Craft of Consulting Podcast

Danielle McGinnis shares critical steps for implementing and optimizing two key systems so they help you get and delight more clients and keep your consulting business on track.

Gemma Francis shares what business development “persona” to cultivate that makes getting clients easier as well as a wealth of other business development strategies.

Consulting client Heather Gates shares what makes her want to hire, select, and rehire a consultant and what creates an exceptional client experience.

Hoda Shawky shares how she started and evolved her consulting business over three years and the decisions that enabled her to be successful.

Host Deb Zahn shares two big announcements that will help you get consulting business and are about this podcast.

Whitney Tatum shares how she helps small businesses gain freedom and revenue through documenting what they do and getting it all out of the head of the owner.

Greg Baker talks about what ChatGPT can do to boost your consulting business, some of common mistakes to avoid, and potential benefits and concerns with where AI is headed.

Terry Chevalier shares his strategies for being a go-to resource for companies by digesting and organizing must-have information about what’s happening and coming in their markets.

Ymani Hawkins shares why and how she built a consulting practice marrying mental health with diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Michelle Fox shares how her path to becoming a creative social entrepreneur and how design consultation can create more success for your consulting business and clients.

Eva Higgins shares how she helps clients achieve results through attending to people, processes, and performance and gives fabulous advice to new consultants starting to work with businesses.

Host Deb Zahn shares approaches and strategies for solving an immediate consulting business pipeline crisis.

Jessica Lackey shares insights and strategies for building and scaling a consulting business with you playing the role you truly want. She also shares what type of metrics will help you know you are on track financially and energetically.

Gina Corner shares strategies for what and how to outsource so you are freed up to do what you are best suited to do while still growing your business.

Dr. Scott Thomas shares strategies for practicing self-care as a way to support your mental health and consulting business.

Host Deb Zahn shares three things that all consultants should foster in themselves to serve clients better and create a sustainable and profitable consulting business.

Barbara Ray shares how her consulting firm transformed in ways that they help clients do, what it took to do it well, and how it informs how they serve their clients now.

Guillaume Wiatr and Deb Zahn talk about what positioning means, why it matters, and how to do it well so your consulting business for succeeds.

Environmental consultant Katie Butler shares her strategies for helping clients figure out the results they want all the way through evaluating if they got those results. She also talks about how to encourage funders and clients to use what works elsewhere and not just look to shiny new approaches.

Joshua Berry shares the benefits of embracing chosen naivete and emphasizing impact as the second ROI for your consulting business.

Jeffrey Shaw shares strategies for building a healthy self-employed ecosystem that supports your consulting business and your life.

Lawyer Sarah Swank share why having a legal professional help protect and support you and your consulting business is so critical and the many benefits of partnering with lawyers in your consulting work.

Coach Sarah Walton talks about the ways you may be limiting your ability to make good money as a consultant and how to break through those barriers to have income and life you want.

Maheen Shafiabady shares her strategies for helping organizations become more effective by focusing on their people and cultures.

Host Deb Zahn shares why not letting fear of rejection take over your thinking and actions is critical for having the consulting business and life you want and strategies for managing it.

Guillaume Wiatr shares how to build narrative power and help them gain more focus, inspiration, and traction in their consulting business and with clients in their market.

Marketing expert Michael “Buzz” Buzinski shares his go-to strategies for marketing service-based businesses and how to avoid common missteps.

Host Deb Zahn breaks down why having a clearly defined call to action that tells clients what to do next to buy from you is so essential and gives examples of excellent calls to action.

Leadership coach Janet Livingstone shares her secrets for coaching leaders and modeling new ways of working together when engaging with consulting clients.

Coach Kelli Thompson shares strategies for closing confidence gaps that hold you back from having the consulting business and life you want.

Host Deb Zahn shares the layers she uses to build the prices for her consulting services, regardless of the pricing model.

Host Deb Zahn talks about how to interrupt and interrogate the stories you are telling yourself that cause you to underprice yourself and replace those stories with evidence of what is actually true.

“Data Therapist” Shelby Chartkoff shares how she helps her consulting clients get and use data to drive the results they want and how she constructed and evolves her consulting offers over time.

Expert Nika Stewart shares strategies for using social media marketing to build your consulting business. She also dives into why and how to use live events to build relationships with your ideal client.

Financial expert Mark Willis shares strategies for getting clear about what you want your money to do for you and creative ways to achieve your financial goals.

Sales expert Malla Haridat shares a host of strategies for getting comfortable and clear enough to get the clients and income you need.

Stefan Debois shares how to give consulting clients value faster and scale your business by offering digital products and advice.

Consultant Chandler Arnold shares how he approached narrowing down what we would do as a consultant and identifying and communicating what he would not do.

Host Deb Zahn shares critical steps to pivoting to a new market, niche, or offer.

Host Deb Zahn talks about how to form and sustain the habit of doing business developing and key factors you can work with to do so.

Business systems expert Danielle McGinnis talks about what well-set up Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Project Management systems can do for your consulting business and clients' experience.

Host Deb Zahn talks about how to apply a key principle about relationships when building your consulting business.

Steven Cristol shares lessons about how to decide if working independently is right for you and, if so, how to enjoy the benefits of it while avoiding the traps.

Natalie Eckdahl debunks some consulting business have-tos, including the need to have an email list, and encourages making decisions that work best for your business.

Consultant Andrea Mantsios shares how she discovered what her special sauce as a consultant is and what magic it creates in her interactions with clients and her consulting business.

Tax strategist Wendy Barlin shares her advice for keeping more money in your pocket by taking the tax deductions you are allowed and keeping your finances in order.

Host Deb Zahn explains why embracing the term “buyer” and diving into what influences buyers to buy what you offer can make your consulting business soar.

Communications expert Jade Miller shares how she helps consultants and facilitators impress their clients and up their marketing game by creating visual scribes and illustrations to communicate concepts.

Consultant Julie Ballard shares how she carefully weighed many options and then made a slew of decisions to launch and grow her consulting business.

Direction of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ) consultant Dr. Amie "Breeze" Harper shares how she works with organizations realize meaningful outcomes by staying focused on actually will make a difference and how other consultants can support DEIJ transformation.

In part 2 of a 2-part episode, I coach consultant Suzy Haber Wakefield on how to make decisions about how to validate and sell a product for her consulting business.

In part 1 of a 2-part episode, I coach consultant Suzy Haber Wakefield on how to make decisions about what to offer as a product for her consulting business.

Host Deb Zahn shares a process for assessing business opportunities and taking action to get more consulting business more reliably in the new year.

Financial expert Danielle Hayden shares strategies for building a profitable, sustainable consulting business by being the boss of your finances and cultivating a healthy money mindset.

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Consultant Eloisa Marquez-Gonzalez works with companies to define and achieve sustainability goals by helping them at the intersection of their people, processes, and technologies.

Expert Grant Baldwin shares strategies for getting paid speaking engagements and using them to boost your revenue.

Kristy Yoder talks about how Virtual Assistants can make your consulting business easier to manage and scale and how best to hire and work with one.

Carlos Adell shares his strategies for constructing a consulting business that doesn’t just rely on you but still fosters human connections.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) expert Lily Zheng shares how organizations can move beyond intentions to achieve actual outcomes and how all consultants can help them.

Host Deb Zahn shares what she is doing for her "Great Reset" so next year can be better and less stressful than the last.

Consultant and Coach Brooke Monaghan shares strategies for busting out of the business-as-usual way of building your consulting business, so you can have the business that you truly want.

Dan Freeman and I talk about tested strategies for creating Request for Proposal responses that can get you more clients or help you get your clients more awards.

Ashao FreeSky shares strategies for freeing up hours out of every week while still growing your consulting business. 

Consultant Zack Pike shares what he learned after his first year consulting, including how to prepare to become a consultant, what to do first when you become a consultant, and what to keep doing to have a thriving consulting business.

Host Deb Zahn answers four common questions about getting consulting clients, business pivots, and managing tricky client situations. 

Host Deb Zahn talks about how to increase your confidence when telling prospective clients your price and avoid common pricing mistakes due to confidence issues.

Growth expert Heather Gould shares her strategies for helping consulting clients define and achieve their growth goals as well as working with clients who grow constantly vs. those who are adverse to growth.

Consultant Jamie Green shares strategies for developing contingencies and making choices while transitioning to consulting and as your consulting business and life change.

Elizabeth Silleck La Rue describes important differences between being a consultant vs an employee and shares ways to ensure you give yourself those benefits.

Author and sales expert Brent Keltner shares strategies for increasing your consulting revenue through systematically reorienting toward value for prospective clients.

Former non-profit leader Ryan Ripperton breaks down his strategies for working with Boards of Directors to get them on track and contributing to organizational success.

Author and consulting expert Rochelle Moulton shares critical steps for building authority, monetizing your experience, leveraging multiple offers, and so much more.

Author and expert  Bob Wiesner shares strategies for winning more of the consulting business you should get.

Public speaking expert Brenden Kumarasamy shares strategies for mastering public speaking to build authority in your market and get more clients.

Host Deb Zahn shares critical strategies for preparing for and responding to a recession or other economic crisis.

Host Deb Zahn share strategies for removing friction from your process for engaging prospective clients and, by doing so, close more deals.

Communication expert Laurie Gilbertson shares strategies for consultants to become exceptional communicators and public speakers--both critical ways of getting more consulting business.

LinkedIn expert Emily Crookston shares strategies for consultants to up their LinkedIn games and leverage it to get business.

Customer experience expert and author Jon Picoult shares principles and strategies for helping your clients turn customers and employees into lifelong fans and doing the same for your consulting business.

Consultant and author Rob Berg shares key principals for developing as a consultant and doing exemplary work that brings personal and professional fulfillment. 

Consultant Jacqueline Conway walks through the four critical fluencies CEOs and other executive have to develop to lead effectively in a highly disruptive and uncertain world.

Coach Ali Pruitt talks about how to construct a fully remote work life that supports the life you want instead of causing stress and burn out.

Consultant Kindred Motes shares how he is baking sustainability and social impact into his business model.

Deb Zahn shares key reasons and examples of why formulas for getting consulting clients don't work and instead why adaptive skills will get more consulting clients to hire you.

Host Deb Zahn shares how to approach and construct winning consulting proposals and answers common questions about what to do and not do in your proposals.

Sales expert and author Catherine Brown is back again to share her process and insights for engaging leads all the way through to them becoming consulting clients.

Sales expert and author Catherine Brown dives into Revenue Generating Activities (RGAs) and why a deliberate focus on doing them will help you build a profitable, sustainable consulting business.

Consultant Josh Rubin answers what he would do in various scenarios related to getting and keeping clients. He also shares his top advice to new consultants trying to build up their client bases.

Author and consultant Andy Paul shares an approach to selling your consulting services more effectively and without being salesy. 

Host Deb Zahn shares the whys and hows of being a guest on podcasts so you can get more consulting business. 

Pricing and sales expert Ruth-Joy Connell shares the pillars that she takes consultants and consulting firms through to ensure that they price themselves right and have a profitable consulting business. She also touches on some why systems are critical for scaling your consulting business.

Host Deb Zahn shares strategies and techniques for sending outreach emails that get you more meetings with consulting leads and prospective clients.

Host Deb Zahn walks through her go-to strategies and techniques for getting paid for all you do and staying on great terms with clients when scope creep happens.

Online advertising expert Chudi Anyaeche shares how to use online ads as a marketing strategy for your consulting business and how to do it wisely to increase the likelihood of getting clients.

Video storyteller Woody Harrison shares how he helps his clients create stories that get them the results they want. He also shares how he went from zero to many clients through making cold calls.