I have been working for some time on the idea of "finding your inner consultant".

A lot of the time when running a business you get stuck and don't know what to do next, you may put it down to the economy or "circumstances" but you feel there is something stopping you. It is at time like this you might think of hiring a consultant, this might help if need skills or resources but you often have the answer already, you just need to get at it.

I call this finding your inner consultant and I have started a website devoted to this.

Your Inner Consultant will help your business get unstuck

The first audio book is now ready for download and I'm looking forward to hearing how NLP connectors enjoy it.

I will be adding more so I would be really grateful for feedback on the areas that you would like me to expand on. I already have one topic but I am keen to focus on what you would like to hear.

Thanks to John and Nina for their help with the first book.

I just wanted to say how lovely the ebook is and can really help people to find the perspective they need to get some structure and focussed solutions to their business start up.

Finding your inner consultant in the way Nick describes is both sensible, practical and uses the 'genius' part of your brain to make connections that will have you thinking out of the box in no time at all.

best wishes
Nina x

Nick, your audiobook is a winner. Thanks for all the work and love that must have gone into that.

Thank you Nina and Bridget for your kind comments. I'm pretty passionate about this which is why I decided not to charge for the book as I am keen to spread it as widely as possible. Please think of people you can pass it on to.

So many times people get into deer in the headlights mode, something that was fun and that they were passionate about becomes a weight that they have to carry around. It wakes them in the night and narrows their horizons.

Using a combination of stories, metaphors and strange questions the book will start to wake up that creative part of you that wanted to run your own business in the first place. I want people to start having fun again.

Hi Nick


Just wanted to add a few words, well done on your audio book, it was nice to hear some solid well grounded common sense and a nice use of pacing and leading with good use of metaphors.

If its ok with you I would like to send your link out to my twitter followers which I have about 1200 and growing daily-

Keep up the good work Nick a real credit you..


Jay

Thanks Jay. I really appreciate the comments.

Yes, please send the link to your twitterers. (Is that how you spell it?) It is very generous of you to help spread the message.

I'll look into getting some more bandwidth on the web site

Hi Nick


Your very welcome please keep me up dated over time if you change the Free option to a fixed pay option just so I can send the right message out, theres nothing worse than sending people to a free Download only to find out they have to pay- it brings bad karma.


J

I don't intend to charge. I want to spread these ideas as widely and quickly as possible and I think that this model will actually be the most profitable in the long term.

There is the option to donate and anyone who does this will receive a link to the next audio some time before it appears on the site. My thinking is that people who like my work will be keen to get the next one.

This may initially appear naive but I know that most audio eventually appears on newsgroups and other download areas. People may feel a little guilty about downloading it but they will still do it, why not face up to reality.

If a book is free at source and good then it should generate it's own market by people forwarding it to friends. If only a small percentage of those who listen donate then I think I will be the winner over a charging site.
1 % of a big number if much better than 100% of bugger all.

Interesting quote from tomrobinson.com
" iTunes downloads cost 79p per track. Writer/publisher get 6p, Performer 6-8p, Visa/Mastercard 7p, Apple 12p, and Record Company almost 50p."

If you are starting or running a business and you get stuck sometimes then listen to "Finding your inner consultant". I believe that you will be surprised at how smart and creative you can be when you stop getting in your own way.
When you get a great idea, please donate a small percentage to keep me doing the stuff that I love and providing you with more material.

Bottom line.
If this works as I hope then a lot of people will find running their own business easier and more enjoyable, I will enjoy being the catalyst and I make a good income from this part of my work.
Alternatively, a lot of people find running their own business easier and more enjoyable and I will enjoy being the catalyst. Not a bad result.

I like your thinking Nick... Success...

Wayne

Jay,

I am adding a thank you page to the site to mention anyone who has helped. It should also build ti a useful resource. What is the link to your twitter group?

Your Inner Consultant will help your business get unstuck

Great work Nick.

Remember though some people see the value of something as the price they paid for it.

John

When smashing monuments be sure to save the pedestals as they always come in handy later

Thanks John, good point.

I forgot about the "the more you pay, the more it's worth" filter.

There was a very dramatic demonstration of this when one of the best violin players in the world, Joshua Bell, played in the New York subway on his 1710 Stradivarius and received 32 Dollars and 17 cents.

Pearls Before Breakfast - washingtonpost.com

I want to have this audio freely available to everyone who can use it but perhaps I need to tell a better story on the website to change the frame that people use to decide on how they should value it.

I need to think about this a little as I wanted listeners to come to the book without any expectations so that they would be able to focus on what they have inside themselves and how that will help them.

That is the reason why there is so little text about the book, perhaps I shall have to do a 20 page sales letter with yellow highlights.

southnick wrote:

That is the reason why there is so little text about the book, perhaps I shall have to do a 20 page sales letter with yellow highlights.

...and remember to title it -

"All the secrets they didn't want you to know about your Inner Consultant revealed"

John

I've started writing it for fun and I have decided to put it up at the weekend.

I like the idea of writing 2 or 3 contrasting landing pages. One totally over the top and a slightly more restrained one. The over the top one seems more fun at the moment.

It would be interesting if you were to test the 2-3 different landing pages and report back on the results :-)

Google have a 'page optimiser' service where you can use Analytics to compare results for different headlines and copy. Never used it myself (yet) and if you're in the mood to play we could learn something!

I've also wondered using the 'pay what it's worth to you' model. John's point about perceived value has stopped me so far. Might be cool because Radiohead took donations at first for 'In Rainbows' and subsequently sell a lot of CDs ... not that there's a direct comparison between a music CD by an iconic band and an audio CD by an 'umble NLPer ... or is there?

Another approach is what James Lavers calls a 'diamond bullet'. Give away your audiobook as now, so you're giving substantial quality content to potential clients free. Then build on that (because people now 'get' what you're offering and know it's for them, or if it's not you've not lost anything) and then sell the next related product. He has a whole system for this - James?!

I've just downloaded the audio Nick, thank you. I'm curious both to hear how you've done it and to apply the benefits into my business :-)

Thanks Ian,Great post.

I have used various analytics tools on my main business website Cable Testers - Connection Testers - Harness Testers - Hipot Tester - Wiring Loom Testers - Continuity Testing - Functional and I also use google adwords. It is now working pretty well, good positions and overseas sales are now around 40% compared with practically zilch a few years ago. The difference here is that whilst I have a pretty good feel for my customers on the Banair site, I visit 2 or 3 factories every week, I am still learning about the the customers for Your Inner Consultant will help your business get unstuck.

I am convinced that the model of using "your inner consultant" is a good one and that NLP techniques are a great way of getting in touch with it, (here comes the but) but I think a lot of people running their own businesses think "surely it can't be that easy".

I need to draw them in to try trusting themselves and relaxing whilst they explore some of the options, to stop running around aimlessly, take a deep breath and believe that they really are pretty smart. They just need to stop getting in their own way.

The 'diamond bullet' model sounds very promising. I believe that once people "get" the idea of the inner consultant they will want more. I have lots more and I am keen to share it.
I think a book with CD may be the eventual package but I have plenty of time to get it right. I spend a lot of my time running the electronics business and I would rather build this material slowly, taking lots of time to get it just the way I want it.
I think this audio book contains the heart of what I want to share so if people get this they will love the next parts that take elements of this book and explore them in greater detail.

Please tell me what parts work best for you Ian and what one thing you will do in your business differently.

Oh, and are you going to buy a plant and a tiger's eye?

Hi Nick,

I've listened to it now. Excellent stuff and definitely the basis for a whole series of products under the 'Inner Consultant' banner I think.

I like the plant metaphor. I attend a networking meeting with a guy who hires out plants to shops, restaurants and offices so I'll ask him what sort of plant his business is. Might get him thinking!

Hmm, what works best for me? Well I connected with the idea that I can trust myself to choose the best option for my business. The one thing I'll now do differently? Actually this is more of an indirect result of listening to you - make my recording process simpler, just my voice (I get too tempted to add effects and music in GarageBand!). That will mean getting products out of my computer and in the ears of clients more rapidly and more often. I'm sure other ideas will flow in the next few days.

Yes, I will be buying a plant. Need to decide which is best although I did like the spider plant. And a tiger's eye? Yes! (I already wear a goldstone bracelet for wealth and energy.)

Thanks for creating this, Nick, and I'm looking forward to hearing more :-)

Thank you for your feedback Ian.

When I started the project last year it was totally based around buying the plant and how that helped my business, so I spent months finding plant metaphors. The inner consultant idea then occurred to me and it tied everything together.

I think everyone with a business should have a plant, there are so many lessons you can learn by watching it grow and thinking "if my business were a plant, how would I keep it healthy". The main lesson for me is that a business is an organic thing that needs frequent attention to to small things rather than huge bursts of work every month or so.

Interesting that you mention keeping audio stripped back. I was thinking about adding some acoustic guitar motifs in the next book to signify changes in pace and to anchor certain ideas. Just a couple of seconds when I seems to help.

John

I rather enjoyed writing the copy with your headline. It actually fitted rather well.

I even added the yellow highlighter that I hate so much and was disappointed to discover that it worked rather too well.

Your Inner consultant. A new way to build your business.

It did give me an insight into this type of copy and to why it works. I think the multiple headlines in different colour set up a rhythm that pull you through. Still seems a little "Barnum" thought.

Hi Nick,

Actually the acoustic guitar would probably work very well. I like listening to material that's signposted in that way - it's just that when I'm working on something I can end up playing with the effects too much, just for fun, and spend way too long on nothing much. Music, echo etc. is an optional extra once the content is there.

Re 'Barnum' e-mails / squeeze pages - well I resist writing them too but they seem to work for many people. Have you read 'The Guerrilla Marketing Revolution by Jay Conrad Levinson and Paul RJ Hanley? It gets into the details of this stuff, mostly from an NLP perspective. in fact I got my copy out to give the reference and now I might start drafting a few things ... there's no point in creating our stuff and then not reaching the audience.