The Business of Authority

Exploring the nuances of successful pitching, focusing on tailored messages for audience engagement. Building valuable connections through strategic networking and understanding motivations. Emphasizing communication and relationship strategies for long-term success. Acknowledging weaknesses in pitches upfront for quicker responses. Importance of tone, specificity, and brevity in effective pitching for impactful communication.

Exploring mindset beliefs in business success, reflections on selling a firm and feelings of inadequacy, overcoming self-doubt, navigating pricing strategies, deep-seated beliefs in decision making, and confidence in business evolution.

What is the best home for your content?Talking PointsControlling your contentAre you building someone else’s platform with your content?How search engine and social media platforms get in between creators and their audiencePutting the same content in more than one placeKnowing how much traffic you’re getting when you post on a platformGuesting on someone else’s podcastSharing audiencesYelp as an example of not being able to control your contentPlatforms that can help you build an audience can also take you downHedging your betsBreaking through the gatekeeper to get to an audienceWorking with editorsCustom domainsControlling your linksQuotable Quotes“Google being between me and the people I want to help – I don’t like it.” –JS“You do have to have control, at the end of the day, of your content.” –RM“If I’m going to be chipping away at something every day, you’d better believe I want those chips to fall in my basket, not someone else’s basket.” –JS“Own your content. Let it live with you.” –RM

How can you keep producing killer content?Talking PointsHow to measure engagementWhat’s repeatable about going viralKnowing your audienceUnderstanding your audience’s baseline knowledgeTerminologyHow often you should put out contentWhy you should write every dayHow often podcasts and videos should come outSeparating what you have to do from what adds value but isn’t strictly necessaryPeople trust videos more if they’re more naturalQuotable Quotes“Killer content is content that engages your ideal audience.” –RM“If you know who you’re talking to, it dramatically increases the odds of being able to help them.” –JS“If you go from publishing weekly to every weekday, that’s five times more chances at bat.” –JS“There’s something about being accountable every single day that makes you literally look around you to find that inspiration.” –RM

Are you ready to take your summer back?Talking PointsHow client work downshifts in the summerWhat you can do instead of client work during the slow seasonPlanning marketing for the fallTaking care of things that you’ve been putting off or that weren’t high enough priority to get done at other times of the yearWhat energizes you during the summer monthsUsing the block of time to get yourself ready for the next thing or set yourself up for a new phase in your businessDiversifying your income streamsRanking clientsRethinking your technology choicesCleaning up broken links and stale languageAvoiding the hamster wheelQuotable Quotes“There’s all these little things that you can do that don’t usually make it up to the top of your priority list.” –JS“Take your summer back. Don’t just sit there at the whim of the client” –RM“There’s something about having a great idea to work on in the summer that’s energizing.” –RM“So when things slow down it does, for me at least, give me that headspace to be like “let’s sit back for a second and think about what’s working, what’s not working as well and what I could do to do more of the stuff that’s working.” –JS

Do you have an unconventional niche?Talking PointsHow to choose a specializationWhat you can find out when you go deep into a specific areaPicking a niche that’s intriguing to youHow much choice people really wantThe Why ConversationFocusing your limited resources onto a specific pointWhy you should do a search to see what clients will see when they search for businesses like yoursIncorporating your interests or passions into your brandingWhy money-based decisions don’t help you find your nicheWho you want your message to resonate with and who you don’t want it to resonate withMaking changes for the betterExperimenting with a change in order to test the marketQuotable Quotes“Best practices only get you so far.” –JS“The easiest way to solve problems is to focus on some aspect of who you’re serving and figure out how your expertise can tackle that problem.” –RM“It’s like hope is not a strategy—luck is not a strategy either.” –RM“If you want things to be better, well, better is a change. You have to change something if you want things to be better.” –JSSharing is caring!If you enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it with a few friends who might find it useful. Thanks!

How do you handle the twilight zone between when a client buys your stuff and you actually start delivering it?Why the time between purchase and delivery is the twilight zoneDifferent twilight zones for different productsExplaining the onboarding processGiving buyers something to do while they wait for what they orderedSetting expectationsHelping clients trust the processEnvisioning what you want the client experience to beWhat happens in more high-touch sales scenariosHow much contact you need when you’re billing by the hourKeeping clients engagedQuotable Quotes“You’re treating that book like a product, like a service, like part of your business. It’s not something that’s separate.” –RM“Even though I’m not winging it, I want it to feel like I’m not winging it.” –JS“For somebody to see that you’ve laid some breadcrumbs… it’s reinforcing. It builds confidence.” –RM“In a coaching situation, the person who’s being coached really does have to do all the heavy lifting.” –JS

What to do when you screw up.Talking PointsHow you can turn a screw-up situation aroundThinking about how the story is going to be toldHow empathy can help you understand how the story will be told and how you can turn it aroundAsking clients to trust you after screwing upAvoiding defensivenessHelping clients dealing with difficult situationsResponding to unsolicited criticismRemaining respectful in the face of aggressive criticism or complaintsQuotable Quotes“We ask our clients to tell us what’s wrong, what isn’t working, to be vulnerable that they’re not perfect.” –RM“Step one for me when it happens is don’t get defensive.” –JS“Sometimes maybe it’s not about you.” –RM“Take a breath, think about the other person, try and be empathetic to their situation, try to see it through their eyes.” –JSRelated Links:Getting More by Stuart Diamond Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss

Exploring the concept of building a business around one's genius zone, embracing strengths, doing less for more success, debunking societal expectations in entrepreneurship, navigating challenges in retail, and focusing on personal fulfillment and financial success by operating within the 'genius zone'.

What do you need to do to build trust as an authority?Talking PointsCharlie Green’s mathematical equation for determining trustworthinessGetting feedback about what you need to work onHow your website or marketing materials could reveal gaps in credibilitySeeing your credibility indicators through the eyes of your ideal clientDemeanor as a credibility factorMaking and keeping promisesConsistencyBeing on timeIntimacyMaking yourself vulnerableBuilding intimacy by asking questionsTaking the low-status roleHow to look for self-orientation on your websiteQuotable Quotes“The easy box to draw is what the world sees as credibility.” –RM“I’ve had people tell me a bunch of times that my demeanor is what convinced them.” –JS“In a service business there’s a whole lot of collaboration with your clients.” –JS“One way to build intimacy is to ask questions – about them. And listen to the answers.” –RM