Blair Enns, a seasoned business consultant and author specializing in creative pricing, shares his profound insights. He discusses the benefits of specialization versus generalization in the creative industry and how to measure the unique value provided to clients. Enns emphasizes the importance of value-based pricing over hourly rates, encouraging professionals to embrace their worth. Additionally, he explores the complexities of aligning pricing strategies with client goals and the psychological barriers creatives face in financial conversations.
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volunteer_activism ADVICE
Specialization Advice
Specialize in a specific creative discipline and target market.
This focus builds expertise, differentiates you, and justifies premium pricing.
insights INSIGHT
Specialization Mindset
Creative people crave novelty and resist specialization, fearing boredom.
Specialization actually opens more doors to niche expertise.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Specialization Steps
Start with a fast-track strategy exercise: list market opportunities and unmet needs.
Define your positioning with "discipline for market," embracing the fear of narrowing your focus.
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Million Dollar Consulting is a practical and authoritative guide written by Alan Weiss, aimed at helping consultants build and grow their practices into million-dollar businesses. The book, now in its sixth edition, is updated to reflect modern business concerns and technologies. It provides step-by-step advice on raising capital, attracting clients, creating effective marketing strategies, and leveraging technology to reach a broader audience. Weiss emphasizes the importance of adopting a 'value mindset,' forming powerful alliances, and thinking globally. The book also covers topics such as firing non-beneficial clients, maximizing fees, and building a successful remote marketing model. It is designed for solo consultants, boutique owners, and aspiring partners in consulting firms, offering actionable tips and entrepreneurial insights to help them achieve significant financial success[2][4][5].
The Win Without Pitching Manifesto
Blair Enns
Blair Enns's "The Win Without Pitching Manifesto" challenges the traditional sales approach for creative professionals. It emphasizes the importance of clearly defining value and communicating it effectively to potential clients. The book guides professionals on how to position themselves as experts and attract clients who are a good fit. It encourages a shift from pitching to a more consultative sales process, focusing on understanding client needs and presenting solutions that align with those needs. The book's principles can be applied to various creative fields and beyond, helping professionals command higher fees and build sustainable businesses.
If you’ve followed us for a while, then you’ve probably heard the name Blair Enns a few times. Blair is a business consultant, speaker and author of the acclaimed book, The Win Without Pitching Manifesto. And if you were to ask Chris Do what one book you should read is, it would be that one.
We’ve had Blair on the show before, but we wanted to share this deep dive livestream with you because it’s filled with invaluable information. The insights that Blair shares and the perspective he offers is unmatched. You can actually hear Chris’s giddiness during their conversation.
They cover a lot of ground in this talk. Discussing things like specializing vs generalizing, how to measure the value you bring to the table, pricing the client not the job and, of course, value based pricing.
But the best part is that these are universal business concepts. You’ll find them everywhere outside of the creative industry, but Blair does a fantastic job of contextualizing them for people like us—the creative professional.
We suggest listening to the episode once, all the way through. Then on another day, listen to it again. But this time, take notes.
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