Ditching Hourly

It's not uncommon for a student to come to me for advice about some sort of relationship-related dilemma they're facing. Stuff like: "I agreed to hire my good-for-nothing brother-in-law and now he's destroying my business!""After working together for years, my biggest client is considering a cheaper firm and wants us to cut our price in half!""My business partner wants to pivot into a business direction that I feel is unethical and I can't talk him out of it!" Statements like these are usually followed by thousands of words of backstory full of slights and subtleties and worries and so forth. When they finally run out of steam, they conclude their monologue with the question:"So what do you think I should I do?" To which I would reply (in order of above list):"Fire him." "Politely refuse." "Split up."Usually, this is greeted with a few seconds of stunned silence, followed by: "But it's not that simple!"Yes. Yes, it is that simple. It's just not EASY. There's a big difference. When a problem is complex, a reasonable approach is to do research. When a problem is simple, research is procrastination. If your good-for-nothing brother-in-law is destroying your business, you need to fire him. It's not a complex problem, it's simple. The additional backstory (e.g., how mad your sister might be or what the BIL might do in retaliation or that your parents might disown you) doesn't change the fact that you have to fire him if you want to save the business. If your sister gets really mad at you or whatever, that's a separate problem to be dealt with separately. You might think I'm splitting hairs about the difference between "simple" and "easy". It's true that these two words are very similar and can be used synonymously sometimes, but in cases where you've got a hard decision to make, one's mind seems to want to put it off by tricking itself into thinking it's complex. Deep down, you know what needs to be done, you just don't want to do it. So you pretend it's complex and respond to the phantom complexity by "researching it" (e.g., asking for outside opinions, waiting yet another day to see if things change, back-channeling with parties who are familiar with the matter but not in a position to influence anything, etc). It's just stalling, which makes the problem worse. Once you recognize that what needs to be done is simple (albeit hard), your next steps will become clear. Yours, —JP.S. Are you wrestling with a business problem that you'd like to get clarity on? I'm available for a limited number of 1-on-1 coaching calls each month. You can book yours here: jonathanstark.com/call ----Do you have questions about how to improve your business? Things like:Value pricing your work instead of billing for your time?Positioning yourself as the go-to person in your space?Productizing your services so you never have to have another awkward sales call or spend hours writing another custom proposal?Book a one-on-one coaching call with me and get answers to these questions and others in the time it takes to get ready for work in the morning.Best of all, you're covered by my 100% satisfaction guarantee. If at the end of the call, you don't feel like it was worth it, just say the word, and I'll refund your purchase in full.To book your one-on-one coaching call, go to: https://jonathanstark.com/callI hope to see you there!

Guest BioMichael Zipursky – Michael has consulted for organizations and advised leaders throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and the Middle East in over 30 industries, from service providers to billion dollar multi-national corporations including Panasonic, Dow Jones, Financial Times, Royal Bank and many others. Michael is an in-demand speaker and gives keynotes and workshops for the Certified Management Consultants Association, Canadian Internet Marketing Conference, Social Media Camp, and others. Michael’s work has appeared in MarketingProfs, Huffington Post, Financial Times, FOX Business, Maclean's, HR Executive, Business Edge, Marketing Magazine, and in several other media and publications. He is the author of 5 books, including: Elite Consulting MindConsulting Success®ACT NOWFollow Michael on Twitter @MichaelZipursky LinkedIn: Michael ZipurskyRelated LinksThe Introduction Game by Jonathan Stark (PDF)Should You Write A Book? (AUDIO)How To Build Your First Productized Service (EMAIL COURSE)Built To Sell by John Warrillow (BOOK)Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You with guest John Warrillow (AUDIO) ----Do you have questions about how to improve your business? Things like:Value pricing your work instead of billing for your time?Positioning yourself as the go-to person in your space?Productizing your services so you never have to have another awkward sales call or spend hours writing another custom proposal?Book a one-on-one coaching call with me and get answers to these questions and others in the time it takes to get ready for work in the morning.Best of all, you're covered by my 100% satisfaction guarantee. If at the end of the call, you don't feel like it was worth it, just say the word, and I'll refund your purchase in full.To book your one-on-one coaching call, go to: https://jonathanstark.com/callI hope to see you there!

How and why to flip the script in sales interviews.

The lovely and talented Alex Hillman of PhillyFreelance.com invited me to speak to their membership last week about repositioning your freelance business in response to COVID-19. Here's the event description:With all the belt-tightening going on, it’s never been more important to quickly and clearly communicate your value proposition to potential clients. Whether you need to pivot from an old positioning statement to a new one, or to firm up your soggy positioning statement in response to a crisis, this interactive session will help you clarify your value proposition so that anyone you meet can easily understand: What you do Who you help What you help them with Why you're the best person for the job Who is this talk for? This webinar is for freelancers, consultants, coaches, contractors, and anyone else who sells their services for living. ----The reaction from the audience was quite positive, especially regarding the Q&A segment at the end. Alex graciously allowed me to republish the audio of the talk as an episode of Ditching Hourly so other freelancers could potentially benefit from it. Alex has a long history of creating cool, useful, and innovative products and services, so if you're a freelancer or consultant you should really check out his stuff: IndyHall.orgStackingTheBricks.comPhillyFreelance.comIf you'd like to have me speak to your community or appear on your podcast, just shoot me an email at jstark@jonathanstark.com and let me know what you have in mind. P.S. Here’s a link to the diagram that Alex mentioned in the intro: Make More For Less ----Do you have questions about how to improve your business? Things like:Value pricing your work instead of billing for your time?Positioning yourself as the go-to person in your space?Productizing your services so you never have to have another awkward sales call or spend hours writing another custom proposal?Book a one-on-one coaching call with me and get answers to these questions and others in the time it takes to get ready for work in the morning.Best of all, you're covered by my 100% satisfaction guarantee. If at the end of the call, you don't feel like it was worth it, just say the word, and I'll refund your purchase in full.To book your one-on-one coaching call, go to: https://jonathanstark.com/callI hope to see you there!

Cross post from The Business of Authority

Cross post from The Business of Authority

This episode is an audio version of a message I sent to my daily list. Here's the text:https://jonathanstark.com/daily/20200410-1624-tack-on-a-zero-and-try-again ----Do you have questions about how to improve your business? Things like:Value pricing your work instead of billing for your time?Positioning yourself as the go-to person in your space?Productizing your services so you never have to have another awkward sales call or spend hours writing another custom proposal?Book a one-on-one coaching call with me and get answers to these questions and others in the time it takes to get ready for work in the morning.Best of all, you're covered by my 100% satisfaction guarantee. If at the end of the call, you don't feel like it was worth it, just say the word, and I'll refund your purchase in full.To book your one-on-one coaching call, go to: https://jonathanstark.com/callI hope to see you there!

Cross post from The Business of Authority

https://www.crowdcast.io/e/positioning-crash-course ----Do you have questions about how to improve your business? Things like:Value pricing your work instead of billing for your time?Positioning yourself as the go-to person in your space?Productizing your services so you never have to have another awkward sales call or spend hours writing another custom proposal?Book a one-on-one coaching call with me and get answers to these questions and others in the time it takes to get ready for work in the morning.Best of all, you're covered by my 100% satisfaction guarantee. If at the end of the call, you don't feel like it was worth it, just say the word, and I'll refund your purchase in full.To book your one-on-one coaching call, go to: https://jonathanstark.com/callI hope to see you there!