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

Edition #5 - August 5, 2020 

Dear reader, 

Here I am with another 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 #5: I received this question from a reader (thanks!): Do I need to be on all the social media platforms as a consultant? How to go about social media as a consultant? 

I could write pages and pages about this, but let me ty to keep it crisp and clear.

But before diving into this, I'd like to say that I've learned to be extremely efficient with social media. I see a lot of people struggling and getting overwhelmed. I am sharing content every day (yes!) and never get overwhelmed at all. I am totally relaxed about it. The success drivers: focus, efficiency, automation. Here are my 3 key messages:

1. Where are your clients hanging out? That should be the main criterium to decide in which medium you invest your core effort. Most consultants are working in the B2B space, and most of those clients are active on LinkedIn. That's the basket where I put all my eggs (see previous 'The Authority'). I do share my content on Facebook and Twitter, but that's fully automated (copy from LinkedIn and no extra effort). I will start investing in video in 2021 because video is the fastest growing social medium right now. 

2. Producing cornerstone content is key to success. I am devoting a considerable amount of time to develop and plan my evergreen, long-format content. It’s my #1 priority. It has always been my #1 priority. It made me stand out in the past. It was a key driver of trust and credibility building and, as a result, of course, of business growth. I am working with a detailed content calendar to plan and organize the next 6 months. All my social media sharing originates from the repurposing of my already existing cornerstone content (no extra work). I only spent max. 3 hours/week on social media. Because it's a well-oiled machine, most people cannot believe this degree of efficiency when they study my social media output. 

3. Sharing of the repurposed content is fully automated. I have explained this in my previous edition of 'The Authority', including a screenshot of automation output via my Hubspot business platform. All my content gets shared in an automated way. There are many (free) possibilities, such as Hootsuite, Buffer (I used a free Buffer version for almost a decade), etc.

I hope I was able to answer the question of the reader. One final comment: please don't get overwhelmed. You don't need to be active everywhere. I would never do that. There are many common misconceptions about how much time it takes to develop and share content, and the bottom line is: it takes FAR less time than you think. Focus, efficient repurposing, automation! 

An interesting question for the next edition: I received this question from a reader (thanks!): What mistakes do you see consultants making? What key learnings could you teach us as consultants?  

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

27he 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 27-07-2020: Building trust with content or thought leadership

Keep your audience at the forefront of your mind and your goals, and use your unique story to show them how they can implement what you’ve learned to achieve similar results. That's what I did all those years. (Luk Smeyers)

Topic 03-08-2020: Narrow focus

Consultants are telling me: “I don’t have time to build my visible authority”. I’ve learned that in 90% of the cases, a strong lack of focus and direction is the problem. Not lack of time. (Luk Smeyers)

The Irresistible Content

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

My new blog #1: I never had to sell, persuade or negotiate to grow my consulting business

My new blog #2: Want To Be a Furiously Successful Consultant? Put All Your Eggs in One Basket

The Authority, previous edition: Edition #4

LinkedIn post: Generalist consultants will always struggle to explain why a prospect should hire them

Linkedin post: Your (focused) competitor is only 1 click away! 

LinkedIn post: We need to learn to say NO as consultants

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:

'Oversubscribed' from Daniel Priestly

You probably don't know Daniel Priestly? Time to get to know him as you can learn a lot from him as a consultant. The book is from 2015, but I just discovered it. 

Here are my 5 personal consulting-related lessons I learned from the book (the book is more generic about 'products & services'):

1. Small Audience: today's markets are so flooded with endless options that it can be challenging to get reliable traction as a consultant. However, you only need a limited number of passionate fans to be successful (relaxing idea, isn't it?). You build such a small audience with a consistent and repetitive message (creating valuable content consistently, using multiple distribution channels). I love that! 

2.  Entry Product: you need a standardized entry product/service, medium-priced and with individual guidance/coaching added to it. Consider it your Troyan Horse. 

3. Focus On Existing Customers: existing customers are worth more and will provide you with awesome recommendations if you surpass their expectations.

4. Your Profile: prospects want to see your expertise and credentials and then follow you to learn from you continuously. Share your best ideas and experiences and charge for implementation/advisory support. 

5. Be Different: don't try to please everybody, have clear a point of view and message, dare to say No to people to protect yourself. 

Here's a 2' YouTube summary of the book

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.

Becoming visible as a consultant is not an overnight job. It requires hard work and a sharp focus. Sharing your expertise through valuable content is key to consulting success in the new digital era.

I started developing pain-resolution content (with the help of client research, see research results in this blog) with TheVisibleAuthority.com in January 2020, and I am now seeing the first results of organic Google traffic. After almost 7 months. It's a bit cliche to say: it's a marathon instead of a sprint. 

I hope you can be as patient as I am because I am a big believer in the power of content sharing, and I witnessed the impact on my business and myself in the past years. And I am repeating the game again. You can read about all the past successes in this blog. 

Here's a datasheet of my growing organic Google traffic driven by my content, reported via my Hubspot platform. As you can see, organic traffic is growing slowly but steadily. 

By the way, as a consultant, you should be working data-driven. How else can you measure the progress of all your hard work? 

The Inevitable Learning

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

My brand new 30-Day Program: In the 30-Days Group Program, you will learn the behind-the-scenes strategies and powerful tactics that I've used to launch and grow my own consulting business. And they can work for you too. It'll be a virtual GROUP PROGRAM, starting monthly, 4x online 2-hour training sessions, life-long access to the recordings, and exclusive Q&A access to myself for 4 weeks. Here's the link to the info page. 

My Accelerator Program: I still have A FEW NEW SLOTS in 2020 for senior consultants eager to attract their ideal customers and grow their consulting business consistently. The Accelerator Program starts with a full audit of your market positioning and covers the necessary long-term improvements and quick wins. 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. Please get on the 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' edition: Edition #4