The Recognized Authority

As consultants, we often think about having a single core offer - usually a high ticket offering. But it's not always a good fit for a lot of our potential clients, and there are some clients who are willing to pay more to get more. So how should we approach creating a product or services ladder? In this episode, Chris Lema and Alastair McDermott discuss how to think about product ladders, including the three key offers you can include in your ladder. They also discuss how content marketing is about telling a story, how to use frameworks to tell that story, and how Chris got it wrong about mattresses!  “Different people need different products, even when they're all saying "I need a hotel" or "I need a car". As service practitioners, who have high ticket offers, we act like everybody is the same. Do you have a "more for more" offer for people who want more? Do you have a "less for less" offer? You deliver less, they pay less.” -- Chris Lema “All content marketing is about helping someone progress from A to B. But in order to get them over the hump of inactivity, to willing to do something, you have to tell them a story.” -- Chris Lema 🗒️ Show Notes 🗒️ Access all the links mentioned in this episode in the show notes here:  👉👉 https://therecognizedauthority.com/create-your-product-ladder/ 👈👈 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ✉️ Subscribe to the email list at TheRecognizedAuthority.com 🎙️  Record a question or voice message for the show at TheRecognizedAuthority.com/question ⭐ Like what you heard? Please help share the podcast by leaving a rating & review 🤗 Connect with Alastair and The Recognized Authority: ➡️ LinkedIn ➡️ Twitter ➡️ YouTube 

Video is the medium of choice for many, and the social platforms encourage and even incentivize us to upload videos directly. But so many consultants and experts are reticent to use video for marketing.  Video seems complex, expensive and time consuming to produce, and requires "a particular set of skills"... or does it? In this episode, Nina Froriep and Alastair McDermott discuss how to make video marketing easier, including practical steps you can take to look better on camera, reduce filming time and have less editing work afterwards.  They also discuss the importance of framing, why to use a series of short "tips" videos, and what equipment you really need to make great videos. “People are making video a lot more complicated than it needs to be. I want you to focus on your marketing strategy. The video part is a mechanical thing like writing an email, it should be just as easy to create a video.” -- Nina Froriep “I love the month-long challenges because by the third week whatever isn't working with your workflows or the way you're creating the videos is going to fall apart. And so you're forced to address all the things that you aren't addressing.” -- Nina Froriep 🗒️ Show Notes 🗒️ Access all the links mentioned in this episode in the show notes here:  👉👉 https://therecognizedauthority.com/making-video-marketing-easier/ 👈👈 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ✉️ Subscribe to the email list at TheRecognizedAuthority.com 🎙️  Record a question or voice message for the show at TheRecognizedAuthority.com/question ⭐ Like what you heard? Please help share the podcast by leaving a rating & review 🤗 Connect with Alastair and The Recognized Authority: ➡️ LinkedIn ➡️ Twitter ➡️ YouTube

As experts, we hear the advice that we should have a distinct - maybe even unique - point of view that comes through in our work, when we speak, and when we write. But what does it mean to have a point of view? Do you need to sound like Alan Weiss or Gary Vee when you write? In this episode, Tom Critchlow and Alastair McDermott discuss how to develop your unique point of view as an expert, and how to implement it in practice.  They also discuss publishing, both in terms of books, the value of blogging, and the value of writing with a single reader in mind. Tom tells the story of how he made several course-corrections or pivots over the lifetime of his consulting business. “Sometimes developing a point of view isn't as much developing a new point of view, as much as recognizing which bits of your current opinions are distinctive or interesting or resonate with people.” -- Tom Critchlow “Writing has been the tool with which I've refined and crafted a point of view on all kinds of things.” -- Tom Critchlow 🗒️ Show Notes 🗒️ Access all the links mentioned in this episode in the show notes here:  👉👉 https://therecognizedauthority.com/developing-a-unique-point-of-view/ 👈👈 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ✉️ Subscribe to the email list at TheRecognizedAuthority.com 🎙️  Record a question or voice message for the show at TheRecognizedAuthority.com/question ⭐ Like what you heard? Please help share the podcast by leaving a rating & review 🤗 Connect with Alastair and The Recognized Authority: ➡️ LinkedIn ➡️ Twitter ➡️ YouTube 

Storytelling has been the topic du jour in marketing over the past couple of years. We all know we should use stories more in business, but what does that actually mean from a practical standpoint? In this episode, Guillaume Wiatr and Alastair McDermott discuss a practical approach to using stories in business, the seven elements of a strategic narrative, and how to develop your origin story. They also discuss the four different strategic narratives that can be used in your business, as well as further resources that can help you implement stories in a practical way. “Most people think storytelling & narratives are about communication and marketing - and that's true. But it's also a very narrow understanding: a narrative runs your whole business. If you're a solo entrepreneur, the narrative that you tell yourself about why you're doing this job is extremely important.” -- Guillaume Wiatr “The CEOs & founders are faced with the challenge of changing people's buying behavior. You can't just do that by just telling a bunch of stories. You have to frame your buyer's reality into a new narrative.” -- Guillaume Wiatr 🗒️ Show Notes 🗒️ Access all the links mentioned in this episode in the show notes here:  👉👉 https://therecognizedauthority.com/build-a-strategic-narrative/ 👈👈 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ✉️ Subscribe to the email list at TheRecognizedAuthority.com 🎙️  Record a question or voice message for the show at TheRecognizedAuthority.com/question ⭐ Like what you heard? Please help share the podcast by leaving a rating & review 🤗 Connect with Alastair and The Recognized Authority: ➡️ LinkedIn ➡️ Twitter ➡️ YouTube

Book publishing has changed dramatically over the past couple of decades. Traditional publishing no longer has a monopoly on distribution, and authors can thrive independently. Hybrid publishing models are springing up. What does it all mean for experts who write a book? In this episode, Melissa G. Wilson and Alastair McDermott discuss the new world of publishing, what's different about thought leadership books, how a series of books can be trademarked, and how to use books to build an audience. They also discuss the importance of book covers, how to use Amazon to research ideas, and the reason why you should study fiction when writing nonfiction.   “The worst advice is write a book and then go to somebody for help. It would be like going into a hoarder's home, they take everything outside, then they say  "this is all the throwaways", it's painful. So the most important thing is to spend time outlining.” -- Melissa G. Wilson 🗒️ Show Notes 🗒️ Access all the links mentioned in this episode in the show notes here:  👉👉 https://therecognizedauthority.com/the-new-publishing-world/ 👈👈 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ✉️ Subscribe to the email list at TheRecognizedAuthority.com 🎙️  Record a question or voice message for the show at TheRecognizedAuthority.com/question ⭐ Like what you heard? Please help share the podcast by leaving a rating & review 🤗 Connect with Alastair and The Recognized Authority: ➡️ LinkedIn ➡️ Twitter ➡️ YouTube

Writing articles for your website or social media is hugely time consuming, and it's so difficult to find the time when you're already working long hours on client projects. But you need to make the time. Here's why. In this episode, bestselling author & renowned speaker Marcus Sheridan and Alastair McDermott discuss how writing articles, answering client questions, and giving away "proprietary" secrets saved his business. The internet has changed the sales process forever, and we need to adapt to this new reality. They also discuss how to become a better leader by asking questions, how to sound more authoritative, and why you should publish pricing information on your website.  “I realized that if I focused on the questions that nobody else wants to answer I can actually get gains really fast.” -- Marcus Sheridan “I started seeing the patterns, I started to recognize the types of content  that do better than others, and I continued to focus in on those.” -- Marcus Sheridan “I was going to go out of business, so I don't have time to sit there and say "I don't have time". So instead of watching Game of Thrones, what did I do? I sat there and pecked away at the keys every night, I slept six hours instead of eight hours.” -- Marcus Sheridan 🗒️ Show Notes 🗒️ Access all the links mentioned in this episode in the show notes here:  👉👉 https://therecognizedauthority.com/content-can-save-your-business/ 👈👈 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ✉️ Subscribe to the email list at TheRecognizedAuthority.com 🎙️  Record a question or voice message for the show at TheRecognizedAuthority.com/question ⭐ Like what you heard? Please help share the podcast by leaving a rating & review 🤗 Connect with Alastair and The Recognized Authority: ➡️ LinkedIn ➡️ Twitter ➡️ YouTube 

The business of independent consulting can be challenging, no more so than for a change management consultant in the healthcare industry in the midst of a pandemic!  In this episode, Molly Angel and Alastair McDermott discuss what it's like to run consulting projects in challenging times. Molly shares why she hired a business coach for her business despite having an MBA herself, some big mistakes she's made, and why it's important to loosen your grip on the reins in some circumstances. They also discuss podcasting for consultants, and how to create an abundance of content ideas for your writing. “I am very blessed to have a creative group around me who are my sounding board, a writers room that I can ping things off of. We'll have an hour-long call, where we'll throw out lots of different topics and we just kind of riff from there. And every single week we do this, it's a wealth of content.” -- Molly Angel “People would say "You've got an MBA, why do you need a business coach?"  I ask "Do you think I can truly be objective about myself? I don't think so."   I credit my business coach with being the person who got me fixed in the right direction first, which was "figure out the money".” -- Molly Angel 🗒️ Show Notes 🗒️ Access all the links mentioned in this episode in the show notes here:  👉👉 https://therecognizedauthority.com/running-a-consulting-business/ 👈👈 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ✉️ Subscribe to the email list at TheRecognizedAuthority.com 🎙️  Record a question or voice message for the show at TheRecognizedAuthority.com/question ⭐ Like what you heard? Please help share the podcast by leaving a rating & review 🤗 Connect with Alastair and The Recognized Authority: ➡️ LinkedIn ➡️ Twitter ➡️ YouTube

Last week, David C. Baker talked about the importance of research. In this week's solo episode, Alastair McDermott speaks about how research fits in with the Journey to Authority, and explains the Authority Maturity Model. If you are interested in growing your expert business and becoming an authority, this is for you. On Thursday Alastair will be running a live webinar for consultants and experts on the topics covered in this episode, learn more at https://therecognizedauthority.com/webinar 🗒️ Show Notes 🗒️ Access all the links mentioned in this episode in the show notes here:  👉👉 https://therecognizedauthority.com/the-journey-to-authority 👈👈 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ✉️ Subscribe to the email list at TheRecognizedAuthority.com 🎙️ Record a question or voice message for the show at TheRecognizedAuthority.com/question ⭐ Like what you heard? Please help share the podcast by leaving a rating & review 🤗 Connect with Alastair and The Recognized Authority: ➡️ LinkedIn ➡️ Twitter ➡️ YouTube 

Running a consulting business can be exhausting. How can we make consulting easier to sell, easier to price, and easier to predict? In this episode, David C. Baker and Alastair McDermott discuss the business of consulting, including why research is crucial in positioning and standing out from your competitors, how to deal with the fears of niching down, and how to expand your services in a tightly specialized business. They also discuss how to create a marketing plan for a consulting business, why we are always "leaving money on the table", and what keeps David on his toes in business! “Research is a huge part of differentiation. Doing proprietary research and making that available to your clients is the only thing I know of that cannot be replicated easily.” -- David C. Baker “What drives most consultants forward is that they're terrified of no longer learning something every day. Take that urge and keep looking at the same things a little bit differently, try to notice even deeper patterns.” -- David C. Baker “Part of the definition of good positioning is that you have an identifiable, reachable target. If you're struggling with that, then you need to revisit your positioning.” -- David C. Baker ➡️ Learn more about Authority Labs: https://therecognizedauthority.com/authority-labs/ ➡️ Learn more about the webinars: https://therecognizedauthority.com/webinars 🗒️ Show Notes 🗒️ Access all the links mentioned in this episode in the show notes here:  👉👉 https://therecognizedauthority.com/the-business-of-consulting/ 👈👈 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ✉️ Subscribe to the email list at TheRecognizedAuthority.com 🎙️ Record a question or voice message for the show at TheRecognizedAuthority.com/question ⭐ Like what you heard? Please help share the podcast by leaving a rating & review 🤗 Connect with Alastair and The Recognized Authority: ➡️ LinkedIn ➡️ Twitter ➡️ YouTube

Selling consulting services is often selling the invisible and intangible. How can we better demonstrate the value of our services to prospective clients? In this episode, Kate The Case Study Copywriter and Alastair McDermott discuss how case studies can help convert your prospective buyers. They can learn how you have helped businesses like theirs to achieve measurable results, and help you differentiate yourself from your competitors. They also discuss how Kate niched down her consulting business, and how she changed her target market after choosing the wrong option at first. “Do not be afraid to niche down. The fear is "if I niche down, I'm going to lose all these clients", but the reality is when you niche down you gain more entry into the market than you ever could have before.” -- Kate The Case Study Copywriter 🗒️ Show Notes 🗒️ Access all the links mentioned in this episode in the show notes here:  👉👉 https://therecognizedauthority.com/using-case-studies-to-build-trust/ 👈👈 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ✉️ Subscribe to the email list at TheRecognizedAuthority.com 🎙️  Record a question or voice message for the show at TheRecognizedAuthority.com/question ⭐ Like what you heard? Please help share the podcast by leaving a rating & review 🤗 Connect with Alastair and The Recognized Authority: ➡️ LinkedIn ➡️ Twitter ➡️ YouTube