Corporate Escapees

I work with many cloud consultants daily, and two key problems come up in almost every conversation: They don't have enough clients, and they can't find good team members. Does that sound like you? In this episode, I will cover the second one and show you how to use staffing companies to continually recruit the best talent around the world.   Links 433 - Show Notes Cloud Consultants Collective SendSpark Join our newsletter   Connect With Paul  On LinkedIn On Facebook On Twitter: @PaulHiggins555 On Instagram: @paulhigginsmentoring Email: Paul@paulhigginsmentoring.com   Thank You for Tuning In!

Most business owners believe that sales is their problem when it's actually just a symptom of poor and unclear messaging. What is messaging, then? In this episode, Karthik Vijayakumar explains what messaging really is and how the right words can help you convert sales. All you need to do is tell people what you do for your audience and how you help them solve their biggest problems. And your website homepage (among other channels) should do that work for you even while you are sleeping. The job of a homepage is very simple: it should tell people who you are, what you do, and what you can do for your target audience, and offer a small little thing (lead magnet) to start a relationship. Yes, you can talk about features and services, but everything needs to come together, and that's what Karthik calls messaging.   Links 432 - Show Notes Karthik’s LinkedIn profile Karthik’s Website Karthik’s Podcast Website Messaging Workbook Cloud Consultants Collective SendSpark   Connect With Paul  On LinkedIn On Facebook O

In this episode, Nick shares how creating an audience helped build two businesses in parallel: The consulting side of things and the thought leadership. Both feed leads to each other, in addition to those coming from partnerships.  But how do you leverage those partnerships to get more leads? From his experience, it's all about being strategic. You need to get involved with their communities, engage with their salespeople, and understand their business perspective.   Links 431 - Show Notes Nick’s LinkedIn Profile Nick's Website Come Up for Air Cloud Consultants Collective SendSpark   Connect With Paul  On LinkedIn On Facebook On Twitter: @PaulHiggins555 On Instagram: @paulhigginsmentoring Email: Paul@paulhigginsmentoring.com   Thank You for Tuning In!

While your role is to help clients to avoid mistakes, it can be much bigger. Clients often underestimate the potential of their business, but you are there to help them think bigger. How can you do that? In this episode, you will learn about the helicopter view and how that helps you think bigger for your clients. But most importantly, the value for you to doing that.Links430 - Show NotesCloud Consultants CollectiveSendSparkJoin our newsletter Connect With Paul On LinkedInOn FacebookOn Twitter: @PaulHiggins555On Instagram: @paulhigginsmentoringEmail: Paul@paulhigginsmentoring.com Thank You for Tuning In!

It's a fact that the partner industry is changing and will consolidate in the next few years. The question here is, what are you doing to keep up to remain relevant? Doug Wendt is on the show to share his perspective on the evolving partnership ecosystems. Doug is the Co-Founder, senior partner, and Chief Growth Officer at Wendt Partners, an Elite HubSpot Partner and comprehensive technological solutions firm. He shares his journey to becoming an Elite HubSpot Partner, how to win in the new partner industry and how to build a culture that fuels growth.   Links 429 - Show Notes Doug’s LinkedIn Profile Wendt Parners Website Cloud Consultants Collective SendSpark   Connect With Paul  On LinkedIn On Facebook On Twitter: @PaulHiggins555 On Instagram: @paulhigginsmentoring Email: Paul@paulhigginsmentoring.com   Thank You for Tuning In!

The channel reseller model is dying quickly, which makes us rethink everything we know about partnerships and ecosystems. In today’s episode, Des Russell, Chief Partnership Officer at Partner Elevate, explains why you should take ownership of moving your business forward and not rely on your vendor to get leads. You will learn how the vendor/partner ecosystem is changing and what are the three problems partners face in the current environment.   Links 428 - Show Notes Desmond LinkedIn’s Profile Partner Elevate Website Cloud Consultants Collective SendSpark   Connect With Paul  On LinkedIn On Facebook On Twitter: @PaulHiggins555 On Instagram: @paulhigginsmentoring Email: Paul@paulhigginsmentoring.com   Thank You for Tuning In!

As a business owner for 11 years, out of revenue, profit and cash flow, I lost more sleep over the last one and sometimes I still do. I don't miss that feeling when you have taxes or payrolls to pay and no cash in the bank. Or you want to go and invest in an expert that you know will help you grow, but you just don't have the cash in the business to afford it. In this episode, I go through five traps most cloud consultants fall into it and how to avoid them to escape the cashflow crisis.   Links 427 - Show Notes Cloud Consultants Collective SendSpark Join our newsletter   Connect With Paul  On LinkedIn On Facebook On Twitter: @PaulHiggins555 On Instagram: @paulhigginsmentoring Email: Paul@paulhigginsmentoring.com   Thank You for Tuning In!

Starting a marketing agency is challenging, but everything gets easier when implementing the right systems and procedures for you and your clients. In this episode, Clodagh S. Higgins shares her insights on how to build a happy and healthy agency. She is a business coach and consultant for digital marketing agencies and an ex-HubSpotter who helps owners in the areas of sales, marketing, services, and scaling. She explains how the Gino Wickman EOS model can work for your agency, the 6 pillars to a happy, healthy agency and how the They Ask, You Answer methodology will catapult your agency.   Links 426 - Show Notes Clodagh’s LinkedIn Profile Growit Group Website Agency Life Podcast EOS Website They Ask, You Answer Method Book: The Happy Healthy Digital Agency Cloud Consultants Collective SendSpark   Connect With Paul  On LinkedIn On Facebook On Twitter: @PaulHiggins555 On Instagram: @paulhigginsmentoring Email: Paul@paulhigginsmentoring.com   Thank You for Tuning In!

Businesses of all sizes and industries have one problem in common: Marketing. And that’s why they bring in someone externally to help them build their marketing strategy. In this episode, Alisha Conlin-Hurd, co-founder at Persuasion Experience, helps businesses to increase conversions and scale their systems by uncovering what their target market really wants. You will learn the number one rule of marketing that many B2B businesses miss, how you can nail your strategic partners and how to make marketing easy for you.   Links 425 - Show Notes Alisha LinkedIn Profile Persuasion Experience Alisha’s YouTube Channel Cloud Consultants Collective SendSpark   Connect With Paul  On LinkedIn On Facebook On Twitter: @PaulHiggins555 On Instagram: @paulhigginsmentoring Email: Paul@paulhigginsmentoring.com   Thank You for Tuning In!

There are typically four ways to generate revenue in your cloud consulting business: Referrals, SaaS vendors, outbound and strategic partners. In this episode, Paul goes deeper into how to self-generate outbound leads. You will learn some of the common challenges cloud consultants face when generating high-quality leads, three steps to solving them, and multiple opportunities to get some help.   Links 424 - Show Notes Fast Track program Sales Machine Ideal Client Framework Sales Sherpa Snov.io Zero Bounce Book a 30-minute call Cloud Consultants Collective SendSpark Join our newsletter   Connect With Paul  On LinkedIn On Facebook On Twitter: @PaulHiggins555 On Instagram: @paulhigginsmentoring Email: Paul@paulhigginsmentoring.com   Thank You for Tuning In!

If you’re struggling with your systems and processes, you need to listen to this podcast episode. Kylie Harker, founder and director of Squirrel Business Solutions and a Zoho partner, works with businesses to implement robust systems and processes so they can make decisions based on numbers. In this interview, she shares how rebuilding her website has been a game changer for her business, her recruitment plans to keep up with that growth and why she will double her business in 12 months.   Links 423 - Show Notes Kylie's LinkedIn Profile Squirrel Business Solutions Case Studies by Industry The One to Ten Business Club Cloud Consultants Collective SendSpark   Connect With Paul  On LinkedIn On Facebook On Twitter: @PaulHiggins555 On Instagram: @paulhigginsmentoring Email: Paul@paulhigginsmentoring.com   Thank You for Tuning In!

We all know that YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world. But most consultants remain hesitant to add this channel to their marketing strategy. Why? Yes, it might take some work but what you get in return makes it worth day. Gareth Pronovost is here to explain how you can use YouTube to build your email list and bank account. But he also shares tips on starting your own channel and using it to grow your business. Finally, he explains how the platform you sell could integrate with Airtable.   Links 422 - Show Notes Gareth’s LinkedIn Profile GAP Consulting Website GAP Consulting YouTube Channel Cloud Consultants Collective SendSpark   Connect With Paul  On LinkedIn On Facebook On Twitter: @PaulHiggins555 On Instagram: @paulhigginsmentoring Email: Paul@paulhigginsmentoring.com   Thank You for Tuning In!

Sales doesn't come naturally for some business owners, so they instead spend extra time on delivery. But balancing sales and delivery is essential to meet your growth ambitions. In this episode, you will learn how to allocate time to sales and how to reduce your time in delivery.   Links 421 - Show Notes Cloud Consultants Collective SendSpark Ep. 415 – How to Spend 25% of Your Time on Sales Ep 2213 – The Marketing School   Connect With Paul  On LinkedIn On Facebook On Twitter: @PaulHiggins555 On Instagram: @paulhigginsmentoring Email: Paul@paulhigginsmentoring.com   Thank You for Tuning In!

Whether you’re starting a new business or changing the direction of an existing one, picking a niche is the best decision you can make as a small business owner. And Allison Strickland can confirm that.  She is a Salesforce developer for a large life sciences company and owns two of her own businesses in the same niche: healthcare and higher education for healthcare.  In this episode, Allison explains why the riches are in the niches and how she plays in communities to gain clients. She also shares her story on how to run a consultancy business on top of a full-time job and kids.   Links 420 - Show Notes Allison’s LinkedIn Profile Shea Hawk Solutions ATStudy Buddy Cloud Consultants Collective SendSpark   Connect With Paul  On LinkedIn On Facebook On Twitter: @PaulHiggins555 On Instagram: @paulhigginsmentoring Email: Paul@paulhigginsmentoring.com   Thank You for Tuning In!

Did you know that an entrepreneur will spend anywhere from 30 to 60% of their week bogged down doing administrative tasks and projects rather than working on sales? Valerie Trapunsky, a professional problem solver, is here to explain how an executive assistant can relieve business owners from doing it all by themselves. In this episode, we will all learn three options for clearing 30-60% of your work, what typically stops people from having an executive assistant and how to overcome those barriers and the difference between a thought partner and a VA.   Links 419 - Show Notes Valerie’s LinkedIn Profile ChatterBoss ChatterBoss Schedule Consultation Cloud Consultants Collective SendSpark   Connect With Paul  On LinkedIn On Facebook On Twitter: @PaulHiggins555 On Instagram: @paulhigginsmentoring Email: Paul@paulhigginsmentoring.com   Thank You for Tuning In!

I've been working on this ebook for months, so I'm excited to bring this to you today. I've walked in your shoes, from starting a cloud consulting business from scratch to building a large team to having a successful exit. And all that first-hand experience is contained in that fantastic document.  In this episode, you'll learn the three stages of this blueprint and the three elements under each. I also share where you can download the ebook to see how you're progressing against this blueprint.   Links 418 - Show Notes Cloud Consultants Collective SendSpark The Scaling Blueprint for Ambitious Cloud Consultants   Connect With Paul  On LinkedIn On Facebook On Twitter: @PaulHiggins555 On Instagram: @paulhigginsmentoring Email: Paul@paulhigginsmentoring.com   Thank You for Tuning In!

Would you be willing to donate money to a charity to get people’s attention and increase your email reply rate? That’s why Andy Mowat created Gated, a platform to reduce email noise and increase real connections. In this episode, he explains how you can get a 46% reply rate on your sales emails, what other things are still working in outbound and, the best part, a brilliant way to add value to your busy buyers that do good in the world.   Links 417 - Show Notes Andy’s LinkedIn profile Gated.com Gated Manifesto Gated Solution Cloud Consultants Collective SendSpark   Connect With Paul  On LinkedIn On Facebook On Twitter: @PaulHiggins555 On Instagram: @paulhigginsmentoring Email: Paul@paulhigginsmentoring.com   Thank You for Tuning In!

Many business owners don’t prepare their business for an exit because they don’t plan to sell. But when you do that early on, what you’re actually doing is making your business better today. And Raj Jha has seen that multiple times. He’s an investor and advisor helping businesses optimise their structure to get them in shape for a foreseeable exit in the future. In this episode, you will learn how to run your business without being an integral part of it, preparing it for a successful exit while getting a higher valuation.   Links 416 - Show Notes Raj’s LinkedIn Profile Exit Scout Website Cloud Consultants Collective SendSpark   Connect With Paul  On LinkedIn On Facebook On Twitter: @PaulHiggins555 On Instagram: @paulhigginsmentoring Email: Paul@paulhigginsmentoring.com   Thank You for Tuning In!

If you don’t have a background in sales, you probably don’t feel comfortable selling and spend more time in delivery or other parts of your business. But the truth is that you should be doing the sales yourself as a business owner. In this episode, Paul takes you through four actions you can take to get more comfortable and start spending more time in sales.   Links 415 - Show Notes Cloud Consultants Collective SendSpark LeadJet Ep. 302: 7 Actions To Get More Time To Sell   Connect With Paul  On LinkedIn On Facebook On Twitter: @PaulHiggins555 On Instagram: @paulhigginsmentoring Email: Paul@paulhigginsmentoring.com   Thank You for Tuning In!

Building a business from the ground up is not an easy thing to do. But It takes far less time to achieve it than you would think. All you need to do is surround yourself with experts to build your personal brand. And Bob Gentle is here to spell it out for all of us. Bob works with leaders at every stage of business to help them step out in front of their marketing. In this episode, we’ll learn the impact of personal branding on your sales and a personal branding roadmap for you to follow. He will also make a case of why marketers have burned you in the past and how to overcome it.   Links 414 - Show Notes Bob’s LinkedIn Profile The Personal Branding Roadmap Amplify Website The Personal Brand Entrepreneur Show Cloud Consultants Collective SendSpark   Connect With Paul  On LinkedIn On Facebook On Twitter: @PaulHiggins555 On Instagram: @paulhigginsmentoring Email: Paul@paulhigginsmentoring.com   Thank You for Tuning In!