What is scope and when do you talk about it with your client?How to make it clear that you’re a consultant, not an order taker.Scoping with (and without) value pricing.The relationship between mastery, value and scoping.Shifting from doing full implementation to strategy and project oversight (hint: it starts in the scoping meeting).Quotables“Push it back to: what is the desired business outcome here or the transformation you’re looking for?”—JS “You can feel good about your services at a lot of different price points.” —RM “It’s super important to scope last and not go into the sales meeting assuming that you need to find a way to convince the client to pay you to do your thing.”—JS “We can all find a way to strip off the things that we really love and focus on just selling those.”—RM

Note: We're planning a special episode for #150 and you can have a chance to participate! Just record your question (QuickTime is great for this), send it to either of us and if it's chosen, we will play your question and answer it on the show.What to do when your audience growth stalls—or worse.How to shake things up when you’re out of content ideas—and discerning the difference between a dry spell and when you need to make real change.When someone keeps “beating” you—and you’re feeling like you’re in the shadow of a competitor. Hint: perception isn’t always reality.Dealing with a true revenue plateau—including how to decide which signs and metrics to pay attention to.What to do if your ideal prospects just don’t get what you’re selling or when they’re comparing you to the wrong options.Quotables“If you’re going on other podcasts or you’re doing livestreams with someone else and it’s just not moving the needle, then you have to start asking yourself: maybe my message needs to be refreshed or changed.”—JS “When you’re out of content ideas, you’ve to fill the well. And that isn’t fingers poised over your keyboard…you have to go do something else.” —RM“We all have our idols—the people we look up to. But that doesn’t mean our businesses and how we take our messages to market should look the same.”—RM“The way out of (prospects not getting it) is all about conversations—optimizing for conversations. Having as many conversations—virtual or otherwise—to see if people’s eyebrows go up or down.” —JS 

How to think of innovation when we talk authority businesses.Warning signs it may be time for you to innovate.How to deal with and ride the wave of a sea change—in the world, technology, attitudes, your industry.Acting on the cues that it’s time to innovate.Incorporating innovation into your business model and routines.Quotables“Innovation is the opposite of resting on your laurels.”—JS“Part of innovation is you’re testing the premise you already have and you’re asking where could it be better—where could I improve this?”—RM“How does this create a new opportunity for my people that I could broadcast or share with them or some insight on what this makes possible for them?” —JS “It’s understanding what your value is and finding the market that will pay you for that.”—RM

Exploring the importance of pricing in business strategy, perceived value in advisory services, strategic pricing for target market positioning, relationship between positioning and monetization, optimizing pricing strategies for growth, and transitioning from implementation to strategy

How to know when you’re ripe for starting a new specialty.Overcoming the challenges of changing your identity—how you see yourself in your business.Questions to ask yourself for clues to defining a new specialty direction.Recognizing when clients are actually pointing the way to a new specialty.How to tell a connected story to your buyers as you enter a new specialty.Quotables“The people that make the transition successfully are the ones that don’t get too attached to their role.”—RM “The first trick is being open to the identity shift.”—JS “The second hard thing is just recognizing the opportunity—even if you’re looking for it, it can be hard to identify.” —JS “The key is to connect the new thing that you’re doing to the old thing you did—in your mind and most importantly your buyer’s mind.”—RM

How to get clear right now on your 20%. Decreasing the friction (time, process, money) of any actions that don’t fall into your critical 20%.A handful of ideas to leverage your time on activities that will deliver 80% of your results.Identifying the actions that are not fun, not easy and don’t contribute to your 80%—so you can stop doing them (or hand them off).Why freeing up headspace to focus on your 20% can make you not only more productive, but happier.Quotables“It’s clear to me that writing is the thing.”—JS “When we’re talking about building authority, it’s pretty hard to do it without writing.”—RM “For me, webinars are the thing that has been super productive…it’s fun, it’s easy, people love ‘em and they end up on my mailing list”—JS “Social media is a distribution system for your content. It’s a way to get a broader distribution of your content and entice people to sign up for your list.”—RM 

What can you do when your niche turns into a rut?Talking PointsAre ruts always bad?What to do when you feel stuckNarrowing your niche may help you get out of a rutImportance of picking the right nicheHow to identify the group that you’re trying to serveLooking beyond the edges of your rutYour unique twist on your specializationThinking more broadly about your skillsBeing adamant about both your audience and your service might get you stuckConsider your systems and habits and whether they’re working for youThe ten-day systems challengeWhen you need to fire a clientWorking with clients you likeExperimenting with new tacticsQuotable Quotes“It may be that your niche is still too broad.” –RM“The niche isn’t just who you’re serving and what industry it’s in. It’s all those other things that are how you uniquely bring yourself to market with your audience.” –RM“I’m against time sheets. I’m not against time tracking.” –JS“The engagement will not last forever. You don’t want it to. That means you’re not growing.” –JS

Discover the importance of getting specific in your niche rather than just thinking small. Learn how understanding your target market leads to business changes. Explore successful examples of experts niching into specific but not small markets. Uncover the benefits of targeting a very specific market for predictable cashflow and business success.

Learn the art of cold outreach with tips on making connections, leveraging LinkedIn, and customizing outreach for maximum impact. Dive into genuine conversations, thoughtful engagement, and turning cold outreach into warm connections. Explore the benefits of strategic project references, valuable insights, AB testing, and habitual professionalism in building relationships and expanding your network.

Delve into competition in business with insights on defining competitors, mindset shifts towards collaboration, uncovering deeper issues through simple problems, innovative differentiation in business services, leading a revolution for change, and standing out in a competitive market.