Most consultants panic about their empty pipeline and immediately start "fixing" everything at once - polishing their LinkedIn profile, hiring a web developer, creating content, reaching out to prospects. Sound familiar? Here's the brutal truth: when you jump straight into tactics without doing the strategic groundwork first, you're setting yourself up for an expensive cycle of constant rework and frustration. You'll either get stuck not knowing what to say, or worse - you'll think you know what your market wants and waste months building the wrong thing. There's a specific order of operations that separates successful consultants from those who spin their wheels endlessly, and it all comes down to one word: clarity.
Show Notes
- The "iceberg fallacy" - Why focusing on what's visible (websites, LinkedIn profiles) while ignoring the strategic foundation underneath leads to generic messaging that connects with no one
- The two scenarios that kill consulting businesses - Getting paralyzed because you don't know what to say, or confidently building the wrong thing because you assumed you knew your market
- George Orwell's undercover research method - How the author of 1984 went to extreme lengths to understand his audience, and why most consultants are too arrogant to close their own empathy gap
- The strategy review checkpoint - The exact questions successful consultants must answer before they're allowed to move into implementation (this is the gatekeeper moment that separates winners from time-wasters)
- Voice of customer obsession - Why top consulting firms are constantly collecting and updating client language, pain points, and frames of reference (and how to start doing this even as a beginner)
- The clarity test - How to know when you're actually ready to build your website, create content, and start outreach (hint: most people think they're ready when they're not)
- Phase 1 vs Phase 2 research - The difference between doing enough upfront research to get started confidently versus the ongoing refinement that keeps you competitive
- The random tactics trap - Why consultants who change their LinkedIn profiles weekly without underlying strategy are doomed to spin their wheels forever
