Preface xi other Works by Alan Weiss xiii Introduction: The "Ancients" xvii 1 The No Normal ® 1 Being patient until there is a "return to normal" or a "new normal" is like waiting for Godot. We have to act based on constant change created by a seismic shift in demographics, a historical tectonic change in technology, and constant change in social mores. Beside, "normal" means "average" or "typical." Is that who you want to be? Gaining Conceptual Agreement 3 Lean and Mean: Don''t Feed the "Chicks" 6 Scalability 9 The Remote (Seven-Figure) Consultant 13 2 The Reality of "Wealth" 17 A "million dollars" is a metaphor. Discretionary time is a reality. Too many people are refugees from corporate work who have "gone out on their own" and now have a tyrannical, tougher boss. Using money as a metric will only make you want more and more while working harder and harder. Is your idle really Scrooge McDuck? Value-Based Fees 19 Fee Formulas (Clients, Collaborators, Referrals) 22 Advisory Work Is the Future 30 Legal, Financial, Administration (yada yada yada) 33 3 Whom Do You Want to Be? 37 Ask a hundred people who they want to be in a year and 100 percent will tell you what they want to be doing.
The real issue is what you want to be contributing, how to continually raise your value, and how to manifest it. No Wind Is a Good Wind Without a Destination 39 Your Value Proposition 42 The Power of Solo 45 Who''s Pushing Your Buttons? 49 4 You''re an Expert Now, So Act Like One 53 Eschew the "consultant/coach/trainer/speaker" commodity traps and position yourself as an expert who can help others in a wide variety of ways. People may "want" a coach, but what they "need" is improved behavior. They may "want" strategy, but what they really seek is market domination. Thought Leadership 55 Process vs. Content 58 Critical Thinking Skills 62 You''re Not Selling, You''re Giving 66 5 If You Don''t Blow Your Own Horn, There Is No Music 71 A brand is how people think about you when you''re not around. Your most potent brand is your name. You need to identify your particular "public square" and become the person who must be seen by others to move forward.
How to Build and Sustain Your Business Community 73 How to Maximize Referrals and Reduce Costs of Acquisition 76 Skating Up to the Confidence/ Arrogance Boundary 79 6 Naisbitt Was Right 87 AI won''t take over the world but you''ll be lost in the world if you don''t intelligently utilize it and learn to employ it to help your clients. The "high tech/high touch" equation is more important than ever, and YOU are the high touch who must understand the high tech. Consulting Isn''t Advising, Which Isn''t Coaching, Either 89 The Uses and Limits of Social Media 92 How Executives and Business Owners Really Make Decisions 95 Better Practices in AI and Technology 99 7 Watch Your Metrics 103 Growth isn''t the point. Profitable growth is the point. Higher revenues are pointless unless you also strive for reduced labor intensity. It doesn''t matter what others are doing, what matters is whether you are achieving your life goals. TDTC (Total Days to Cash) 105 How to Write a Proposal That''s Accepted Every Time 108 Letters of Agreement 113 How to Reduce Labor Intensity 115 8 Marketing 601 119 The six options for exponential growth at any level (one is mandatory, the other five represent options you select). How to use disruption and volatility as offensive weapons to dominate your field.
Generalizing vs. specializing: Do you want to dig with an excavator or a pair of tweezers? My Unified Field Theory of Marketing 121 Passive Income 126 Collaborations 130 9 The Esteem Machine 141 How to constantly build resilience and momentum and avoid guilt, fear, and stress. Why social media, and people telling you how good you are, will sink you. How to see daily opportunity and not a long, slowcrawl through enemy territory. Self-Worth 143 Servant Leadership Is Ridiculous 146 Peter Drucker Didn''t Debate, Neither Should You 150 Maybe There Was a Monster Under the Bed 154 10 Eight-Figure Consulting 157 Establishing what you really need to become who you want to be. Picasso''s advice on the matter. What''s beyond "success" and what happens when you exceed your own aspirations. Join six of my all- stars and me who will tell you what we know.
Cutting the Gordian Knot 159 From Those Who Have Been There and Done That 161 Appendix 169 Acknowledgment 201 About the Author 203 Index 207.