As experienced marketers, you know that establishing a successful consulting business is no easy feat. However, Jessica Yarbrough has defied the odds by building a seven-figure empire on her expertise in assisting experts in offering high-value coaching, consulting, or training services. With a background in business and marketing, she knows how to elevate personal branding, increase your career opportunities,and generate effective marketing approaches that truly resonate with customers. Jessica believes that “If you actively build your brand on LinkedIn, you are creating future wealth.” And since “organic growth” doesn’t mean money grows on trees, we decided to sit down with Jessica to delve deeper into her strategies and ask for advice on how to grow as a marketer and entrepreneur.
As experienced marketers, you know that establishing a successful consulting business is no easy feat. However, Jessica Yarbrough has defied the odds by building a seven-figure empire on her expertise in assisting experts in offering high-value coaching, consulting, or training services.
With a background in business and marketing, she knows how to elevate personal branding, increase your career opportunities,and generate effective marketing approaches that truly resonate with customers.
Jessica believes that “If you actively build your brand on LinkedIn, you are creating future wealth.”
And since “organic growth” doesn’t mean money grows on trees, we decided to sit down with Jessica to delve deeper into her strategies and ask for advice on how to grow as a marketer and entrepreneur.
Join Leanne and Jessica on Markigy as they discuss how to:
From bolstering your personal brand to cultivating meaningful relationships with high-value clientele, Jessica shares valuable insights on how to take your marketing game to the next level.
Tune in to learn how to harmonize your branding presence across all media for increased authenticity and more.
To learn more about the science of Marketing strategy and the art of business, subscribe to Markigy with Leanne Dow-Weimer.
Learn more about Jessica and her business: https://bit.ly/joinexpertaccelerator
This episode was produced and brought to you by Reignite Media.
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[00:00:40] Leanne: I am here with Jessica Yarbrough and she is amazing. First of all, she is a business strategist who helps position clients to sell and create ultra high end services. So, She has a wealth of knowledge and I'm so grateful that you're taking time out of your [00:01:00] day to join me and have this conversation.
Um, if you could just tell us a little bit about you and your background.
[00:01:07] Jessica: Yeah. Well, my background was in business and marketing. Since I love the show, um, and you know, I started consulting at a really young age. I built a startup company, um, before kind of taking a four year hiatus For those of you who ever wanted to do your eat, pray, love journey, I did that to ultimately building a, um, a seven figure consulting company.
And today I [00:01:30] help a lot of experts in their field. So, People who have demonstrated excellence in the corporate world to then translate that into really high-end services that they can go in and turn around and coach, consult, or train, uh, in companies with their knowledge.
[00:01:47] Leanne: That's amazing. And right now I feel like we're seeing an even greater need in this economic climate where there's been a just massive slew of layoffs and people are like, what do I do next?
Yes. [00:02:00] Um, so I saw a huge alignment between one, the quality of your services. First of all, they're amazing. Um, but second of. In this gap where companies are looking for the most efficient growth, and one way to do that is to utilize outside resources instead of have the internal headcount, and that's where your clients come at.
[00:02:23] Jessica: Absolutely. I mean, the coaching and consulting world is a multi-billion dollar industry, so there's no shortage of need. There's [00:02:30] far more businesses than there are coaches and consultants out there. And you know, if you're someone who has worked in your role for 10, 20 years, you have gathered there a lot of intel, you have a lot of knowledge, you have credibility, you have, uh, an ability to go in there and solve problems.
And yes, for company it's very attractive because you can be specialized. Go in there and. Solve a need without having to go through HR and trying to find someone and, you know, having them fit the role. Not to mention how expensive it is beyond, you [00:03:00] know, um, just to have an employee from tax and, uh, benefits purposes.
So it's a benefit to the benefits, it's a benefit to the business, and it's a benefit to the individual and for the individuals, what they find is they have the ability to control their income, which is extremely attractive. You know, there is a ceiling that you're going to hit within the corporate world and what this, unless you're going all the way to the C-suite, which brings its own challenges, but in general, you have the ability [00:03:30] to determine your hours, uh, set your own income, take the projects you want, a lot more time, time freedom on the back end.
I'll stress that of, of building your.
company
[00:03:41] Leanne: Yes, absolutely. And, and that's something that really resonated with me because, um, there's so many ways to utilize being in charge of your own career outside of a typical corporate role. Um, for me, I used it to chase experience. I didn't want to be held back by [00:04:00] waiting for someone to give me permission to work on the projects I wanted to work on, or I felt I had a skill gap or that, you know, for some way, shape, or form I could add value and would add value back to my career progression.
Um, so this is something that I believe strongly in. Um, and also I, I just kind of wanna put this caveat is that it's not mutually exclusive to being in a corporate. You can do both ethically and transparently, um, [00:04:30] as long as you set boundaries and respect.
[00:04:32] Jessica: Absolutely. I have a lot of clients who will work a full-time job with the goal and do this on the side of exiting, and I have helped many clients who exited really actually high paying roles cuz they were able to replace their income.
I have other people who maintain their job and they use this. Do this as like a side income side hustle. And by the way, as an entrepreneur, I will say, I think every person that has a role should have a side hustle. Uh, just for the, tax break [00:05:00] and the additional income and the write-offs and all the things that come with it.
Like have that ability and know that you have something you can fall back on. Because that whole myth of the golden handcuffs, like anytime you can get a pink slip. So if you really wanna create certainty You know, then have something, a buffer on the side, uh, where you can count on that. Absolutely.
[00:05:23] Leanne: Um, from my experience was that I had things set up where my clients had a 30 day notice required by their [00:05:30] contract.
You don't have a 30 day notice as an employee. You could go in like in five minutes, just be terminated. Yes. And that's that. And have no recourse. and before we started our recording today, we talked about diversifying your assets. Your time is an asset and I don't think people.
Really have that sink in where they realize that, you know, time is money and blah, blah, [00:06:00] blah, but the amount of time, money, and effort you can put towards something is an asset that you have control over, and you can build your wealth in numerous metrics by having this kind of in your deck of cards. And, and not to try to like make this podcast episode into convincing people to be entrepreneurs, cuz it's just not for some people.
If it's not for you, don't feel pressured to force yourself into it. There's so many times and seasons and reasons [00:06:30] where one situation might be better than the other. but as far as marketing goes, if this does appeal to you, you know, there's, there's obviously gonna be ways that you're going to, um, be able to identify your target market as a consultant and be able to reach them differently then would be necessarily like a B2B SaaS or, you know, uh, e-commerce.
And, and so that's kind of, I would love to hear more from you about like, What are kind of the biggest [00:07:00] problems that people have when shifting into. Well,
[00:07:04] Jessica: let me just say, if you're a marketer and you're doing this, you're gonna be way ahead of everybody else. So congratulations cuz that's the missing link that most people struggle with.
90% of the, the entrepreneurs that are struggling to make that transition or to get traction or to go beyond, you know, let's say 250,000 or so, 500,000, it's a communication issue. So if you have a background in marketing, that's amazing because you are going to be [00:07:30] more effective at communicating your value, at creating your messaging and at positioning yourself as the expert.
So I would say that is a huge piece. Um, Most of the clients that come to me, 90% are not marketers. That's not there in their wheelhouse. I still have 10% come to me that are marketers because it is still challenging though, I would say less so to do it for yourself cuz your stuff still comes up. You know, like, can I charge enough like your inner.
Imposter self-worth stuff is still gonna come up even if you have a good grasp [00:08:00] on branding or messaging. So you have an edge, doesn't mean that you still won't fight your own battles or need support in other areas, but I will say it is a gift if you have, uh, the aspect of marketing, uh, in your suite of tools.
[00:08:15] Leanne: Yeah, absolutely. Um, there's a phrase that the mechanic always has the broken car because they're so used to doing it for their job that they don't necessarily, when they're off hours, they wanna turn it off or, or they feel kind of [00:08:30] cringey writing about themselves or, oh, like, uh, I'm not sure about that.
And, and that. Is a struggle for so many people. Um, but there's ways around it. And once you kind of take a deep breath and you're like, okay, I'm gonna do this, um, you know, One thing that you mentioned was about like the, the strategies for the, the target markets being a little bit different. Could you tell us more about that?
[00:08:56] Jessica: Yeah, I mean, if you are going to go after b2b, [00:09:00] obviously LinkedIn is the number one platform I teach on LinkedIn. It's phenomenal. Um, and then you just have to be aware of who you're marketing to and how that's gonna be different than if you're marketing to an individual, um, the kind of language that you need to use, the way that you approach them.
It's, it's different. It's more nuanced when it, you're marketing to the corporate world. The, the good, uh, thing is that if you've been in that world, you're familiar with that language. So it should feel more natural to you. Um, and I would say the biggest thing is making sure that you're owning your value [00:09:30] and, uh, and that you can demonstrate your value if you wanna be effective at, at.
Selling high value services. So a lot of, uh, entrepreneurs come to me and they are seriously undervaluing themselves. Um, and that's a combination of, again, that self-worth imposter syndrome. And by the way, I've even had. People who are clients who are C-Suite and Fortune 100 companies struggle with imposter syndrome.
So it comes up for everybody. Uh, the other thing is there's a general lack of [00:10:00] awareness of what the market is willing to pay. And so just know that companies have deep pockets to invest in outside. Consultants, and so make sure that you're not undercharging because no one expects the best to be the cheapest, and no one expects the cheapest to be the best.
So you need to come in there, own your authority, position your value, and make sure you're charging accordingly. Absolutely.
[00:10:23] Leanne: Um, the biggest mistake I ever made in my career was undervaluing myself and under and therefore [00:10:30] undercharging. And then if you, if you think about it, like if you position yourself in a, as a Groupon instead of as a Louis Vuitton, what is the level of expectation?
What are people expecting us to get out of you? And therefore, what conclusions do they make out of you because of your pricing? A hundred.
[00:10:49] Jessica: Your positioning when you're too cheap. Yeah.
[00:10:52] Leanne: And then the conversations that happen when you're not in the room aren't in your favor. Yes. They're, [00:11:00] they're, you know, they pigeonhole you to being at the group on rate.
So, so maybe you offer like one or two people a group on rate to like get a little bit of, you know, testimonials and content and proof concepts, but you've gotta put a time load.
[00:11:15] Jessica: Yes. And you have to absolutely go for a higher caliber market because if you are undervaluing, you're gonna keep attracting those types of clients versus upleveling and say, this is my value.
And keep in mind when we're talking about, uh, high value programs, we're not just saying [00:11:30] attach a, a big price tag for your time. I'm talking about positioning yourself to solve an urgent need to individuals or companies that value time more. They value time more than money because they don't have a lot of time.
Their need is urgent, but they have a lot of money to throw at a problem. Those are your perfect clients that can literally pay you six figures per one client and replace your entire corporate income. So you need to go after those people if you lower your prices. Then you're going to be [00:12:00] going after people who value money more than time.
They don't have a lot of money. They have a whole lot of time, and they're the ones that are going to pay you those for those low value, uh, packages and low value problems. Then you're gonna be trapped in a volume-based model, which is gonna exhaust you. It's not sustainable, which is that trap of the generalist I know, um, that I, I talk about in my guide.
[00:12:20] Leanne: we see this race to the bottom on platforms like Upwork or freelancer.com and, and there's a big difference between a [00:12:30] there is and there isn't, you know, nomenclature, right? Positioning, um, messaging, right? There's a difference between a freelancer and a consultant, and sometimes they're used interchangeably and sometimes they're, you know, at Con contemp.
Contemporary. Completely different ends, completely different ends of a continuum.
[00:12:52] Jessica: Absolutely, and you have to be careful about that. Like you don't want to be billing by the hour or submitting invoices because [00:13:00] what you've done is now you've diminished your positioning. You're not even on a peer-to-peer level.
They see you as more of an employee. They're gonna analyze it. They're gonna say, are you giving your value? Every month you want to be on a peer to mentor level where they're paying you that sum of. The hours aren't calculated. It's just the package and, uh, and your positioning is transformed. There's respect that comes at that level, and you don't have to worry about tracking and submitting invoices every single month.
They pay for a transformation. Here's the [00:13:30] investment for the transportation, uh, for the transformation, excuse me. And however they, uh, what your payment terms are, that's your payment terms. Yeah. And,
[00:13:38] Leanne: therefore you're eliminating most of the ugly, annoying headache part of. Chasing, chasing clients going out on your own like that.
That is the biggest thorn in your side that you will get stuck on is the billable hours.
[00:13:54] Jessica: Well, and you're cap yourself. A lot of people don't realize that. You know, it's like you are going to be tracking and there are [00:14:00] only so many hours that you can put in to a client because when you run a business, and especially when you go all in on it, there's far more to it than just client.
Sales, marketing, there's, uh, operations, there's accountant stuff, preparing whoever that's for your bookkeeper and for a lot of, uh, a lot of individuals like you are at the center of the business for a while until you, um, Create enough cash flow and go through sometimes the painful process, quite often the painful process of [00:14:30] building out systems and, and a team so, you know, you, you cannot build your way to a half million dollars.
That's, that's, that's a hard journey without burning out.
[00:14:41] Leanne: Yeah, exactly. Um, one other benefit that is kind of, you know, aligned with all the tasks that are associated with this is that the exercise of owning your own. Like project like this. Yeah. Therefore gives you a higher level [00:15:00] perspective, a more executive level presence and perspective when you approach projects for marketing, right?
All of a sudden when you've been the person that has to add up the line items and you've been the person that has to get your vendors, and you're the person that has to say, how much of my, my own personal money am I spending on this, and what kind of revenue do I hope to get from it? All of a sudden, if you were maybe more mid-level, you're starting to look at problems as more of a C level Yes.
Type of thing, [00:15:30] and that continues to compound your
[00:15:32] Jessica: work. Absolutely. Like you're going to, it's gonna stretch you, it's gonna test you, and you're gonna realize how complex things can get, and you'll be able to look at it from 30,000 feet and therefore be more, um, relate more to your clients and be able to articulate your value and the pa uh, the package and the project scope and all of that more effectively because you've done it for yourself, for all these different vendors that you've hired for your own.
[00:15:56] Leanne: Yeah. And, um, sorry, I, I really, obviously I [00:16:00] have a soapbox here. Um, but it also helps you as a vendor become, once again, if you're positioned as that mentor level resource, your customers, your clients, um, they start to look to you like, Hey, do you have another vendor that does. Uh, seo. Do you have another vendor that does photography or graphic design or copywriting and they hope to look, they start to look to you to weed out the shitty [00:16:30] freelancers?
Because, because it's a grab bag, right? There's, there's always gonna be good and bad at both. But, um, the point being is that it helps you see other people's.
[00:16:40] Jessica: A hundred percent. And it helps you become their preferred partner. And you can develop relationships, um, with your key people. I know I do with my clients all the time.
They of course, are looking for me. Who can you help for this role? Uh, and we have people that we can refer them to, which is a huge burden off their shoulders.
[00:16:56] Leanne: Definitely. Um, so, [00:17:00] you know, I feel like I, I kind of wanna like bring us back to the marketing strategy of it all because, um, you know, While business strategy and marketing strategy overlap quite considerably, they are kind of different, pieces of the puzzle.
So from a marketing perspective, you know what I am. What are some things that people should really think about when they're approaching like a LinkedIn to market
[00:17:26] Jessica: themselves? Yeah. Well, first of all, I wanna say I think whether you have [00:17:30] a, a side hustle or a full-time job that you should actively be building your brand on LinkedIn, period.
End of story. Because that's gonna help position you for a next role in another company. It will help give you visibility to ascend up within your own organization. And if you build your influence, you don't know what other opportunities are gonna come down the pipeline to sit on boards or whatever, even if you're not an entrepreneur.
Right? Right. So you should be actively building your brand and visibility on LinkedIn, uh, because you are, you are creating future wealth. You're, you're starting to, [00:18:00] uh, see those assets of your time. And so when it comes to LinkedIn, it's all about building credibility. The thing I love most about this platform is that it is professional, so it's not Facebook or TikTok or Instagram.
It's not about even like how you look. Uh, it's really about the message. And, and I really appreciate that about LinkedIn. I know, Leanne, you've, you and I chatted a little bit more about. Uh, how we feel about certain other platforms. And so the, it, it's, it's beautiful, it's professional. [00:18:30] The, um, the search filters on sales navigator are incredible.
You can really target and get a good sense of, um, key decision makers within an organization or even someone's net worth based on their job title. If you're. Uh, doing B2C on the B2B platform. So it's really, really amazing. But you need to, um, focus on building relationships and focus on building credibility for the very thing that you stand for, for the problems that you solve And, uh, and it will pay off hugely if you continue to [00:19:00] work the platform.
[00:19:01] Leanne: Absolutely. And where, you know, there's, there's a caveat is that sometimes people just don't know what problem they solve and they don't know what size hole they fill. And I find that through having conversations with other people, you start to see patterns of like what you talk about the most, what questions people ask you the most.
And you're able to evolve it and really put [00:19:30] words behind maybe some of your thoughts or
[00:19:33] Jessica: experiences. Absolutely. And also just start with where you're at. You don't know what to post, what's on your mind right now. You know, like start to get into the habit of posting and, and sharing, uh, value wherever you can.
Whenever you're trying to figure out what do I write about? To your point, what questions do you answer? What have your been and your biggest wins in the past if you are working with. Uh, a company, what are the big problems that you solve that you can attach your name to and say, wow, I did this for them?
Cuz there's [00:20:00] gold right there. There's some genius there, and that's gonna give you insight into what you probably should be talking about more and the kinds of problems that you should solve going forward.
[00:20:08] Leanne: Absolutely. now, because LinkedIn is a public forum, There is that kind of problematic, uh, confidentiality stealth mode or not NDAs that you do wanna respect?
Um, my 2 cents is that having a side project allows you to circumvent, you know, talking [00:20:30] about necessarily like your inside corporate role or confidential projects or companies. Yes. And then you have something that is wholly your own, that you have whole discretion over discuss.
[00:20:43] Jessica: Yes. And then a lot of my clients, they do have to use discretion.
So you don't have to disclose names or, uh, people names, title names, even, you know, company names. You can say, this is just a scenario that happened and here's how we solved it. Right. And you can even say in the tech industry, you can be very broad sweeping and [00:21:00] absolutely having a side gig will allow you to do that and not have to worry about, crossing any of those.
So,
[00:21:07] Leanne: yeah, absolutely. you mentioned sales navigator. So LinkedIn has like a suite of tools. They, you could do ads, you could do sales navigator, you could do premium, you could be a content creator. How do you kind of see like when people should use why? I mean, I know that this is a little bit more like
[00:21:27] Jessica: tactical.
Yes. Yeah, definitely [00:21:30] sales navigator, everyone can get on pretty soon. It's really economical. Uh, and that will allow you to filter and. Filter down to the people that you're gonna connect with. So I would say that would be number one. I LinkedIn ads are very expensive. Um, probably the most expensive of any social media platform out there.
I run LinkedIn ads. I know a lot about them. Um, I never recommend running ads until you have a converting funnel. So, you know, for those of you who don't know, you probably do know, but it's a set of landing pages that pushes people to one call to [00:22:00] action and you know it's working because it takes them to the next step to make a purchase with you, whether that's automated or via phone.
So if you don't have a converting funnel, you know, then you're gonna be throwing money at Uh, ads and, and you know, not converting those. So before you take on ads, I would recommend having that. And because you are competing, because it is, um, a B2B platform, you're competing with a lot of the big players, the software companies, banks, credit card processing.
And so you have to be [00:22:30] prepared to, um, one, have a high converting funnel. Two, uh, have a high, a high ticket product on the backend because the cost of acquisition is. High Or, uh, you know, a robust budget with high volume and sales team and all that. If it's a lower ticket.
[00:22:45] Leanne: LinkedIn ads are, are expensive.
Yes. They, they just are. Um, but it almost like pre. Target audiences. It, you know, because
[00:22:55] Jessica: percent, I mean, I'm a big fan. Yeah.
[00:22:58] Leanne: There's a time and
[00:22:58] Jessica: place for being [00:23:00] expensive. Yeah. And it gives me great clients and I can afford to pay them because of, uh, of the entry level for my program. So it makes sense. Um, but I would never recommend like a new coach or consultant take that on because you're still learning who you are.
You're still trying to find your message. You still have your systems to build out. And no matter what, even for those of you who might be further along and say, Hey, I'm thinking about. Running LinkedIn ads, I will never stop my organic game. Oh, never, never. Because organic is that [00:23:30] long-term trust building.
Continue to water your garden. Um, and yes, it's effort because organic is not free. It is earned. You absolutely earn their attention. To record a podcast, to record a video, to write that content. Um, but you know, there's still, I still have a massive, uh, a huge portion of my revenue comes from organic. And what I found is, you know, ads helps expand awareness, but then they start following you.
And the, the true [00:24:00] trust comes from the organic. So it's like you might capture their attention with the ad, it doesn't mean you're gonna convert them on the ad. So even the ads is a, is a long-term play and that's also important. I will say. The higher the ticket, the higher, the longer the sales cycle. And this is true for me when I sell to small businesses and even truer for those that sell to big corporations that have very long sales cycles with lots of red tape.
And so just know that even when you're investing in ads, [00:24:30] it doesn't mean instant sales. There's still the trust building campaign that needs to happen organically. And there's the awareness and time component that's gonna happen with the ads as.
[00:24:40] Leanne: Absolutely. And, and there's one thing I wanna call out here is that we are all thinking about customer buying cycle when it comes to like our, our day job in corporate, right?
We're like, okay, well I'm a B2B SaaS marketer. And the, the fire cycle, you know, first it, it takes about like six months to a year. [00:25:00] And the thing that I want people to remember is, If you're posting consistently, you have to remember that people's buying cycle for hiring. You might also be six months to a year.
Absolutely. So you might need to be posting every single day for, you know, 12 months before you see your return. But by the time you make that, that that conversion is that it's a [00:25:30] friend buying from a.
[00:25:31] Jessica: Yes, because 80% of sales happen before conversation ever takes place. If your marketing is done right, that is 80% of the conversation.
So when they come to you, it is not convince me, you know, are you the right person? Who are you, they should already know, like, and trust you. And it's an alignment conversation. Like, do I wanna help you? This is me. Do I want you as a client? Do I want you to have access to me? Do I, you know, do I wanna invite you into my inner circle, if you [00:26:00] will?
Um, and, and that's really, What, what great marketing is is having that long-term trust campaign where you get on the phone with someone and they're like, I love everything that you write. I, you're so consistent. I feel like you're, are you listening to the conversation I'm having with my husband at dinner?
You're in my head like, that's what you want. All of that can be done, but absolutely am. Like what you said is, I feel like so many people do it for a couple months and give up like. Like during Covid, we saw the, the most podcast launch [00:26:30] ever. It sounds like there's a 30% drop off. It's insane because people don't stick with something long enough for it to have a compound effect.
Right. So just like your podcast, just like posting, it's a compound effect, but you have to do it well, and you have to do it for a long time. That's why I say it takes 10 years of consistently showing up seven days a week to get to thought leadership. How else are you gonna anchor in your ideal client's mind that you are an expert if you don't do it and do it [00:27:00] consistently for that magic component of time, uh, year after year?
[00:27:04] Leanne: Yeah, there's that book about like 10,000. hours Yes. Um, I love that book 10,000 posts,
[00:27:09] Jessica: right? Right.
[00:27:10] Leanne: 10,000 posts. But, but really, I mean, When I can think about five years ago when LinkedIn was a little bit different than it is now, and I was looking for my first clients and I just put out like one post and I got like three clients.
But those were people that had already met me in person. They watched me go through business [00:27:30] school. They were like, they saw how much caffeine I consumed and they were like, She's gonna get shit done for me. Yes. Um, and you know that that's what you want to happen for strangers or, you know, they were strangers, but now you're bringing them into your inner circle.
You want them to, to be that familiar with you, and that just takes time.
[00:27:51] Jessica: Well, and I think what it's important to understand is that especially for LinkedIn, they're a more sophisticated. buyer So it's not Facebook where [00:28:00] people are like, even though I did get a message from hilarious LinkedIn in mail or whatever where somebody was like, I'm giving away my $12,000 coaching course for free.
And I'm just laughing cause I'm like, this does not work on this platform. Um, not for the high caliber buyers. And so it, it's not that it's not $27 course flashy hears my Lamborghini or whatever. None of that stuff works on LinkedIn. It's sophisti sophisticated, high level buyer. And so I feel like they even watch.
Longer than they would on other [00:28:30] platforms. They're not as impulse buyers, right? It's not their first rodeo. The, uh, slick tricks don't work. So they want to see, are you, who you say you are, um, that old term in, uh, wor uh, website development, wizzywig, what you see is what you get. Like, is that you? And they're only gonna know through that component of time and saying, do they show up consistently?
Are they saying the same thing? Are they still speaking to me? And, and that's the game for LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the long-term game, but if you're willing to play the [00:29:00] long-term game, it's very fruit. Very fruitful. It's the highest caliber, highest paying clients that you're going to get. Um, and they're a joy to work with because they're professional.
Absolutely.
[00:29:12] Leanne: So if, if you're, you know, like if we're gonna take a couple steps back and we're gonna do some marketing 1 0 1, go to where your audience is at. If that's your audience, that's where they're at. They're not on Snapchat looking for consultants. They're not on Reddit. I mean, [00:29:30] maybe they are, but they're not on Reddit being like, yeah, that's the person I'm gonna pay, you know, six figures.
Two to answer my problems. Now, I'm not saying those don't, things don't happen in outlier situations. Mm-hmm. But that's not the context of the places. Yes. if someone's trying to define their target market, what else can they do? Like, or, or how can they do market research on LinkedIn? [00:30:00] Identify more about their icp?
[00:30:02] Jessica: Well, they can definitely use sales navigator and Target by company size and industries and job titles and years of experience and years at the company. So you can do deep dive targeting on LinkedIn, but I'm a big fan of surveying. Mm-hmm. I feel like the best way to know your ideal clients to get on the phone with them and survey.
So a combination of doing research, because we've got great companies like Mackenzie and Deloitte who have. Millions of dollars doing research. So feel free to [00:30:30] mine that data on your behalf as a consultant. Um, and then also to actually get on the phone and speak to your ideal client, you know, and I think that is the most powerful way to understand who they are and what they're struggling with.
The key is though, and this is what most people get wrong, is you gotta ask the right question. So a lot of people are very generic and you've gotta ask the right questions to build the information that you need. So whenever someone comes to me and we do some of these exercises, they'll be like, oh, I've done this before.
And then I'm like, well, we're gonna do it again. And they have massive [00:31:00] breakthroughs cuz they realize they've never really done it right. Yeah. I mean,
[00:31:03] Leanne: your super skill needs to be what questions you ask. Yes. Um, sales. What? Sales,
[00:31:10] Jessica: it's all about the questions that you're asking.
[00:31:13] Leanne: If you're asking the wrong questions, you're gonna get the wrong answers.
Yeah. And you're just gonna go down, uh, the wrong pathway. so if we are thinking about a situation where, what we're talking about here is not ideal, um, or it's this strategy is, you know, [00:31:30] of personal branding on LinkedIn is the wrong fit, what, who or when would
[00:31:34] Jessica: that. You mean where it's not a right fit for to market on LinkedIn?
[00:31:39] Leanne: Yeah. Like, like when would, would, uh, this personal branding kind of move, um, you know, as marketing ourselves, h where would this strategy be? Like, who would this be wrong for? Who would you be like, mm, you know what, maybe you should just not do that.
[00:31:52] Jessica: I would say, for example, health coaches, unless you are marketing to the corporate world, meaning you wanna [00:32:00] teach wellness programs, absolutely.
If you want to sell, like you wanna speak on burnout, recovery, you know, um, then I would say LinkedIn is the place for you. But if you're trying to sell health co healthcare, coaching, you know, two individuals, you're better off on a platform like I. Yeah, I would say that's it. That would be the main thing.
But if you're, if you are an executive coach, leadership coach, strategists of any kind, operations, marketing, business, if you are change management, if you are a healthcare [00:32:30] consultant, if you do any kind of career coaching, absolutely. You know, LinkedIn is the place for you.
[00:32:37] Leanne: Agreed. Um, recently I got stuck in a loop of ads where it was all this woman holding out her waistband to show how much weight she lost, and it was like every five ads.
I was like, first of all, this is a glitch, but second of all, this is LinkedIn. Yes, like it's. It's rude to assume that just because I am, uh, I [00:33:00] have this gender and I'm of this age range, that I automatically wanna lose weight and that your services are the only way for me to do that. Like gross.
[00:33:10] Jessica: I've never seen that on.
On there. Usually the ads that I'm being served are for softwares or for like a Get your Masters and Oh yeah, those for sure. Kinds of, those are the main ones that I'm seeing. I don't even actually get served a lot of lead generation, uh, things. Most of that is happening in my, uh, Dms constantly. [00:33:30] Oh yeah.
The, the patient, 75 qualified appointments per week. Our setters don't, you don't pay until they close. And all of those canned, uh, messages that are constantly, uh, being, uh, sent out on LinkedIn. Don't buy that from those companies. Buy those.
[00:33:46] Leanne: No, no. Don't. If, if you're gonna use automation, use it to like, say hello.
But don't use it to be like, we're connected. Buy now. Like I just, I just blocked someone for this again. Right. Because this is a daily occurrence.[00:34:00] so, uh, automation tips, just real quick, if people need to hear this somehow, um, you know, This far into 2023 and somehow people are still doing this. Do not, um, don't do it.
Don't pitch Slack
[00:34:14] Jessica: people. Yeah, don't spam. In fact, I would highly recommend your audience going to my YouTube channel and watching the dos and don'ts of LinkedIn Lead Generation in 2023. I think we just dropped it like a week or two ago, and I talk about that. And I also teach you what to do. So go and watch that.
And I [00:34:30] said, save yourself some embarrassment, I think is what I said. Yes. You
[00:34:34] Leanne: should be embarrassed if you are spamming people in pitch, slapping them, you should be embarrassed. You probably aren't. And that's the problem.
[00:34:42] Jessica: Well, and I think this goes back to the long term credibility, uh, building campaign.
So what is your endgame? What's the endgame for LinkedIn for you? Is it some ca some quick cash grab because those strategies do. For a certain kind of market, and you need to think about, but at what costs? [00:35:00] So if you are able to grab a quick 3000 or 5,000 or $10,000, but you just turned off 99% of your ideal clients, who could pay you six figures, then was it worth it?
Because there is a cost to everything. So, Does the spam work? Yes. I'm sure that, uh, scraping data, which is a gray area and a no-no, which I also talk about in the video and cold emailing people against without their permission and even texting. I've had people pull my [00:35:30] phone number down and text me without permission.
All of those tactics, are they going to work and get you some cash? Sure. But what is the long term cost to all the amazing clients that could have paid you a lot more, that you totally turned. With those, uh, kind of spammy tactics,
[00:35:46] Leanne: right? It's all about what is the product, what are you selling, and who are you selling to, and how do they like to be communicated with?
Yes. Now, you know, if I'm signing up for, um, like, uh, one of [00:36:00] those meal kit subscriptions, Yes. That's where texting makes
[00:36:04] Jessica: great sense. Yeah. Yeah. Update your menu for the week. It's time, but I'm talking about not volunteering,
[00:36:09] Leanne: not even. Right. Right. Exactly. And that's where the context of your ideal client matters so much.
Um, they're not gonna be impressed with the gift.
[00:36:21] Jessica: And the reason why I say that is because if you are, you know, entering entrepreneurship or you're trying to get clients, the people that are going to be marketing the hardest to you [00:36:30] are those kinds of. And just, you have to look at what's the end game and what's, what's it worth?
And again, patience, I feel like is one of the most underrated qualities of being successful. You know, everybody wants it and they want it now. Like they wanna snap their fingers and be on the beach in Mexico with a MI tie in their computer. Which no one wants to, by the way, work on their computer at the beach.
It's sandy. The sun is bright, so don't buy into that illusion. Um,
[00:36:59] Leanne: you can't [00:37:00] see anything. There's bugs. It's like your win, your notebook is blown around. It's actually very
[00:37:05] Jessica: unpleasant. It's unpleasant. You, you wanna go on vacation and like shut the laptop. So, um, you just need to be aware of that and, and be aware of like, Hey, I'm in it to play the.
Long game. And I know that if I do things and I do it right, and I approach people the right way with a amount, uh, the, the right amount of rapport and respect, and I build that credibility that I'll land these clients and then I'm gonna, once I land them and they entrust me with this [00:37:30] large sum of money, I'm gonna do everything in my power to ensure that they are set up for success to get the results promised.
And then I'm gonna take those. And I'm gonna use those as case studies to drive brand reputation and create more demand for my services. It is not the quick approach, it is not the sexy approach, but it is the one that is long lasting, and it is the one that will elevate you to a expert authority and create trust in the marketplace, versus being positioned for the [00:38:00] low level, you know, spray and pray.
Grab and go pitch, slap. Marketers out there.
[00:38:09] Leanne: Yeah, I mean, there's,
and, and coming back to, you know, equating this with, you know, typical marketing metrics and models and things like that, is what is your cash runway? How are you, what is your churn rate? What is your, you know, lifetime value for a customer? What is your pipeline [00:38:30] velocity? How are you demand gen? Like what are you doing for demand gen for yourself as a professional?
And when you start to apply all of those business principles to yourself and to your career, and you realize that your career is a business unit of one, it changes everything. Hundred percent. and now I hope you got the goosebumps from that listeners, because I did, uh, But, you know, um, there's so many metrics of being successful and I [00:39:00] think that, you know, kind of circling back to something that you said Jessica earlier, was that on your own terms, life balance
[00:39:08] Jessica: kind of aspect of it?
Yes, it's huge. You know what, and so many people are sitting and maybe this is your, you're at your desk and you're like, I feel like my. Seeping out of me. Okay. That's, that's that voice telling you it's time to make a change. And so if you want to create time freedom, I'm not saying this is the easiest path, the easiest path for me, when I started my company, I was a single mom, pregnant with my [00:39:30] daughter, would've been to get a job, a marketing job, and to say, okay, here's my six figures, here's my two weeks vacation.
There's no way that I wanted to do that. Not after my eat, pray, love journey. Cause I had tasted the freedom of travel, you know, and, and that's what I wanted to do, but, If you truly want to set your hours and if you truly want to control your income, then entrepreneurship is the way to go. It took me many years to build to the level that I'm at today and a a lot of hard lessons, and it definitely stretched me as a [00:40:00] person.
But you know, I can honestly say that I work 25 to 30 hours a. That I never work Fridays, that I pick up my daughter and, and drop her off and I'm present for everything in her life. And that we take five to six weeks for vacation per year, and there's no way I would be ever at this level of income, much less freedom in terms of travel and time if I had not been on this entrepreneurial journey.
So be willing to do the things [00:40:30] that most people aren't willing to do now, to have the things that most people will never. Exactly.
[00:40:37] Leanne: Um, and it's not for everyone. You ha like it and then that's okay. There's no judgment one way or another. Um, you know, some people. Feel better in the security of the typical corporate structure.
They, they like that someone else is doing the counting. They like that someone else is handing out assignments and, and there's, that can be a wonderful [00:41:00] system for people to flourish. And if they, you know, take their, um, their salary and they live within their means, they can build wealth that way
[00:41:09] Jessica: too. Yes, absolutely.
Through investment play, the long game that.
[00:41:15] Leanne: It's so, I just, I as, as much as I love entrepreneurship, I always wanna make room for everybody to feel like they have some way to do this and not feel overwhelmed because it can be fun. It's a lot of fun [00:41:30] for me. Um, because I like to, to experiment. Um, I like to have control over things and.
Play around just for funsies. You know, I would never have, I am a chalkboard background with like purple and pink for a financial institution. Um, that's about right for them, but this is right for me because it's fun. Yeah. Um, and so I just want people [00:42:00] to have fun with
[00:42:01] Jessica: work, have fun, and again, entrepreneurs, not the ships, not for everybody, but you can certainly start building your personal brand to help position.
For next level leadership positions, opportunities, speaking engagements. I mean, I was just chatting with my best friend who's not interested in entrepreneurship, like she's, uh, you know, kind of climbed her way up and sought after and all of that. But she was like, I really enjoy speaking. I. I could do speaking on the side.
And I was like, uh, yeah, [00:42:30] you absolutely can. I mean, you could go get $25,000 for a keynote, uh, uh, speech. And she was like, huh. So even her who hasn't, who will always have a job and that security and really loves like the whole dynamic of corporate and the structure and all of that, even, she's like, oh, this is something that could be a passion side thing.
That would be fun that. Hey, launching a full on coaching consulting business, but hey, I do some speaking on this side [00:43:00] and it's passion and it, and it, and it would give her joy and she could have fun with it and make some money. So, you know, you can be open to the possibilities. There's always something.
Follow your passion. Um, do something that lights you up and, uh, if it can put money in your pocket, even. Absolutely.
[00:43:16] Leanne: on that note, if someone wanted to learn more, what kind of, what are some things that they would do, um, in order to hear more about what you have
[00:43:27] Jessica: to say? I would definitely say go to Jessica [00:43:30] yer.com/influence and download my 33 page guide on the four la the four levels of the ladder of influence and how you ultimately grow your authority to scale a seven figure plus company.
Um, I would always say also say, connect with me on LinkedIn. Please send me a connection request and let me know you heard me on this show. And of course I put out content every single day on LinkedIn and, uh, daily on YouTube as.
[00:43:54] Leanne: Awesome. And then for the people that are only listening and not watching the video part, how do they [00:44:00] spell your
[00:44:00] Jessica: name?
Y a r or Jessica, j e s s i c a. Last name Yarbrough, Y A R B R O U G H. Great.
[00:44:11] Leanne: And we, we will have links in the show notes, um, but just in case you're, you. You wanna just act on it right now? That's, that's the way to do it. Um, Jessica, thank you so much for your time and joining me today. Um, this has been a wonderful conversation.
Um, thank you for indulging my passion for [00:44:30] entrepreneurism.
[00:44:31] Jessica: Oh, thank you so much for having me on this show, Leanne. It was apl pleasure and thanks everybody.
[00:44:35] Leanne: Thank you. Um, and if anyone has any questions for me, it's info@markigy, m a r k i g y, dot com
[00:45:00]