Thoughts on Marketing, Positioning, and Scaling my Consulting¶

I've enjoyed writing about my indie consulting process. Today, I want to share some insights on marketing, positioning, and scaling my consulting business. This post builds on my previous discussions about referrals and the tools I use, focusing on how I've grown my practice through strategic marketing efforts.

As a former MLE, I had always relied on my hands-on coding skills to excel in my career. However, a hand injury forced me to adapt and pivot towards consulting. In this essay, I share my journey of becoming a successful AI consultant and the lessons I've learned about marketing, positioning, and scaling my business.

Transitioning to consulting and building a marketing plan
Generating leads and creating valuable content
Closing leads using situational assessments

How Did I Build a Marketing Plan for My Business?¶

The numbers

I publish about 10 blogs a month and close to a 1000 tweets a month and grow about 3000 followers a month. This results in about two emails a week from potential prospects at a 50% close rate. I make anywhere between $40,000 to $80,000 a month. Everything is on a monthly subscription basis and you can see my services page here

Transitioning from a technical role to consulting was a significant change, but I embraced the challenge. One of the helpful resources I discovered during this process was the book "One Page Marketing Plan". This book provided a simple yet effective framework for creating a marketing plan, focusing on three key areas: before the sale, during the sale, and after the sale (customer retention and referrals).

One Page Marketing Plan

Applying this framework to my own business, I defined my target audience as founders and VCs in the AI/ML space. My unique selling proposition centered around the scarcity of high-quality AI talent and how my consulting services could help clients achieve their goals while minimizing headaches and regrets.

To reach my target audience, I focused on two main platforms: Twitter, where many founders and VCs are active, and blog posts on my website, which could gain traction on platforms like Hacker News.

How Do I Generate Leads and Leverage My Data Flywheel?¶

The numbers

Up until May of 2024, I took about 140 hours of meetings every month. I would record a five-minute video for almost half the meetings, amounting to about 60 hours of meetings. This resulted in many voice memos.

The ones that I felt were applicable, I posted online.
For the ones that got the most attention, I turned them into blog posts.

I get on the front page of Hacker News about twice a month, which generates about 20,000 views a month on my blog.

When you start consulting, you realize that the first step is having knowledge, but the second crucial step is generating leads. This realization led me to become not just a consultant but also a content creator and marketer. I discovered that there are four main ways to generate leads: warm outbound, cold outbound, free content, and paid ads. Given my technical background and expertise, I decided to focus primarily on creating free content to establish myself as a thought leader in the AI/ML space.

A prime example of leveraging free content is my blog post "The rag is more than embeddings." RAG, which stands for Retrieval Augmented Generation, is a core area of my expertise and a popular topic in the AI/ML community. By sharing my knowledge and insights on this subject, I attracted potential clients who were seeking guidance in this area.

To ensure my content had maximum impact, I developed a data flywheel strategy. Whenever I had a meeting or conversation with a client or prospect, I would look for opportunities to turn those insights into content. If I identified a common mistake or challenge, I would record a short video explaining the issue and post it online. If the video gained traction, I would then expand on the topic in a blog post.

Investing in high-quality content creation has proven to be highly effective, thanks to my collaboration with my writer, Joseph.

How Do I Close Leads Using Situational Assessments?¶

The numbers

In the past 3 months I have been able to close about 1000% of the situational assessments I write, Based on the 6-8 inbounds per month, maybe 2-3 result in an accessment. I've increased my prices significantly lower the amount of inbound I get.

When it comes to closing leads, I rely on the situational assessment framework outlined in Alan Weiss's book, "The Consulting Bible." This framework helps me structure my proposals and communicate value to potential clients.

A situational assessment includes several components:

Appraisal: Understanding the client's current situation and challenges
Objectives: Defining the desired outcomes of the engagement
Values: Highlighting the benefits the client will receive from the engagement
Metrics: Establishing how success will be measured
Timing: Outlining the project timeline and milestones
Accountabilities: Clarifying roles and responsibilities
Credentials: Demonstrating my expertise and experience in solving similar problems
Terms & Conditions: Detailing the project scope, deliverables, and payment terms

When presenting options to clients, I prefer to separate the options from the pricing. This allows me to focus the conversation on the value and outcomes of each option, rather than getting bogged down in cost discussions prematurely. Once the client has a clear understanding of the options, I then present the associated pricing for each.

Conclusion¶

Transitioning from a technical role to consulting after a hand injury was challenging but rewarding. Leveraging frameworks like the "One Page Marketing Plan" and situational assessments from "The Consulting Bible" helped me grow my business and attract larger contracts.

The key to my success has been creating valuable content that showcases my expertise and attracts potential clients. Continuously turning client insights into blog posts and videos maintains a steady stream of leads.

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Thoughts on Marketing, Positioning, and Scaling my Consulting¶

How Did I Build a Marketing Plan for My Business?¶

How Do I Generate Leads and Leverage My Data Flywheel?¶

How Do I Close Leads Using Situational Assessments?¶

Conclusion¶

Recommended Reading¶