Profitable Joyful Consulting

“When we do a vision statement like this, we tell the universe quite specifically how we want that intention to be fulfilled.”

What do I want? That seems to be hardest question for many people to answer, including me. What do I want? Well, what are my options? What lights me up? What is the universe offering to me? 

You (yes, you) can have what you want, that is possible for all of us. How do we do it? With intention. My intention in this bonus episode of Profitable, Joyful Consulting is to provide for you the space, time, and questions that will empower you to decide what you want, and take the steps to make anything happen. You’re powerful and in charge of what you get in your business and in your life. Don’t believe me? Take a listen. 

Key ideas:

• 00:00 Introduction 
• 02:27 What do I want?
• 03:21 What are your wins?
• 05:13 What didn’t work?
• 07:25 What will you leave behind in 2023?
• 07:43 What will you take into 2024?
• 08:10 Envision the future

Join me in this episode as we unravel the secrets to creating a profitable and joyful consulting business. Watch on YouTube or wherever you get podcasts www.samanthaspodcast.com

“You are going to feel that universal connection. You're going to feel something sacred. You're going to feel the change and transformation that happened.”

Throughout history, fire has been a symbol of healing, used to mark rites of passage, commemorate key events, and serve as a symbol of clearing the old to make way for the new, connecting us with the cycle of life. 

In this episode, we explore the concept of burning rituals and their significance, and dive into the power of a ritual and how they can enrich our experiences. I will highlight some cultural traditions and their connection to burning rituals, and share insights into the transformative power of fire and its role in land management.

Plus, identify what we need to leave behind in 2023 (hello guilt, shame and regret), find the right time and space to release what no longer serves us, and create a sacred space for our year-end burning ritual. 

Key ideas:

• 00:00 Introduction 
• 03:00 The Transformative Power of Rituals
• 04:42 Cultural Traditions and Burning Rituals
• 13:03 How to Prepare for a Burning Ritual
• 15:10 Affirmations and Intentions during Burning
• 16:47 What to Expect after the Burning Ritual

Queue up this episode today to create your own year-end burning ritual that will support your 2024 transformation. Watch on YouTube, wherever you get podcasts or at SamanthaHartley.com.

 “Looking at your wins tells you what's working in your business.”

I always kick off my weekly client meetings with a simple, yet incredibly effective question.

It orients my clients toward success and starts our meetings on a high-vibe note. But what I love most about this question is it’s like a switch that activates a success-seeking mindset for the entire week. 

Asking this powerful question of your clients is a great way to indoctrinate them in succeeding with the work they’re doing with you (as well as help them understand the value of that work). 

This simple question is, what were your wins since the last time we met?

Dive into this journey of celebrating wins, fostering resilience, and embracing a mindset primed for growth and success on this week’s episode of Profitable Joyful Consulting. If you’re concerned that this focus on wins might lead to toxic positivity, I also share how to avoid falling into that trap by acknowledging failures as essential stepping stones.

Key ideas:

Rewire your brain to celebrate both big and everyday wins, and to appreciate progress with this week’s podcast episode. Watch on YouTube https://youtu.be/BkaoFIfzXAw or wherever you get podcasts www.samanthaspodcast.com

​QUOTABLES:

“Looking at your wins tells you what's working in your business.”

“Begin to celebrate the things around you and you're going to see more things to celebrate.”

“Make a master list of every area in your business where you're asking, "How do I...?" and then write the names of those who can help with that problem.”

Highly capable women are achievers. They’re used to doing IT ALL on their own. And looking good, while they’re at it.

Sound familiar?

It’s probably how you’ve gotten through most of your business and personal life.

That can be a blessing and a curse. Yes, you’re capable. Yes, you’re better than almost everyone else at doing all.the.things. But the problem with swooping in and doing everything on your own is that you end up exhausted. 

And that’s not sustainable. It’s also not how to grow a profitable, joyful consultancy.

On this episode of Profitable Joyful Consulting, I share the solution I gave to my client just last week when she came to me exhausted asking, “Just tell me how to fix this” to a problem she was having. It may surprise you that the solution I gave her had less to do with the “how” of the problem and more with the “who.” 

Key ideas:

00:00 Introduction

01:39 How to recognize a martyr complex 

04:24 Is it too soon to hire a full-timer?

05:41 Figure out how much help can you afford

8:02 When you’re tempted to DIY, do this instead

9:52 An action step for you to get unstuck and grow in your business and life

12:15 Where to find your “whos”

Tune in to this episode today to hear why working more and working harder is not the answer to fixing your problems and growing your business. Watch on YouTube https://youtu.be/hOZa4pggkUE or wherever you get podcasts www.samanthaspodcast.com

“When you have someone who owes you money and the only obstacle is you providing an invoice or payment link, then THAT is your highest priority right now.”

You just returned to your office after a week away working on-site with clients.

You take one look at the “to-dos” waiting for you and feel overwhelmed with no idea where to begin.

That ☝️ happened to one of my clients. And she asked for my help isolating what to prioritize at that moment in her business. 

So I created a framework called “What’s closest to the money?” to help her (and all of my clients) feel productive and revenue-generating by focusing on – you guessed it – the tasks that would bring money quickly into the business.

It’s a framework I use daily and is one you can use when you feel like you’re unfocused or when you’re financially stressed. (And keep in mind money stress is less about how much you’re actually earning - and more about your fluctuating money thermostat.)

This episode of Profitable Joyful Consulting will help you determine what to work on in your business so you feel both productive and better financially. And because I don’t want you floundering in work that isn’t revenue-generating, I also share some “far from the money” tasks that disguise themselves as money-making.

Key ideas:

00:00 Introduction

02:16 How to get “stuck money” moving to your bank account

03:44 Don’t fall for this (it’s not a commitment)

05:44 Ways to generate revenue quickly 

07:05 Make a habit of doing these activities

09:29 Avoid rabbit-hole comfort zones

10:06 When to put on your own oxygen mask

11:09 Minimize these time-sucking tasks

11:58 Bonus: Once you’ve done all of the above, do this

Get out of overwhelm and into productive money-making quickly when you implement the “What’s closest to the money?” framework outlined in this episode of Profitable Joyful Consulting. Watch on YouTube https://youtu.be/tIeP8g0LT6U or wherever you get podcasts www.samanthaspodcast.com 

​QUOTABLES:

“Of ALL the things I have to do, how do I know what to focus on today?” 

“Resting is, in its own way, a revenue-generating activity.”

Episode Hashtags: #consultants #revenuegenerating #money

“Base your brand language in actual language that clients use.”

The most consequential question for you as a business owner is: What do you want to be known for or known as in your business? 

The answer is the foundational piece from which your brand identity will emerge.

And while it may seem backward, it’s important that you first have clients before you create your brand. 

Why?

Because your clients show you who is attracted to your work. You hear how they talk about you. How they introduce you to other people. And the language that your clients use becomes the base of your brand language.

Brand work can be complicated, which is why I held nothing back as I unpacked the process of creating your brand identity (and marketing message) in this ep of Profitable Joyful Consulting. 

Key ideas:

Wherever you are in your consulting journey, don’t miss this episode of Profitable Joyful Consulting to discover how to create your brand with intentionality. Tune in today on YouTube https://youtu.be/Qwx133sltq4 or wherever you get podcasts www.samanthaspodcast.com.

​QUOTABLES:

“Base your brand language in actual language that clients use.”

“Value is in the perception of our clients.”

Episode Hashtags: #consultants #brand #marketing

“The problem is where the value is.”

Consultants often struggle with two critical questions: How do you decide whether to work with a particular client? And, once you’ve decided you want to, how do you figure out what to charge them? 

The answers to these questions are found in the discovery session. When you ask powerful questions, you unlock a wealth of information. This information not only helps you understand your client's needs but also empowers you to make informed decisions about whether you can help them. And, perhaps most crucially, it provides the foundation for setting the right price for your services.

In today's episode, we're diving deep into the world of powerful sales questions. These are the questions that will transform your discovery calls into invaluable tools for pricing your services accurately, all while ensuring your clients get precisely what they need.

KEY POINTS:

When you ask the right questions - powerful questions - you elicit information that you can use to price your services, to price an engagement, and to really understand what is going on with a client.

Watch this episode of Profitable Joyful Consulting on YouTube: https://youtu.be/-6V_qNLsYQE or listen wherever you get podcasts: https://samanthaspodcast.com/ for potential answers and actions to help you grow a more profitable, joyful consultancy.

 ​QUOTABLES:

"Why is that a problem?”

“The problem is where the value is.”

Episode Hashtags: #salesquestions #consultants #discoverycalls

“This question puts you in touch with what you really want to be doing.”

Do you ever look back on the week and wonder where all your time went? 

Do you have projects and passions you want to pursue but can’t because you don’t have enough time? Where does all that time go? 

This week I’m exploring two questions that are SO informative - and frustrating! 

Informative because they reveal something that should be obvious: where you’re wasting time. And frustrating, because it’s much harder to do something about this than just to be aware of it.

But, once you’re aware, you will be SO motivated to make changes. 

I’ve been working with my clients on where they are spending too much and too little time and have distilled down what I believe would be helpful for you to focus on as well. In this one, I share exactly what I see consultants spending too much and not enough time doing - find out if the same is true for you!

KEY POINTS:

The power and the pleasure of asking questions like these is you have this knowing inside of you, and it's just a matter of creating a line of communication for the answers to come through to you. 

Watch this episode of Profitable Joyful Consulting on YouTube: 

https://youtu.be/2HuU8TAHrUQ or listen wherever you get podcasts: https://samanthaspodcast.com/ for potential answers and actions to help you grow a more profitable, joyful consultancy. 

​QUOTABLES:

“This question puts you in touch with what you really want to be doing.”

“Figuring it out on your own delays your inevitable, eventual success. It delays that feeling of confidence and the contribution you're going to make.”

Episode Hashtags: #businessgrowth #consultants #timemanagement

“What if we could take all of the behaviors that we have in our lives and do them with the intention as a gift for our future selves?”

For decades, I associated the idea of making my bed every.single.day. with external discipline. It felt like something pointless and imposed on me, and that caused me to rebel against that point of view.

Then I heard a mind-blowing question that completely changed my behavior. The longer I sat with the concept, the more I realized that my behaviors today would either gift or sabotage my future self.

In this episode of Profitable Joyful Consulting, I share how I use the concept of our “future self" with my clients to help them create the business and life that they want in the future, even though it can involve making tough decisions today. 

KEY POINTS:

00:00 Introduction 01:41 The mind-blowing question that changed a lifelong behavior 05:49 How to doom your future self 07:00 Realize this to avoid terrible choices in the present 07:57 The number one way you punish yourself in business 09:00 How to ensure your future self earns less 10:45 Handle this process well as a gift to your future self 13:21 Three actions to shape your business goals and intentions

Your future self will thank you for changing your perspective and taking actions that are in alignment with who you want to become. Watch this episode on YouTube: LINK or listen whenever you get podcasts: https://samanthaspodcast.com/  

QUOTABLES:

“What if we could take all of the behaviors that we have in our lives and do that with those behaviors, with the intention of doing this as a gift for our future selves?” 

“How do we leverage the concept of Future Self to support ourselves in creating the version of ourselves that we want to become?”

Episode Hashtags: #businessgrowth #consultants #vision

“The root of this question is a scarcity versus an abundance mindset.”

As a consultant, do you ever feel like you’re giving away too much? Worried that people could just figure out everything for themselves from what you freely share?

I hear these concerns from consultants a lot. And sure, if you’re naive, giving away too much can inadvertently hurt your consulting business (and in some cases, your clients’ results).

But when you’re strategic about what you share, you can trust that your ideas and content actually will bring you clients who want to know even more. You will be able to teach freely and from your heart so people can see the passion you have for what you do.

Discover how to strategically approach what you give away and when on this episode of the Profitable Joyful Consulting Podcast. 

KEY POINTS:

00:00 Introduction 01:40 The root of this question 03:24 How you discern a good fit 05:01 Why you actually should coach in discovery sessions 07:53 How much to give away in your proposals 08:55 Why maximum discernment is essential when working with clients 09:07 What happens when you give clients too much information 12:00 Lessons from the “Dog Whisperer” about people implementing on their own 15:10 As long as there is this question, you have a job

Your people want you. They want to hear your ideas. They’re looking for you right now. Watch this episode to help you feel confident and at peace with a sense of abundance when you freely give. On YouTube: https://youtu.be/1C9r81_JwCM or listen whenever you get podcasts: https://samanthaspodcast.com/  

​QUOTABLES:

“The root of this question is a scarcity versus an abundance mindset.”

“Don't give clients too much in the delivery phase because it's not helpful, it's not effective, and it's not going to help them achieve what they want.” 

Episode Hashtags: #businessgrowth #consultants #marketing