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How to Get Your First Clients: From Corporate Banking to Sales Confidence with Annia Mercado
How do you get your first clients when you’re starting a business or consulting practice? Annia Mercado believes founders need to stop hiding behind their websites and start selling. Annia is the founder of Unique Blend Consulting, where she helps early-stage founders build sales confidence, land their first clients, and create the systems they need to start generating revenue. Before entrepreneurship, Annia worked in corporate banking and commercial credit, helping businesses with $10 million to $100 million in revenue secure funding to grow. Starting her own business taught her that understanding business and actually building one are two very different things. In this episode of Ponder With Ashley, Ashley Waddington and Annia talk about what it really takes to get your first clients, overcome the fear of selling, and stop spending time on activities that feel productive but aren’t generating revenue. In this conversation: 💭 Why getting your first sale should be a new founder’s priority 💭 Why founders hide behind websites, offers, and networking instead of selling 💭 How to build confidence in sales conversations 💭 The 80/20 rule of selling: 80% listening and 20% talking 💭 How Annia landed her biggest client within six months through her network 💭 Why the business you start is rarely the business you end up building 💭 What founders should consider before spending thousands on courses and programs 💭 Annia’s advice to her earlier founder self: “Get over yourself and stop working on the website.” Whether you’re trying to get your first consulting clients, grow a service-based business, improve your sales skills, or make the leap from corporate to entrepreneurship, this conversation is packed with practical lessons from someone who has made that transition herself. Connect with Annia Mercado: Unique Blend Consulting: www.uniqueblendconsulting.com Instagram: @uniqueblendconsulting LinkedIn: Annia Gutierrez Mercado Connect with Ashley: Ponder This Consulting: www.ponderthisconsulting.com Instagram: @ponderthisconsulting LinkedIn: Ashley Waddington Follow Ponder With Ashley for weekly founder interviews, Pondering Prompts, Pondering Lessons, and practical business growth ideas worth pondering. 💭
Welcome to Ponder With Ashley, a podcast dedicated to helping entrepreneurs, founders, consultants, and business owners grow their businesses through practical strategies, authentic leadership, and real-world lessons. In this introduction, Ashley Waddington, founder of Ponder This Consulting, shares her journey of building a consulting business from the ground up after being laid off. Starting with no referrals, no large network, and no shortcuts, she learned firsthand what it takes to grow a business through persistence, sales, marketing, content creation, operations, and continuous learning. On this podcast you'll find: ✅ Business growth strategies ✅ Entrepreneurship lessons and founder stories ✅ Sales and marketing insights ✅ Content marketing and personal brand building ✅ Business systems and operations tips ✅ AI and technology for entrepreneurs ✅ Leadership and mindset discussions ✅ Interviews with successful founders and business owners Whether you're starting a business, growing a consulting practice, scaling a service-based business, or looking for fresh ideas to move your company forward, this podcast is designed to help you think differently and uncover new opportunities. If you're tired of cookie-cutter business advice and want honest conversations about what entrepreneurship really looks like, you're in the right place. Subscribe/follow for weekly business growth content, founder interviews, marketing insights, and practical ideas worth pondering. 💭