How to think about “good” marketing so that you naturally build it into running your business.Why your big idea—your mission—gives you everything you need to always be thinking with a marketing mindset.Thinking about marketing as helping other people with your brand of wisdom—in ways and on platforms that suit you, your audience and your message.Why sharing your biggest insights is a far better strategy than holding onto them for a select few.How to scale your marketing to serve both your audience and your business.Quotables“You don’t see good marketing and you do see bad marketing.”—JS“Marketing is fun! It’s sharing your expertise and your mission—the transformational change you want to make in your audience.”—RM“If the people whose condition you can improve don’t know you exist then you can’t help them.”—JS“What we want to do with good marketing is to get an emotional response in our audience.”—RM“Don’t keep anything back—share your biggest insights.”—JS “Identifying your mission and the outcomes you want is critical to making your marketing work...what’s the transformation you want to make in your audience?”—RM 

Pursue intimacy at scale.Only create value that can’t be easily copied.The price you charge should match the value you provide.Fewer passionate customers are better than a lot of indifferent ones.Passion is a story.Never be in the commodity business, even if you sell what other people consider a commodity.Quotables“In our world…authority and expertise businesses, when I hear intimacy at scale I immediately think podcasting.”—JS“Let’s agree that price has to be about value—value is external and our job is to find out what clients value so we know how to price what we’re offering.”—RM“If you find people you like and you find out what they want and you help them get it, there is value there. So then all you have to do is figure out how much they’ll pay.”—JS“The important thing is that there are enough people in that niche that you can make a living doing what you love.”—RM“Dry data is not what people need...data is not effective at generating action.”—JS“You have a set of beliefs (your point of view) and you’re imparting them to people in as many different ways as you can think of so they get what you’re trying to say and they stick with you.”—RMLinks:*The Passion Economy Podcast **The Passion Economy Book *

Why passion alone isn’t enough—we also need rigor and hard work to build a successful Passion Economy business.Rethinking your client base as a very tight, intimate group, because fewer passionate clients beat a lot of indifferent ones.How to get clear on the unique value you bring to your clients—and weave that into your business model (and marketing).When letting go of non-ideal clients is essential and how it changes the dynamics of your work.Why pricing should be a dialogue between you and your client vs. a static thing (and why a “shocking” price may be exactly what you need).Quotables“What do you want to be worried about at 3 in the morning—cause you’re gonna be worried at 3 in the morning if you’re an entrepreneur.”—AD“The passion word should convey: I’m going to put me and the wholeness of me into how I make a living. It’s a strong choice. It’s not a trivial choice.”—AD“The rest of us have to use the tools of scale, use the tools of digital communication…to find our intimate group, to find our tiny village even if they’re thinly spread all over the world.”—AD“You don’t want to be the same. You want to say I do this one thing and I do it really well and 99% of people have zero use for it, but there are people who will love it.”—AD“You want to become THE brand for your micro niche.”—AD“1/3 of your customers…are costing you money...if you actually add up the time and how much you’re making, you’d be way better off doing new customer development—or just sleeping.”—AD“It’s the stuff you’re thinking about when you’re doing the pitch that is often the most valuable. You’re looking at this company, you’re sizing them up, you’re taking in what they’re asking and then you’re really coming up with a big strategic vision…the value you’re adding is often front-loaded in that pitch.”—AD“Price really should reflect a dialogue between you and your customer. That customer is getting unique value from you. What is THAT value?”—AD“What if I doubled my prices tomorrow—what would happen? That probably for most people will provoke a crisis.”—ADLinks:The Passion EconomyTwitter

Why there is no such thing as being “too busy” to give your attention to the most important things in your life.Discovering the energy that comes from completing essential work (and the thrill of eliminating the unnecessary).Defeat resistance before it starts.How to keep investing in yourself and your business, even with a heavy client load.Quotables“When I finish a bunch of my stuff—I have like 15 things on my daily list—all in the morning, the day feels very different…it feels like I have a free day.”—JS“When we leave an employer, we tend to take our habits with us…we work that many hours whether we need to or not.”—RM“I have my to-do list open everywhere.”—JS“Part of dealing with procrastination is re-wiring our brains.”—RM“It’s so much easier to create a habit that’s daily.”—JS“Once you make something a habit…you don’t have to think about it.”—RMLinksThe 4 Hour Workweek Atomic Habits Getting Things Done The War of Art Indistractable Outer Order, Inner Calm The Power of Habit 

Why the power of your expertise—arguably the key skill of a consultant—pales in comparison to the “softer” powers you’ll need to make sure your advice sticks.How to think about the types of power you hold as a consultant.Using your power to move client projects forward while building your business.When the power-forward, speed-based mode of consulting is more efficient—but less effective.Figuring out which person(s) on your project is the skeptic—and engaging them in the process so you win them over.The role of generosity and charisma in building relationship power.Quotables“The power of expertise doesn’t work if you don’t get your expertise used. Consulting skills are a form of power that you wield when you use them well.”—RM“People in the hierarchy have their own personal goals that may or may not align with the overall project goal.”—JS “Sometimes that person who’s really quiet is actually undermining every thing you’re doing.”—RM“If you don’t have buy-in, when you’re gone they’re just going to switch back to the old way.”—JS“When we start working collaboratively, our ego tends to get tamped down…we sublimate our ego in service to the project.”—RM “If the way the team wants to do it is going to get them to the goal and they’ll feel ownership over it, that’s probably more important than you jamming your beautiful design down their throat.”—JS LinksBuy In Impro 

How to create memorable digital content and leads that build a pipeline of future clients/customers.What role does social capital play on the road to authority?Positioning yourself to value price engagements when your projects don’t have an end date—and you’re currently charging hourly or by retainer.How to apply positioning in the context of music and musicians—is this process different when dealing with an “esoteric” specialty?What do you see ahead for The Business of Authority as you hit 250 episodes in 2022?Quotables“Show up with a posture of service and just help people. Turn strangers into friends and just genuinely care about helping—and do it as much as you can for free.”—JS“You build social capital with your audience, i.e. the people that you resonate with…it’s about figuring out who your people are and building social capital with those people.”—RM“The first thing you have to ask yourself is "am I going to be an artist or a business person?” because it will cause you to make different choices.”—JS“You’ve got the opportunity—because you really understand your audience and the struggles they go through—to render them a unique service.”—RMLinksHow To Make It In The New Music BusinessYour Music And PeopleKevin KellyGot a question for us?Do you have a question that you'd like us to answer on the show? We'd love to hear from you! Email a voice recording to Jonathan at asktboa@jonathanstark.com and we'll add it to the queue.

Learn how to transition from a full-time job to consulting by building a financial and emotional runway, finding your niche, and understanding your client base. Discover the importance of saving money, leveraging name recognition, and honing marketing skills for a successful consulting business.

Delicate balance between ambition and wellbeing, exploring the pursuit of more vs. sufficiency, American entrepreneurial mindset, evolution of status symbols, financial mindfulness, defining 'enough' for security and work-life balance

The signs you’re ready to start pitching to media.Identifying the right media for you today—bloggers and podcasters, niche media and name brand digital and print outlets.How to think of and treat journalists to capture their attention and get your message heard.The role of media attention in building your authority and your business (hint: it is often NOT a straight line).Deciding which success criteria matter most and how to use them to guide your decisions and attention.   Quotables“One sign that you know you’ve got something is where you have a hook to a really hot story. There are times—and 2020 is one of them—where there are only two or three really hot stories.”—RM“You need to be measuring something—even if it’s intangible…know WHY you’re doing it (pitching media) or you’ll feel like you’re shouting into the void.”—JS“When it comes to authority…we want our name associated with our ideas, and that means media.”—RM“The “trick” is to look at media as a potential long-term relationship and you just start helping—you develop a posture of service.”—JS“Sometimes you have a favorite publication and you realize they don’t cover your topic at all or they do it in a way you think is insufficient. Pitch them!” —RM“If my strategy is to get a monthly column in a big publication then I’ll pick different outlets to reach out to than if my success metric was to increase the number of my email subscribers.”—JS

What kind of pricing model would you recommend to a consulting agency that has traditionally relied on a retainer model?How do you think international business and economics can and should impact pricing? I’ve seen agencies price certain fixed cost products lower in certain countries to make them more accessible.How should small businesses consider reorienting their offerings within the current economic situation? Is now the time to be moving toward industries that are profitable or focusing on industries with high value problems to solve?Do you have any specific tactics or strategies to get customers on the phone and ask them questions that will help you get insight into the problems they’re experiencing so you can better position and market yourself?What are your thoughts on vertical vs. horizontal positioning and what sort of marketing would you do with either one of them?Quotables“For a recurring model, I like to go with an advisory retainer where you’re not doing execution, but making yourself available at the drop of a hat to answer questions.”—JS“You want to make sure that you’re not giving away so much that you can’t stay with the mission.”—RM“Help people you like get what they want. I’m not a fan of chasing opportunity. I like opportunity to come to me.”—JS“Who do you want to help succeed, who do you want to transform…and what’s that particular transformation that you make in a way no one else does. There’s your power.”—RMLinksEmail RochelleEmail JonathanThe Introduction GameCeleste Headlee TEDx 10 Ways To Have A Better ConversationGot a question for us?Do you have a question that you'd like us to answer on the show? We'd love to hear from you! Email a voice recording to Jonathan at asktboa@jonathanstark.com and we'll add it to the queue.