David interviews Blair about his recent article in which he explores how our businesses are not simple machines that can be tuned (or killed) with specific wrenches, but they are complex adaptive organisms that we need to understand differently.

LINKS

"Your Business Is Not a Machine" by Blair Enns for winwitoutpitching.com

"Innofficiency in Your Agency" 2Bobs episode

"Grow or Die?" 2Bobs episode

David sees too many marketing agencies trying to attract new business by staking claims of specialness on things for which nobody is claiming the opposite, instead of building their positioning on uniquely defined expertise.

Are prospects not responding to your follow-up after you submit a proposal? Blair goes through what might be causing their lack of response and then provides three tools to address the ghosting problem.

"Ghosted. Now What?" by Blair Enns for winwithoutpitching.com

"The Power of a Metaphor" 2Bobs episode

Blair's annual 100 Day Sprint post on LinkedIn

One characteristic of our industry is disappearing moats. After a brief overview of the fourteen moats we've lost from 1965 to today, we'll look at what turf we really have left to defend and what the future will look like if we get this right. It'll be very different, and you'd better get ahead of it.

What do we do in those situations where we have to pitch? Blair simplifies some important principles from his books into a sequence of four precepts we can follow when the sales process doesn't progress like we'd hoped.

"The Only New Business Indicator That Matters" 2Bobs episode

"Assume an Advantaged Player" 2Bobs episode

"Slapping Down Your Childlike Glee" 2Bobs episode

If/when you sell your firm, it'll likely be the largest transaction of your life, and so it makes sense to understand it! In this episode David gives a crash course in everything earnouts.

LINKS

"Understanding Earnouts" by David C. Baker for punctuation.com

Blair recognizes growth opportunities in every area of life and business, yet sees many people chasing metrics while unknowingly resisting genuine progress for various reasons.

LINKS

"Chief Growth Officer" by Blair Enns for winwithoutpitching.com

David recognizes that the fear of repeating ourselves in our client work is motivated by the right things: "am I delivering value?"

LINKS

"Repeating Yourself as an Expert" by David C. Baker for punctuation.com

"Questions, Not Answers" 2Bobs episode

Blair tells the story of recreation.gov and how its performance pay deal has been nothing but wins for every party involved, with plenty of lessons for buyers and sellers of all kinds of services.

LINKS

"Performance Pay Leads to a $500M Website" by Blair Enns for winwithoutpitching.com

Recreation.gov

David provides a framework for one of the most important conversations in a creative agency principal's life.

LINKS

"When A Key Employee Wants Equity" by David C. Baker for punctuation.com

"Pros + Cons of Having a Partner" by David C. Baker for punctuation.com