Rod Aparicio

commercial strategy for b2b companies in technical markets

Advisory

Insights

The habit of daily writing for you, so that you rethink what you believe about (your) business, brand and marketing.

Your job is to be an orange

“While the client always wants to level the playing field and compare “apples to apples,” your job is to be an orange. Do everything you can to show why you’re

Teach the game in verse

Friend-of-the-list and daily emailer Kevin Freidberg sent this message “Teach the game in reverse”. And I read “Teach the game in verse”, which also makes absolute sense, since his writing

Not being the expert

Not behaving like the expert can take many forms. One of them: trying to avoid pushback, arguments, or resistance in your relationship with clients. It can hurt you more than

Everything is sales.

You heard that right. Everything is sales. But doing sales is not (necessarily) selling. It’s helping to buy.

Maybe you need help

If you were thinking of writing, publishing and share your POV in your industry so that you can help your customers, doing it solo is ultra hard. And maybe you

Thought leadershit

“You can produce thought leadership.”It’s bullshit. That’s like saying that you can produce leaders. A step-by-step process where you get a person in and, like an output, they return being

DIscomfort

To lead, you need to feel discomfort. And to be cool with it. More than feeling comfortable in discomfort, it’s about feeling discomfort and still going through it. It’ll frustrate

A truthbomb

Friend of the list, daily emailer and author, Shweta dropped this post on thought leadership —and on thought leadershit, too. “No one can create thought leadership content for you, except

Snorkeling and business

For snorkeling, you: don’t need quite a lot of equipment: usually just a snorkel, a vest to float and fins. stay on the surface, need lots of sun protection, the

Below the surface

To go below the surface, you need special gear —more than just a snorkel and fins. And the stakes also get higher. What do you think it takes to see

What it takes to see under the surface

Understanding. Yeah, that simple. Understanding of principles, of the conditions, of the stakes themselves. Diving is a different kind of fun (from snorkeling), you can explore for longer what’s underwater.

Diving and business

They’re both about leading, and it will… frustrate you. stretch you. for sure scare the shit out of you. When you go diving, you go see what’s below the surface.

Fits

Fit in. Fit with. Fit. You’re supposed to find a product-market fit, a customer-product fit, a product-channel fit (omnichannel, right?), so that your business thrives. Which means you need to

2 dangerous things in business

There are 2 dangerous things in a world of fit-ins (besides being standard/average/best-practice): → Fit in Imagine this: you’re a square and have to mold yourself to fit in a

Less is less

And more is more —no shit, Sherlock. ????️♀️ You’ve been taught that “less is more”, as in the belief that simplicity and clarity will always mean more, by taking off

Are you waiting for the big moment?

Are you saving your BIG IDEA for when you have the big audience and everyone is waiting for what you have to say? You’re not alone. This fear hits us

Signals —when things go South.

Testing new launches, products, emails, promotions and whatever you’d like to have can give you the sense of control, that the risks will be minimized and success guaranteed. Life’s not

“Know your worth”

That’s the common, void advice you get about how to do business and charge for the work you do. It’s pointless. Knowing your worth has nothing to do with what

You need to get poor

Poor on what this lady says ???? Because when you get poor on your fucks to give, you get to be free-er. Are you publishing your thoughts to help your

The thing about AI

Here’s this one that was posted on linkedin: “You’re planning to retire and want to write for a living. How can you get started?” This question makes no sense. Retiring

Retirement

You get old, to a certain age and you retire, so that you can enjoy of savings —or at least not having to work. Retirement frames work as a chore

What’s your prompt?

Justin Welsh wrote this post and it just hit home. Some time ago, I asked friend of the list and data scientist, Dr. Genevieve Hayes: – If, let’s say, 10

The problem with thought leadership

Most people think it’s about showing things and that “you know”. But who are we kidding? It’s most to get followers and do sales. It’s about paywalls, subscription or funding

What’s wrong with business?

So, the way music is framed is about art, enjoy, amusement, etc. And the way business is framed: profit product growth brand etc. The thing is, none of those are

What’s wrong with your business?

Maybe nothing. I mean it. Maybe nothing at all. Ponder this question, though: What is the center for my business and how does it show? What’s it all about?

Being a follower

“You’re a follower.” Doesn’t sound quite “empowering”, right? So, why would you want to have followers?

A choice to make. Following. Or leading.

Friend-of-the list and data science expert, Genevieve Hayes, got back to yesterday’s message with this old Dilbert comic: Leadership is a choice —and a hard one to take because it

Leading is not empowering

You don’t empower people: employees, customers, trainees, interns… To empower them implies you can dis-empower them. That you can take any power, agency or determination they have from them. And

Leading is language

Not only whether you say please or not. It’s about how you frame (and reframe) the situations, the context, problems and even solutions. [Framing and reframing —NOT gaslighting.] It’s about