Over the last 12 months, I have worked hard to raise my visibility as the go-to person to help independent consultants build their personal brand. It goes without saying that I need to ‘walk the talk’ – doing all the things that I advise my clients to do. Here are the top five things that have worked for me over the last 12 months.
1. I finally found my niche
This one has been a long time coming for me yet it’s so obvious. I’ve known for some time that my zone of genius is helping people to build their unique brand story. But for a while I cast the net too wide, focusing on any service-based business. Then finally, the clarity struck me early last year that my ideal clients are other independent consultants.
I’ve been a consultant myself for the past eight years so it’s what I know best. I’ve been there and faced the challenges that my clients are facing now. It’s natural that these are the people that I enjoy working with and with whom I do my best work.
2. I joined a mastermind group
I’ve been in a mastermind before so I knew how it worked. This time I joined a UK-based group of like-minded businesses. We were all at different stages of business and all doing slightly different things. The power was in using the momentum of the group to push myself and allowing my ideas to be challenged by the group members. This got me started with reviewing my business and content strategy. Now the mastermind has finished, I’ve been able to take this to the next level.
As well as our fortnightly calls, the group met twice face to face, meaning I built great business friendships with the other members. This has led to work and collaborations, including being a guest speaker at an online summit.
3. I started a networking group for my tribe
I realised that my local area was overrun with networking but there wasn’t a group for independent consultants like us. Before I knew it, I’d mentioned it to a fellow consultant and we were holding our first meetup. Fast forward nine months and we have held five events focusing on real issues that we face as independents – from planning to winning clients. As a group that’s run by independent consultants, for independent consultants we offer something different and that’s helping us to build a fab community.
I realised that my local area was overrun with networking but there wasn’t a group for independent consultants like us. Click To Tweet4. I went to live events
I’ve always invested in my learning and business development but I’ve recently taken time to attend events like Youpreneur and Janet Murray’s Content Live. This comes at a cost – not just the ticket price but the opportunity cost. Youpreneur involves giving up a weekend (normally precious friends and family time for me) and Content Live meant two days away from fee-earning client work. The return is well worth it.
At these events, I’ve learned from some of the best experts in the digital marketing world and had dedicated time to make and implement plans. Best of all, I’ve expanded my network of people who are on a similar business journey to me. This is not only inspiring and motivating, it’s also led to opportunities to be a podcast guest for the first time.
5. I got consistent with my content creation
As a comms pro, I know how to create content. I enjoy it and I’ve been doing it for other people for years. Yet despite this, I still struggled with creating my own content on a regular basis. Working with my mastermind buddies and a coach I was able to see that I viewed it as a luxury rather than something essential I need to do to help my audience and grow my business. Now I have a process in place, I am creating a blog post, video and email (pretty much) every week.
Most importantly, I’ve been concentrating on being me – sharing my personal experience and expertise to help others, in my own way.
Would you like to increase your visibility as an independent consultant? I’ve created a FREE brand story challenge to help you take your first steps. Sign up for the challenge here and I’ll see you on the inside!