E. 89: Rochelle Moulton & Jonathan Stark Dive Deep on Productized Services, Fixed and Value-Based Pricing, and Building Authority
Productizing your services is a hell of a great way to run a business, make better money and live a more sustainable life. But like any business model, there are constraints. Where are those constraints? And what value or opportunities might be left on the table when you productize?
After listening to Rochelle Moulton and Jonathan Stark talk about productized services on their podcast, I knew I had to invite them over to dig into it some more. We’ll talk about constraints of the model for a small agency and where we’ll have to agree to disagree.
E. 88: Truth Bombs About Retainer Models and Why They Are Not Profitable
I am avidly against retainer clients for small agency owners. In this episode, I tell you exactly why I think they give a false sense of security and are the absolutely wrong strategy to implement if you want more profit and more freedom in your life.
E. 87: Why Focusing on the Money to Earn More Money Isn't Going to Make You More Money (and Where to Focus Instead)
When you want to make more money without working more hours, what’s the first thing you think to do? You focus on the money. You raise your prices or you bring on more clients, maybe even both. But when you focus on the money, it can actually end up being the reason you get stuck working all the time without making enough.
E. 86: Step Inside the "Non-Sales" Sales Conversation and Learn Why It's The Only Sales Convo You'll Want to Have
I’m sharing how we turned the long, laborious, awful sales process that most small agencies go through to try to close a client into a simple 15 minute conversation and we close people on the spot.
E. 85: Jennifer Anastasi Implements the No BS Agency Model and Tells Us All About it: The Good, The Bad, and The Awesome
What does shifting from the old default model of working with clients to using the No BS Agency model actually look like? Super badass business owner Jennifer Anastasi is here to tell us. In this episode, she reveals how she implemented the model that changed everything for her — from projects that dragged on for six or nine months at a time to projects that were delivered in just a couple of days intensive.
E. 84: Five Principles for Eliminating Never-Ending Revisions and Banish Scope Creep Forever
When I tell people that we have eliminated the revisions process and that clients accept our deliverables without revisions, they’re both amazed and highly skeptical. Today I’m letting you in on how we do this and how it’s not just a better path to creating a more profitable business, but it’s a better path with better results for your clients too.
E. 83: Exactly What BS Did We Cut and How Were We Able to Do It
What’s the BS that we eliminated when we say “No BS”? That’s what we’re talking about today, plus how we were able to do it without duplicating work or sacrificing quality.
E. 82: How Do You Sell Something That All Your Competitors Are Giving Away for Free?
In the creative agency space, almost everyone follows a long proposal writing process in order to win a client. It’s all well and good if you close the sale. But if you don’t, all that time spent writing a proposal for one client is lost. I knew I had to stop spending so much time and energy writing proposals for clients who were never going to close. So I quit doing proposals for free. And you can too.
E. 81: You Are The Hero Of Your No BS Agency
It's the beginning of January, which means a lot of us are thinking about goals and what we really want our next year to look like. How do you set yourself up so that you don’t simply come intentions for the year and do them for a couple of weeks and forget about them? How do you actually set yourself up to achieve those things in the next twelve months?
E. 80: Exciting Business Goals for 2022 and Going All-In on What's Next
For the past year, I have been building the no BS Agency Mastery Program, and in 2022 I plan to go all-in and take it to new heights. I take you behind-the-scenes about this decision and the actions I plan on taking next year.
E. 79: The Business Model You Need if You Want Work-Life Balance and The Secret Behind a Successful Passive Income Business
The truth is the agency life is hard. When you’re running an agency, the hustle is constant and you really don’t have much work-life balance. Which is one reason why Steve and I had to create another way forward.
E. 78: Getting Out of the Fear Place, Selecting a New Business Model, and Fundamentally Changing the Way We Do Business
I want to take you back to how this all started—the challenges and opportunities that Steve and I experienced that led us to change our business model so drastically, and why we turned the way we do business on its head.
E. 77: Julia Pimsleur Dives Into Why Mindset is the Key to Achieving Our Big Goals and the Mindset Practices She Encourages Us All to Adopt
Do you ever make assumptions, and let them dictate what you do next? Of course you do, we all do! Now is your chance to start noticing those assumptions and changing the story. In this episode, I chat with friend and mentor Julia Pimsleur on how even small shifts in your mindset can have big impacts in your business and your life.
E. 76: Hillary Weiss on Finding, Visualizing, and Showcasing the Thing That Makes You Special in the World
Hillary Weiss is on a mission to help more small businesses define their “statement piece”, a.k.a. the bold point of view that makes them radically relevant to their perfect people. in this episode, we talk about finding that thing that makes you special in the world, using process to showcase the value, and using visual cues to communicate it online.
E. 75: Focus on Process Over Product and Build Your Resilience
When you’re an entrepreneur, you’re in a constant state of not knowing. There is always more to learn. You can’t know everything because the landscape is always changing. Getting comfortable with not knowing is a big step to building resilience.
E. 74: Seth Erickson Shares His Research and New Book on Why Storytelling in Business Works and How We Can Tell More Engaging Stories
A lot of people suck at communicating to their customers. As a result, they don’t stand out. But there is a method that is as old as humanity, and is ten times more effective than just telling customers what you do: Storytelling. Seth Erickson shares how we can apply this effectively in our businesses.
E. 73: How to Guarantee Your Own Success
What’s the one thing you can do to “guarantee” your own success? And why most people can’t and won’t do it!
E. 72: Jared Kleinert Peels Back the Curtain on His Processes, Habits, and Relationships That Have Allowed Him to Accomplish So Much at 26
Jared Kleinert is a serial entrepreneur, keynote speaker and consultant with a range of high-profile clients. Jared shares his story and how he’s managed to do so much at such a young age, how he manages and thinks about his time so he can make all this happen, and his advice on hiring support even when you don’t need or want employees.
E. 71: Philip Morgan On Why Our Relationship to Risks Matters a Whole Lot When Picking Our Business Strategy
For some, the idea of taking a giant leap of faith is exhilarating. For others, the idea instantly makes them queasy. Where you land on that continuum will change depending on the greater circumstances of your life. And your relationship to risk affects your business and the choices you’ll make.
E. 70: Jeffrey Van Dyk on Finding Your Perfect Market, the Work Only You Can Do, and the Messaging That Hits The Bullseye
Everyone wants to find their one perfect square inch of the market where they can go a mile deep, do good work and make good money. You could chase what you think the market wants and jump into a niche that seems hot right now. You could jump from niche to niche to niche. Or you could find the work that only you can do. In this episode, Jeffrey Van Dyk talks about how to do just that.