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As a copywriter marketer (independent freelancer) I have some clients that spend $900-$1200 a mo as a payment for my services. And then they spend $3k - $14k a mo on ad spend. Businesses such as salons and lawyers.

01:18 🎯 Goal: Speak to segments of the audience separately. 01:34 💸 Topic: Creating a premium pricing culture. 01:45 🧩 Insight: Pricing is cultural within a firm. 02:03 🧠 Concept: Pricing as a collective mindset or "prison cell." 02:41 🔄 Exercise: Prompts to shift to premium pricing culture. 03:29 📊 Example: Successful client feels underperforming despite high billings. 04:14 🚀 Aim: Bust out of the pricing limitations. 05:07 📈 Strategy: Move to the high end of the market for more profit. 06:13 💡 Barrier: Fear and lack of confidence in moving up market. 07:01 🔑 Solution: Hire new people with different confidence levels. 07:50 🛠 Prompt: Combine disciplines to create unique, expensive services. 09:02 🤿 Example: Underwater welding as a high-paying, unique skill. 10:16 🧠 Skills: Listening, understanding behavior, simplifying complexity, capturing desire. 11:26 🔬 Trend: Neuromarketing often not done by qualified individuals. 12:03 🥃 Example: Firm creating cocktails and training platforms. 13:19 💡 Advice: Obsess over product development for better pricing. 14:32 🚀 Dream: Many listeners wish to move from client work to product development. 15:23 🎩 Challenge: Consider creating a high-end product version. 15:51 🔄 Reminder: Prompts to encourage premium pricing culture shift. 16:12 💼 Hiring: Bringing in people with different pricing experiences. 16:32 💡 Identify high-end markets or segments to understand potential for increased pricing. 17:05 🤑 Consider hiring individuals from high-cost markets to gain new pricing insights. 17:40 🎯 Focus on long-term strategy rather than short-term trends. 18:17 🍏 Apple exemplifies patience and strategic AI integration, contrasting with rushed competitors. 19:16 🏗 Build a luxury brand by establishing relationships with influential industry figures. 20:13 👑 Define what concierge-level service would mean for your market. 21:24 🖥 Example of high-priced concierge service in web design, emphasizing quick turnaround. 22:00 🚗 Luxury service concept by Avis, catering to premium customer needs. 22:17 🏷 Rebranding for a luxury feel can create a positive cycle for clients and employees. 23:09 📸 Consider all touchpoints, including Zoom backgrounds and email signatures, for a luxury impression. 24:23 💲 Actual pricing adjustments can foster a premium culture. 26:00 🎯 Establish a high anchor price to elevate overall pricing strategy. 27:58 💼 Assign pricing responsibilities to those comfortable with high numbers, not based on seniority.

- 00:24 📈 Discussion on the true meaning of "scalable" and its efficiency component. - 01:20 ⏳ Evaluating time and money as resources in scaling business efforts. - 02:01 🚜 David compares scaling business to using leverage on his farm. - 03:01 🤔 Key concern for buyers of a firm is replacing the principal’s role in sales. - 03:37 🚀 Two reasons to scale: controllable growth and successful exit. - 04:29 📞 Cold outreach has benefits but isn’t inherently scalable for principals. - 05:56 👥 Scaling outreach by hiring staff or using AI for efficiency. - 07:07 🤖 AI's role in scaling outreach and its potential market saturation. - 08:46 📚 Importance of high-status activities in lead generation over low-status activities. - 09:49 📨 Increasing email outreach volume with AI and its diminishing returns. - 10:53 🌐 Borrowing larger audiences for webinars and podcasts for better distribution. - 12:21 🎤 Expanding reach through speaking engagements and strategic partnerships. - 13:47 🧠 Building a network of mutually beneficial referrals. - 14:46 🔄 Different scalable methods for various industry focuses. - 15:41 📚 Writing books as a high-value but not necessarily scalable marketing activity.

30 people are like an extended family. Love it. It makes sense, and that's why companies lose their identity when they exceed this magic number. By the way, it's a great name for a startup: "30 People." Thanks for the podcast; it's Great!

Why not lose the ego trip of sounding like a university professor? You feel, you believe, something like that. Just involving pseudo-scientific observations about the price of services makes you another TH-camr doing a react video. The price increase correlates with inflation. The taxes have risen. The things that can be written off. Most probably your ”scientific” informed opinion is just crap, and the prices have dropped considerably, yet the Government is extracting more and more value from the serfs.

00:16 🎯 Blair is interviewed on being less strategic yet more profitable, questioning the relevance of strategy. 00:40 📉 Blair abandoned the term "strategy" years ago, replacing it with "research and insights." 01:23 💸 Blair notes the rising costs of basic services and suggests that overemphasis on strategy inflates prices unnecessarily. 03:30 📊 Blair believes firms are pricing themselves out of the market by adding unnecessary strategy costs. 04:01 📜 Blair's historical perspective: 22 years ago, creative firms didn't charge for strategic thinking, only execution. 05:16 🛠 Initially, Blair pushed for firms to charge for strategy, changing their market positioning and value perception. 06:01 🔄 David's analogy: Strategy should be akin to a mechanic diagnosing before fixing, without overcomplicating the process. 07:01 🧠 Blair defines strategy in the design world as understanding the goals and context of the client's needs. 09:20 💡 Strategy became a line item on proposals, often crossed out by clients, leading to flat fees. 10:01 🛠 "Strategic design firms" emerged, signaling higher intelligence and cost but often lacking depth. 11:53 🌐 Blair highlights current trends: offshoring and AI are reshaping the industry. 12:50 🌏 Offshoring has intensified post-COVID, reducing costs significantly for firms. 14:01 💬 Agency owners share their experiences with offshoring, praising lower costs and strong work ethics. 15:47 🏢 Remote work shift: COVID led to a realization that distributed workforces can include global talent. 16:00 🌍 Blair predicts a rise in offshoring to Latin America, emphasizing cost and expertise benefits.

Love this conversation. Thank you for frankly saying what needs to be said.

A classic must listen.

Tai Becker funnel

0:13 🎧 Blair expresses excitement about the episode's title, "What Tech Bros Get Right and Wrong," hinting at a potentially controversial discussion. 0:29 🌐 David explains the frequent appearance of "Tech Bros" on social media, especially LinkedIn and previously on Twitter, sharing hacks and insights to attract followers. 1:16 📑 David uses a note-taking app, WorkFlowy, to document things Tech Bros do right, leading to the idea for this episode. 1:54 🧑‍💼 Blair defines "Tech Bros" as young, wealthy, overconfident men, usually involved in startups, often flaunting their successes and wealth on social media. 3:01 🚀 Tech Bros are characterized by their focus on quick wealth, status, and often superficial displays of success, like rented luxury cars and mansions. 3:30 👔 Tech Bros typically wear casual but expensive clothing like Patagonia, which David humorously contrasts with his preference for RAB. 4:00 📱 The existence and success of Tech Bros are heavily tied to social media, using it as a platform to sell their persona and lifestyle. 4:55 🧠 Tech Bros are likened to modern-day snake oil salesmen, selling themselves and their lifestyle, often with minimal substantive content. 5:47 👍 Despite the criticism, David acknowledges that Tech Bros exhibit certain admirable traits worth discussing. 6:18 💪 First positive trait: Tech Bros are disciplined and hardworking, showcasing a strong hustle mentality that contributes to their success. 7:30 🎯 Second positive trait: They practice what they preach, consistently applying their own advice in their businesses and personal lives, lending them credibility. 8:49 🏆 Third positive trait: They are highly competitive and ambitious, driving them to achieve significant success and inspiring others to adopt a similar mindset. 10:15 🌐 Fourth positive trait: Tech Bros harness their community effectively, creating a network of loyal followers who actively promote and sell their ideas and products. 11:18 🤝 Tech Bros inspire a sense of loyalty and community among their followers, who often feel compelled to share and advocate for their successes and methodologies. 11:49 💡 Fifth positive trait: Tech Bros are not always in selling mode; they often provide valuable help and insights freely, building trust and rapport with their audience. 13:00 💬 Tech Bros use a variety of platforms to engage with their audience, offering free content and personal interactions that enhance their influence and reach.

Hello

- [00:40] 🤝 Advisers should focus on advising ethically, not just consulting, to maintain credibility and trust. - [02:46] 🎧 Listening is critical for advisers, not just to understand but also to sort through clients' needs effectively. - [07:45] 🗣 Advisers should listen for a long time before speaking, allowing clients to come to conclusions themselves. - [10:51] 🤔 Acknowledging what you don't know is essential for maintaining objectivity and humility as an adviser. - [16:03] 🛡 Advising clients ethically isn't about winning arguments but about seeking the truth collaboratively. - [18:08] 🤝 Recognizing the valuable role of clients in engagements fosters a more collaborative and effective advisory relationship.

Came here from the futur. Enjoyed your podcast. Real quality⚡

01:54 🗣 Salespeople tend to talk too much, leading to a profound negative impact on sales outcomes. 04:05 💼 Salespeople often enter conversations with a long list of points they feel they must communicate to the client. 07:29 🧠 Salespeople often feel pressure to demonstrate their expertise by talking rather than asking questions. 09:22 💸 Discomfort with discussing money can lead salespeople to talk excessively, further complicating the sales process. 12:31 🛒 Talking too much can position the salesperson as a vendor rather than an expert, eroding trust and confidence in their abilities. 15:14 🌑 Excessive talking canresult in poor closing ratios and prospects becoming unresponsive ("going dark"). 17:44 📝 Practical strategies to talk less in sales conversations include using reminders like sticky notes, measuring talk time, and entering conversations with a blank slate mindset. 23:31 🎯 Marketing isn't justabout acquiring new clients, but about controlling inbound opportunities by showcasing expertise. 24:40 🔄 Sales conversations should be framed around asking questions, not making statements, allowing clients to lead the discussion. 25:06 ⏸ Using pauses strategically in conversations can enhance understanding and engagement. 26:17 🤔 Assign yourself homework to discern the emotional state of clients during conversations, fostering deeper connections. 27:28 📋 Approach meetings with a framework of questions, allowing clients to drive the discussion and address any additional queries. 28:09 🔍 Seek external feedback by recording sales calls and having them audited, highlighting areas for improvement in communication and pacing. 29:46 🎮 Consider gamifying the process of talking less during sales conversations, possibly with a structured feedback mechanism.

[01:00] 📝 Establishing client qualifying criteria: Access to decision maker, experienced buyer, sense of urgency, earmarked funds, budget authority, willingness to influence strategy, potential for significant revenue, Maverick mindset. [02:15] 🤔 Not all Mavericks are rule-breakers; they're about getting things done and improving situations. [07:17] 🧐 Identifying Mavericks early on in client relationships is crucial for success. [10:53] 💼 Mavericks are often tolerated because they get results, despite not conforming to rules. [17:21] 🚀 Key strategies for working effectively with Mavericks: Continuously innovate and avoid embarrassing them.

- [00:41] 💡 Blair has finished writing his next book on selling and pricing, though there's still work left before it's fully released. - [02:11] 📚 Blair's upcoming book is titled "Selling Expertise" and serves as a follow-up to "The Win Without Pitching Manifesto," targeting not only creative professionals but also experts from various fields. - [04:41] 🤔 The question arises: Why is there a dichotomy between how experts sell their expertise and how they deliver it? - [07:45] 🔄 The longer one stays in the early stage of success, where effort is key, the harder it becomes to abandon sales techniques and embrace risk-taking for higher success. - [11:13] 🛋 Salespersons should aim to engage in collaborative conversations rather than pushing for convincing pitches, contrasting the demeanor of the expert persona. - [13:31] 💬 Experts focus on asking questions and being present in engagements, while salespersons tend to answer questions and go into presenting mode. - [18:17] 📝 A new rule in "Blutopia": If you're going to present, hand the clicker to the client, emphasizing being responsive to the client's pace.

Fascinating! Thank you.

03:37 🛣 Blair and David discuss the unique marketing strategy of alt group, a firm known for maintaining an unchanged one-page website for years. 05:20 💼 Alt group, despite its success, maintains a deliberate size of 32 people, considering 30 as the ideal size for their extended family model. 10:08 🎨 Alt group prioritizes being artists first and business people second, emphasizing their commitment to quality work over financial success. 13:45 💡 The principle of "attending the way" reflects the focus on doing exceptional work, which attracts clients and contributes to success. 18:45 📈 David reflects on the evolution of principles in business, urging listeners to reassess and prioritize their core values.

Thank you

❤❤❤❤

thank you for doing this podcast, it is super underrated and is a complete playbook to client relations business

02:10 🏠 Principals should get paid for three things: what they own, what they do, and the risk they take. 05:28 💰 Ownership and compensation are distinct - leaving the firm doesn't affect ownership share in profits. 11:11 🔄 Principals should contribute uniquely but roughly equally to avoid comparison and compensation disputes. 13:52 💼 Principals with ownership below 20% may not be subject to the same compensation principles. 14:33 📈 Actual pay for principals should generally be higher than the highest-paid non-owner to maintain balance and avoid codependency. 16:08 🏢 Larger firms can generally afford to pay principals more due to increased risk and responsibilities. 17:06 💰 Having more partners doesn't necessarily lead to making more money; often, there's an inverse correlation. 19:21 📑 Taxation issues can impact principal compensation, with state-specific tax incentives influencing payment structures. 19:49 🌐 Consider separating fixed regular rates as salary and variable distributions as profit, adjusting for tax strategies based on state laws. 20:58 🚧 Ownership threshold of 20% or higher designates a principal owner; below 20%, rules may not fully apply as they are for minority owners. 21:11 💲Ensure actual owner pay is higher than the highest-paid non-owner to maintain a balanced compensation structure. 21:35 📊 Owner and employee pay combined shouldn't exceed 45% of total revenue, with a target of 20% net profit after paying reasonable salaries. 22:03 🕰 Address potential changes in partnership dynamics (e.g., moving away or reducing work hours) while relationships are good to prevent future conflicts.

00:16 📚 Time Value of Knowledge: Time is the most crucial factor in the value of knowledge. The longer you stick with learning and building expertise, the more valuable your insights become. 01:18 🔄 Continuous Learning: Continuous learning is key, but not everyone learns at the same pace. Critical thinking, openness to new ideas, and avoiding overconfidence are essential for sustained learning. 05:01 🏍 Persistence Over Speed: The analogy of the Iron Butt Association emphasizes the importance of persistence over speed. Consistency in effort and continuous progress lead to significant gains. 07:23 🤔 Avoiding Early Quitting: There's a tendency to quit too early on ideas, careers, or businesses. The analogy of waiting until an idea generates $100,000 in revenue highlights the potential gains from sticking with something. 13:01 💡 Exponential Gains: Gains in knowledge and value come exponentially at the end of the learning curve. Quitting too early means missing out on the significant benefits that accumulate over time. 15:02 📈 Role of Time: In the knowledge economy, the length of time invested in learning is more critical than the initial knowledge (P) or the rate of learning (R). The value of knowledge increases significantly with time. 18:08 🤖 AI Replication: The thought experiment of creating a chatbot version of oneself raises questions about the value of past knowledge. While archiving past work can be useful, the continuous learning and evolution of ideas make recent knowledge more valuable. 19:29 🚀 Recent Knowledge Superiority: The most recent knowledge and insights, usually from the last few years, often surpass the value of older knowledge. Continuous learning contributes to staying ahead and making past knowledge obsolete. 19:58 📄 Reassessment of Past Work: Reassessing and improving upon past ideas is crucial. A willingness to abandon or refine old ideas in light of new information is a strength that fosters continuous growth. 12:32 🧠 Critical Thinking: Critical thinking is necessary for true learning. Mere accumulation of information may not constitute genuine learning if it only reinforces existing biases without critical examination. 15:42 🔍 Measuring Rate of Learning: The challenge lies in measuring the rate of learning (R). Unlike the clear metrics of principal amount (P) and time (T), evaluating how fast one is learning is complex and subjective. 18:43 🔄 Learning Pace Importance: Recognizing that not everyone learns at the same pace is essential. The value of knowledge is maximized by a continuous, adaptive, and open approach to learning. 19:51 🔄 Learning Patterns and Positioning - The connection between rapid learning and recognizing patterns in a field is crucial. - Tighter positioning enhances the ability to identify patterns, accelerating the learning process. 20:52 🕰 The Power of Time in Learning - Learning significantly accelerates when one starts recognizing patterns early in their career. - The key is to initiate pattern recognition as soon as possible for continuous layering of knowledge. 21:55 🚫 Danger of Specializing Too Early - Specializing too early may be risky; being a generalist initially could be advantageous. - David Epstein's caution on the dangers of premature specialization is highlighted. 24:01 🌐 Curiosity and Broad Learning - Insatiable curiosity and continuous learning across various domains are crucial for success. - Engaging with diverse perspectives and having interesting conversations outside one's field is emphasized. 25:15 🚪 Niche Specialization Opens Up - Specializing doesn't lead to boredom; it opens up vast niches like discovering Narnia. - The fear of boredom in specialization is countered by the expansive world within the chosen niche. 26:43 💰 Time Trumps Investment and Learning Rate - The amount invested (P) and the rate of learning (R) are less critical than the time spent in a pursuit. - Patience and persistence, especially during periods of seemingly slow progress, are essential for success. 27:07 🔄 Massive Gains Come at the End - Most significant gains occur towards the end of one's career or pursuit. - It's an "overnight success 25 years in the making," highlighting the exponential growth in later stages. 28:27 🔄 Continuous Learning with Age - The importance of maintaining a pace of learning, especially as one ages. - Critical thinking and challenging one's own biases ensure that time remains a friend for learning throughout life.

00:33 🏢 Remote work gained traction during the pandemic, but now there's debate about its long-term viability, especially its impact on company culture and innovation. 02:10 📊 Most research on remote work's productivity stems from call centers, not representative of all industries; industry-specific studies show declines in company culture, team communication, and creativity. 03:54 🕰 Remote work's long-term effects aren't clear; previous remote teams had established trust, not representative of new hires joining remote setups. 05:06 💼 The transition to remote work has mixed sentiments among business owners, with some considering restarting firms due to team dispersion. 07:38 🗳 Employees generally favor remote work, while a slight majority of business owners prefer in-person work environments. 08:05 🌐 Remote work's advantages include a broader talent pool, no commutes, potentially longer employee tenure, and encouragement to implement efficient work systems. 10:47 ⚙ Challenges of remote work include learning new management skills, difficulties in onboarding, especially for younger employees, and potential disparities in promotion rates. 13:21 🤝 Reports indicate increased loneliness and isolation in remote work setups, impacting employees differently based on individual circumstances. 14:43 💬 Remote work might hinder collaboration and idea refinement despite available digital tools, leading to misunderstandings through text-based communication. 15:50 🧑‍💻 Younger team members may suffer more from remote work's impact on learning, while women seem to be disproportionately affected compared to men. 17:29 💰 Eliminating physical office costs doesn't automatically boost profits; investing in regular team retreats and structured work hours helps mitigate remote work's downsides. 19:47 🌐 Implementing overlapping work hours for remote teams facilitates collaboration despite time zone differences. 21:10 🏢 Preserving spontaneous interactions in remote work remains a challenge; tools attempting to simulate office environments exist but might not fully address the issue. 22:20 📚 Fostering employee development through shared learning experiences can help remote teams connect and collaborate effectively. 23:03 🕒 Remote work can raise concerns about employees' productivity, especially for control-focused leaders. 24:01 📊 Early-career roles often demand task-oriented productivity, making remote work a potential challenge for those not in their ideal roles. 24:29 💼 Certain career stages, like junior account management in ad agencies, emphasize specific skill sets that might not align well with remote work demands. 25:09 ⏰ Remote work might not suit roles demanding intense detail-orientation and task completion, especially at junior levels. 25:53 🤹‍♂ Time tracking systems can sometimes become more about appearances and billing than accurately reflecting work hours. 26:21 ⏳ Adapting to remote work's negative impacts may take years or even decades, with the full consequences yet to manifest. 26:49 👩‍💼 Remote workers of today could become future leaders, shaping work cultures to align with their experiences.

00:41 🚀 Sales scripts don't encourage creative conversations; ditch them to promote genuine interactions with clients. 02:17 🔄 Autonomy spectrum: High autonomy folks thrive on inventing solutions on the spot; low autonomy individuals need preparedness and routine. 05:40 📞 Sales scripts hinder genuine connections; they can make the conversation feel robotic and detached. 07:54 🧩 Frameworks bridge the gap between autonomy levels in sales: they guide without suffocating creativity or overwhelming structure. 09:58 🗺 Frameworks are essential in sales; they provide direction while allowing freedom in conversations, unlike rigid scripts. 12:28 ♟ Low autonomy individuals may excel in sales with extensive decision trees but lack intuitive, adaptable approaches seen in high autonomy counterparts. 14:44 🎯 High autonomy individuals in sales operate on gut instinct, challenging traditional systematic approaches often dominant in the field. 19:37 🛣 A balanced approach in sales involves having a clear destination (objective) while allowing flexibility (freedom) in conversations, steering clear of repetitive scripts. 21:25 🤝 Every sales interaction should have a specific objective beyond immediate closure, focusing on evaluating fit and setting the groundwork for the next step. 23:15 📝 Frameworks provide a roadmap for sales conversations, guiding but not dictating, allowing for adaptability based on client engagement and style.

01:49 🧠 Bounded rationality suggests decisions aren't always fully rational; constraints like information overload or time limit our ability to make optimal choices. 03:48 🤔 In organizations, people often prioritize departmental goals over the overall organizational objectives due to perceived real but arbitrary departmental boundaries. 06:47 🌟 Effective leadership involves balancing departmental goals with the broader organizational objectives, ensuring alignment for overall success. 11:52 🎯 The concept of 'working' vs. 'non-working' budget in marketing, though longstanding, can limit creative investment; breaking this ratio can yield extended benefits inmedia lifespan. 14:41 🔄 The Pareto principle (80/20 rule) isn't fixed; it highlights a small effort often responsible for a significant gain, but it's an arbitrary ratio often used for simplification. 15:52 📊 Boundaries and rules can be helpful early in a career or business, but over time, expertise can dissolve these lines for a more nuanced and effective approach. 19:48 🏢 The convergence of disciplines like design, consulting, and software engineering in firms is blurring traditional boundaries, offering new opportunities but demanding thoughtful integration. 22:03 💡 Firms are evolving beyond traditional discipline-based positioning to focus more on solving urgent and expensive client problems, moving beyond arbitrary discipline lines for better relevance.

Thanks guys!

00:56 🚴 Pursuing what you love doesn't guarantee success or wealth; separating passion from practicality is crucial. 02:06 💡 Enjoyment in work often follows expertise, impact, and financial viability, not just passion. 05:22 🌍 Universal truths about work and success might not apply equally to everyone due to diverse circumstances globally. 06:03 🎯 Humans struggle to predict what they'll enjoy; work needs to be fulfilling beyond just passion. 09:00 🤹‍♂ Leisure should balance and enrich life outside work, offering fascination, challenge, and relaxation. 11:00 💰 Pursue impactful work that provides time and financial freedom to enjoy leisure, not solely driven by passion. 13:42 🌐 Deep expertise needs broader life context; specialists and generalists both benefit from a diverse, rich personal life. 15:22 🏝 Work-life boundaries are crucial; leisure shouldn't replicate work enjoyment but offer a different, absorbing experience. 17:41 🎣 Cultivate deep, consuming hobbies that disconnect from work and immerse you in fascination, challenging activities. 21:08 🕰 Not everyone can maintain hobbies all the time; life circumstances may restrict hobby pursuits at certain stages. 22:14 🎨 Nobel prize-winning scientists often have diverse hobbies: 17x more likely to create visual art, 12x more likely to write poetry, 4x more likely to be musicians. 23:20 🏍 David's lifelong hobbies include motorcycle riding and photography, rooted in childhood experiences in Guatemala. 23:45 📚 Deep fascination with specific literature (like the French Revolution) fuels David's obsessive exploration in his hobbies. 24:29 🌟 Aim for a leisure life so absorbing and rewarding that intrusion of work becomes resented; balance intense focus at work with passionate dedication to hobbies. 25:11 🗣 Meaningful conversations beyond work, delving into hobbies and passions, enrich human connections and make interactions more intriguing and memorable.

00:30 📊 The Forrester and joint Ana-4A reports highlight the exorbitant cost of agency pitches, revealing that US agencies spend about $122.5 billion annually on pitching. 02:48 🤔 The sentiment around pitching is changing, with trade bodies of marketers and agencies expressing dissatisfaction with the practice, as seen in the Forrester and Ana-4A reports. 03:15 💸 Procurement is identified as the primary culprit for the high cost of pitches, prioritizing cost savings over performance goals, according to the reports. 09:08 💰 On average, non-incumbent agencies spend $200,000 per pitch, while incumbent agencies spend over double that amount, averaging $400,000 per pitch, highlighting the significant financial investment in the pitching process. 13:45 🎯 When the incumbent agency participates in a pitch, they win 88% of the time, making it extremely challenging for non-incumbent agencies to secure the account. 15:12 🔄 If the incumbent is participating in a pitch, the odds of a non-incumbent agency winning the account are only around 4%, emphasizing the difficulty for new agencies to secure business in such situations. 21:41 💡 The primary driver for agency reviews and pitches is cost reduction, with 62% of respondents citing cost/price as the top factor when selecting an agency, according to the reports. 23:07 🤔 The client suggests eliminating unnecessary tasks from agency responsibilities to lower costs while maintaining effectiveness. 24:03 🔄 Account reviews are not an effective method to gain efficiencies in the complex landscape of modern marketing, with technology, programmatic media buying, and brand safety considerations. 25:28 🌍 There is a growing awareness in the industry that the traditional pitching model may not be a good idea. Pitching isn't inherently bad, but the current methods and reasons for it contribute to inefficiencies and waste. 26:54 💬 The future could involve more conversations and better relationship management between agencies and clients, facilitated by entities focused on building and nurturing these connections. Sales, framed as mature, direct conversations, might replace traditional pitching processes.

00:01 🤖 David discusses how marketing firms should allocate their resources for effective marketing. 01:02 🥿 The "cobbler's children" phenomenon: firms often neglect their own marketing while advising clients to prioritize it. 02:27 📊 The general guidance: Allocate time and money for your own marketing, accounting for variations in firm size and specialization. 06:34 💻 Website expenses: Budget approximately $1,000 per month, assuming a major update every 3-4 years. 07:39 🖥️ Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and SEO: Allocate around $3,000 monthly for ad spend and management. 09:00 📧 Hosted Software: Depending on the chosen platform (email marketing or automation), expect costs between $400 to $800 per month. 10:25 🗣️ Public Relations (PR): Generally, spending on PR for your own firm may not yield significant returns. 13:56 🖋️ Writing and Content Generation: Ideally, invest your own time and effort. If necessary, hiring help might range from $500 to $1,000 per month. 19:07 🌐 Social Media: For organic growth, prioritize LinkedIn. Avoid spending on other platforms, unless for specialized goals. 20:46 📊 Miscellaneous: Allocate a flexible fund of $1,000 per month for personalized strategies based on specialization and personality. 22:07 💰 Spend as little as possible on marketing, especially in the early stages. Exchange smaller efforts for more impactful strategies as you progress. 24:12 💼 Consider hiring out specific marketing tasks, like appointment setting, if you lack time, but be cautious about outsourcing everything. 25:08 🕒 Aim to devote about 4% of your firm's time to marketing efforts, but adjust based on your specific needs and efficiency. 28:08 💵 The ultimate goal of marketing is to consistently acquire new, right-fit clients without compromising your brand. Focus on what brings in revenue rather than vanity metrics.

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:30 📝 The topic of discussion is the conflicting ethics of selling and negotiating, highlighting potential differences in ethical approaches between these two stages in business interactions. 01:12 📝 Writing is a crucial process for clarifying one's thoughts and perspectives, enabling better understanding and organization of ideas. It is emphasized as essential for effective thinking. 05:47 📊 Three main schools of bargaining ethics are discussed: Idealist, Poker, and Pragmatist. Each represents a distinct approach to negotiating situations, with varying perspectives on ethics and tactics. 07:49 🤝 The Idealist school emphasizes high ethical standards, valuing truth, honesty, transparency, and striving for win-win outcomes in negotiations. This approach aligns with the principles advocated for selling expertise. 09:24 🃏 The Poker school acknowledges negotiation as a game with its own set of rules. Ethical standards are defined by these rules, allowing tactics like bluffing and strategic moves within the negotiation context. 16:56 🔄 Pragmatists adopt a more flexible approach, adjusting their ethical stance to suit the context of the negotiation. They may mirror the behavior of the other party while preferring not to deceive outright. 18:58 🧠 The distinction between selling and negotiating is crucial. While the ethical standards of selling apply to the client relationship, they may not necessarily align with negotiating tactics, especially when dealing with a third party. 21:03 🔍 It's important to recognize that negotiating with the client and negotiating with a third party, like procurement, may require different approaches. The relationship dynamics and priorities differ in each scenario.

Wild how so few people are subscribed to this channel. Every time I listen to a podcast here, it feels like I've stumbled upon a goldmine. Thanks, David and Blair, for the incredible content.

I like the fact that it is a few people that really listen into this, and glad to be one of those few

Love this episode, thanks for sharing! I tell others to chill out on their presentations, be different and just talk to the potential client. Thinking on your feet is a great exercise of how you can handle problems or conflict.

very very valuable channel. thank you both for your knowledge.

useful stuff. ty

Awesome Bobs... Always a joy to listen to you and my mistake to not having started earlier...

Thank you so much for this brilliant book, sir.

Big fan here. This is a great episode.

I enjoyed your unique approach to this important topic

I want to say a big thank you to the 2Bobs for giving me the courage to grow in my business

What I also like about this is that it shows you what position the gate keeper is in. It helps you talk with them with empathy and understanding which will ultimately open up the conversation to collaboration no matter how short lived.

Thanks to you two! You have taught me so so much! My creative business life has really changed ever since I started listening to you.

One of the best conversation ideas i have ever heard. Thanks Guys

Super grateful for this podcast being a young woman in business!! ☺️

Woohoo,you made outstanidng ,have a good day! 2Bobs-

Making it your own is really great advice. People are not copy machines. I think that most entrepreneurs have their own unique brand voice but just fail to adopt it with their delivery or approach when handling situations where we're challenged by the client. A lot of us have also failed to identify their brand voice which also reflects on their success rate when using certain sale techniques that work perfectly fine for the majority implementing them.

Why aren’t there more views on these vids?? As an agency owner I find your insights powerful. Keep’em coming!

Great talk, it all makes a lot of sense and it is very inspiring. Ive been reading the WWP book and listening to podcasts (also on the Futur etc) for over a year now, it has had an enormous impact, wish id knew it earlier. Thanks a million!

This is so inisghtful