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8/23/21

Listening Time:

27 min

Episode 122: Do You Need to Give Your Consulting Services Away for Free?—with Deb Zahn

When you first start consulting and don’t yet have examples of your consulting work, should you do some consulting for free?


My short answer is in almost every instance no. But in this Craft of Consulting podcast episode, I dig into why it could hurt your consulting business, why you might be tempted to do it, and what you should do instead.

TODAY'S GUEST

Deb Zahn

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Episode Details

Building a portfolio doing free work might sound wise, but host Deb Zahn digs into why it rarely makes sense and why focusing on learning how to get clients is a better choice. In this episode, she talks about:


  • Embracing that if you did good things in the work world, then you have what you need to get business and succeed as a consultant

  • Understanding why your pre-consulting experience is so valuable

  • Recognizing that price communicates value

  • Giving clients skin in the game with the work you are doing by charging them

  • Creating awkward negotiating positions by switching from free to paid work

  • Setting up the perfectly normal precedent of charging as a consultant within your market

  • Being driven by a lack of confidence rather than by real business decisions

  • Sharing six things to help you get comfortable charging from the beginning

  • Shifting your focus to acquiring the right skills for getting business

  • Focusing on being as valuable as you can possibly be to clients

  • Treating your consulting business as a business and recognizing that you are the CEO of your business

  • Getting past the first couple “make-or-break it years of consulting

  • Offering the Get More Consulting Business Faster course


More information about the Get More Consulting Business Faster course: https://courses.craftofconsulting.com/p/get-more-consulting-business-faster

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