So, when it comes to consulting what exactly are levels 100-400?
For your business, what levels 100-400 are depends on what’s important in your target market.
In a minute, you’ll see an example roadmap of ‘Level 100’ to ‘Level 400’ for all 7 of the key areas we’ve been discussing.
But first, a note: advancing along any level in any area of your business comes down to one thing: a focus on studying that skill through deliberate practice.
You want to become a better freelancer? Figure out where you’re weak and then make that area strong.
Do you go through a self-assessment and discover that your pricing a weak area? Great! That’s the area you should focus on.
How you practice in order to level up depends on a few things and there are a number of choices. We’ll cover that shortly.
Right now, let’s take a look at a 100 → 400 roadmap for an example consultant:
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Market Research**:
- Level 100: Read 2-4 books about your target market
- Level 200: Attend 2-3 online events for that market (i.e., conferences)
- Level 300: Average ~2 market research conversations per month
- Level 400: Monthly customer research activities
Service Offerings
- Level 100: Focus on a specific skill or discipline
- Level 200: Add roadmapping and discovery as a service
- Level 300: Productize your services (fixed price, scope, and timeline)
- Level 400: Have a ladder of service offerings
Pricing
- Level 100: Daily/weekly pricing (instead of hourly)
- Level 200: Start to offer fixed-price services
- Level 300: Only sell fixed-price productized services
- Level 400: Introduce value based pricing for custom projects
Specialization
- Level 100: Focus on a target market
- Level 200: Focus on an outcome
- Level 300: Focus on a sub-market (niche)
- Level 400: Become a celebrity in your niche
Sales
- Level 100: Track your conversations (use a CRM)
- Level 200: Implement activity-based selling
- Level 300: Improve outbound sales + marketing activities (i.e, outreach, referrals)
- Level 400: Improve inbound sales marketing opportunities
Marketing
- Level 100: Website, referrals, and word of mouth
- Level 200: Website content and one outbound marketing channel
- Level 300: Email marketing + one additional marketing channel
- Level 400: SEO and one additional marketing channel
Automation
- Level 100: Form + Email Templates
- Level 200: Appointment Booking like SavvyCal (https://savvycal.com)
- Level 300: An automated welcome sequence over email for new leads
- Level 400: Free course delivered over email to attract new leads
The Most Important Part
Growth as a freelancer or consultant is achieved by identifying the area(s) where your business is weak and then focusing on improving those weak areas.
The specific tactical element (“start using a CRM” or “Switch from Weekly Pricing to Value Based Fees”) will differ depending on your business.
What is important is that to get better at any of these 7 key areas, you apply yourself, study the area, and implement the lessons you learn into your business, keeping what works and discarding what doesn’t.
Excelsior!
Kai