to the arrogant vibe I get from some others in this space). Secondly, my question around building and growing a consulting business is this (I will also be going through your videos to see if you cover this elsewhere): How can I transition from consulting with a handful of people for free (in the interest of growing a portfolio of social proof and testimonials) to acquiring new paid clients? What are the specific strategies I can use to actively grow my lead pool for clients (apart from content marketing - that's my one strategy at the moment, looking for more) that work well? Hope you can help, but either way you have one new subscriber, as I truly valued thee insight you gave in this video!! Cheers!

[@JasonAWhaling]

Thank you for your kind words 🙏 Glad it was actually helpful :) When it comes to lead generation; after content marketing, you have the paid ads route. Creating a landing page and driving paid traffic to try and get people on the phone. It's a LOT of work but here is a collection of the B2B funnels videos I've done. Sincerely hope they help spark some ideas: Lead Generation Funnel System (B2B & B2C) kzbin.info/aero/PLCTo1pVEZ5UJRL3Mqwj-cZt0GvDNZGtBB

[@starta]

@@JasonAWhaling Thanks so much!! I will look into this :).

[@XavierFrancisJJ]

is that Jon Snow at 1:22?

[@JasonAWhaling]

😂 Cousin

[@evbuzz8086]

Love the video, but please spell "success" correctly in the next edit. This kind of error undercuts the strength of your message. Thanks again for the videos.

[@JasonAWhaling]

😅Point taken! Thanks for watching and commenting anyway 🙏

[@spirit5737]

I have to say this. I am an excellent speller and didn't even notice the spelling mistake. I was looking for value not perfection and I found it. Great job in spite of the spelling error. We all make mistakes. :-)

[@shadowtempest2145]

Im looking to become a physical security consultant and assessing possible vulnerabilities that people committing home invasions or robberies might exploit to try and break into homes and businesses. Do you know any good models or references I should follow in terms of pricing and practices? I have close to a decade's worth of experience in the physical security industry between military, law enforcement and private security experience.

[@JasonAWhaling]

This playlist should help with that. I would recommend following the business plan outlined in the first video, and then creating a lead generation funnel as outlined in the second video linked below... It's a lot of info but I think it will give you some ideas on how to market yourself and get clients. 1) 🎥 Consulting Business Plan: Building a Consultancy Business: kzbin.info/aero/PLCTo1pVEZ5UJluzRKN1M_XneBs8KtSJ1I 2) Lead Generation Funnel: kzbin.info/www/bejne/naDXfpKDdqmHa7c

[@MrEazy86]

What is your advice or opinion on give free sessions as a way to grow clientele or create a buzz?

[@JasonAWhaling]

Content, Content, Content and more Content.... Choose a platform/medium and start growing your brand and implementing a content marketing strategy.

[@cameron_]

A prospect says think about it and you book another meeting? Lol I’m an actual sales consultant. I’d love to work with this guy

[@JasonAWhaling]

🤔I'm one to push a sale when all objections have been handled and they simply want to sleep on it or check with their partner

[@saleshelp]

Appreciate the response and this is out of love, Is suggest getting over that objection throughout the conversation. I see so many sales people get sold by the client on I have to think about it and also there’s a ton of context I missing in each scenario

[@DanielSquires]

You must have a skill, real expertise !

[@JasonAWhaling]

Made quite a few mistakes along the way - hope it helps you avoid them :)

[@SeeLifeBro]

I disagree that someone with no prior marketing consulting experience can start a consulting business. I started my marketing consulting business with my own real world experience of running multiple businesses and information learned online. It can definitely be done via the unconventional route. Granted you may need to work harder, but that really goes without saying.

[@JasonAWhaling]

That doesn't even match your path - you had experience when you started. If a new consultant wants to start and has no marketing experience, that's fine. We all have to learn how to sell our services - the issue is when the service is marketing and they have no prior marketing experience. Reading some books, taking a course, and then managing a business owners marketing budget is what I have an issue with

[@williamstanley4960]

I have found it is far easier to sell high priced services.

[@JasonAWhaling]

🤔 Thanks for the tip!

[@williamstanley4960]

@@JasonAWhaling check out the Dan Lok KZbin channel for more on this topic. He is awesome!

[@MsWaggydog]

#4 Don't misspell the word "success" in your presentations.

[@JasonAWhaling]

😅

[@laurastent4462]

I love that you need experience to begin with.. but you cant get experience if you dont start somewhere. Someone is going to have to take a chance on you so that you can have a starting block. So dumb

[@JasonAWhaling]

Someone in that situation should not be a consultant. Either do the task for yourself, or do it as a case study.... but really; anyone with that problem should not be a consultant

[@laurastent4462]

@@JasonAWhaling was meant as a catch all in business especially for people starting out. How can you be an experienced consultant if before you were merely in a position. No one starts out an experienced consultant. Speaking of which how youve achieved clients is beyond me. You're rather rude