On a ledger
Do you give your clients what they ask for or what they, really, deeply want? That was Christopher Nolan with Heath Ledger. He didn’t focus on what the fans were asking for —an “evil” actor. He focused on what they deeply wanted: a serious actor who’d tear the role and make them feel. Who’d blow their minds. Nolan stuck to his guns. The studio backed him up. They trusted the process (and the project), even when they “didn’t get it”. And that’s how we ended up with the best Joker. Now, when…
A shitty business strategy
Charging by the hour is nonsense. Time is not a measurement. Time is not an asset. Time is nothing but a constraint. “Selling” time focuses on the seller, not on the buyer. It transfers the risk to the buyer, taking the seller’s efficiency unclear (and the more inefficient, the more they make). It turns the goal-setting from “Something concrete to get the thing done”, into a financial assessment of “Something should be done BUT how much (more) it’d cost me? Do I have the money to (keep)…
Ranking number 1 on Google
Optimizing keywords and your website to have all the stats at 100%. Loading time Responsiveness Image Alt text Accessibility And so on… That’ll get you to be number 1 on Google. The question is: What kind of number 1 on Google you want to be? What if you’re first on Google right next to McDonald’s? Odds are, it won’t drive the prospects you want to your expertise business (unless you do want to be looked for after McDo for a strategic decision). Optimizing for the wrong thing will make you…
The cost of time
Pricing can’t include the cost of time. Because time… Doesn’t have a cost. Can’t be stored. Can’t be bought. Can’t be traded. Price is the representation of your promise —and of the opportunity cost to your buyer. It gives a context to the thing you can do with that money and what other ways you could spend that money on that you say no to. Time is nothing more than a constraint. I cannot cost.
Who’s McKinsey?
• You and Larry David wrote Seinfeld together, without a traditional writers’ room, and burnout was one reason you stopped. Was there a more sustainable way to do it? Could McKinsey or someone have helped you find a better model?• Who’s McKinsey?• It’s a consulting firm.• Are they funny?• No.• Then I don’t need them. If you’re efficient, you’re doing it the wrong way. Interview to Jerry Seinfeld – Harvard Business Review While “better” means for the interviewer a way to keep the show…
Good intentions, crap approach.
Some of the answers to yesterday’s email brought up some intense feelings: Confusion, disrespect for their work, concern, lack of professionalism, lack of taking things seriously. Now, here’s the setting for it: You need work. I’m getting you work. Free work. But work at the end. It will build your “personal brand”. It will be an investment of your time. You’ll have a return on this work (reputation, value, brand, etc.) You’ll show your value and they’ll pay you what you ask next time. The…
Helping you close gigs
Let’s say you’re looking for gigs and I help you close them. Here’s what I say: Hey!I just talked with someone who thinks you might be a good fit for them, but they don’t have a budget for you yet. So i said you’d be fine helping them close business and from there, see if there could be something for you. What’s your reaction to this? Lemme know. 🙂
Investing your time
That doesn’t really happen. Time is a constraint, not a resource. You can’t use it, store it or even exchange it for something else. As such, you can’t invest it into doing something. Just as you can’t charge for it (that’s why hourly billing is nuts). What we get to confuse with time is actually the opportunity cost: the fact that if you do something, you’re choosing not to do other somethings. Here’s the thing Choosing to put your effort into something you find valuable in a timeframe is a…
Returns on investments
Friend of the list, data scientist and AI and Analytics Specialist, Genevieve Hayes replied with this gold bomb to yesterday’s daily: 1% (shared with permission, bolding mine): And even if a positive return on investment is guaranteed, this leads to the questions: • Is that skill actually valuable (for example, I can solve a Rubik’s Cube in under 5 minutes, but I don’t think anyone is going to pay me to do so)?• Will that skill actually be needed/wanted in the future? (for example, mastering…
1% better
The belief that compound interest in everything you do will make you exponentially better… is a numbers and perceptions manipulation. There. I said it. “The investor makes an investment. An investment compounds with a positive rate of return into the future. That investment —whether financial, physical, relationship, or anything else— is worth more at a date in the future.Our future self cashes in on that value.” That’s just bullshit. Here’s why. It assumes you do have —with certainty— a…