Read time: 4 min

Jay’s Picks

• The Millionaire Skillstack to Master Before 2024 (ignore the clickbaity title — this was absolute gold) (Link)

• 10 Storywriting lessons that took me 2 years to learn (Link)

• The top 0.1% resources on the internet (rabbit hole alert… there goes the rest of your Sunday haha) (Link)

• A free 6-part course on how to start, build, and scale a newsletter business (I have 8 pages of notes from this) (Link)

• The most effective networking strategy (Link)

“Productize yourself!”

“Build digital leverage!”

“Divorce your time from your income!”

This was the advice that I brainwashed myself with early on in my journey.

I mean, who doesn’t want to have “assets that work for you while you sleep”?

But the truth is…

It’s not as simple as building digital products. These pieces of advice aren’t wrong. They simply leave out an important step.

What’s that step?

HAVING SOMETHING WORTH PRODUCTIZING!!!

Are ya smellin’ what I’m steppin’ in?

Many creators rush to build digital products and then wonder why they aren’t selling. And it’s because they…

1) Don’t have something valuable to productive

2) Don’t understand what their audience truly desires

And that leads to:

• Few sales
• Crappy products
• Low-converting sales pages
• Misaligned content and marketing

So what should you do instead?

Build A Consulting Offer

When you build a consulting offer… you get the opportunity to:

• Understand your audience’s pains and goals
• Get feedback on your systems and solutions
• Collect testimonials and social proof

Now let me ask you this:

If you could understand what your audience wants 10% better than you do now… what would that do for you?

Could you create more impactful content?

Could you write a more persuasive sales page?

Could you build a more valuable digital product?

Yeah? I think so too.

So here’s how I would build a consulting offer…

7 Steps To Build Your Consulting Offer

Step 1: Acquire a skill or transformation

To start your consulting offer you need one of two things:

1) A skill others deem valuable
2) A transformation others desire

If you don’t have either… that’s your first step. Invest the time to go deep on a valuable skill or build something worth talking about.

Your entire consulting business revolves around this first step.

You can use the DRIIP Method to start learning your skill.

Onward.

Step 2: Start free

I know what you’re thinking: “Start free?!?! C’mon Jay, you’re killing me here!'“

But listen…

When you start free you have the advantage that those who start paid don’t.

• You can more easily get your first clients in the door
• You don’t have to stress about doing everything to perfection
• You can collect testimonials and drive word of mouth before you start

Start with 10 people. Ask a few questions, get to know them, and offer free advice.

See this step like learning how to ride a bike. You start with training wheels and then work your way to two wheels. Get the ball rolling, then move on to the third step…

Step 3: Collect data

This piece of advice comes from my good friend Connor (who runs his own consulting biz, you should check him out).

Create a “Pains & Goals Database”.

What’s that?

It’s a database to collect your clients:

• Fears, pains & problems
• Dreams, goals, & aspirations

Remember: The goal for this consulting offer is so we can create more valuable digital products in the future.

So is it a pain to keep track of this database? Undoubtedly, yes.

But is it worth it? Oh baby, YES. IT. IS.

Let’s keep going…

Step 4: Ask for testimonials

Many people are afraid to ask people for testimonials.

Don’t worry, I was once that person too.

But you know what?

If you genuinely over-delivered value for them (especially if it was a free consulting call) - then you have every right to make an ask.

I use a modified version of Justin Welsh’s template:

“Hey [Name],

It was great chatting with you today, again don’t hesitate to shoot me any questions.

I have a quick favor to ask.

Would you be willing to write a brief testimonial about our experience working together?

Nothing super long. Just a few sentences describing your experience with me.

All you have to do is simply reply to this email with your testimonial.

Would you be willing to do that?

Thanks so much, [Name].

Cheers,

[Your Name]”

With me so far? Cool.

Step 5: Create systems and SOPs

The downside of a consulting offer is it’s unleveraged.

Put a fixed amount of time in → Get $$ out.

While this business model may only be temporary, you still can “productize” parts of your process by creating systems.

Here’re a few examples of a few systems I’ve created:

• An onboarding form to get an idea of what my clients are looking for
• Slide presentations on different topics so I can deliver the most value every time
• Templates, cheatsheets, and exercises I can walk my clients through
• A client care package full of additional value after we part ways
• A testimonial template so I don’t have to retype a similar message over and over again

See? It’s not so bad after all, is it?

Step 6: Raise your rates

By now, you have an army of happy clients, systems to run your calls more efficiently, and confidence that your systems work.

Begin to raise your rates in increments.

10 calls → Raise $50

10 more calls → Raise another $50

A quick rule of thumb on pricing:

Your client should receive 10x of the value of your offer.

So if you charge $100 for a call… they should gain $1,000 in value.

(I know value is hard to quantify, but that’s the mental model, at least).

Step 7: Productize yourself

The step you’ve been waiting for…

*drumroll please*

I turn to you, the audience, and shout into the mic…

“PRRRRRRRODUCTIZE YOURRRRRSELF!!!”

*And the crowd goes wild*

No, but really. Congrats. All your hard work has paid off. You have…

• An extensive understanding of your audience’s pains and desires
• Battle-tested systems and solutions
• An army of advocates who can vouch for you and your systems

Now turn that bad boy into a digital product.

How?

Well, this deep dive is getting long. So maybe… just maybe, I’ll write next week’s deep dive about how to build your first digital product.

That’s all for this week.

I’ll see you next Sunday,

Jay “I Literally Just Gave You A Full Playbook” Yang

New here? Wanna build a profitable creator business? Gently caress that big button below to join us: