Deb Zahn: I want to welcome you to this week's episode of the Craft of Consulting Podcast. So, on this episode, I am going to be talking about how to pivot as a consultant, and specifically how to do something new and do it in a way that is going to enable you to be successful faster and enjoy this new thing that you're doing. But before I get into that, I actually want to offer to have you apply for, if you haven't already, the Craft of Consulting membership. So, this is a community that I've put together of other consultants from all kinds of different fields, and we come together, and we support and celebrate each other. And people get direct support from me in building their consulting business, and not only support but rapid support. So, what I like to tell folks is that it's my job to move at the speed of your business.

So, if somebody has a question, let's say they need to get a proposal to someone or they have a discovery call coming up or they're trying to figure out how to do outreach, I will get on and help them figure out how to do that. And what I do is they'll ask a question in the membership, and then I will answer it, either with a personalized video or a written response. And they can get that on a daily basis. Now, the other thing is that I also, give lots of other support. So, there's monthly group coaching calls where folks can ask whatever they want, and we talk about it together. We help solve problems together. There's monthly trainings and pop-up trainings and pop-up conversations to make sure that everybody has what they need to have a thriving, successful consulting business.

So, if you are interested in being part of this, either because you’re kind of just sick of trying to do all of this on your own or it feels kind of isolating, or you really need to kickstart your consulting business and start getting income in the door much faster, then I do encourage you to apply, I do have folks apply. And if you get accepted, then you will get your first 30 days free. Now, the reason that I do that is because I want to make sure that it's a fit for you. So, if you apply, you get in, you get a dive in for 30 days, takes all the risk off the table. If it's a fit for you, great. Stick around, have a good time and stay in the community. And if it's not a fit for you, then it's fine and you've tried it, and hopefully you got something fabulous out of it. So, I do encourage you to apply. There is going to be a link in the show notes, and you can also, go directly to Craftofconsulting.com and you can find out more about it.

But the members in there are amazing, stellar, wonderful, super supportive of each other. And they are learning a ton. I make sure that everybody gets their money's worth, and everybody gets what they need to move forward and have the consulting business they want.

So, I want to just start off with that, but let's dive into the actual question of pivoting as a consultant, right? And So, I'm going to talk about what types of pivots. So, there's three kind of pivots I'm talking about. The first is if you want to go into a new market or a new niche. So, this might be something that is brand new for you, it might be adjacent to what you're doing right now, but it really is a new market that you're entering into or a niche that you haven't worked in before, and for some reason you feel really compelled to do it and you want to do it. The other is applying what you do across markets.

So, maybe you're going to stay in the market you're in, but now you want to look at other markets and niches and think about how you can apply what you do to those. And then the other is changing your offers or creating a new offer. All of those types of pivots apply to the stuff that I'm going to be talking about today on this podcast. But let me start off with why pivot, right? What's a good reason to pivot? Because spoiler alert: every reason is not a good reason. Let me put it that way. But really, I like to look at it in four ways. First of all, if your heart tells you to, if your heart is really calling out to you and saying, this is the work that I feel like I am meant to do, I feel like I can do a lot of good if I do this, then that's a completely legitimate reason to do it. And I celebrate that, and that's one of the reasons I put it first. Now, the other might be your head tells you to do it.

So, you're looking around at what's going on, you see an opportunity, you see something that is intellectually stimulating to you, you see something that you really think is going to help propel your business forward, then that's also, a really good reason to do it. The other thing is your life. So, you might decide I need to do a pivot, or I need to create some kind of a new offer because it's really going to serve what I ultimately want my life to look like, and maybe I'm going to deliver something in a new way or I'm going to work in a niche that's going to be much, much, much easier for me to be able to generate the income I want and the time that I want to spend doing this. Excellent reason to do a pivot.

And then the last one is your market. If there are shifts and turns and twists in your market, such that you are wisely taking a step back and saying, I think I need to do something differently, or I need to offer something differently, or I need to consider how I can do some things across markets because that's what's going to help me have the consulting business that I want to have. That is an excellent reason to do a pivot.

Now, I would be remiss if I did not also, talk about when not to pivot. Now, the main time I would not pivot is if you are in a panic. So, if something that you're doing isn't working and you're not getting the income that you need in the door, it's really tempting to say, OK, well I'm just going to do something different then. That may be the right decision.

It may not be the right decision, but I would not panic pivot and do something immediately because it could be that if you solved some of the problems or you made some changes and tweaks to what you're doing now, that it might actually work. So, you might be solving a problem that doesn't actually exist, and what you might instead want to do is spend the time and effort to figure out how to make what you're doing work. And a lot of times what happens is you're just not getting the income in, it's just not working. And if somebody does a panic pivot, what they find is that the same problems carry through after they make a pivot. So, if it's about not being able to get clients and there's something that they're doing or not doing that's getting in the way of that, then those problems are going to go with you, whether you're going to a new market, you have a new offer, whatever. So, it doesn't necessarily solve them.

It's better to say, “What do I really want to be doing? And then how do I enable myself to do that and make that actually work?” And not just say, “Not working! Pivot, pivot, pivot!” And I know as soon as I said that, some of you envisioned a sofa in the Friends episode.

But the other reason that I do not encourage folks to pivot is if they see a squirrel. You see something shiny or see something, you race across and you're like, "Ooh, that looks fun. I want to go chase that." The reason I don't think that that's a really great reason for a pivot is because it's often too fast, too immediate. And there are a lot of squirrels out there, and there are a lot of shiny things out there. So, if you tend to pivot for those reasons, chances are you're going to keep wanting to do that and never be able to solidify your business.

Now, it doesn't mean if you don't see a shiny object, you shouldn't consider, “Hey, is that shiny object, or is that squirrel for me?” Maybe it is, but you have to pay attention to any sort of impulsive action that is going to delay your success. And often, that's what happens if people panic or pivot because they see something quickly, and they're like, "Oh yeah, that looks cool. I want to do that."

So, let's talk about the foundation. So, these are the things that if you're going to pivot, and I would say doing this before you pivot, is answering some really important questions So, that you've got the foundations in place to pivot successfully. So, one of the first questions you have to identify is who is your buyer? So, if you started consulting and you were doing something else, you had to answer that question, who is my buyer? Who is actually going to give me money to do the things that I'm saying I want to do? So, that's where you have to identify your ideal client. And in this case, the reason I'm using the term buyer is because that's who actually is going to sign the contract and give you money to do the thing.

It's not necessarily the people that you're going to immediately be working with, maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but it's who is actually going to buy those services from you in a defined market, or in a defined niche if you're niching down. And then you need to be able to answer the question, OK, So, before I jump to, "Hey, what's that thing I want to do?" is to answer the question, what do they want to buy? So, forget about whether or not they're buying from you, but what do they care enough about that they actually want to spend money on? Right? What is it that they are actually going to sign a check because it's important enough to them, either the pain is so great or their desire for gaining something is so great that they're willing to spend money on it. And they have to know that they need help doing it, right? They’ve got to have some reason why they would actually hire a consultant. So, what is it that they want to buy?

And then you think about what are you selling and why would they buy from you? So, that's where it gets down to having a really clear value proposition, and the value proposition essentially answering the question of, what is it that I offer to who? What kind of results am I getting them? And what's special about me? It's how you define your value when you're out in a market, whether it's a new market or a new offer, anything along those lines.

Those are really, really critical foundations to answer first and before you leap into making this pivot because this, the answers to these questions will dictate everything that you do after that. So, if you know who your buyer is, you know who you're going to be doing outreach to, you know how to talk about your offer because you have a sense of what they actually truly care about because you answered the question, what do they want to buy? And you've defined your value proposition, so you know what you're selling and why they would buy from you specifically.

And then everything flows from that, the outreach, marketing, your offers. Everything flows from those things, which is why it's important to do them first. And then you can answer the question. Once you know all of that, you can answer the question, “OK, how am I going to get to the buyers and how am I going to get them to buy?” So, if I'm doing some new thing or I'm in some new market, and how am I actually going to get them aware of me, and how am I going to move them down the process until a portion of whoever becomes aware of me ultimately buys from me? That's called a sales funnel, which I've talked about in other places, where you just think about what's the path is that you’re going to take them down to where they ultimately buy from you.

But you got to know that other stuff first. OK, So, then what do you do first to figure that out? And this is where you want to do some exploration, and you want to absorb what you're hearing from folks related to whatever it is you're pivoting to. So, what is it that folks are saying that they care about? So, if it's a new market, you got to get out in that new market and you got to talk to people. If it's something new that you're offering that is in your current market or in an adjacent market, you got to get out and talk to people and answer the question, what are they talking about? What are they saying that they care about? What's the nuance of what they're saying that they care about? What makes them emotional enough that they actually would drive them to make a decision about buying? What's already out there?

So, having some sense of what the competition is. Now, this is where I want to caution you. Because if you are pivoting to something and you see somebody out in the world and they're doing that thing, that new thing that you want to do, that doesn't mean you don't do it. That actually probably means that there's a demand in that market for it and somebody was smart enough to help fulfill that demand. But what it does mean is then you got to think about, OK, what's special about me, or how I might deliver this, or how I might talk about this? And you look at how other people who might be offering that or similar things are positioning themselves. How are they talking about what they do? If you can find out pricing, what they do, any sort of details that you can find out about, how is it that... If they're a client out in the market and they're interested in that thing, and there are people who are offering that, how are they talking about it?

How are they making themselves relevant to ultimately who they perceive as their buyers? And particularly if you have the same buyers. So, as much market intel as you can get about that. And then you want to also, and this is where the nuance really comes in, really dive into how are people actually talking about this? And I mean specifically the language they are using. So, if you get on a call with folks, and either they're in this new market or they're in the adjacent market, or you think that there are folks that might be interested in this new offer, you want to hear very specifically the words that come out of their mouth, and particularly any emotional language that they use to describe why it is that they might want to buy this thing, why it is that they care about certain things relative to others because that's the language that is ultimately going to help you frame and form what it is that you're going to do and talk about it such that people want to buy it.

So, you really need to be able to get out there and gather that intel, right? Talk to people who understand or who actually are your buyers who understand the market forces, they understand what influences buying decisions, or they can tell you what actually influences their buying decisions, and they know what the pain points and the gain points are of your buyer. So, the pain points are the things that they're struggling with, and they really want to resolve and solve problems. And then the gain points are the things that they really aspire to, the things that are meaningful for them to actually accomplish. And you want to actually go out in your market and have conversations So, that you understand that, and you understand it deeply enough that you can respond to it, and you can construct marketing language and outreach language, and you can form what it is that you're doing in a way that is going to resonate with the folks that you ultimately want to buy it from.

And again, listening, especially for emotional language, whatever gets somebody animated when they talk about it, they got some kind of a charge behind it, you definitely want to capture that very much, and you want to be ready to be able to respond to it in a way because it's often that that is going to influence the buying decisions, right? What people have any kind of emotion around is often what will truly influence their buying decisions. And the only way you're going to know that, particularly if you're going into an area that you don't know a lot about yet, you got to get to know your buyers at that level. And I'm not saying go out and talk to 50, 100 people. You don't need to do that. Really, you can go out, and if you have a handful of conversations and you start hearing the same patterns over and over again, that might be enough.

If you aren't hearing a lot of patterns, then you probably need to think about who am I talking to? Do I need to talk to much more specific people related to my buyer? Am I going too broad? You can problem-solve that until you start to talk to enough people, enough of the right people that you start to hear patterns emerge. And then you're like, "Oh, this is the thing. This is the thing that I know that everybody cares about or that most people care about." That's what you're after. And then you also, want to reflect on what you do right now, right? So, even if you're going into a new market, and say it's even a wildly different market than what you're currently in, that doesn't mean that everything that you're doing right now gets tossed out, right? Because it is easier to make a pivot if you think about and appreciate what it is that and now, and how you can transfer those to whatever the new thing that you're going to do.

So, if you have knowledge, if you have skills, if you have particular type of expertise. So, for example, when I first started, once I figured out what the heck I was doing, I had a particular niche that I worked in, and I wanted to expand that. And I had all kinds of reasons. My heart told me too, and my head told me too. My market was pretty solid, So, that wasn't really a reason, but I had a burning desire to do it. And So, it made sense. I knew how to do a whole lot of things that were relevant to this new market. So, I could still do strategic planning, and I could still do facilitation. I still help people make decisions. I still can be a strategic advisor. All of the things that I was doing in this other niche were applicable to this new niche.

Now, I had to gain some additional knowledge and skills related to that market to do it, but there was a ton that I was able to transfer to that. And now over half of what I do is in this new niche, and has been four years, to the point where I actually had someone reach out to me. And this was hilarious because this was someone who actually is at an organization that is in my original niche that was exactly the niche that I was in. And when she reached out to me, she thought I was an expert in my secondary niche. And I said, "No, no, I'm actually one of you. You're mainly who I work with." And I have had that happen actually a couple times where I've had to remind people, "No, no, no, my area of expertise is actually in the thing that you mostly do."

But that's, again because of big chunk of my business, and I've been able to expand my business, is because I very deliberately decided to work in a new niche, and it gave me wealth of opportunity. And then the beautiful thing is, which I loved, is when those two worlds come together. And now, I can actually look at both sides and say, "I get both of you. I understand what drives both of you." And now I'm in a perfect position to be able to translate and navigate between the two and help them achieve things together. So, it was a wonderful choice that I made, and it was actually a deliberate choice. And it helped in my business, but it also, brought me a lot of fulfillment. So, think about the knowledge and skills that you have, think about expertise you have and ask yourself, “How can I repurpose that for this new thing that I'm going to do or this new place that I'm going to do it?”

And this is where you also, look at processes and results that you've achieved. And they don't have to be an exact fit. They have to be relevant enough, right? Because if you go into a new market or you're developing a new offer and you haven't gotten any results from it yet, well, have you gotten results in a market that's similar that maybe had some of the same problems even though it was a different market? Have you achieved results through some other offer that you have that's similar enough that it's worth you being able to talk about it when you make this pivot? So, thinking through very deliberately, not throwing out everything you've done, but thinking through what you can actually repurpose and use to reposition yourself. And then you got to go out and get business, right? So, first place is also, to think through your existing connections.

So, looking at your network and the network of the people who are in your network. I was really surprised, when I took on this secondary niche, that a lot of people knew each other. And So, I was still able to tap into the existing network I had. And then once I started to get connections in this other niche, I was able to expand from there. But a lot of my existing connections were very helpful at me getting business. And then the other thing to think about is the language that you're using. So, let's say that you're going into, like I did, a secondary niche or a new market. And you've already done your value proposition, right? You looked at it, you had vetted it with people, you got it where it was really solid, you saw that people were really responding to it when you're going out into your market. You might not have to throw out the whole thing. You might just have to tweak it.

It really depends on what it is that you're pivoting to, but you are going to have some sales language, you're going to have some outreach language, you're going to have lots of other things that you've already created that you can look at and say, “Is that relevant to the new thing that I'm going to do? Or is it relevant enough, and maybe I just need to make a few changes?” And I don't have to say, “Alright, well forget it. Everything I've done before is irrelevant, and I got to build a new website and do all of this stuff." Look at what you already have and see what you can use to repurpose and to be able to reposition yourself for whatever this new thing is.

And then go out and get more intel. So, again, start the process with some intel, do some fabulous things, and then go back and get some more intel. So, let's say you've got either an adapted or a brand-new value proposition or a new offer, or you're now doing something a little different with prices and you've got some new sales. Whatever it is, go back and get some intel. This is where you really want to get feedback because now what you're looking at is once it's more formed, So, the pivot goes from this sort of dream that you have in this thing that you want to do, and you've got some good reasons to do it, and you get some intel to start to formulate what it's going to look like. But then once you start to actually form it and say, "This is what it is and this is what it's going to look like, and this is the things that I'm going to do to make this work," you want to get some intel.

And I would encourage trying to get some intel before you pivot in the market because you want to ultimately be able to answer the question: will the buyer buy this? So, whatever this thing I'm doing or the new place that I'm doing it in, will they buy it? Will they buy it from me? And will they buy it at this price? And I would also, add to that using this pricing model. Going out and having some conversations with folks and saying, "Here's what I'm thinking. Here's what I think this would look like. Does this match what buyers in the market actually want and care about?" And I found people are very generous in doing that. There will be some people who don't want to give you that feedback or that intel, but a lot of people will. And that's where you then can get the right intel to be able to make refinements So, that it's not perfect because again, perfection, as I've said many times, is the enemy of action.

You want to get it good enough that you're ready to take it into market, knowing that whatever this new thing is, that you're ultimately going to be able to refine it over time. So, then you have to think about, all right, I've gotten now a series of intel that I know what this thing is, I know what it should look like, I know how to position it So, that buyers are going to be interested in it, and then you got to think about the sort of basics. How do I brand this? And how do I sell this? And this is where I truly want to encourage not to belabor. This process like you want to have a targeted place to direct people. That could be a website. It could just be a single landing page of a website. It could be your LinkedIn profile.

Wherever it is, I wouldn't spend a whole lot of time getting everything fancy and just right before you make the pivot. It's often the same mistake that folks make when they first become a consultant, is they think they're not a consultant until they have a website. And I'm here to tell you're a consultant whenever you're available to do work and desirous of doing that work. When you say you're a consultant, you're a consultant. You don't have to have a website to be one. You don't have to have something super fancy to send people to. You want something that makes it easy for your buyers to know who you are, get who you are, care about, and be able to connect with you easily without a lot of friction. That's what you need. And that could just be your LinkedIn profile. In fact, if you're pivoting, that would be one of the first things if your buyer is on LinkedIn, and only if your buyer is on LinkedIn. If your buyer is somewhere else, then you go to that other place where your buyer is. But start with a profile. If it's the place your buyer goes, then that's what they're going to take a look at to kick the tires. And if they get interested in you, and then maybe you do a website later, maybe you do a landing page later, but I just wouldn't spend a whole bunch of time because the more important thing is to pivot, pivot wisely and get out to your market and try and get business. So, the other thing that is important though is you got to think through, OK, how am I going to get the business? Right? So, this is where thinking through what steps you're going to take people through and what things you are going to do to try and get business.

And this, by the way, the more important than getting your website or getting a new website perfect or anything along those lines. So, this is where you want to think through, alright, let me look at my connections. Let me think about how those connections might help me get business because your network is still likely going to be one of the first places that you're going to get business. And this is where, depending on how far afield...let's say you're pivoting to a new market. If it's wildly different, then your work network, you still want to ask people because you never know who people are connected to, but you might broaden it a little bit to people you know that are outside of work settings that you've done because again, you never know who they know. And really that's where you want to think about as broadly as possible, how to tap into connections to help you.

You want to think about, where does my buyer show up? And how is it that I can actually be present in the way that I want to and add value So, they start to associate me with the thing that it is that I want to do or the new offer that I'm making? So, for example, I think it's very important to establish authority. Lots of different ways to do that. So, you can do that organically on social media where you start talking intelligently about a topic, and then people will start to assume that's the thing you do. And as long as you do it from the perspective of doing things that are valuable to them, that's great. You might develop a signature white paper that talks deeply and meaningfully and valuably about the new topic you're doing or something related to your offer, or something about the new market that you're in.

And that becomes a signature piece that you can share with folks, and you can have people in your network share, and it helps you establish authority. Going on podcasts and talking about different topics. And this is one where you know, don't have to go necessarily to the podcasts that have famous people on them, of which I'm not one, but you can go to other podcasts and just start to establish authority. And as you start to share those podcasts, people think, "Oh, that this is thing that person does. How cool."

Now, you also, might think of presenting at live events, all kinds of different ways to establish your authority relative to the pivot that you're actually making, and having a plan for it. Not just doing it by happenstance but having a plan for it. And it may be that you consider later, oh, well, should I do some ads? And that's a maybe. Ads sometimes established authorities, sometimes don't. It depends on how well they're done.

But you also, might include some cold outreach to folks. And I kind of like the version of having doing some cold outreach for the purpose of doing some informational interviews and promising that they're not going to be sales calls, and making sure that they're not actually sales calls. You can't bait and switch on folks, but half some of those folks be who you get intel from. Now, they might give you some intel, and that's all that happens. And that's OK. Thank them for their time. They're helping you get business, even if it's not from them. They might want to talk to you about business. They might want to refer people to you. You don't know what's ultimately going to happen, but that's a way to also, establish some authority and start to make some connections and get really valuable intel that's going to help you actually sell whatever it is you're pivoting to.

And then you also, want to think of, and I call this the sneak-in approach, how do you sneak in, particularly if you're entering a new market and it's not a market that is really close to what you do right now? Again, you likely still have very relevant knowledge and skills, but it's something really different. Then you might do some small projects. Now, you notice I did not say free projects. I don't actually think it's a good idea to launch into a new market with the only thing that folks know about you is you do stuff for free because I think that that sets the wrong tone, and I think it will lead people to undervalue what you do. And it kind of screams, I'm desperate to get some business in this. I think it's more important to maybe do some small projects and then you get start to get some things under your belt.

And then when you go out and you start to talk about them, you've got some actual projects you can talk about. You also, might consider subcontracting. So, maybe there's a new body of work that it is that you want to be doing and you don't have a ton of expertise, but maybe you subcontract on a project with folks who do have that expertise, but what they need is what you also, bring to the table. And again, it gives you experience in that new area of work, and it gives you recognition of having worked on one of those projects, but you're bringing your goodness to it. But you didn't have to go and drum up the business. You're actually a subcontractor to somebody who does get the business. And you might also, think about expert network services. So, are there places where they've established networks of folks that come together and there's meetups and there's all kinds of things where there are established places that people go to interact with others who are in their particular market or do work that is similar? You might consider tapping into those, including ones that are local because again, connections or connections. You never know what those will ultimately lead to. The world is a very small place, So, there's no reason not to take advantage of that.

You can promote other skills and expertise that gets you in the door. So, for example, let's say you're really good at facilitation or you're really good at project management, or there's some other type of very concrete skill, writing is a great one that you bring to the table, you might say, "All right, in order for me to get into this new area and get something that I can go talk about, I'm not going to promote that I'm an expert in it because that would be disingenuous. But what I am going to do is talk about the other skills that I bring to the table."

And you can do that in a subcontracting arrangement. You can do that as a small project. Maybe somebody just needs something written up, and you're an excellent writer or you're an excellent editor. And what you're going to help them do is you're going to help them bring all of this together using skills that you already have. And boom, now you've got a project in the area that you actually care about that you can talk about, and you will have learned a lot.

I actually did that. So, when I first started consulting and I was having difficulty getting clients, I actually promoted my editing skills. So, I'm a really good editor, and there was a team of folks that were working on something where there were 12 different authors, and as always happened, 12 different authors write in 12 completely different ways. It was this highly complex project, and it was work that I was really interested in that I had only sort of tangentially done. But I was really good at editing, and I was really good at constructing narratives that actually sounded like a single person wrote them.

And that's how I got in the door. And surprisingly, it turned out that I knew more than I thought I knew. As I was editing, I was able to discern that something seemed a little bit off, and I could go back to the person and say, "Do you mean this, or do you mean this?" And then they said, "Oh, wow, she actually knows this stuff." It was one of the ways that I was able to kick off work in a particular offers that I ultimately wanted to do. I got to see, oh yeah, I actually do have skills related to this. But that's not how I got in the door. I didn't go talk anybody into, "Oh, I can do X, Y, and Z." I basically said, "You got a problem, and I can solve it because I have this skill." You can think about things like that. What can actually get you in the door that's skills that you possess today.

And then the last thing is you got to go get business, right? And you got to start to accumulate results that you can then go talk about that are specific to whatever you're pivoting to. So, this is where get in the business, ask for referrals, ask for introductions, and I mean ask, don't hope. So, I don't mean going and talking to people and say, "Hey, I'm doing this new thing," and hope that they walk out the door and they're like, "I got to tell everybody about this." Some people will, but a lot of people will not. So, ask for more referrals and introductions. Make it easy for them to do so. Again, write the emails for them because it's going to be easier for them to understand what is you want me to say?

Well, don't make them write it. You write it. And tell them exactly who you want to be introduced and referred to. You take the burden completely off of them, they're more likely to do it. Continue to share your insights and your results, right? So, just like I talked about all the different ways to build authority, keep doing that. And the more you accumulate it. The more people will start to associate you with whatever this pivot is that you're doing. And then as you start to get business, even if you get one thing, I don't care if it's a small project, craft and share case studies or get testimonials, anything that shows social proof of what you're able to do.

So, if you were able to help someone achieve a result that is important related to this thing that you're pivoting to, then you want to capitalize on that. You want to ask for testimonials. You want somebody else to say, "Thank goodness they were there. This wonderful person helped me achieve X," or more lengthy case studies, which essentially say, "Here's what the problem is. Here's what I helped do to solve it." And boom, here's the results they got with a fabulous testimonial from a client. And even if you have one of those, I will tell you a trick. Let's say you've done one project, but you did a fabulous job, and you were able to get the client. You have to get them to agree to the case study. But they gave you a testimonial, and they're like, "Yes, please do a case study. We're happy to have you name us." If you share that with people, they don't actually know that that's the only project you've done.

Now, I'm not saying lie. I'm not saying mislead people, but the reality is that's a legitimate social proof that you've done good things. Unless they say, "Hey, can I see five more of these?" which chances are they won't, that's going to be good enough for most people, particularly if it's results that they actually care about. So, that's how you can start to build this after pivot body of work that you can then use to go get more business. And the reality is usually if you get one or two people to say yes to your new offer or one or two gigs in a new market, and you do just a fabulous job and you give them an excellent experience, that's going to be enough to be able to build out after this pivot in a way that you want to, and ultimately support whatever your business and your life goals are. That's how it works. And again, that's what I found when I went over to a new niche.

That's what I've seen others do when they've made much more drastic pivots. But you can do it, again, as long as you're really clear why, as long as you answer some of the foundational questions that you have to answer So, that it guides what your actions are and your actions are going to be much more fruitful, and you really figure out how you're going to sell this. And make sure that you're framing it and positioning in a way that your buyer ultimately wants to buy it. And then leverage, leverage, leverage So, you can take whatever business you do get and go get more. So, hopefully, that was helpful.

Again, I love talking about pivots because that's something that has come up several times in the membership. And some people have done sort of small pivots, and some people have leaped over to another market because their heart told them, that's why I'm on the planet, and that's what I feel like I should be doing.

And that's part of what we work on when we're in the membership, is how to do that and how to become successful faster So, that you can really enjoy doing what you told yourself you wanted to do, and you also, need to make an income doing it. So, again, if you're not already in my membership, I invite you to apply. Remember, you're going to get the first 30 days for free to try it on, see if you like it and see if you want to stick around. And you can go to Craftofconsulting.com and click on membership, and you can find out a whole bunch more about it, and you can apply right there.

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Craft of Consulting podcast. I want to ask you to do actually three things. If you enjoyed this episode or you've enjoyed any of my other ones, hit subscribe. I got a lot of other great guests that are coming up in a lot of other great content, and I don't want you to miss anything.

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