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)…
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…
Telling hands from brains
Know how to tell when you’re hiring an order-taker (hands to do a job) from an advisor (brains to think different)? They’ll do everything you do. Everything you need. They’ll keep you happy — until you’re not. You won’t get push back on what to do. You won’t get asked the uncomfortable questions to explain WHY you have to do what you say you have to do. It’ll just be to get things “better”, without defining what “better” is. And to “get better”, you’ll get sold on more things. More metrics….
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.
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…
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…
A category of one
Let’s say you create your very own category —as some twitter bros say. Your category of one. Where you have no competition. You’re the first to be there. You have a monopoly of one (as redundant as it sounds). Ask yourself: How do your clients choose you? If there’s nothing to compare to. How do they know what you do —if you’re the first one? When there’s nothing to compare to. How do they know you solve their problems —if there’s nothing to compare to? How do they make an informed decision…
The wrong numbers game
Seen on linkedin Seeing marketing through this lens is playing the spam game. That’s why sales and contacting new people feels manipulative and sleazy. Because it is. 50 → 10 → 5 → 2 Reach the numbers. The more you reach, the more response you’ll have. (Don’t have to be a genius to know that). Here’s the thing Marketing is not about how many people/businesses/accounts you can reach. It’s about how you can help and make your clients’ lives better *for them*. → How many you can reach: go on a…
Being Mikey
Think for a second your name’s Mikey (from Mikayla or Mike —your choice). Running a small or solo business based on expertise and figuring out how to stand out in your market —or at least how to get noticed. Here are a few things that make you different from a big, large co, something like… Nike: You don’t have the big (and deep) pockets of Nike. You can’t sustain a large ad campaign throughout different channels. You can’t run ANY large campaign You don’t have a PR agency/team You don’t…