How I’ve helped four clients stand out

 

Sometimes the end user isn’t the only user. In the case of my collaboration with my clients, I carefully consider how we work to achieve the outcomes they need in a way that suits their time, skills, and working style. That way, the materials we produce together will be a great experience for them and their audiences.

 

Client 1: explored & defined

A business consultant looking to codify her practice and build up to what's next

This client loved processing, talking through ideas in real time, and contending with decisions together. She trusted me to be go through that process with her, even guide it, so we came out on the other side with a path forward. Bi-weekly conversations included exploration, ideation, and clarification. We often went through a discovery process before we found definition and direction.

Outputs
Thought leadership practice guides
Book strategy guide
Author & speaker supporting materials

client 2: shaped & polished

An agency CEO with several thought leadership channels capitalizing on her practical experience

This brilliant client had many ideas and many points of view to share with her audiences. She was a frequent speaker and published a monthly newsletter with thousands of readers. But she was also a busy CEO. Her thoughts were often thought starters, and I helped shape them into narratives with stand-out points. Because her inspiration and opinions came about spontaneously, our working style was very organic. We played off each other’s strength’s to create bold yet digestible presentation and written content.

Outputs
Monthly email newsletters
12-15 keynote scripts per year
Posts & articles on LinkedIn
Book

 

client 3: Organized & produced

An entrepreneur with a growing consultancy leveraging her intellectual property to carve out success

The first time I worked with this client, she came to me with a manuscript draft that was punchy, but all over the place. We both saw the magic, so we went back to basics reorganizing around key themes and inspirational points. Next, we collaborated from scratch on her second book. I facilitated two user-focused workshops to uncover the target reader’s paint points. I produced a book strategy guide that placed the problem-to-solve at the core of the book and our approach. She was highly responsive to structure and organization, so I created a spreadsheet as a home base for our work and assigned homework to keep things moving forward.

Outputs
Book planning guide, reader personas, and book strategy brief
Two books
Marketing material for book #1

 

client 4: collaborated & curated

A marketing-maven-turned-educator building a new approach to address racism at work

As an educator & consultant, this client had a mountain of material that could be in a book, but should it all be in there? Probably not. My task was flesh out what was most necessary and useful for her reader, who was a different persona from her usual class attendee. First, I produced a book outline to guide our work. Then, we spent hours each week distilling topics and exploring what educational content to include in her first book. We made real-time edits and hashed out decisions in collaborative working sessions to ensure she was focused and all her ideas were addressed.

Outputs
Book outline and chapter map of critical components
Book manuscript
Thought leadership blog posts & white papers