When you want to be unique

Smart Gets Paid Podcast Transcript
Season 1
Episode 13

Intro (00:02):
You're listening to the Smart Gets Paid Podcast with me, Leah Neaderthal. I help women land higher paying clients in their B2B consulting and coaching businesses, but I've never been a sales person. My background is in corporate marketing. And when I started my first consulting business, I learned pretty quickly that it's about a thousand times harder to sell your own stuff than it is to sell someone else's. So I taught myself how to do it, and I created a sales approach that feels comfortable, makes you feel confident, and it works consistently. And now I teach women how to land higher paying clients in their B2B consulting and coaching businesses. So whether your client contracts are $2,000 or $200,000, if you want to work with more of the clients you love, do more of the work you love, and get paid more than you ever imagined. Then you're in the right place. Let's do it together. Welcome to Smart Gets Paid.

Leah (00:55):
Hey there. Leah here and welcome to this episode. So as I was putting together this episode that you're going to hear today, I thought back to my time in Chicago. I lived in Chicago for nine years after college, and I absolutely loved it. I still miss it sometimes. And I was thinking specifically back to a day in one of those earlier years, when something happened that really impacted me and I promise it's relevant to today's episode. You'll see. So there was a time during that period where I was in kind of a low place. I was in my twenties, it was the early two thousands. And I was walking down the street in Lake view, which is a neighborhood where I lived and I passed this used bookstore on Broadway. I'd gone in a few times and I had actually picked up books there before. And it was actually one of my favorite places in the neighborhood.

And on that Saturday, I remember that it was a gorgeous day and they were having a sidewalk sale with all these books lined up on tables outside. And I don't know, maybe it was just the headspace where I was at that moment, but this one book seemed to just kind of leap off the table and into my hands. It was as if it was calling to me and I just had to pick it up. So I bought it, I took it home and it was all about relationships between people and the dynamics between people's personalities. And it was actually one of the first, I guess, personal development books that I ever read. And if you know me, you know, that I'm a personal development junkie. I'm always reading stuff to better understand myself and other people and why we do what we do and how we can be better versions of ourselves.

And this book blew my mind. It was so eye-opening and really groundbreaking. And it actually changed the way I think about myself and other people and really a lot of things forever. The book was called I'm. Okay. You're okay. And do you know when it was written? 1967. 1967, I was reading it almost 40 years later. And I was reminded of that when I was putting together this episode, because as you're going to hear, the woman I'm talking to is afraid of something that I think a lot of women are worried about. That her stuff and what she teaches, is it new or groundbreaking or interesting enough? She's a leadership coach in tech companies. And you'll hear us talk through what she's feeling and reframe how she's thinking about her work. This conversation is a one-on-one coaching call that’s part of my Pack Your Pipeline LinkedIn course. So I want to say a special thanks to this student for allowing me to share this conversation with you, take a listen to our call and at the end, I'll come back and share how you can apply a lesson from this call to your business.

Message from Leah (3:15):
Hey, before we dive in, I want to invite you to something special as a listener of this podcast throughout this season, you've heard me mention the Pack Your Pipeline Program, my program, to help you stand out as an expert and bring your ideal clients to you using LinkedIn. And you've actually listened in on a few calls with some Pack Your Pipeline students. The next live class of Pack Your Pipeline, what we call the Pack Your Pipeline Accelerator is starting on June 14th. You get to work with me and an amazing group of women who are serious about growing their consulting, coaching, and service based businesses. And we're going to put the Pack Your Pipeline System in place in your business in 21 days.

We're going to make your profile amazing and sound compelling. You're going to learn how to position yourself as an expert in just a few words. You'll learn how to get on their radar and get seen by the clients you want to work with. And you’re going to learn how to help those people who see you take the next step to work with you all without sending a single pitch message. So if you're tired of clicking around on LinkedIn without a strategy, and you want to follow a proven system that works and works quickly, join me in the Pack Your Pipeline Accelerator starting on June 14th. Just go to smartgetspaid.com/linkedin-accel short for accelerator to learn more and see some results from recent students. That's smartgetspaid.com/linkedin-A C C E L. All right, I'll see you there.

Leah (04:07):
So how are you doing?

Guest:
I'm good. I wrote down a few thoughts. I wasn't late last night, but I wanted to say I love the program. So I'm super excited to be part of the community. Like, it's just been amazing. I like, honestly, as a fellow woman entrepreneur launching my business, I don't know how you do such a high touch program. I mean, it's just shocking. I've never seen anything that even comes close.

Leah:
Oh, thanks!

Guest:
Yeah. I really appreciate that. I mean, it's just like, like I said, I don't know any program that had anything like this. So, super awesome. So I have graduated my profile and there's a few things missing but I'm happy with it.

Leah:
Great.

Guest (04:51):
So then on my profile, I haven't done an article yet. I just haven't had a chance, but also, I mean, this is kind of insane because I was an NPR reporter, but I'm still in a mind shift. A mind shift about my value as an expert. I'm like, that's insane. Like yeah, whatever.

Leah:
It’s not though, that's the thing. It's not insane. That's exactly what happens when you go from working for somebody else where other external people tell you about your value to working for yourself, where you have to come up with it on your own. Talk about it. Let's talk about it. When you think about that, what comes up for you?

Guest:
Yeah, I guess like, what do I have to offer? What's you know, like I'm not treading new ground. I'm not like breaking any news. I'm like, why should, what I say be valued. So, yeah. It's just like that kind of internal conversation I'm having.

Leah:
Can I just offer a different way of saying what you just said?

Guest:
Yeah.

Leah (5:46):
Essentially, what I'm hearing is you're sort of judging yourself by the same metrics that they used to be judged as a reporter. A journalist, but you're not a journalist anymore. You're doing this whole other thing. Yet, you're still sort of judging yourself according to the same measures.

Guest:
Yeah. There's imposter syndrome too. There's a lot of that and all that.

Leah:
What did that feel like for you?

Guest:
Yeah. Just that they're going to, you know, they're going to find out, I'm like not who I say I am, they’re gonna find out I'm, you know, I don’t know what I'm doing or that I'm a fake. And it's not based on fact it's just based on the, you know, but it's my brain telling me that it's not connected to, like, the feeling I have.

Leah:
I know, listen, imposter syndrome is real and there's a whole Internet's worth of literature about it. But the way that we can tackle this here is, well, we've already started doing it because that's why, you know, we start with your headline, we start with your profile because that's where that shift comes in of how you talk about your work. Instead of like, I go in and train people, you know, versus really focusing on the value, because an important part about that is not just for your clients. It's for you to really say, wow, I do solve this huge problem.

Guest:
Right. And that was, that helped. That's helping a lot with that shift, just like looking at my profile. I'm like, Oh, I'm really seeing the value I bring. And that's, that's been really helpful in that.

Leah:
Yeah. Yeah.

Guest:
Just like getting out of my way and just doing it.

Leah (07:11):
Easier said than done, of course. But let's talk about the metrics set or the measures that might apply to your work now. You know, when people work with you, when businesses work with you, companies work with you. What do you see that tells you, Oh my gosh, this is working.

Guest:
I mean, everything I've done, I've gotten rave reviews and incredible testimonials and I've been paid a lot of money. I mean, you know, not everyone, but I paid a lot of money to do it. So this was sort of, some of those are external, but like, I feel great. I feel confident. I get good reactions like in the room and after. So there are a lot of metrics that tell me what I'm doing is working and it's bringing a lot of value.

Leah (7:55):
Yeah. And is one of the metrics that you have to break a new story? You know, it has to be groundbreaking. I mean, I'm saying that facetiously, right?

Guest:
No, I know. Well, there's an element of that. Like how am I being innovative? I call it like, what's my special sauce because the people have done this before, but like I do have a special sauce. And so is that innovative enough? I guess that's the part of like, am I breaking new ground? Like is what I have to say or do unique enough or innovative enough to be that expert?

Leah:
Yeah. Well, let's talk about that. So the women that I work with just like yourself, put a lot of pressure on themselves. Right? I know this intimately because I put in a tremendous amount of pressure myself to, you know, find a new way to do something, to be innovative, to be groundbreaking. The thing we have to remember is you're so close to it. It's not as novel to you, but people that you're working with and the companies you're working with and the teams, this is brand new. This is so innovative. This shift that you bring about in them is really groundbreaking for them. And so don't let your familiarity with it really sort of shade you or bias you against the fact that like, it's really cool for the people that you're working with. The other thing that I remind myself is this sort of trying to be innovative and really pushing yourself and being really hard on yourself. I guess it was like illustrated in something that I came across a couple of years ago. Are you familiar with The Miracle Morning?

Guest:
uh no.

Leah (9:34):
Okay. So this guy, Hal Elrod, wrote this book called, The Miracle Morning, and he has this really incredible story. He was in a huge car accident and he, you know, I think was going to die. He spent a lot of time, maybe he was, you know, in rehab to sort of learn how to walk and all of these things. Right. And he came up with a way of sort of living that helped him recover, helped him become a productive member of society, helped him feel better, all these things. Right. I'm sure I’m sort of telling the story poorly, but anyway. He dubbed that “Miracle Morning” and he wrote a book on it and he speaks about it. He makes like millions of dollars on it. Okay. Do you know what miracle morning really is? Do you know what his philosophy is?

Guest:
Like daily affirmations or something like that?

Leah:
No, it’s to wake up an hour earlier and do good things for yourself. Like workout or do some journaling or do some affirmations or whatever. Right. His intellectual property. Right. His IP, his entire methodology is, wake up an hour earlier. And when I read that book and I was like, you've gotta be kidding me.

Guest:
Yeah.

Leah (10:36):
You know, you have got to be kidding me. Here I am beating my head against the wall, trying to find the most innovative way to teach women how to land higher paying consulting clients and whatever. And this guy makes millions of dollars from “wake up an hour earlier”. And I was like, you know, Leah, it's okay to not be the most innovative all the time. I don't know. I don't know how that sits with you. But it released some things for me.

Guest (11:22):
Well I think I sometimes should listen to what I teach other people because you know, sometimes you teach these things and they become sort of like, Oh yeah. But like I tell people, it’s an improv principle but it applies to life and work. It's obvious. Don't be afraid to be obvious. And what I teach is that you think it's obvious, right. If it's obvious to other people they'll feel smart. Like, Oh, I, yeah. I was on the same page with someone, you know, it's great. They obviously, they get it because I was thinking the same thing. And if you say something that you think is obvious that they don't think it's obvious, it's like unique and you're adding your perspective and you're you come across and you're really adding value to them because you're presenting something they hadn't thought about. Or they did know. So like, you know, I teach that, so it's good to have this conversation and be like, Oh, I really should apply that to me.

Leah:
Right. I mean, we're so good at solving other people's problems. Yeah. So I agree. Don't be afraid to be obvious. Don't be afraid to teach somebody something that they actually know how to file away. Right. If you teach something so off the wall, they may not really have a place to put it, you know? And they may not be able to connect it to the concepts that they already know and understand and use. So remember a “Miracle Morning” and be kind to yourself, give yourself a break.

Guest:
I'm going to keep on, hold on to that.

Leah (12:22):
So, there's a lot here. But if there's one thing I want you to take from this episode is this: never forget that what you do and the way you do what you do can be groundbreaking for people. The story I told at the beginning about the book, I “discovered” 40 years later, that book may have been old news for a lot of people, but it was totally new to me. It happens even today when people ask me, Oh, have you heard of so-and-so coach? And I say, no, I haven't heard of her. So don't ever doubt that something you might've said a hundred times or a thousand times or said to every single one of your clients, there are still people who are hearing it for the first time. And for those people, your words could be life-changing.

Alright, this is the last episode in this, the first season of the Smart Gets Paid Podcast. In the last few episodes I said that this season was kind of a test for me. Just to see if it was going to work. And I asked you to let me know if you wanted another season and I’ve been floored by the responses. So thank you to everyone who left a rating or a comment on Apple Podcasts. Thanks to everyone who emailed my team directly or sent me a message on LinkedIn or just mentioned it in our calls. When I brought this up in an earlier episode I said that if you’re in for a second season, I’m in. I am IN. Stay tuned for news about season 2 and if you want us to let you know when it’s coming just go to smartgetspaid.com/future and sign up for the newsletter. So thanks for being with me on this journey of season one of the Smart Gets Paid Podcast. I’ll see you in season 2.