The Business of Authority

Why Chat GPT can be like having a sort of infinite number of (free) interns. How to learn and deal with the limitations of the service so you can ensure you’re getting reliable information. Various use cases for your authority business, including blind spots to watch for. Understanding the application’s privacy and IP challenges and making decisions in line with your mission. RESOURCES Rochelle |...

  If you’ve ever taken a business course, chances are that competition was presented as a zero-sum game: you battle it out and only one party wins. Jonathan and I explore why thinking about your competition differently can turbo-charge how you sell and market your expertise: How to identify your competition in similar spaces (and look for non-traditional competitors you might overlook). How the ga...

Why you want a developmental editor—what they do and how to work with one. The role of a copyeditor and how to determine who has the skill sets for your particular book. The role of a copyeditor and how to determine who has the skill sets for your particular book. How to decide which editorial comments to accept and which to ignore. Determining schedules and timing with your editor (hint: more tim...

Identify those in your target market who will use this as an opportunity to leapfrog past their competitors. Start moving up the food chain within your niche, either with more complex work or with larger clients. Use this extra time to create authority products—such as a book—or productized services and work on building your email list and/or allies. Look at serving markets adjacent to yours—the v...

Why time is a cost when you’re selling expertise, but doesn’t need to factor directly into your pricing strategy. When to track your time—and what to do with what you learn. Evaluating the quality of the time you’re spending on client work—your personal happiness factor. Negotiating with contractors for non-time based fees on joint projects (and one cautionary tale). RESOURCES Rochelle | Email Lis...

The traditional path to authority and how writing and speaking fit in. Why you don’t need to write/publish to run a successful expertise business, although building authority gives you more growth options. What to do when you’re better at speaking than writing. Viewing writing as a practice vs. a natural talent that you have or you don’t. Quotables “If you run a chain of laundromats, you don't nee...

Why you want to learn how to business—the craft of building a profitable, sustainable business for yourself. The three most critical areas to master (delivery, sales and marketing) and how to start practicing each immediately. What to do now to avoid the “sophomore slump”—your second year when referrals tend to dry up. Why speaking and writing—even at the very beginning of your business—are worth...

The value of having an externally focused mission—and why it may take some time and exploration to find yours.  Thinking like an investor—how to make bets with high upside potential while minimizing your risk. The role of experimentation in building your business—even when it feels risky or vulnerable. Why you want to discover your genius zone—and become brave enough to align every aspect of your...

The ideal number of competitors and target clients in your niche to ensure it’s big enough to keep you profitably in business and small enough that you’re memorable. Why fishing in the right barrel vs. trying to cover the ocean is an ideal strategy for a soloist. The importance of finding your "unfair advantage”. How to find and analyze a potential market niche, including government statistics, tr...

You’re not on the radar of your ideal clients, so you’re not making their short list. Your ideal buyers are aware of you, but don’t recognize your offerings as a solution to their problem. Your buyers recognize that you offer a potential solution to their problem, but they don’t find your claims credible—they don’t trust you (yet). Your ideal people trust your solution to their potential problem,...

The role of leverage in scaling your expertise business. Building a solo business model without leverage from products or employees. Growing as a solo but adding leverage to scale: products (books, memberships, workshops, licensing) and/or people (contractors). Building a firm with traditional W-2 employees—and the two key activities you’ve got to love to make this work. The challenges—and opportu...

The leap of faith required to act generously right from the start of any promising relationship. Moving transactional interactions—like say guesting on a podcast—into relational ones. How to find the right watering holes for other leaders in your niche—without limiting yourself to social media. The one invitation you can offer new contacts that is often a hard yes. The sometimes hidden value from...

Is it a good idea to have multiple themes or strategies in a single year? Why running your business—prospecting, closing deals, delivery—always has to be a top priority (hint: nothing good happens when you don’t have cash flow). The natural progression from starting a business to defining your value proposition to earning serious revenue—and how a single focus will move you faster. How to think ab...

Deciding what checklists, systems and automation make the most sense for you. How to determine where your time has the most value (and let go of what you can). Knowing if/when you’re ready to outsource any tasks—and why you want to understand the process and potential outcomes before you hand them off. How to think about and plan the financial side of your business so it’s serving you (vs. the oth...

When it’s time to develop a new strategy (or pivot from the old one). How to use your strategy as a filtering system to evaluate and choose the right tactics. Using themes to focus your activities for the year. Punching through an income plateau with new strategy and tactics. RESOURCES Rochelle | Email List | Soloist Women | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram Jonathan | Daily List | Website  | Ditcher...

Clips from Episode 211: Systems, Habits and Creating Time   LINKS Rochelle | Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram Jonathan | Daily List | Website   | Ditcherville | LinkedIn | Twitter  

Full episode: Episode 219: Time ≠ Money LINKS Rochelle | Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram Jonathan | Daily List | Website   | Ditcherville | LinkedIn | Twitter  

The differences between the opposite ends of the spectrum and how to own any position you choose to claim. How to migrate from one point on the spectrum—selling, marketing, service delivery and authority building—to another. Matching your business and revenue model (including how big an audience you’ll want to attract) to your unique balance between consulting and coaching. Deciding which kinds of...

Planning around the amped up fear about uncertainty—recession, inflation, monetary policy, cryptocurrency, war, politics (just to name a few). The power of building even more discreet and creative niches—and making money from them in new ways while serving people who energize and inspire you. 
The birth of a major social media platform that optimizes information exchange within communities—with ti...

Why frictionless publishing and distribution is usually the way to go (and what to do when it isn’t). One publishing tech stack suggestion for low friction daily posting and sharing. Working around the downside of automation, AKA how to make sure your posts aren’t riddled with typos. Evaluating alternative social media distribution options. Quotables “It's really important to make this stuff as fr...

How your target audience can guide how much you reveal about yourself and/or your politics. Deciding which boundaries and guardrails make sense for you, your work and how you want to roll.  The advantage we have as soloists—but don’t always use—when deciding how much of ourselves to share. One technique to deal with clients who have disclosed something distasteful to your core values (but you can’...

When automating or outsourcing tasks makes it clear that they don’t need to be done at all . How to evaluate contractors and advisors for signs that they’re saving—vs. costing—you time and money. How to think about out-of-pocket cost vs. your time and the complexity of your business operation. Why you want to periodically re-evaluate your existing leverage and how it’s working for you. The role of...

Four primary ways to assemble and deliver your expertise—and the pros and cons of each. Shifting your mindset while shifting your service and product packaging, AKA how to move upstream confidently. How to conduct a listening tour of your ideal clients and buyers for focused direction on (re)packaging and price points. Integrating what your audience most wants from you with your genius zone. RESOU...

Why profitability is the ultimate anti-vanity metric that will give you a quick read on the health of your business. How to start thinking about your time as part of your profit equation. One way to value your business that will rewire how you think about its profitability.  The thrills of desire-based planning—and learning to consider and manage opportunity cost. Quotables “It's so easy to get wr...

How do you/they disclose that there will be real-time training happening? Your role as the buyer when your seller isn’t coming to you with full disclosure and pricing options. Assessing the impact on your authority when you tell your client you’re not an expert (and the surprisingly positive view most buyers will take). How not to fall into the employee mindset trap—and what to do instead. Using n...