Sean Boyce has run his own consultancy firm NxtStep Consulting for over 10 years and has founded multiple other companies at the same time. He’s extremely experienced in working with B2B SaaS product businesses and is well-known for having a big impact on the businesses he’s worked with. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:

• Brian’s background as an independent consultant. 
• Sean’s experience in the consulting field. 
• The benefits of specializing on a specific target market.
• How to be more efficient in your marketing.
• How to stop the feast or famine cycle in consulting work.
• The importance of making your marketing strategy structured.

Resources:

• Podcast Chef
• The 1-Page Marketing Plan

Connecting with the hosts:

• Sean Boyce on LinkedIn
• Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn

Connect with our host, Brian Mattocks:

• LinkedIn
• Email
• Schedule a Free Podcast Consult

Dr. Mike Palanski is a Professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology and is also the Founder and CEO of MPower2Lead.

Dr. Palanski is a practicing leadership coach and has been teaching leadership, as well as doing original, peer-reviewed scientific research about leadership, and coaching executives for over 15 years. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:

• Why Mike started the Me First Academy.
• Different reasons people want to change their work life. 
• Why a coaching work structure requires less marketing than a traditional consulting framework. 
• How to reduce the amount of time spent on business development and marketing.
• The value of having your own coach.
• The benefits of writing your own book. 

Resources:

• MPower2Lead
• The Me1st Method
• Podcast Chef

Connecting with Dr. Mike Palanski:

• LinkedIn

Connecting with the host:

• Sean Boyce on LinkedIn

Connect with our host, Brian Mattocks:

• LinkedIn
• Email
• Schedule a Free Podcast Consult

Dr. Mark Tuggle is a consultant, learning facilitator, and Co-Founder of Sales Conservatory.

Mark mostly serves sales professionals and business owners and with his understanding of psychology and neuroscience is able to help them identify and design solutions that achieve their desired outcome. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:

• How Mark started his own sales enablement platform.
• The different courses Mark offers on his platform and the on-demand component he’s made available.
• Using a Fractional CMO to develop a LinkedIn campaign.
• Different marketing activities that can help grow your company.
• How Mark compares the effectiveness of different marketing activities.
• How to maintain active marketing when you’re busy with client work.

Resources:

• Sales Conservatory
• Sales Desk Live
• Oracle
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator
• Podcast Chef

Connecting with Dr. Mark Tuggle:

• Linkedin
• Twitter

Connecting with the host:

• Sean Boyce on LinkedIn

Connect with our host, Brian Mattocks:

• LinkedIn
• Email
• Schedule a Free Podcast Consult

Liz Kislik is a management consultant and executive coach who started her own consulting firm over 30 years ago. 

Liz works as a consultant, coach, and facilitator to help leaders move their companies and careers forward. She also shares her professional advice as a contributor to Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and Entrepreneur, and as a speaker for TEDx and other organizations. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:

• How Liz became a Vice President and manager of 300 employees by the time she was 23.
• Why Liz primarily works with privately-held mid-sized businesses.
• The importance of picking clients who have similar views and values to you.
• How to maintain a consistent workload and sustain business.
• How to best manage risk.
• The importance of consistently building yourself a network.
• How to build exposure that can feed into your networking.
• Social proof and the power of being deemed worthwhile by authoritative sources.

Resources:

• Dorie Clark's Recognized Expert course
• Podcast Chef

Connecting with Liz Kislik:

• LinkedIn
• Website
• Twitter
• Blog

Connecting with the host:

Sean Boyce on LinkedIn

Connect with our host, Brian Mattocks:

• LinkedIn
• Email
• Schedule a Free Podcast Consult

Douglas Brown is the Founder and CEO of Halo Consulting, LLC, where he focuses on the recruitment of high-caliber senior-level talent. Douglas has demonstrated expertise in strategizing talent acquisition, developing leadership, and substantial insight on compensation design. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:

• How Douglas founded his own consulting company and the type of work he does at Halo Consulting.
• The type of clients Douglas works with and how he serves them.
• The business model of Halo Consulting and how they bill their clients.
• How the pandemic made it easier for Douglas to reach certain prospects.
• How Douglas maintains a steady stream of work at Halo Consulting.
• How virtual roundtables events work and the way they’ve helped Douglas reach new prospects.

Resources:

• Halo Consulting
• Staff Geek
• FTI Consulting
• The Hard Thing About Hard Things
• The Lean Startup
• Never Split the Difference
• We’ve got Answers
• Zero to One
• Podcast Chef

Connecting with Douglas Brown:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Email

Connecting with the host:

Sean Boyce on LinkedIn

Connect with our host, Brian Mattocks:

• LinkedIn
• Email
• Schedule a Free Podcast Consult

Scott Cantrell is the Founder of Smart Solutions Media, where he provides simple marketing solutions to help consultants fill their pipeline with high-quality prospects. He is also the VP of Business Development at Quality Consistent Leads where they help business professionals maximize their growth. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:

• How Scott found his passion for marketing and sales.
• Strategies consultants can use to help maintain a steady stream of work.
• How to turn your marketing process into part of your routine.
• The importance of having consistency in your marketing.
• How to make yourself seen as an authority in your space.
• The benefits of running a podcast and what you need to do in order for it to be successful.

Resources:

• Smart Solutions Media
• Growing Your Business!
• Rainmaking Made Easy
• Jonathon Stark
• Accelerated Growth Scorecard
• Podcast Chef 

Connecting with Scott Cantrell:

• LinkedIn
• Email

Connecting with the host:

• Sean Boyce on LinkedIn

Connect with our host, Brian Mattocks:

• LinkedIn
• Email
• Schedule a Free Podcast Consult

Josh Tan holds a B.S. in Material Science Engineer, a Black Belt in Lean and Six Sigma, and has completed multiple leadership positions in engineering, operations, and management. 

He is now the Founder and President of Alchemist Consulting, and Co-Founder of the Business Growth Community Shift/Co. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:

• How Josh became a consultant and started his own consultancy firm.
• How the business development platform Shift/Co helps conscious entrepreneurs.
• How Josh helps business owners by creating systems within their business.
• The business development and marketing strategies Josh focuses on.
• The importance of having a focused niche and how to find your target market.
• How much of a consultant’s marketing strategies should be proactive vs. reactive.
• How to systemize your proactive marketing strategies.

Resources:

• Alchemist Consulting
• Shift/Co
• Traction
• Scale
• Podcast Chef

Connecting with Josh Tan:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Connecting with the host:

Sean Boyce on LinkedIn

Connect with our host, Brian Mattocks:

• LinkedIn
• Email
• Schedule a Free Podcast Consult

Mariss Taffer is the Founder & President of M. Taffer Consulting, a consulting practice with a focus on fractional project management, project management consulting, Asana Consulting, and content development.

She is an experienced highly trained project manager, holds a PMP from Project Management Institute, and is an Asana Services Partner. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:

• How Marissa went from working in sales and content development to starting her own consultancy company.
• The primary customers Marissa works with and how she helps them grow their business.
• The power of Asana and the importance of setting it up and using it correctly.
• How Marissa connects with new clients and the type of networking she does.
• How consultants can keep a continuously full pipeline of work.
• How Marissa decides the type of work she focuses on.

Resources:

• M. Taffer Consulting
• Asana
• Slack
• NxtStep
• Brand30
• Public Slack groups
• Podcast Chef

Connecting with Marissa Taffer:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter 
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Website

Connecting with the host:

• Sean Boyce on LinkedIn

Connect with our host, Brian Mattocks:

• LinkedIn
• Email
• Schedule a Free Podcast Consult

Virgilia Virjoghe is the Founder and CEO of VV Global Partners, a multiple-award-winning Global Brand Strategist, Media contributor, and Author.

Virgilia’s portfolio includes world-renowned Fashion brands; Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Saks Fifth Avenue, Norma Kamali, and Startups in New York City, Berlin, and Silicon Valley. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:

• How Virgilia started working in the fashion industry and the ways fashion informed her entrepreneurial journey.
• The branding and marketing strategy VV Global Partners follows and how this supports their business model.
• The impact strategic partnerships can have on a brand and business.
• How to find clients and form strategic partnerships through social media.
• How to know who your ideal customer is and build authentic relationships with them.
• How to be sincere and effective with your outreach efforts.

Resources:

• VV Global Partners
• ReBalance
• The Quest to the American Dream
• Podcast Chef

Connecting with Virgilia Virjoghe:

• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Website

Connecting with the host:

• Sean Boyce on LinkedIn

Connect with our host, Brian Mattocks:

• LinkedIn
• Email
• Schedule a Free Podcast Consult

Shawn Swaim has been working in SEO for over 10 years and found his own consulting firm Shawn Swaim Consulting in 2016.

Since then he’s been helping ecommerce businesses get more qualified traffic, eliminate conversion dissonance, increase conversion rates, and build a follow up sales funnel to increase revenue with a process called Reverse SEO. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:

• How Shawn went from hacking websites to starting his own SEO consultancy company.
• The type of clients Shawn works with and the business development techniques he’s found to be most effective.
• How consultants can get a consistent steady workload.
• How running a podcast can help you build new relationships and networks.
• The future outlook for podcasting and what differentiates a successful podcast from an unsuccessful one.
• The need for patience and consistency when starting your own podcast.

Resources:

• Shawn The SEO Geek
• The 1-Page Marketing Plan
• AnswerThePublic
• Podcast Chef

Connecting with Shawn Swaim:

• LinkedIn

Connecting with the host:

• Sean Boyce on LinkedIn

Connect with our host, Brian Mattocks:

• LinkedIn
• Email
• Schedule a Free Podcast Consult