Ditching Hourly

My dear old friend Rick “Fink” Finkelstein joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about he got booked solid using fixed fees, specialization, and niching.  Related Links Fink's website Mike Fortin Liliac Guitar Player Magazine Gittler Guitar ---- 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 th...

Longtime web developer and freshly minted trading card creator Colyn Brown joined me on Ditching Hourly to brainstorm about how to capitalize on early interest in his bluegrass trading cards. Related Links Bluegrass Trading Co. ---- 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 pers...

Long-time lawyer, second-time guest, and first-time SaaS co-founder Digby Leigh joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about alternative fee arrangements making inroads in the legal industry. Talking Points Pricing trends in the legal industry The three most common non-hourly pricing models for law firms The benefits of "agreed upon" up-front fixed fee pricing What types of engagements aren't a good...

Equity-Driven Design Strategist Lucy Flores joined me on Ditching Hourly to brainstorm her positioning. Talking Points The difference between a specialization and a niche The difference between a mission statement and a positioning statement Why positioning is especially important for soloists How to know when your positioning is specific enough Related Links Lucy's website ---- Do you have questi...

Is the problem you solve for your clients a “nice-to-have” or mission critical? Author, consultant, and podcast host, Ton Dobbe joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about the three requirements of any expensive problem, and how to reverse engineer these factors into a simple formula you can use to decide what to focus on in your positioning, segmentation, and value proposition. Taking Points The t...

Entrepreneur, consultant, and former hair metal guitarist Paul Klein joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about his Three Pillars of Revenue: consulting, training, and infoproducts. Making the leap to self-employment Selling your first infoproduct Using workshops to build your consulting business Niching down to grow an expertise-based consulting business Scaling up your business by getting bigger...

Java Developer Alice B. (name withheld by request) joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about what to do when the skills you’ve built over many years become less valuable to clients. The pros and cons of platform specialization The difference between horizontal and platform specialization What to focus on when your technical skills are no longer in demand How to spot a truly expensive problem Why...

Business appraiser Charlie Stanton joined me on Ditching Hourly to brainstorm how to differentiate what is typically considered a commodity service. Talking Points Pricing risk mitigation instead of cost cutting or value creation Differentiating in a commoditized market Creating productized services for a specific market Partnering with adjacent business that serve the same market Connecting with...

Outdoor brand identity designer Devin Renaud joined me on Ditching Hourly to brainstorm how to get more leads.  Devin's Links:  https://fourestdesign.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/renauddesignco/ https://www.instagram.com/fourestdesign/ ---- 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 th...

Paul Boag, UX consultant, digital transformation expert, and OG podcaster, joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about how helping people for free is good for business. Talking Points The value of jumping on a new platform. How podcasting creates trust. How to create a good podcast. Hunting versus gardening. Expertise by association. Video-first workflow. The benefit of publishing your mistakes ins...

Sam Shepler, founder of Testimonial Hero, joined me on Ditching Hourly for a wide ranging discussion about the moving parts of productized services. Links We Mentioned Sam's Twitter Testimonial Hero Haute Stock Range by David Epstein ---- 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-t...

Speaker, author, and entrepreneur Ryan Berman joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about using courage as a competitive advantage. Things We Mentioned Ryan’s Website Return On Courage This Book Will Make You Dangerous by Tripp Lanier Icarus Deception by Seth Godin Jonah Berger ---- Do you have questions about how to improve your business? Things like: Value pricing your work instead of billing for...

Software engineer, author, and educator Swizec Teller joined me to talk about consulting vs employment in Silicon Valley. Swizec's links: https://swizec.com/ https://twitter.com/swizec https://seniormindset.com/ ---- 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...

My good friend Philip Morgan interviewed me on The Self-Made Expert Podcast about what's been going on behind the scenes in my business for the past couple years.  We chatted about a bunch of things I don't usually get asked about, including:  My transition from surfing a once-in-a-generation tech wave to a very different kind of advisory business My inventory of nasty emails received from my mail...

The wonderful Blair Enns of Win Without Pitching returned to Ditching Hourly to discuss the pros and cons of productized services. Blair is generally against them and I am generally for them. Since we tend to agree on most things business-related, I wanted to have him back on the show to get to the bottom of our disconnect on this particular point. During the course of our hour-long chat, we uncov...

Transistor.fm co-founder Justin Jackson joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about leveling up your "business game" by learning to spot bigger waves. Justin's links: https://transistor.fm/ https://megamaker.co/ https://devmarketing.xyz/ https://justinjackson.ca/ https://twitter.com/mijustin ---- Do you have questions about how to improve your business? Things like: Value pricing your work instead...

Design Thinking Consultant Hannah Berson joined me on Ditching Hourly to figure out a way to align the financial incentives on a novel three-party deal. Hannah's links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-berson-8b56672/ https://www.saltcollaboratory.com/ ---- Do you have questions about how to improve your business? Things like: Value pricing your work instead of billing for your time? Positioning...

David Thorp joins me on Ditching Hourly for a positioning discussion to figure out if he's a Filemaker developer or a Swift developer or a business analyst or something else. David's website: https://www.alphacustomapps.com/ ---- 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...

Software architect George Stocker joins me to get clarity on his ideal buyer.  George's site: https://georgestocker.com/ ---- 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...

Musician Mason Bayne joined me for a coaching call to brainstorm where to find the most value in the music business. Mason's website: https://www.masonscottbayne.com Value Pricing Bootcamp: http://valuepricingbootcamp.com ---- 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...

Health coach Jihane Farrell joined me to talk about how to price "quality of life" and other intangible and highly subjective client outcomes. Jihane's email address: catbirdwellness@gmail.com ---- 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...

Karrie Grinter joins me for a coaching call to figure out how to double her pilates business before she retires. Karrie's website: https://www.northantspilates.com/ ---- 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...

Carl Richards of Behavior Gap joins me to talk about why it makes sense for him to sell his new book for $10,000. Talking Points The paradox of working in public every day The terror of going from 0 to 1 Using permission-less projects to get going The importance of noticing “tailwind” Turning flaws into features Using impostor syndrome as a compass Reacting to negative feedback about pricing How t...

The Camp Wood Saga - A crash course in microeconomics, positioning, and profitability inspired by folks who sell firewood at the end of their driveway. ---- 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 anoth...