Identifying Potential Consulting Clients

Over the past 9 years, I’ve acquired 1,000+ clients for my agencies. If I were starting over today, here’s exactly how I’d land my first 10 clients: Step 1: Start with the right data The biggest challenge when starting out? Finding highly targeted prospects who are ready to buy. Here’s how I’d solve that: Google Maps. Yes, I said Google Maps. Why? Because it’s an untapped goldmine for qualified leads. With over 4,000 B2B categories, it’s packed with local businesses and SMBs often overlooked - or missing - from LinkedIn. These are hidden gems waiting to be discovered. Scrap (https://scrap.io/s/9MYK) transforms this goldmine into actionable leads by extracting from Google Maps listings: - Emails, phone numbers, & websites - Social media profiles - Website technologies - Even Google Maps ratings & reviews Filter and focus on your ideal targets in just 2 clicks. For example: - Restaurants with 4+ ratings but no Instagram. - Local businesses with websites but no ad pixels. - SMBs in specific niches or locations. Scrap’s real-time data extraction ensures you always have the most accurate info - and it’s available as a Chrome Extension for instant insights. Step 2: Personalize your outreach Generic outreach doesn’t work - relevance is everything. Try this playbook: - Subject Line: Use something attention-grabbing like “Quick question about [business name]” or “Idea for [service].” - Personalize: Reference their Google Maps reviews, website, or niche. For example: “Congrats on your 4.9-star rating - I can see why people love your café.” - Partner Up: “I help cafes like yours boost foot traffic through email marketing. I noticed a few opportunities I’d love to share.” - CTA: End with a low-pressure ask: “Does this sound worth exploring?” Pro Tip: Pair the emails from Scrap (https://scrap.io/s/9MYK) with LinkedIn outreach - connect or engage with their posts to build trust. Step 3: Stay consistent and scale your efforts Build momentum through persistence: - Follow Up: Most responses come after the 2nd or 3rd touch. Example sequence: Email → LinkedIn connect → Follow-up email → Call. - Track Metrics: Monitor open rates, replies, and booked calls. Aim for a 20%+ email response rate and 10%+ meetings booked. - Leverage Referrals: Once you’ve landed a few clients, ask, “Know anyone else who might benefit?” and share testimonials like, “We helped a local coffee shop grow foot traffic by 20% in 30 days.” - Automate: Use Scrap for fast lead gen and a CRM to manage outreach. Recap: - Use Scrap (https://scrap.io/s/9MYK) to turn Google Maps into a lead-gen machine for local businesses, SMBs, and niche prospects. - Personalize your emails with insights and a clear CTA. - Stay consistent by following up, tracking results, and leveraging referrals. - And remember: Your first 10 clients lay the foundation for scaling. #ScrapPartner

Five years ago, Warburg Pincus LLC invested in BetterCloud and urged us to work on a project to narrow our ideal customer profile (ICP). It's the most impactful thing I've ever done to improve conversion rates, shorten sales cycles, increase deal size and ultimately transform the company. A big mistake many CEOs make is believing their product is for everyone. It’s tempting. More potential customers should mean more sales, right? But in reality, chasing too broad a market drains resources, distracts your team, muddles messaging, confuses your product roadmap, and kills go-to-market efficiency. Being laser-focused on your ICP drives alignment across product, messaging, and the go-to-market motion. When the right prospect engages, they’ll feel like you built it just for them. Anyone who has built a product or service knows that the things a small business needs are very different than what a huge enterprise needs. A company is different from a school. An IT buyer is different from a security buyer, a sales buyer is different from a marketing buyer, a director level decision maker is different than a C level decision maker… but we still believe we can sell to different segments and personas as the same time. The process to define and use your ICP is relatively straightforward but does take time. The larger your business, the more data you have, the more resources you have to crunch that data the more time you should spend to do it as scientifically as possible. The high level steps are: 1. Build a Customer Dataset: Gather all your customer data. Current and churned customers, won and lost opportunities. Enrich it with firmographic, business-specific, and buyer demographic data. 2. Engage Your Team: Your best sales and customer success people hold invaluable insights about your most successful (and worst) customers. 3. Analyze & Identify Pockets of Gold: Identify common attributes of high-performing accounts and avoid the traps of poor-fit customers. 4. Communicate the ICP to the entire company with the “why” behind the attributes that make up an ideal customer.  5. Rework your messaging to appeal to your newly defined ICP and narrow your growth initiatives to be focused only on the accounts that matter.  6. Assign the right ICP accounts to your reps and ensure they’re focused on the right buyer personas. 7. Product Development: Reassess your roadmap to align with the needs of your ICP. You should see impact fast. GTM funnel metrics will improve. Conversion rates should rise, with better leads turning into stronger opportunities. You may not get more leads, but their quality will increase. I’ve been discussing this with many Not Another CEO Podcast guests, so don’t just take my word for it. I wrote a deep dive on how to “Narrow Your ICP and Transform your Company”, with real examples from other companies. You can read the full article here https://lnkd.in/e5EN3XSR

"Why Buy the Cow When You Can Get the Milk for Free?" is a horrible mindset... when it comes to building your business Too many worry that sharing too much insight upfront will eliminate clients’ need to hire them. But, in reality, holding back does more harm than good. Here’s why giving value freely brings clients to you. Building Trust, Not Dependence Clients pay for more than knowledge; they want unique insights and tailored guidance. Sharing valuable information builds trust, not dependence. By freely offering actionable insights, you establish yourself as a knowledgeable and generous expert—qualities clients remember. Action Step: Share part of your process, like a checklist or framework that solves a specific problem. This builds initial trust and allows you to filter in for your ideal client. 1) Information Isn’t Implementation Clients don’t just want information—they want your expertise in applying it to their unique challenges. They seek transformation. Offering valuable information lets clients experience your approach while highlighting their missing personalized support. -> Action Step: Host a webinar on a common issue, then share case studies that showcase your hands-on impact. 2) Free Value Creates Bridges to Paid Services When clients experience your expertise they are more likely to seek your deeper guidance. Giving valuable insights for free builds familiarity with your methods, making the transition to paid services natural. -> Action Step: End each piece of content with a call to action—invite clients to connect or share a success story. 3) “Free” Expands Your Reach and Credibility Freely sharing expertise increases your visibility. As your content circulates, it introduces you to new clients. This isn’t lost revenue—it’s marketing. -> Action Step: Encourage sharing in your posts to boost reach and credibility. 4) The More You Give, the Stronger Your Brand “Why buy the cow” suggests that giving devalues your work. The opposite is true in consulting: the more you share, the more clients see you as a go-to expert. People remember the problem-solvers. -> Action Step: Consistently publish content that answers questions and offers solutions. In Consulting, Giving is Selling By freely offering value, you aren’t “giving away the milk”—you’re showing potential clients why you’re the right partner. Clients aren’t buying your information; they’re investing in your ability to deliver tailored solutions and guide them through challenges. Generosity is your best brand-building tool.

I received this message from an individual repping AI consulting to help companies drive pipeline. It’s wrong for a variety of reasons… “I am interested to explore if we can work together. I’d be happy to grab a virtual cup of coffee or just chat. Always happy to network either way, let’s chat at your convenience.” Nice? Sure. Clear? Not even close. Effective? Nope. Here’s the problem: “Interested to explore if we can work together” — This is vague and passive. What kind of work? Why me? Why now? I share enough content and talk on enough podcasts you should have better research. “Grab a virtual cup of coffee or just chat” — This is the cold outreach version of “wanna hang out sometime?” If you’re selling AI strategy, lead with something more intentional. “Happy to network either way” — This is filler. And worse, it sounds like you’re just collecting connections. If you’re in the AI space (especially consulting) you have to assume you’re not the only person in my inbox pitching “exploration.” Differentiate or be ignored. Especially if I believe I can use AI to write a better email. How to fix it: ✅ Be specific about why you’re reaching out ✅ Show that you’ve done your homework ✅ Lead with value, not vagueness ✅ Make the ask clear and easy to say yes to Example: “Hey Kyle - I’ve been following how you’re structuring your marketing team around AI. I work with companies like X and Y to automate content workflows and reduce campaign time by 40%. Would you be open to a quick chat next week to swap notes?” Short. Personal. Clear. Relevant. If you’re not sending messages like that, you’re just adding noise. And nobody has time for more noise. Nobody.

Early in my freelance career, I used to get excited anytime someone booked a discovery call. This could be a big client! I’d think. But half the time, the call would go like this: • “What’s your rate?” (before we even talked about their needs) • “Can you do this for exposure?” (…no.) • “We just need a few quick tweaks.” (but they wanted a full rewrite) I wasted so much time on low-value leads because I wasn’t qualifying them before the call. Great clients don’t haggle over pricing, ghost you for weeks, or expect luxury service for bargain-bin rates. They value expertise, respect your process, and understand that quality work is an investment. But here’s the thing: It’s your job to filter them out before you even get on a call. Before you schedule a discovery call, consider using these filters: 1. Make sure you are qualifying clients with pre-call questions. Ask about budget, goals, and timeline in your intake form. If they dodge or lowball? 🚩 2. Consider adding some pricing visibility. You don’t have to list your full rates on your website (I don't) or even give them if they ask in the first communication. But you can signal your pricing level (e.g., “Projects start at $X”). This filters out those looking for a bargain. 3. Look for communication clues. Are they professional in emails? Do they respect your process? If they’re already difficult before working with you, it won’t get better. 4. Prioritize referrals over random inquiries. Clients who come from referrals often have a better understanding of your value than cold leads. Your time is valuable. Spend it on clients who respect that. What’s your biggest red flag when it comes to spotting less-than-ideal clients? ____________________________________________________ We talk about topics like this and more on the Boss Responses podcast. Are you a subscriber?

Blessed are those who personalize their outreach—for they shall be rewarded. Email outreach has a reputation problem, and honestly? It’s earned it. We've all been on the receiving end of those generic, templated, and frankly, soulless emails that clog up our inboxes. No wonder people are skeptical when they hear the term "cold email." But when done right, email outreach can be a powerful tool for growing your network, making valuable connections, and even landing dream projects. Follow these simple commandments, and you're well on your way to more clicks and replies: 1. Reach out to others as you would have others reach out to you. Approach every email with empathy. Would you respond to your own message? If the answer is no, go back and rewrite. 2. For the love of all things holy, use people’s first names. It’s the easiest way to make a connection and show that you’re speaking to them, not a faceless group. 3. Don’t forget to personalize—always! Mention something specific about their work, their company, or a recent project they shared. It’s all about making the email feel unique to them. 4. Link to relevant case studies and portfolio pieces instead of your entire website. Show them exactly what’s relevant. No one has time to sift through a massive website—be concise. 5. Don’t diagnose—it’s gross! Avoid implying there’s something “wrong” with the way they’re doing things. Instead, frame your expertise as a potential value add. 6. Lead with a service that is an ongoing need—not branding! Focus on how you can genuinely help in a way that is practical and impactful. Start with the pain point they are likely dealing with. Branding is a hard sell through a cold email. 7. End with a strong call to action, such as a request for a meeting. Make it easy for them to say “yes.” Give them a simple next step—like a quick chat or a 10-minute meeting just to get to know them. Which leads us to... 8. Remember that this is about relationship building and not just a quick lead. Play the long game. Think of every email as the start of a relationship, not a transaction. 9. Always follow up. A polite, well-timed follow-up can make all the difference. People are busy—sometimes a second email is all it takes to get a response. 10. And above all else—remember that you’re emailing a person. Keep it human. Keep it genuine. If your email doesn’t sound like something you’d say in person, rewrite it. These principles have not only helped TheFutur Accelerator members (the program I run with Ben Burns) grow their networks, but many have booked dream projects by sticking to these commandments. Real connections, real conversations, and real opportunities start when you approach outreach the right way. Curious about how you can improve your email outreach? Drop your questions in the comments—I’d love to help you level up your networking game!

If you want to work with me, you have to jump through some hoops. I have a form for you to fill out and a price sheet for you to review before you can schedule an introductory meeting. Why? Because I have to know that you're serious. This form saves me time. It saves you time. And I'm only one person running a business, so time is precious. 🔻 🔻 🔻 So why am I telling you this? Because I'd like you to think about how much time YOU waste talking to clients who aren't a good match for your services. 🤔 What if you could pre-qualify your potential clients? 🎉 You can! And your website is the perfect place to do it. 🔻 🔻 🔻 Here are some ideas to get you started: 👉 Provide a list of prerequisites that visitors read before they schedule a meeting 👉 Be crystal clear about who you work with (and who you don't!) 👉 Talk about your processes and how things work so potential clients know beforehand if your working styles will gel 👉 Show your visitors how you're paid upfront so that they know they can afford you 👉 Be very clear about the services you offer so potential clients know if you'll be a good match 👉 Be yourself – in your videos, in your messaging, and on social media – so potential clients can be confident that they like and trust you as a person 👉 Make sure you have a robust FAQ section and search on your website so people can get their questions answered BEFORE they call 🔻 🔻 🔻 Do YOU prequalify your prospects before the first meeting?

If I had to build pipeline from scratch again, I’d follow this exact plan. I inherited a fully greenfield territory. No pipeline. No momentum. Nothing. The hardest part? Staying consistent without a plan. Spraying random messages wasn’t going to cut it. I needed a simple, repeatable process I could run daily. So I built one: 1. Build your account list. Start with your states/region/territory. Use your CRM, Google, LinkedIn etc. 2. Prioritize list by industry. Focus on where you already have traction. Use cases, referrals, or client stories. 3. Then, segment by size. Know who you're calling on. SMB, Mid-Market, or Enterprise. 4. Identify your Top 10 target accounts. Accounts you’ll invest in for the next 1 to 2 quarters. 5. Map out 5 to 10 decision makers per account.   6. Create a multi-channel outreach. (Email, in-person, audio, video, LI, mail). 7. Use your cadence to send meaningful outreach. That became my rhythm. It helped me build trust, pipeline, and momentum. I exceeded my goals that year. Greenfield doesn’t mean guessing. Like most things in life, I've had the best results making a plan and consistently working the plan.

Most lenders and execs I work with treat LinkedIn like a box they’re supposed to check. Post a few times. Hope something happens. Then complain when nothing does. Here's five simple fixes that take you from shouting into the void to generating results. 1. Engage with precision. Comments are free billboards. Place them where your future customers actually drive by. Making an insightful comment that gets bumped to the top on a popular post can get 10,000+ impressions and add a bunch of followers. 2. Watch your profile viewers. If someone walks into your office lobby, you’d say hello. LinkedIn literally tells you who’s peeking in. Send them a DM a couple of days later to connect. I've got over 50 coaching & business consulting clients. 100% of them came from LinkedIn. Good Content --> Likes --> Eventual Profile Viewer --> Send DM 2 days later --> Schedule Zoom --> Land Client. 3. Start conversations. Not spam blasts. Actual conversations. A quick DM when someone engages with your content is often all it takes to move URL to IRL. I tell clients all the time ... producing content valuable to others fills your LinkedIn pond with fish. But DM's are the lines that extract the fish from the water so you can EAT. 4. Post more often. It's like exercise for your physical health. If you jog 2x a week, it will yield results over time. If you jog 6x a week, it will produce the results you want much faster. No different with posting. I post 12-18x a week because that's the level that produces the most impressions for me. 5. Make the next step obvious. Most people post and pray. Instead, set your profile up like a funnel. If you want calls, make the path to “book a call” obvious. Every post, every click, every message compounds your brand gravity. That gravity is what makes LinkedIn the best growth engine I’ve seen in 20 years of business. To understand the power ... 2.5 years ago I quit a well-paying job I loved to start my own thing. And built a thriving consultancy on LinkedIn without spending one penny. Onward & Upward Consulting

Something I've learned in the past year as a solopreneur supporting small agencies and in-house content teams: They're busy as hell and don't always know what help they need. That doesn't mean they don't need your help. If you have an established relationship with a current or potential client, don't be afraid to send that monthly check-in email. Remind them of your availability. Ask how that project is going. Offer your services if they could be useful. I regularly send these emails to my recurring clients. I don't hear back on each one, but I don't sweat it, because sometimes I hear: "Thanks for writing, it's been on my to-do list to reach out to you about a new project." "I've been meaning to set up a call about something I'd love you to work on, what's your avail this week?" "I don't have anything at the moment, but you're reminding me that I might have a referral for you!" Here's a template you can swipe: --- Hi [CLIENT], hope you're doing well. How's it going with [THE PROJECT/PROBLEM/COOL THING THEY'VE MENTIONED]? I have some availability [SPECIFIC TIMEFRAME] for new projects, so wanted to check if there's anything I could take off your plate or help with. You mentioned your archived blog content [INSERT SOMETHING THEY'VE TALKED ABOUT NEEDING HELP WITH IN THE PAST] the last time we spoke. I recently helped another client run an audit [TELL THEM HOW YOU CAN SPECIFICALLY HELP] to determine what older content to keep and how to udpate it, so I've got a great system for that now. Talk soon, [YOUR NAME, OR THE NAME OF THE CYBORG WRITING FOR YOU] --- There's no hard sell, and no expectation of a reply. I find that sending emails like this every month, or maybe every other month depending on the response rate, is not too intrusive and gives clients just the right nudge to respond if they do have work for you.