Luk’s Bi-Weekly 'Think Piece' For Consultants

 Edition #3 - July 08, 2020 

Dear reader, 

Here I am with my Summer Edition of 'The Authority', helping consultants grow their revenue by sharing intriguing educational stories.

It’s my ultimate aspiration to create a bubble of calmness with this bi-weekly ‘think piece’, a place of stillness in the face of everyday stress. A chance to reflect on what really matters in your consulting work.

The Big Question

Questions I get from consultants. And my answers.

Question #3: I received this question from a reader (thanks!): "Luk, you teach 'narrow focus' and/or specialization as a consultant. But that would mean more income risk for me (covering fewer expertise domains). How to go about it?"

I know it's very tempting to cover multiple domains as a consultant, especially in difficult Corona-times. You are trying to keep all the options open, I get that (I've been there, got the T-shirt). Moving to a narrow focus is a scary exercise and requires guts and courage (and a certain financial buffer is helpful). 

However, it's almost impossible these days to be successful if you keep focusing on multiple domains as a consultant. There’s too much saturation in the very crowded consulting market, too many competitors doing the same thing. It’s a losing battle in both visibility (search engines/online traffic) and trust-building with prospects . Your (focused) competitor is only 1 click away. 

My short advice if you are covering multiple expertise domains: move to a more narrow focus step-by-step. It's less scary and you don't have to abandon everything at once. You can create special focus (e.g. cases, content, visibility, social proof, website, social profile, etc.) on your strongest expertise domain (your sweet spot) in small doses.

I am helping a few consultants as we speak with their migration to a narrow niche and they are leaving 'the old domains' behind in a (careful, but well outlined) fade-out approach, gradually growing their single-domain visible authority. You can easily copy such a progressive, iterative approach.

I am working with a few other consultants and they are merging some of their key expertise areas in a smart and unique (narrow) 'blend'. 

Every problem has a solution. There are no rules here, just clever approaches. But I am 100% sure: you will never regret having narrowed your consulting focus!

An interesting question for the next edition:

I received this question from a reader (thanks!): "What would be the most ideal status as a visible authority I could strive for? I mean the kind of 'success measures' of a visible authority." (Cool question!)

Would you like to send a question for one of the following newsletter editions? Send it to me here. 

The Disturbing Truth

Unsettling revelations from experts I admire. And from myself.

Every Monday morning, I am sharing a consulting-related quote on Linkedin to start the new week.

These quotes reflect years of my passionate thinking about the consulting profession and span one year of writing. I've mixed my own quotes with carefully selected quotes from experts I admire and you may never have heard of.

Here are the quotes from the past 2 weeks. Let the inspiration be with you (if you let it). 

Topic 29-06-2020: Narrow focus as a consultant

"If you are always saying ‘Yes’ to your clients, you’ll end up engaging in far too many activities, and you won’t have the time you need to dedicate to your top priorities, deepen your expertise in your niche, and build authority". 

Topic 06-07-2020: Building trust with content or thought leadership

"If you’re not leading, you’re following. B2B buyers and decision makers want to work with leading minds in their industry, so it’s crucial to continually reinforce this reputation through strong, compelling, accessible, and impactful thought leadership marketing content". 

The Irresistible Content

I write a lot. Here's the update from the past 2 weeks.

My new blog: Consultants should get through the boredom of consistency

The Authority, previous editions: Edition #1, Edition #2

My brand new initiative, July edition: Top 10 articles of the month for consultants.

LinkedIn post: The 12 characteristics of a Visible Authority

LinkedIn post: Narrow-focused consultants get the most lucrative opportunities

Summer Reading ☀️🌻😎: My Quarter 2 content summarized in 1 blog!

The Inspiring Reading

I read a lot. Here's what I am reading right now.

I am reading between 30-50 books per year. I just finished reading:

'The Win Without Pitching Manifesto' (Blair Enns)

Here's a bold statement: if you wouldn't read this book as a consultant, there will be a gap in your expertise! I am 100% sure this book will change the way you do business as a consultant. 

Blair runs his global sales training consultancy in the creative services industry (e.g. advertisting agencies, digital agencies, etc.) and belongs to the top sales trainers of the world, if you'd ask me. 

As consultants we are all familiar with 'The Pitch'. In this book, Canadian Blair Enns shares the problems associated with what he calls 'the traditional way consultants pitch'. And of course, he shows you how to eliminate those problems by...yes...ELIMINATING THE PITCH altogether! Fasten your seatbelts! 

His strategy is outlined in his '12 proclamations' of the Manifesto. Guess what proclamation #1 is: specialize! I LOVE IT! 

For the other 11 proclamations, discover his book or watch this great YouTube video with a 52' interview with Blair. Relax and learn! 

The Inconvenient Number

Visible Authorities have a better pipeline. The evidence.

The Secret Backstage

A sneak peek behind the curtains of my business. Luk's lab.

I am obsessed with productivity measures to protect my time to grow my business! Here's one of the core components of my productivity: SOCIAL MEDIA AUTOMATION!  

Here's a screenshot of how I have been sharing my daily content via Linkedin in a fully automated way in June. Of course, developing the content cannot be automated (I love writing though!) but the DISTRIBUTION of that content on a DAILY basis is FULLY AUTOMATED (every bar is a post/article in the respective social media). 

My business is built on the HUBSPOT platform, which does all the automated social media distribution work for me (and many other critical business tasks). I spent no more than 1 hour/week to prepare the sharing of all my content. It's my HVLI: High Volume, Low Investment (of content SHARING). 

The Inevitable Learning

The programs I am teaching. To become a better consultant.

IMPORTANT UPDATE! My Accelerator Program: I am opening A FEW NEW SLOTS for consultants who are eager to consistently attract their ideal customers and grow their consulting business. The number of participants for this 1-2-1 virtual training is limited. Access on a first come, first served basis. Here's the link to the info page with the program content. You can book a call on this info page to discuss your participation. 

My Mastermind Retreat: due to Corona, all 2020 Mastermind Retreats are on hold. I got several questions from candidates to join (hurry up!). Please get on the waiting list and I will keep you informed as soon as I can go ahead again. Here's the link to the program content. Below the button to the waiting list. Thanks for your patience!

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Previous 'The Authority' editions: Edition #1 and Edition #2