No BS Mastery Podcast

Over the years, I have taken a lot of people through the process of building their Authority Machine.

One of the most common reasons people get stuck or can’t even begin is the thought that they don’t have anything new, unique or interesting to add. Others know what they want to say, but  feel like an imposter and not successful “enough” to share their point of view.

But there’s a big secret that no one knows and almost everyone has a hard time understanding when they first get going on building their Authority Machine.

Tune into this episode to hear:

• How building an Authority Machine hones your process and your voice
• What actually builds your authority
• Why waiting to become an authority before creating the Authority Machine isn’t a good strategy
• Why using AI will never help you build your authority

Resources:

• No BS Agencies Mastery
• The Price to Freedom Calculator™
• No BS Launchpad
• No BS Agency Owners Free Facebook Group
• Start reading the first chapter of my book
• Piasilva.com

Most entrepreneurs I meet built their businesses because they want more agency over their lives. They want to make more money and have more freedom over how they spend their time.

And yet, starting a small business usually comes with anything but financial freedom and stability, at least at first. But once you nail down your processes you’ll start to feel like you’re the boss of your business instead of being employed by it. That’s what the first two phases of building a No BS Agency are all about.

The third phase, building your Authority Machine, is really the key to building long-term stability.

The reason I love teaching people how to build an Authority Machine is because I have personally experienced just how much financial independence and freedom the Authority Machine grants you.

Today, I share how an Authority Machine can give you the freedom and independence you want.

Tune into this episode to hear:

• How an Authority Machine does the heavy lifting of bringing in and nurturing leads
• How your Authority Machine leverages supply and demand to allow you to consistently raise your prices
• How an Authority Machine builds an audience large enough to diversify your income streams

Resources:

• No BS Agencies Mastery
• The Price to Freedom Calculator™
• No BS Launchpad
• No BS Agency Owners Free Facebook Group
• Start reading the first chapter of my book
• Piasilva.com

Everybody wants to be seen as an authority or an expert, whether you use those words or not.

Why? Because being seen as an expert or an authority is what allows you to continuously raise your prices, sell more and more profitable projects, and achieve higher and higher levels of freedom and ease in your business and your life.

Inside Mastery, we talk about building an Authority Machine as the third phase of building a No BS Agency. So this month, I’m going to tackle the most common questions I get about it, starting with, “What is an authority machine, anyway?”

Tune into this episode to hear:

• Why an Authority Machine is not the same thing as creating content
• The three main elements of an Authority Machine
• Why your point of view has to be unique and specific, now more than ever
• How an Authority Machine brings people into your orbit for the long haul
• Why building an Authority Machine is the last step in the No BS process

Resources:

• No BS Agencies Mastery
• The Price to Freedom Calculator™
• No BS Launchpad
• No BS Agency Owners Free Facebook Group
• Start reading the first chapter of my book
• Piasilva.com

Today I’m talking with one of my star students turned No BS Mastery coach, Sara Chambers, about ditching proposals, committing to the No BS process even through bumpy times, and how she’s been able to up level her business since joining the program.

Sara Chambers loves collaborating, community, and coffee. Alliteration is clearly her favorite literary device and she’s a fierce advocate for the Oxford comma. Before Sara founded Elly and Nora, she spent the greater part of her career helping non-profits, authors, and lifestyle brands in marketing, public relations, communications, and everything in between. She is passionate about helping her clients achieve results that grow their income and ultimately their impact.

Tune into this episode to hear:

• How the lead product process helps Sara build trust and rapport with clients
• The “hole” Sara fell into when her retainer work slowed down
• How Sara went from “Who am I to charge that?” to embracing value-based pricing

Learn more about Sara Chambers:

• Elly and Nora Creative
• Instagram: @sarachamberscreative
• Connect with Sara on LinkedIn

Resources:

• No BS Agencies Mastery
• The Price to Freedom Calculator™
• No BS Launchpad
• No BS Agency Owners Free Facebook Group
• Start reading the first chapter of my book
• Piasilva.com

What happens if the client hates the work you bring to their Intensive?

Presenting your work to a client is always a little nerve wracking. You’ve put time and effort and love into it and it’s hard not to take it personally when the client isn’t excited about it.

So of course when I tell people that we do entire branding projects in one-to-three day intensives, their biggest question is, “What happens when the client hates the work?”

Let’s break this down.

Tune into this episode to hear:

• What it really means when the client accepts or rejects your work
• The key process that minimizes (and practically eliminates) the risk that clients will reject your work
• The magic of the Magic Hour
• Why you shouldn’t ask your clients, “What do you think?” and what you need to do instead

Resources:

• No BS Agencies Mastery
• The Price to Freedom Calculator™
• No BS Launchpad
• No BS Agency Owners Free Facebook Group
• Start reading the first chapter of my book
• Piasilva.com

Can you actually do quality work, bespoke custom brands and websites and amazing copy in an intensive? For real?

Today I’m going to break down the three major assumptions behind that question. Because absolutely yes, you can do quality, custom work in an intensive, and I wouldn’t do it any other way.

Tune into this episode to hear:

• Why the time your clients pay for is not the hours you put into each project
• How intensives allow you to immerse yourself in one project at a time and lead to better work
• Why you don’t want to give clients a ton of time to consider the work
• Why laboring over a project doesn’t always make the end result better

Resources:

• No BS Agencies Mastery
• The Price to Freedom Calculator™
• No BS Launchpad
• No BS Agency Owners Free Facebook Group
• Start reading the first chapter of my book
• Piasilva.com

How do we put a stop to dragging project timelines and scope creep? Intensives.

Intensives are a core piece of the No BS model that I talk about on this podcast and inside our No BS Agency Mastery program. But a lot of people have preconceived notions about what intensives are and what they aren't.

So today I want to tell you exactly what intensives are and how they can help your business. 

Tune into this episode to hear:

• How intensives stop scope creep, client indecision, and dragging timelines
• What 1-3 days means on the client side and on your side of the equation
• Why the lead product to intensive model makes clients actually excited to say yes to your work
• How we deliver intensives

Resources:

• No BS Agencies Mastery
• The Price to Freedom Calculator™
• No BS Launchpad
• No BS Agency Owners Free Facebook Group
• Start reading the first chapter of my book
• Piasilva.com

Chris Do is a major name in the industry with a massive following across social media and YouTube.

And while we have very different philosophies about scale and how we work with clients, there actually is a lot of overlap between Chris’s methodology and the No BS way. 

So we had plenty to talk about during this conversation that I’m so excited to share with you today.

Chris Do is an Emmy award-winning designer, director, CEO and Chief Strategist of Blind and the founder of The Futur—an online education platform with the mission of teaching 1 billion people how to make a living doing what they love.

Tune into this episode to hear:

• The difference between being a soloist and a conductor in your business
• Chris’ recommended hiring approach as your first hire
• How to go from being an order-taker to developing strategy 
• Why designers need to become aware of their cognitive biases
• How to overcome clients seeing hiring you as a risk
• How to build real clout 

Learn more about Chris Do:

• The Futur
• TikTok: @thechrisdo
• YouTube: @thefutur
• Instagram: @thechrisdo

Resources:

• The Win Without Pitching Manifesto, Blair Enns
• No BS Agencies Mastery
• The Price to Freedom Calculator™
• No BS Launchpad
• No BS Agency Owners Free Facebook Group
• Start reading the first chapter of my book
• Piasilva.com

Picture this: You get all dressed up and drag yourself to a networking event. You spend a couple of hours meeting people. Maybe you have a few nice conversations. You leave at the end of the night exhausted and wondering why you even went to the event and if there was any value in it. 

Last week I talked about how connecting with people in real life and building your network is the go-to strategy for finding new leads for your business, especially in the first couple of years.

But maybe you’ve tried it and you felt like it just didn’t work and wasn’t worth the effort.

Today, I want to talk about why it didn’t work for you and what you can do to change your approach so that when you make the effort to connect with people, it really will translate into prospects and sales.

Tune into this episode to hear:

• Setting the right expectations for meeting people who are the right fit for you in any given event
• All the things you need to be crystal clear about to be “memorable
• Why you need a clear, specific ask and a commitment to following up
• How to make the most of the connections you made

Resources:

• No BS Agencies Mastery
• The Price to Freedom Calculator™
• No BS Launchpad
• No BS Agency Owners Free Facebook Group
• Start reading the first chapter of my book
• Piasilva.com

“How do I get leads?”

It’s the million dollar question. When you have a business, you need sales. To make sales, you need leads. And finding them is probably the biggest challenge that small business owners face.

Maybe right now you’re taking whatever work you can get and relying on referrals to bring in new business. But when you rely on referrals, you have no idea when the next one is going to show up and you have  no control over your business or how much money you make. Which means you’re stressed out all the time.

So how do you stop relying on referrals and start finding leads? That’s what I’m talking about today.

Tune into this episode to hear:

• Why different lead generation tactics are required at different stages of your business
• Why you have to get comfortable building your network and letting people know you exist, sorry introverts
• The key to closing more sales
• The right time to start your authority machine (and why jumping the gun doesn’t usually work)

Resources:

• No BS Agencies Mastery
• The Price to Freedom Calculator™
• No BS Launchpad
• No BS Agency Owners Free Facebook Group
• Start reading the first chapter of my book
• Piasilva.com