What I Learned From Brennan Dunn's Consultancy Masterclass

Consulting is something that I truly love. Helping businesses succeed, helping employees to stop focusing on mundane repeatable tasks, helping enterprises drive large scale commerce... these are truly activities that I enjoy. Getting into the mix, digging up core problems and providing solutions is not a bad way to earn a living.

As a constant learner, I have a strong desire to learn from people that have already made my future mistakes, so that I can learn from them and avoid them. Questions like "how to I maintain a steady pipeline of work?" and "where the heck do I find clients that I will love to work with?" are questions that seem elusive. Obviously they are answerable, because people do this sort of thing all the time.

Brennan started offering his Consultancy Masterclass, and from the moment he launched, I've been extremely curious. It isn't cheap at almost $1,200, but I had the feeling that learning from Brennan's experience in a more direct way than his books, Double Your Freelancing Rate and The Blueprint, had to be beneficial. Both of the books are excellent. I encourage you to follow the links and buy them today. When I saw that The Blueprints top-tier package included a discount to the class, I was sold.

The class itself is over the course of two half-days. The core topics covered were:

• Sustaining a consultancy
• Pipeline management
• Marketing and networking through events
• Vetting and acquiring high quality clients
• Cultivating lasting relationships
• Billing and cash flow
• Value based rates vs. commodity rates
• Culture (internal & external)
• Staffing
• Branding
• Operations (remote v brick & mortar)
• Handling problem clients
• Productized Consulting

It was really crammed with information.

One of my absolute favorite benefits of taking the class is the community access. All of the consultants that have taken the class have access to the very active email list. Since taking the class, I've learned a ton from this group of like-minded folks trying to build sustainable businesses.

Overall, this was a great experience, and I highly recommend it to anybody that might benefit. It is a proper level++.

Brennan has given me permission to publish my notes from the class. These aren't a replacement for actually attending, but still contain a trove of valuable information. I've found myself, while sketchnoting Brennan's talks, drawing stacks of money near his topics. That's what this class is about, stacking paper and loving what you do.