When you don't ask enough questions, you don't exclude enough from your proposal. You include too much, overshoot the budget, and send a document full of guesses. Then the buyer tells you everything you got wrong.

In this episode, I break down the four questions you need answered before you write any proposal, how to match your proposal format to the buyer's top priority, and why fewer questions answered should mean fewer items in your proposal, not more.

Write fewer proposals that win more often. Listen now.

Visit trstimson.com for more resources.

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Walk out into your warehouse on the busiest day of the year. All the gear that earns money is out on shows. Take a look at what's left.

Ideally, you'll find a warehouse that's neat as a pin, with everything in its place and deep storage organized and labeled. If the gear is out, your warehouse would look like a showplace.

But you won't find that. Instead, you'll find a hot mess.

https://www.trstimson.com/your-warehouse-is-lying-to-you/

You're missing stuff on show pulls. Everybody's pointing fingers. And you keep telling yourself it's human error.

It's not. It's a process error.

In this episode, I break down how to fix your warehouse operations by slowing down show prep, adding a third checkpoint when gear goes on the truck, prioritizing check-in over check-out, and scheduling your day to avoid surprises. Every show prep can go out clean every time.

Listen now and fix the process problems that keep costing you time and credibility.

Visit trstimson.com for more resources.

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You can't fix every problem in your business. And if you tried, you'd never have time to run it. Rough edges are fine. The question is where to put your energy.

Scalability solves a different problem. It's the single practice that fixes more issues, faster, and more efficiently than any other approach I've taught.

https://www.trstimson.com/scalability-fixes-more-than-you-think/

If you were starting a technical production company today, what would you do differently?

Whether you came up as a freelancer with gear or a technical producer who knows how to get shows done, most of us followed the same old playbook: buy more gear, hire more people, own everything.

In this episode, I break down what the new model looks like for both paths, why owning the glue items matters more than owning the endpoints, and why the word "rental" should never creep into your vocabulary.

You can't start over. But your next strategic decision should be informed by where the real value lives.

Visit trstimson.com for more resources.

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Years ago, I sat having drinks with an account executive after a big medical convention at the Anatole in Dallas. I had 40 or 50 crew members there from my staffing company, and we'd just finished settling the bill.

I asked him about his pricing strategy. He pulled a pen from his pocket, held it up, and said, "This is what makes money."

This week's Monday Morning Drive post covers five rules for cleaner pricing and why estimating comes down to two numbers, not 15.

https://www.trstimson.com/your-pricing-isnt-as-honest-as-you-think/

You keep saying you can't find great freelancers. But do great freelancers want to work for you?

In this episode, I break down what separates good from great across all levels of shows, from meatball AV to mission-critical production. The difference isn't expertise. It's self-awareness, people skills, dress codes, wearing a lot of hats, and having a healthy relationship with money.

If you're a freelancer, this is your roadmap. If you hire freelancers, this is what you should be looking for. Listen now and learn how to spot (and be) a freelancer who's better than good.

Visit trstimson.com for more resources.

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Every November, I get the same call. A business owner stares at next year's calendar, sees nothing confirmed for January, and panics.

The conversation is always short. Zero marketing. A website and nothing more. Every lead comes from word of mouth. And now they want a miracle in 90 days.

Marketing can't deliver that miracle. But picking up the phone can. Call every buyer you've worked with. Ask if they have shows coming up. Price to win. Start dialing.

Once you're out of the hole, marketing keeps you from falling back in.

https://www.trstimson.com/marketing-wont-fix-your-sales-pipeline/

Your management meetings keep getting hijacked by the same kinds of debates.

A freelancer billed for airport parking. An employee wants vacation during your busiest week. And now six people are arguing about whether a rule exists and what to do when it doesn't.

The problem isn't the parking invoice. The problem is you're running your business on rules when you should be running it on policies.

In this episode, I explain the difference between rules and policies, when you need each one, and how to replace the binary thinking that's wasting your management team's time.

Visit trstimson.com for more resources.

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For years, the rental management system sat at the center of every AV business. Every quote, confirmed order, and piece of gear lived there. It worked.

Projects have changed. A single client engagement can stretch across months of pre-production, creative development, and multiple sub-events before you ever build an order. Your rental management system can't track any of that.

Your CRM can.

https://www.trstimson.com/make-your-crm-the-single-source-of-truth/