Discover the secrets to propelling your expertise-driven business to new heights with Ann Carden on the Hard to Market Podcast. Dive into transformational strategies that go beyond basic branding, leverage your full potential, and harness high-level marketing to close major deals and amplify your influence.

Here are a few topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Hard to Market Podcast.

• Elevate beyond entry-level offerings
• Specialization should be market-specific
• Leverage assets to build client relationships
• Avoid the "one-trick pony" approach to business
• Premium market strategies drive bigger profits

Resources:

• Expert In You Marketing & Media
• Podcast Chef
• Expert In You Podcast

Connect with Ann Carden:

• LinkedIn

Connect with our host, Brian Mattocks:

• LinkedIn
• Email

Quotables:

• 18:14 - McKinsey and Deloitte have said that like the consulting and the professional service industry is going to hit trillions of dollars in the next two years, in 2026 and 2027. But they also said that the premium market is going to be where the real opportunity is which is great news for me because that's where I help people play, right? So I'm like, oh, yes, sounds good. This great. Finally, now it's not a want anymore. Now it's a need, right? If you wanna stay relevant in the market, go high.
• 38:33 - Brian: What are the three biggest takeaways that you've picked up in your journey so far?
• Ann: The three biggest takeaways is get help from someone that can move you faster, really move you forward faster because business is not waiting any longer and it is, you really will become irrelevant very quickly if you are trying to DIY things. So that would be the first thing. A lot of people think they can DIY it, they can get the information, but information doesn't equate to being able to do it. So that's where I believe everybody now needs help because things are moving at warp speed. It's, it's just not like the old days. Right. Yeah. The second thing I would say, especially with AI coming onto the scene, is don't think AI can do it all for you. 
• 32:49 - It goes beyond just their online presence, but everything that we do is to drive revenue. So a lot of people start a podcast to put out value, to put out content that's not what we do. There's a more strategic approach in the way we utilize those assets so that they are either working through the people they're having on their show. To get to the right people, or they are actually interviewing the people on their show that could be clients for them or could be referral partners for them.
• 11:45 - ​​I am such a proponent of specializing, but a lot of people do it the wrong way, Brian, and this is, this is the problem. When people say the riches are in the niches, that doesn't mean you only show up with a portion of your value, because that's how you put yourself in a beginner category. 
• 23:34 - There was such a gap in the market. I call it the elevation gap. You've got startup and getting good at what you do over here, and then you've got scaling. Nowhere in the middle is anybody closing the gap, right? So people are jumping over the elevation phase in business. They're not, they're not going as high as they can. And then scaling that, they're trying to scale what they first did or what they originally did. And that's why they end up. A lot of the clients that I work with have tried to scale, and they have found they're unfulfilled. They, they're working with clients beneath their skillset. They don't feel like their value is really being seen or appreciated. 

Connect with our host, Brian Mattocks:

• LinkedIn
• Email
• Schedule a Free Podcast Consult