Leah Neaderthal

Well, it’s been quite a year this week, hasn’t it??

Things are changing quickly. You’re watching the news as it happens. Your inbox is full of emails from companies you haven’t heard from in over a decade, telling you how they’re taking steps to protect you and their products during this difficult time.

(I mean, I was wondering how my childhood dentist is handling COVID-19…)

Your feed is full of hastily written messages that somehow ring hollow:

“Now more than ever, we need to pull together.”

“The world needs __________, especially now.”

“In times of crisis, we have to _________.”

Almost as if everyone is in a rush to be the FIRST to turn this into a positive, but optimism feels manufactured, since we don’t know what’s ahead.

Also, you’re trying to run a business, and you’re unsure what that looks like right now. And so you turn to resources. And to content. (And right now there is SO. MUCH. CONTENT.)

I’m giving you permission to step away from the content other people are generating, and to start LEADING.

WE… you, and I, … WE are going to be the adults in the room. WE are going to get to work.

When we worked for other people, we could look to the leaders to answer the question: what now?

But as business owners, there is no one else to give us permission or tell us where to go. We are the leaders we’ve been waiting for.

And as I mentioned on the Facebook Live I did on Friday in the Smart Gets Paid: B2B Consultants and Coaches Circle… how you show up right now, in this moment… is what will define you as a leader.

—

As the adult in the room, you have to make decisions.

Do I show up? Or do I shrink back?
Do I operate from a place of courage? Or from fear?
Do I do what is necessary for my family and me? Or do I do what I think everyone else will be doing?

Because I believe firmly in transparency, I wanted to share with you some business decisions I made this week — and the reasoning behind those decisions.

I’m hoping this will help you to make smart decisions for yourself.

Decision #1: The next cohort of the PYP Accelerator is moving forward.

Last weekend, I felt like something shifted, and we suddenly saw a reality that was much more uncertain.

And in times of uncertainty, we have a tendency to go dark. To recede. But that’s the exact opposite of what we need to be doing right now.

What you need is to be visible. Because otherwise, you’ll be invisible. Let’s break that down.

Your clients are still looking for solutions. They’re still hiring. Two of my students signed major clients this week.

The massive changes in routine that clients are all making …they aren’t designed to shut down business. They’re designed so that business can continue.

But the thing is, your clients don’t make snap decisions. When they hire you, it’s after they go through an internal education process, and the vast majority of that process happens behind the scenes, where you don’t see it. They’re watching you, consuming your content, reading your posts, and learning about how you can solve the problem they have.

If you don’t show up now — if you refuse to be visible — you will be completely invisible when your clients are ready to move forward.

On the other hand, if you get visible now, then in a few months, when all of this is behind us, you will be well ahead of the curve. While others are just restarting, you’ll be signing contracts and kicking off projects.

But that only happens if you put in the work and get visible now.

The PYP Accelerator teaches you how to do exactly that, in a way that provides value, establishes your expertise, and helps your clients go through that education process with you. It is exactly what will prepare you to not only weather this time, but be in a better position when things go back to normal. We owe it to our clients to move forward with it.

We get started tomorrow, Monday, March 23rd at 2 pm ET. If you’d like to learn more about it, there’s a link at the end of this email.

Decision #2: We’re accelerating the launch of The Smart Gets Paid Podcast

Earlier this week I reached out to every past and current client, inviting them to jump on the phone if they needed to talk through anything.

And in those calls, I heard that you need practical guidance you can use right now. The Smart Gets Paid podcast is one of the best ways for me to get you that information. So we’re fast-tracking production and working to get episodes out to you. This is one way I can be of service to you.

In this podcast, you’ll be able to listen in on real coaching sessions as I help clients solve the sales challenges that they’re facing, and you’ll learn strategies you can use in your own business, with your own clients.

It’s not easy to launch a new thing, even when everything is working perfectly. There are additional challenges now, including the fact that many of us have kids and families who are now sharing our space.

But it would be disingenuous for me to tell YOU to show up and be visible and not to live that value myself.

I also had to remind myself that I have a team of people who rely on me for income. I need to keep paying them, and in order to do that, I need to continue producing valuable content and serving my audience. So I’m showing up in all the ways I can because I have a responsibility to you, my family, and my team.

Decision #3: We’re adding additional resources to our programs while making them more accessible.

If you’re a Pack Your Pipeline graduate, you already know that you can join the PYP Accelerator again at no charge – this is a benefit of joining PYP. (If you’re a PYP grad and want to join this class, email team@smartgetspaid.com and we’ll send you the details).

For this Accelerator, we’re adding a special bonus Painkiller Workshop, where we’ll turn your messaging from vitamin (nice to have, but easy to delay buying)… into a painkiller (the thing that solves your clients’ acute pains and is a must-have).

We’ve also extended our payment plans to a full 8 months to make it easier for you to balance your many financial obligations.

Additionally, in the B2B Coaches and Consultants Circle Facebook group, we’re running additional free trainings. Last week, we talked about the very specific, practical things you can do right now to move your business forward and this week we talked about what to do with the clients who are already in your pipeline, given everything that’s going on.

Please know that I am thinking about you and your business and what you need all the time. You are top of mind for me right, and if you need anything, I encourage you to reach out. Even if you just hit reply to tell me you’re okay, I’d be grateful to hear from you.

Stay healthy — and wash your hands!
xo,
Leah

Hey! If you’re feeling uncertain right now, and a little stuck, I wanted to share three things you can do right now for your business to feel busy and productive. And read on for an invitation from me. xo, Leah

“It feels wrong to do anything right now…”

I heard that a lot this week.

I heard it from the coaches and consultants I work with and who are worried, like we all are, about the effects of a global pandemic on not only our health but our economic system.

I heard it from women whose clients are canceling projects, postponing work, and delaying payments.

And in this time when things feel up in the air, the women I’ve spoken to also feel… stuck.

“It feels inappropriate to be marketing myself right now. So what do I do for the next few weeks to stay busy and be productive?”

In the B2B Consultants & Coaches Circle, I did a Facebook Live about this very topic. You can catch the full video here, and here’s what I shared.

The first thing for all of us to remember is that this is temporary. This isn’t going to last forever, and things will go back to normal.

So here’s what you can do right now.

1) Don’t shrink back… get visible instead

In times of crisis, or at least uncertainty, our tendency is to go dark, get quiet, and sort of recede from view. This is the exact opposite of what you should be doing.

In fact, right now is the time to get more visible than ever.

That’s because one thing that hasn’t changed is that your clients need to go through their own education process before they bring on a provider. You need to help them build the Know, Like, and Trust factor with you.

This education process that your clients go through is part of the sales process – in fact, clients go through anywhere from ⅔ to 90% of the education process on their own, before they reach out to a provider.

This education process is totally hidden to you, because your clients are consuming information about you on their own, away from view.

If there’s nothing for them to learn from you, how are they going to learn about you?

That’s what I mean when I say that now is the right time to get visible.

It’s not about getting visible and trying to sell…. That’s the salesy stuff we all hate and can smell from a mile away.

It’s about getting visible and sharing your POV, illustrating how you approach your work, and standing out with thoughtful content that positions you as an expert.

Because when life gets back to normal, clients will hire providers again. And the people who’ve been showing up this whole time will be known to the clients who are ready to hire them and will have that Know, Like, and Trust factor… while those who have been silent will be stuck at the starting line.

2) Focus on your pipeline, and get proactive

I talk to a lot of women who have gotten clients almost in spite of themselves because they haven’t done anything to get clients, clients have sort of just… found them. Or they’ve come through word of mouth.

In uncertain economic times, clients just… finding you… that’s going to slow down for the next few months.

So now is the time to get proactive about filling your pipeline.

And for the next few months, I would recommend increasing your “pipeline coverage”.

I normally recommend that B2B coaches and consultants have 2-3X in “pipeline coverage” – 2 to 3 times as much in their pipeline as they hope to make in the next 6 months. That’s because even in normal times, projects may get pushed or canceled.

That’s also going to happen more now – one of my SIGNED students had 5 big leadership consulting projects postponed until the fall.

So right now you’ll want 3-5X in your pipeline instead, as clients are making tough decisions or delaying payments.

(Read on below to find out how you can do that.)

3) Make sure your work is a painkiller, not a vitamin

A painkiller is something that solves an acute pain, whereas a vitamin is something that we all should be taking, but most of us don’t (um, including me ).

If it’s not clear to clients how your business is different or better as a result of working with you — even in the very first sentence of how you describe what you do — then your work is a vitamin. And clients can go a loooong time without taking their vitamins.

So now is the time to make sure that your work is a painkiller, not a vitamin.

What acute pain is your client experiencing, that your work solves? You need to be able to communicate VERY clearly how your clients’ business will be different as a result of working with you, and how exactly you fit into their business.

—-

If you want even MORE of this… more details, more things to try, more answers to questions, you should check out the Facebook Live I did on Friday in our private B2B Consultants & Coaches group – you can find that here.

And if you’re ready to get a strategy in place that you can start implementing right now to set up your business for success during times of uncertainty and beyond, I’m teaching a live workshop this week called “Become A Sought-After Consultant on LinkedIn”… and you’re invited.

You’ll learn simple strategies that position you as an expert, helps your clients start learning about you, and brings your ideal clients TO YOU.

This is the exact strategy I use in my business, every day.

Since you’re on my subscriber list, all you have to do is click one of the links below and you’ll have your seat saved for you.

And if you show up LIVE you’ll get a special BONUS gift: My 25 Highest-Performing LinkedIn Posts – grab them, tweak them, put them to use right away. (But it’s only for those who show up live!)

Click the link below to save your spot now:

>> Register for the Tuesday, March 17th 2pm EST / 11am PST Training – Click Here << >> Register for the Thursday, March 19th 12:30pm EST / 9:30am PST Training – Click Here << We are here for you. And we can all support each other. If there’s anything I can do to support you right now, please send a message and let me know. See you this week, Leah

Hey,

I know there’s a lot on your mind right now.

You’re probably reading your feed these days feeling like things are a little… uncertain.

I’m seeing it too.

I’m seeing it in networking events, conferences, and other events getting canceled.
I’m seeing it in clients who are worried about projects getting canceled or pushed out because of the market upset.
I’m seeing clients worried about what they’ll do if there’s a recession.

For some women, uncertainty can make you frantic, trying All The Things in an effort to find the thing that works, so you’re protected from the discomfort of uncertainty.

For others, uncertainty can paralyze you. Without knowing what to do, you want to crawl into a hole, avoid the news, and hope it’s not that bad.

There’s an in-between option, though. There is an answer that will stabilize your business despite the uncertainty.

The answer to all of this is to have a full pipeline – to have security by setting yourself up to have clients, no matter what happens.

And not just having a pipeline today – it’s being able to activate a step-by-step plan to keep your pipeline full when you need new clients.

Like my client, Jill, a financial coach and manager for entrepreneurs said: “Once I filled my pipeline, in the two occasions since then when I needed new clients, I’ve activated the Pack Your Pipeline LinkedIn program and used what I learned in SIGNED, and in a couple of weeks, I got new opportunities that turned into clients.”

It is possible to run — and grow — a business during times of economic instability. The way you do it is by having a really amazing pipeline of clients.

Listen. Even if you don’t want to learn how I do it, or use my system, I encourage you to do something to learn how to fill your pipeline consistently.

—

If you want to see the exact LinkedIn system that my client Jill is using, I’m walking through it on a live training this week:

(It’s so important that I’m actually leading the training twice so that anyone who wants to can join at a time that works for you.)

“Become A Sought-After Consultant On LinkedIn: Get seen, get known as an expert, and get clients coming to you.”

You’ll learn:
How to position yourself as an expert on LinkedIn using just a few profile tweaks that take under 10 minutes.
How to get seen by your ideal clients AND referrers
How to use LinkedIn to get in front of your ideal clients, without sending spammy pitch messages.

TO SIGN UP: 1-CLICK registration for the time that works for you:
→ Tuesday, March 10, 2-3 ET – click to sign up for this time
→ Thursday, March 12, 12:30-1:30 ET – click to sign up for this time

I hope to see you there!

To your success,

Leah

Hey! Real quick – In two weeks I’m hosting a free live workshop just for women who want consulting clients to find you: “Become a Sought-After Consultant on LinkedIn: get seen, get known as an expert, and get clients coming to you.” There are two sessions to choose from: Tuesday, March 10th and Thursday, March 12th.

It’s Sunday night. You’re already mentally planning out tomorrow and the rest of the week. By Thursday, you should be able to hand off this project to the client, if everything goes according to plan.

Which means that by Friday, you won’t really have anything to work on.

When this project wraps, you have no fallback.

So here you are, doing what you tend to do when you know you need more work. Clicking around on the Internet. Grinding your teeth. Feeling your left shoulder all the way up under your ear and trying to relax.

And the stories you’re telling yourself?

But if I had more clients, I’d have to work too many hours.

That project looks too complex for someone like me.

I don’t want to look salesy.

So you just keep clicking all the things. You’ll figure something out. Something will happen and you’ll get your next client, you think.

But just thinking about this problem won’t solve it.

And the opposite is true, too.

Ignoring this problem won’t make it go away.

You need to take action to fill your pipeline — but it has to be the right action.

You don’t want to start sending out “friendly” connection requests and then immediately follow up with, “Hey, should we jump on a call?”

Do you like it when you get those messages? Me neither.

When you take the right actions — and they’re actually pretty small — people will start to reach out to you.

They’ll be the right people.

They’ll be looking for the solution you can deliver.

Your pipeline will start to fill up.

What if you knew the steps to take? Those right actions?

That’s what I’m excited to share with you in a live workshop:

LIVE WORKSHOP:
“Become a Sought-After Consultant on LinkedIn: get seen, get known as an expert, and get clients coming to you.”

Two sessions to choose from:

Tuesday, March 10 – 2:00 – 3:00pm ET

Thursday, March 12 – 12:30 -1:30pm ET

I hope you’ll join me, so you can solve the Sunday night problem.

To your success,

Leah

For most of my life, I was a quitter.

Here is a list of things I quit:

Piano

Clarinet

Soccer

Baseball

Any game I didn’t win the first time I played

I got into an Ivy League school — and then refused to take classes that I couldn’t ace. In fact, in my senior year, I dropped a class because I didn’t want to risk losing my cum laude status.

Yep. Me. Leah. 

You see, all my life, I had been told that I was smart.

It had an unintended side effect: I was terrified to do anything that didn’t result in me succeeding immediately, because on some level, somewhere… I felt that if I failed — or even just struggled — it would mean that I wasn’t smart.

It would be many years until I realized how much that was holding me back.

—

Early in my entrepreneurial journey, when I was running my first marketing consulting business, I came across a book called Mindset, by Dr. Carol Dweck.

When I read that book, so much of my life began to make sense to me. For the first time, I understood why I had quit so many things in my life. 

I had been raised with what Dr. Dweck calls a Fixed Mindset. People with this mindset feel that talent is innate; you either can do something or you can’t.

It also results in a lot of really capable people quitting a lot of things, just because they feel difficult.

Dr. Dweck contrasts that with a Growth Mindset, where people believe that with hard work and practice, you can do anything.

I felt like I had found the keys to unlock why I was the way I was. And then I got an even better lesson right in front of me.

—

When I met my wife, I recognized her Growth Mindset. She believed anything is possible. She had grit.

Suddenly, there was this person who didn’t let me just quit when something was hard. She pushed me to try harder. To struggle. To fail. She showed me that the world didn’t end when I wasn’t successful on my first try. 

Living side by side with someone who believes that if you try hard enough, you can do anything has taught me that the struggle is actually more rewarding than the easy success. 

It’s hard to admit this, but I actually went through a period of mourning for my younger, fixed mindset self. How much did I miss out on? How much could I have experienced, or done, or achieved, or simply enjoyed if I hadn’t given up every time things got a little bit hard?

And now I’m a mother, and I know damn well I won’t let Noah quit trying the first time he fails at something. 

That’s why I push you so hard

I know that it’s uncomfortable for you to get out there and sell yourself, because you probably grew up believing that some people are good at sales — or sports, or school, or art, or math — and some aren’t. 

I can recognize that fixed mindset in other people from a mile away.

You decided a long time ago that you’re not good at sales, which lets you off the hook. 

If you know that sales is something you can’t learn, then you don’t ever have to try. 

There’s just one problem: Sales is absolutely something you can learn. 

Also, I’m not going to let you off the hook. 

Take a look at me. I’m an introvert. I’m super awkward. I’m never going to be the person who is shaking a thousand hands at a huge event. 

But I can sell. 

Which means that you can sell. 

And you’re not going to have to learn to do something you hate, or become okay with being salesy. 

You don’t have to be the guy on the used car lot or the person without integrity. 

You can be exactly who you are and learn to sell in a way that feels comfortable. 

You just have to be willing to learn — and you have to be willing to work for it. 

No one is born with the ability to sell. Even people who are naturally charismatic, extroverted, and outgoing don’t innately know how to navigate a sales process with multiple decision makers. 

You can learn to talk about work in a way that makes people fall in love with what you do.

You can charge prices that terrify you — and get clients to agree. 

But you have to learn how — and you have to learn from the someone who can actually teach it to you.

If you’ve invested in sales coaches who spend all their time teaching you how to get the client on the call — and no time on closing the sale — then it’s no wonder you’re frustrated. 

In Pack Your Pipeline, one of our guiding principles is, “Don’t let a sticking point become a stopping point.”

That’s because everyone has a sticking point. It’s natural. It’s part of life. 

It’s what you do next that makes a difference. You can quit. Or you can work through it. 

Would you let the people you love give up on themselves? 

Well, I won’t let you give up on yourself.

For most of my life, I was a quitter.

Here is a list of things I quit:

Piano
Clarinet
Soccer
Baseball
Any game I didn’t win the first time I played

I got into an Ivy League school — and then refused to take classes that I couldn’t ace. In fact, in my senior year, I dropped a class because I didn’t want to risk losing my cum laude status.

Yep. Me. Leah.

You see, all my life, I had been told that I was smart.

It had an unintended side effect: I was terrified to do anything that didn’t result in me succeeding immediately, because on some level, somewhere… I felt that if I failed — or even just struggled — it would mean that I wasn’t smart.

It would be many years until I realized how much that was holding me back.

—

Early in my entrepreneurial journey, when I was running my first marketing consulting business, I came across a book called Mindset, by Dr. Carol Dweck.

When I read that book, so much of my life began to make sense to me. For the first time, I understood why I had quit so many things in my life.

I had been raised with what Dr. Dweck calls a Fixed Mindset. People with this mindset feel that talent is innate; you either can do something or you can’t.

It also results in a lot of really capable people quitting a lot of things, just because they feel difficult.

Dr. Dweck contrasts that with a Growth Mindset, where people believe that with hard work and practice, you can do anything.

I felt like I had found the keys to unlock why I was the way I was. And then I got an even better lesson right in front of me.

—

When I met my wife, I recognized her Growth Mindset. She believed anything is possible. She had grit.

Suddenly, there was this person who didn’t let me just quit when something was hard. She pushed me to try harder. To struggle. To fail. She showed me that the world didn’t end when I wasn’t successful on my first try.

Living side by side with someone who believes that if you try hard enough, you can do anything has taught me that the struggle is actually more rewarding than the easy success.

It’s hard to admit this, but I actually went through a period of mourning for my younger, fixed mindset self. How much did I miss out on? How much could I have experienced, or done, or achieved, or simply enjoyed if I hadn’t given up every time things got a little bit hard?

And now I’m a mother, and I know damn well I won’t let Noah quit trying the first time he fails at something.

That’s why I push you so hard.

I know that it’s uncomfortable for you to get out there and sell yourself, because you probably grew up believing that some people are good at sales — or sports, or school, or art, or math — and some aren’t.

I can recognize that fixed mindset in other people from a mile away.

You decided a long time ago that you’re not good at sales, which lets you off the hook.

If you know that sales is something you can’t learn, then you don’t ever have to try.

There’s just one problem: Sales is absolutely something you can learn.

Also, I’m not going to let you off the hook.

Take a look at me. I’m an introvert. I’m super awkward. I’m never going to be the person who is shaking a thousand hands at a huge event.

But I can sell.

Which means that you can sell.

And you’re not going to have to learn to do something you hate, or become okay with being salesy.

You don’t have to be the guy on the used car lot or the person without integrity.

You can be exactly who you are and learn to sell in a way that feels comfortable.

You just have to be willing to learn — and you have to be willing to work for it.

No one is born with the ability to sell. Even people who are naturally charismatic, extroverted, and outgoing don’t innately know how to navigate a sales process with multiple decision makers.

You can learn to talk about work in a way that makes people fall in love with what you do.

You can charge prices that terrify you — and get clients to agree.

But you have to learn how — and you have to learn from the someone who can actually teach it to you.

If you’ve invested in sales coaches who spend all their time teaching you how to get the client on the call — and no time on closing the sale — then it’s no wonder you’re frustrated.

In Pack Your Pipeline, one of our guiding principles is, “Don’t let a sticking point become a stopping point.”

That’s because everyone has a sticking point. It’s natural. It’s part of life.

It’s what you do next that makes a difference. You can quit. Or you can work through it.

Would you let the people you love give up on themselves?

Well, I won’t let you give up on yourself.

To your success,

Leah