208 episodes

Welcome to Profitable Joyful Consulting, where you'll discover how to multiply revenues without exhaustion, working with perfect clients on transformational engagements. Host Samantha Hartley shares how talented and ambitious women consultants–just like you!–can build profitable and joyful consulting businesses. 
 
Samantha’s practical and motivating weekly episodes draw on her background in international marketing with The Coca-Cola Company, her 20 years as an independent consultant, and her work with successful women consultants in a wide variety of industries. 
 
Subscribe and make Profitable Joyful Consulting your go-to resource!
 
Topics you care about: 

 
How to increase revenues without exhaustion. You already know how to grow by working long hours, but that’s not sustainable—or joyful! If you’re tired of the Revenue Roller Coaster, we’ve got proven strategies to help you double your revenues while avoiding burnout. 
 
How to work exclusively with Perfect Clients on “Transformational Engagements.” Bad-fit clients are neither profitable nor joyful. We dive into how you can attract, nurture, and retain perfect clients. You'll gain valuable insights about how to break the cycle of short-term projects that keep you living in the land of one-offs so you can create the high-impact, long-term, retainer-based consulting arrangements we call transformational engagements.

What are the fundamentals for having both profit and joy in your consulting business? Samantha shares strategies for how to get started as a consultant, how to create a consulting brand and compelling messages that will help you to attract clients consistently, how to grow your consulting business with referrals and strategic alliances, how to scale with team and subcontractors, how to set fees for your services, how to write proposals that get accepted, how to leverage your impact with tools and technology, how to sell with integrity, and to make delivery more efficient while still getting results your clients will want to talk about in testimonials and case studies that will sell your services for you. WHEW! 

How to cultivate a mindset for success. Samantha brings concrete examples, client consulting success stories, and actionable tools to overcome limiting beliefs with powerful intentions, affirmations, and spiritual practices aligned with your values. 

The show’s format respects your time and attention with concise episodes! 
 
Most episodes in the themed 12-episode seasons feature Samantha sharing practical training taken from her work with clients that you, too, can implement right away in your consulting business. A few times each season, guest experts and fellow consultants stop by to keep you updated on the latest trends and innovations in areas like marketing strategy, pricing, or productivity.
 
Hosted by: Samantha Hartley 
 
Like many of her clients, Samantha worked in a corporate environment we’d now call psychologically unsafe or even toxic. Even though creativity was “encouraged,” new ideas were considered threatening, and casual misogyny and harassment were ubiquitous. Nevertheless, she built a bridge from there to her first consulting clients and has been self-employed, working remotely, ever since. She remembers her lean years and how she used the exact strategies she teaches on the show to begin to attract clients consistently and learn to get results without overworking. In recent years, Samantha has followed her passion to focus on women consultants and female founders. When we lift up women, everyone benefits! 

Learn more here: https://samanthahartley.com/

If you're ready to unlock your full potential as a woman consultant, increase your profits, and experience the joy of a thriving consulting business, subscribe and turn on notifications. Join us for ideas and inspiration at Profitable Joyful Consulting. Your success story begins here.

Download the free Definitive Guide to Winning 6-Fig

Profitable Joyful Consulting Samantha Hartley

    • Business
    • 5.0 • 26 Ratings

Welcome to Profitable Joyful Consulting, where you'll discover how to multiply revenues without exhaustion, working with perfect clients on transformational engagements. Host Samantha Hartley shares how talented and ambitious women consultants–just like you!–can build profitable and joyful consulting businesses. 
 
Samantha’s practical and motivating weekly episodes draw on her background in international marketing with The Coca-Cola Company, her 20 years as an independent consultant, and her work with successful women consultants in a wide variety of industries. 
 
Subscribe and make Profitable Joyful Consulting your go-to resource!
 
Topics you care about: 

 
How to increase revenues without exhaustion. You already know how to grow by working long hours, but that’s not sustainable—or joyful! If you’re tired of the Revenue Roller Coaster, we’ve got proven strategies to help you double your revenues while avoiding burnout. 
 
How to work exclusively with Perfect Clients on “Transformational Engagements.” Bad-fit clients are neither profitable nor joyful. We dive into how you can attract, nurture, and retain perfect clients. You'll gain valuable insights about how to break the cycle of short-term projects that keep you living in the land of one-offs so you can create the high-impact, long-term, retainer-based consulting arrangements we call transformational engagements.

What are the fundamentals for having both profit and joy in your consulting business? Samantha shares strategies for how to get started as a consultant, how to create a consulting brand and compelling messages that will help you to attract clients consistently, how to grow your consulting business with referrals and strategic alliances, how to scale with team and subcontractors, how to set fees for your services, how to write proposals that get accepted, how to leverage your impact with tools and technology, how to sell with integrity, and to make delivery more efficient while still getting results your clients will want to talk about in testimonials and case studies that will sell your services for you. WHEW! 

How to cultivate a mindset for success. Samantha brings concrete examples, client consulting success stories, and actionable tools to overcome limiting beliefs with powerful intentions, affirmations, and spiritual practices aligned with your values. 

The show’s format respects your time and attention with concise episodes! 
 
Most episodes in the themed 12-episode seasons feature Samantha sharing practical training taken from her work with clients that you, too, can implement right away in your consulting business. A few times each season, guest experts and fellow consultants stop by to keep you updated on the latest trends and innovations in areas like marketing strategy, pricing, or productivity.
 
Hosted by: Samantha Hartley 
 
Like many of her clients, Samantha worked in a corporate environment we’d now call psychologically unsafe or even toxic. Even though creativity was “encouraged,” new ideas were considered threatening, and casual misogyny and harassment were ubiquitous. Nevertheless, she built a bridge from there to her first consulting clients and has been self-employed, working remotely, ever since. She remembers her lean years and how she used the exact strategies she teaches on the show to begin to attract clients consistently and learn to get results without overworking. In recent years, Samantha has followed her passion to focus on women consultants and female founders. When we lift up women, everyone benefits! 

Learn more here: https://samanthahartley.com/

If you're ready to unlock your full potential as a woman consultant, increase your profits, and experience the joy of a thriving consulting business, subscribe and turn on notifications. Join us for ideas and inspiration at Profitable Joyful Consulting. Your success story begins here.

Download the free Definitive Guide to Winning 6-Fig

    3 Steps to Integrate Transformation into Your Business

    3 Steps to Integrate Transformation into Your Business

    “The relentless pursuit of more and more and more growth can actually destroy your consulting business and your health.”

    What would you say if I told you the key to growing your business is actually slowing down? This season we’ve been talking about expansion: landing perfect clients, charging more money, and building the most profitable, joyful consulting business possible. 

    But not today. Today, we’re talking about the importance of integrating all of the changes that happen in your business and taking three key small steps to intentionally grow so you don’t burn out. 

    Key Takeaways
    00:00 Intro 
    01:49 Using Spring Equinox to Jumpstart the Year
    03:51 Implementing What You’ve Learned
    07:14 3 Steps to Integration
    08:34 Using ChatGPT for Professional Development
    If you’re ready to expand your consulting business without exhaustion by slowing down and being intentional, this is the episode for you. Press play on YouTube: https://youtu.be/4nBIeCG_tbw or your favorite podcast app: www.samanthaspodcast.com.

    If you're ready to unlock your full potential as a woman consultant, increase your profits, and experience the joy of a thriving consulting business, subscribe and turn on notifications. Join us for ideas and inspiration at Profitable Joyful Consulting. Your success story begins here.

    Download the free Definitive Guide to Winning 6-Figure Clients at 6FigureClients.com.

    • 13 min
    3 Sales Mistakes to Avoid in Discovery Calls

    3 Sales Mistakes to Avoid in Discovery Calls

    “I want you to be closing more sales and helping those people who should be working with you.”

    What’s the first thing that pops into your head when I say the word sales? Do you cringe? Want to retreat into a cave or ball yourself up in the fetal position? I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be so scary or difficult. In this episode of Profitable Joyful Consulting, I’m going to teach you what you need to know to improve your sales and to actually not hate it as much as you might right now. 

    The three big sales mistakes I see consultants make that drive away perfect clients What standup comedy and weddings can teach you about discovery calls What you need to do to help your clients open up to you more on callsAnd finally, what you can do to make the proposal writing process a snap 
    Key Takeaways
    00:00 Intro 
    01:52 Why Sales Are Difficult
    02:47 Three Mistakes Consultants Make with Sales
    04:42 How Broadway, Standup and Weddings Are Like Discovery Calls
    07:33 How to Create a Safe Environment
    11:43 Setting a Business Goal Before a Sales Call

    Join me for an episode that'll help you to hear “yes” more often and to feel more comfortable when you do! Listen on YouTube or your favorite podcast app: www.samanthaspodcast.com.

    If you're ready to unlock your full potential as a woman consultant, increase your profits, and experience the joy of a thriving consulting business, subscribe and turn on notifications. Join us for ideas and inspiration at Profitable Joyful Consulting. Your success story begins here.

    Download the free Definitive Guide to Winning 6-Figure Clients at 6FigureClients.com.

    • 20 min
    Turn Intellectual Property into Sellable Assets

    Turn Intellectual Property into Sellable Assets

    “What is in your business that your clients are paying you for? Is there a method, training or workshops that you bring? Whatever it is that your client is paying you for, that is the asset in your business.” -- Erin Austin

    Imagine a world in which your business continues to thrive while you take a step back to rest and relax. If you’re a consultant, that might feel like a dream, but it’s absolutely within reach – and maybe even closer than you think. 

    In this episode of Profitable Joyful Consulting, I talk with Erin Austin, an IP attorney, founder of Think Beyond IP, and host of the Hourly to Exit podcast. Erin guides women consultants, business coaches, and other entrepreneurs on the journey of transforming their businesses from an unscalable income-generator into a saleable wealth-building asset. Erin is ready to help us all understand intellectual property and discover where our unique assets lie, so we can grow our businesses well beyond our wildest dreams. 
    Erin also shares the #1 kind of agreement every consultant needs to have with clients (that you probably don’t). This episode will leave you feeling inspired and empowered to work less in your business, and let your business work for you. 

    Key Points: 
    00:00 Intro
    03:01 Origin Story
    04:57 Do I Have Intellectual Property?
    10:57 Steps to Create an Asset
    14:16 What is a License?
    17:36 Examples of Assets
    24:41 Tips for Consultants
    31:41 Erin's Personal Asset Example

    Learn more in this episode on YouTube or your favorite podcast app: www.samanthaspodcast.com.

    GUEST: Meet Erin Austin, a Harvard Law alum and seasoned contracts expert with over 25 years of legal experience. As the go-to advisor for professionals with corporate clients, Erin empowers entrepreneurs to be their own advocates, standing out for her commitment to transforming expertise into empires. With a unique approach to business and law, Erin focuses on protecting your expertise from unauthorized use. Explore her blend of legal expertise and entrepreneurial insight on ThinkBeyondIP.com and the "Hourly to Exit" podcast. Off the clock, you'll find Erin in the great outdoors or connecting with business coaches to elevate 6-figure consultants into 7-figure powerhouses.

    QUOTABLES:

    If you don't have your own intellectual property, you're probably executing somebody else's IP.  - Samantha Hartley

    A natural progression from one-on-one to creating something you can independently sell or license, without you, is starting to document. It starts with just documenting your process so that every time you're delivering it, it's getting more efficient to deliver. -- Erin Austin

    Episode Hashtags: #intellectualpropertyassets #ip #intellectualpropertystrategy #erinaustin #scaleabletosellable #hourlytoexit #thinkbeyondip #intellectualpropertyrights #sellableassets

    If you're ready to unlock your full potential as a woman consultant, increase your profits, and experience the joy of a thriving consulting business, subscribe and turn on notifications. Join us for ideas and inspiration at Profitable Joyful Consulting. Your success story begins here.

    Download the free Definitive Guide to Winning 6-Figure Clients at 6FigureClients.com.

    • 36 min
    Action Needed: Can You Help?

    Action Needed: Can You Help?

    Can you believe we're celebrating 200 episodes of Profitable Joyful Consulting? I feel like we're just getting started. I'm ready to unlock our next level and need your help. Take just a few minutes to fill out my listener survey, share your thoughts, your likes, and even your dislikes.

    Plus, as a thank you for your valuable feedback, I'll send a special gift to five listeners and one lucky listener will win a free 30 minute one-on-one session with me. Don't miss out on this opportunity to shape the future of our show.

    Click here to take the survey and enter for your chance to win!

    • 34 sec
    Writing Tips for Consultants to Get Read, Get Clients, and Get Results

    Writing Tips for Consultants to Get Read, Get Clients, and Get Results

    Here’s how to write posts that get your perfect clients to take action.

    Wish you knew how to get your writing to be irresistible and unputdownable? How would you like for your LinkedIn posts to get you leads, or your email newsletters to reactivate past clients or activate potential new ones? In this episode of Profitable Joyful Consulting, I'm sharing how you can communicate your value in writing so that it works to get you results.

    You’ll learn how to differentiate your work from any competitors (or ChatGPT!), identify ways you unintentionally sabotage yourself in your writing, and the ideal way to start and end everything you write –  no matter what it is. 

    Key Ideas: 
    00:00 Intro
    03:36 How to Structure Your Writing
    05:54 Hook Your Reader
    10:05 How to “Edu-tain”
    12:09 Final Tips

    By the end of this episode, you’ll be engaging with your audience – and future clients –  in a whole new way. Listen on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wyzMwfNwgl8 or your favorite podcast app: www.samanthaspodcast.com.

    QUOTABLES: 

    Use your marketing messages to make a bold promise, and then substantiate that promise with proof.

    Your brand voice is the way you talk when you're talking with your clients, when you're in the flow of your genius, and that's unique to you.

    If you're ready to unlock your full potential as a woman consultant, increase your profits, and experience the joy of a thriving consulting business, subscribe and turn on notifications. Join us for ideas and inspiration at Profitable Joyful Consulting. Your success story begins here.

    Download the free Definitive Guide to Winning 6-Figure Clients at 6FigureClients.com.

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    • 16 min
    What I Wish I Knew When Starting My Consulting Business

    What I Wish I Knew When Starting My Consulting Business

    “Women need to claim our power. We need to prioritize leading and not just serving.”

    Some people need to learn things the hard way. You might be surprised to hear I’m one of those people. :-\ When I first started my consulting business, I made more than my share of mistakes. But it’s the lessons I’ve learned through those mistakes that have carried me – and my clients – through the challenges and into profitable, joyful consulting businesses. 
    In today’s episode, I'm sharing what I wish I knew when I started my consulting business: lessons around making more money, how you should really look at marketing your brand, and the #1 way to get rid of competition. Plus, I’ll show you how to let your freak flag fly, because that weird, quirky, most outlandish stuff that's true to you is exactly what your clients want.
    Key Ideas: 
    00:00 Intro
    01:45 Selling Offers
    03:49 Marketing Your Business
    06:58 Fire Your Control Freak
    12:06 Erasing the Competition
    14:55 Let Your Freak Flag Fly
    17:14 Work Like No One is Watching
    20:52 Getting Clear on Your Brand
    27:48 Trust the Universe

    If you're ready to unlock your full potential as a woman consultant, increase your profits, and experience the joy of a thriving consulting business, subscribe and turn on notifications. Join us for ideas and inspiration at Profitable Joyful Consulting. Your success story begins here.

    Download the free Definitive Guide to Winning 6-Figure Clients at 6FigureClients.com.

    • 31 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
26 Ratings

26 Ratings

JackieMacD ,

So much value

I’ve learned so much in just a few episodes. Samantha is knowledgeable, supportive and funny!

Bill Ringle ,

High Impact lessons for top consultants

Samantha shares concepts to help you take your consulting practice to the “big leagues” where you are making the impact that clients need and are unable to achieve on their own.

If you are seeking a guide who is smart and strategic, tune in. But be prepared to have your limiting beliefs shattered and left behind.

Barbara Steve ,

Great advise!!!

Loved listening to her show!

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