The Business of Authority

The Business of Authority

By Jonathan Stark and Rochelle MoultonBusinessEntrepreneurshipMarketing
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The Business of Authority episodes

  • It’s A Wrap

    We talk about where we’re taking the show and how your feedback will impact our next steps.

    It's your chance to reach out (see the links below) and weigh in!

    LINKS

    Rochelle | Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
    Jonathan | Daily List | Website  | Ditcherville | LinkedIn | Twitter

     

    12 min
  • April Dunford - Obviously Awesome REPLAY

    Do you know how to position your product or service?

    Talking Points

    • April’s background
    • Why positioning is important
    • What positioning is
    • Email for lawyers
    • Problems caused by weak positioning
    • How solos can identify positioning problems
    • Choosing criteria that ensures clients will be happy in the end
    • Positioning the business itself versus individual offerings
    • How publishing a book affected April’s inbound leads
    • Books as part of the overall business


    Quotable Quotes

    “There’s branding and there’s positioning. Those two things are totally separate, and in fact, you need to have your positioning sorted out first, before you decide what your branding should be.” –AD

    “Now I think there’s more of an awareness around positioning.” –AD

    “Now, I’m booked up 3-4 months in advance, my rates are way higher, I work way less, and my clients are way happier, because I only promise to do this one very narrow thing, but it’s a super valuable thing, and if you’ve got this problem, who else you gonna call?” –AD

    “If you’re going to make that investment in doing marketing, there should be a call to action in there.” --AD

    LINKS

    Rochelle | Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
    Jonathan | Daily List | Website  | Ditcherville | LinkedIn | Twitter

     

    47 min
  • The Passion Economy with Adam Davidson REPLAY

    Why passion alone isn’t enough—we also need rigor and hard work to build a successful Passion Economy business.

    Rethinking your client base as a very tight, intimate group, because fewer passionate clients beat a lot of indifferent ones.

    How to get clear on the unique value you bring to your clients—and weave that into your business model (and marketing).

    When letting go of non-ideal clients is essential and how it changes the dynamics of your work.

    Why pricing should be a dialogue between you and your client vs. a static thing (and why a “shocking” price may be exactly what you need).

    Quotables

    “What do you want to be worried about at 3 in the morning—cause you’re gonna be worried at 3 in the morning if you’re an entrepreneur.”—AD

    “The passion word should convey: I’m going to put me and the wholeness of me into how I make a living. It’s a strong choice. It’s not a trivial choice.”—AD

    “The rest of us have to use the tools of scale, use the tools of digital communication…to find our intimate group, to find our tiny village even if they’re thinly spread all over the world.”—AD

    “You don’t want to be the same. You want to say I do this one thing and I do it really well and 99% of people have zero use for it, but there are people who will love it.”—AD

    “You want to become THE brand for your micro niche.”—AD

    “1/3 of your customers…are costing you money...if you actually add up the time and how much you’re making, you’d be way better off doing new customer development—or just sleeping.”—AD

    “It’s the stuff you’re thinking about when you’re doing the pitch that is often the most valuable. You’re looking at this company, you’re sizing them up, you’re taking in what they’re asking and then you’re really coming up with a big strategic vision…the value you’re adding is often front-loaded in that pitch.”—AD

    “Price really should reflect a dialogue between you and your customer. That customer is getting unique value from you. What is THAT value?”—AD

    “What if I doubled my prices tomorrow—what would happen? That probably for most people will provoke a crisis.”—AD

    LINKS
    The Passion Economy
    Twitter

    LINKS

    Rochelle | Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
    Jonathan | Daily List | Website  | Ditcherville | LinkedIn | Twitter

     

    54 min
  • In Defense of Repetition

    How niching down—think of it as repetition—gives you the opportunity for focused practice.

    Why we refer to consulting and coaching as practices.

    Giving yourself permission to suck—while you gradually improve.

    How to reframe repetition (think continual upward spiral) as practice.

    LINKS

    Rochelle | Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
    Jonathan | Daily List | Website  | Ditcherville | LinkedIn | Twitter

     

    32 min
  • Genius Zone vs. Productivity

    Why it’s tempting to conflate productivity with working in your genius zone (and how to think about it instead).

    Finding joy in “brain dead” activities (or anything necessary, but not strictly in your genius zone).

    The difference between light lift and deep dive genius zone activities.

    How to handle resistance to entering your genius zone.

    Why you don’t have to work solo inside your genius zone (aka the magic of co-creating).

    ----

    And of course, big thanks to Louis Grenier for inspiring this episode. If you hate marketing BS as much as we do, you are going to love his podcast: Everyone Hates Marketers

     

    LINKS

    Rochelle | Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
    Jonathan | Daily List | Website  | Ditcherville | LinkedIn | Twitter

     

    34 min
  • The Pros And Cons of An Application Process

    When you want to use an application process to screen potential clients and group members.

    The particular challenges applications present (and a few work-arounds).

    Why conversion rates are much higher when using applications to “gate” your service.

    How to use an application process to enhance the experience of your ideal clients and buyers.

    LINKS

    Rochelle | Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
    Jonathan | Daily List | Website  | Ditcherville | LinkedIn | Twitter

     

    41 min
  • Are You Too Cheap To Trust?

    How to use pricing as a tool to niche down your audience.

    Why engaging clients BEFORE they have the big problem you solve seldom works.

    Becoming aware of the stories you tell yourself about money—and how they impact your pricing and packaging.

    Why it’s not unethical to charge top dollar for your services (and one solution if you balk at increasing your profit).

    The fairness fallacy: why “fair” is an impossible way to set your prices.

    LINKS

    Rochelle | Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
    Jonathan | Daily List | Website  | Ditcherville | LinkedIn | Twitter

     

    36 min
  • The Books That Changed Us

    How the books you read as a child can help chart the course of your life.

    The business and leadership books we found at EXACTLY the right time for each of us.

    Why the right biographies, self-help and inspirational books (and other non-conventional business books) can lead to business break-throughs.

    How the personal nature of what we get from books can change depending on when we read them.

    LINKS

    The Servant Leader

    Managing The Professional Service Firm

    The Trusted Advisor 

    Desert Queen 

    The Big Leap

    The Simple Path to Wealth 

    Value-Based Fees

    How To Measure Anything

    Book Yourself Solid

    Getting Things Done

    The E-Myth Revisited

    The Secret of Selling Anything

    Thinking In Bets

    Godel Escher Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

     

    LINKS

    Rochelle | Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
    Jonathan | Daily List | Website  | Ditcherville | LinkedIn | Twitter

     

    42 min
  • BizDev Systems For Soloists

    Why this is not “slimy selling,” but genuinely providing value to the people you want to serve.

    The role of business development in “whale” B2B models (and how it fuels high-end consulting practices).

    Using LinkedIn to discover your ideal people and leverage your interactions.

    A handful of examples using in-person conferences as part of your business development plan.

    The importance of prioritizing relationships and tracking your business development activity over time.

    LINKS

    Rochelle | Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
    Jonathan | Daily List | Website  | Ditcherville | LinkedIn | Twitter

     

    49 min
  • You Hit The Finish Line. Now What?

    Getting past the fear of an empty calendar following an intensive project. Hint: having a marketing system you work even when you’re slammed goes a long way.

    How to turn a wrap-up meeting into additional work, testimonials and/or referrals (and one specific problem this meeting will solve for you).

    The magic of taking time for yourself to recharge after an intense bout of work—and a few ideas to try out.

    The post project questions to ask yourself to narrow down your superpower(s) and focus them on even higher-value future work.

    How small rituals to close out projects can have big emotional and financial payoffs.

    LINKS

    Rochelle | Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
    Jonathan | Daily List | Website  | Ditcherville | LinkedIn | Twitter

     

    40 min

About The Business of Authority

From the publisher's feed

How to make a living while you’re making a difference.