The Recognized Authority

If you've done any research on marketing your consulting business, you'll almost certainly have come across the advice to start an email newsletter or list. It's a relationship with your audience that you own directly, without the interposition of a third party platform. You'll often hear the phrase "don't build on rented ground" in relation to social platforms, and email is an answer to that. The...

In this episode, I speak with Olympic gold medalist Joe Jacobi about performance in sport and business. This conversation takes a slightly different road from other episodes, as we talk about the relationship between success and identity, why energy is crucial for performance & capacity, and the importance of connecting with nature.  We also go a little tactical, discussing how to why course c...

Creating and publishing content is a cornerstone of the authority building process. Audio podcasts are one of the options we have to do just that, and there are many choices we can make around podcasting that will impact on how much it helps us build authority. In this episode, Megan Dougherty and Alastair McDermott discuss how to plan your podcast strategically in order to build your authority, h...

Proposals are an essential part of winning business, but writing a consulting proposal is often a hugely time-consuming and frustrating process. In this episode, Reuben Swartz and Alastair McDermott discuss how to create a stress-free consulting proposal, what elements are essential in the proposal document, and why presenting the proposal is such an important part of the sales process. They also...

Books have long been associated with authority and thought leadership. "He wrote the book on it", "She wrote the book on it" - that's how we describe a true expert in a field. "Consultant, author and speaker" is the byline for many thought leaders, and even the word "author" is the major part of authority. But writing a good, valuable, and useful book is a difficult, time-consuming process. Or is...

Bonus Episode: Becoming a Recognized Authority - Alastair McDermott with Tamara Howard To celebrate reaching 70 episodes, I have a special bonus episode for you! I was recently on Tamara Howard's podcast The Better Way to Strategic Marketing  where we had a conversation about authority and specialization. Tamara is a super interviewer, and she has graciously allowed me to "re-pod" that interview,...

A key person of influence is someone who is able to separate themselves from the market, to command the lion's share of attention, and is able to charge a price premium. They are one of the few names mentioned whenever it's connected to a particular subject. In this episode, Chris Do and Alastair McDermott discuss how you can become a key person of influence, why sharing the "secret sauce" is so i...

We often start out working on execution, implementing projects for clients after they've decided on strategy. Our former guest David C. Baker talks about this as "working with your hands". But we can have more impact, be more profitable, and enjoy our work more if we can shift back a step to the strategy phase, selling our expertise rather than the output of our "hands". In this episode, Kevin C....

Even just contemplating niching down your business can feel absolutely terrifying. That's why I think it's so important to hear from people who have done it successfully, and learn about the massive rewards that they are seeing. In this bonus episode, ReeJade Richmond and Alastair McDermott discuss how ReeJade niched down her consulting business to focus specifically on memberships, how she saw re...

As independent consultants, our approach to publishing content is often haphazard and inconsistent: the topic depending on what issues are top of mind, and the schedule based on our client workload. One way to ameliorate that is to create a content marketing plan: some guiderails to help us stay on track. In this episode,Heather Chavin and Alastair McDermott discuss what a content marketing strate...

Podcasting is a hot topic, and you heard before on this show and others why you should consider both guesting on podcasts, and even starting your own podcast. But where to start? In this episode, Jonathan Baillie Strong and Alastair McDermott discuss how to approach podcasting as an authority building platform. They talk about different formats of podcasts, how a podcast mini-series can be very ef...

If you're a consultant who wants to build authority, you need to do that through content creation. That involves writing and speaking. Publishing words, videos, or podcasts. Every consultant who walks this path hits the same problem: lack of time. How do you find the time to deliver high pressure client projects, create content, and build a pipeline? In this episode, Faheem Moosa and Alastair McDe...

Effective marketing is difficult to get right, and independents like us have a lot to juggle when marketing ourselves. Hubspot says that the biggest determinant of effective marketing is your audience. If we're not properly targeting our ideal clients, we might as well not be marketing at all. In this episode, Dan Sanchez and Alastair McDermott discuss how to start building an audience, what types...

Growing a consulting business to seven figures seems an impossible goal for many independent consultants, but it is possible, and my guest today is the Million Dollar Consultant himself, Dr. Alan Weiss. Alan is a polarizing character, probably the most polarizing figure in the consulting industry. During this conversation I ask him about his provocative and contrarian style, and he explains his pe...

Everyone is talking about how we should create more content. Write more blog posts, write more LinkedIn articles, start a podcast, do more video on social. But when we actually start creating this content it seems to be hugely time consuming for very little return on our efforts. In this episode, A. Lee Judge and Alastair McDermott discuss the compound effect of creating content over time, and cre...

"Embrace what makes you different" "Stand out from the crowd" "Have a distinct point of view" "Find your 'Blue Ocean'" Everyone is telling us that we need to show how unique we are, how we are different from our competitors. Is that really what we need to do?" In this episode, Belinda Weaver and Alastair McDermott discuss how to shine the spotlight on your business, yourself, and your clients so y...

Attention is a currency, something we all spend on those who entertain us, and those who help solve our problems. In a cluttered, noise-filled world, getting your ideal client's attention focused on your content is difficult, creating content that will hold their attention even more so. In this episode, Ian Brodie and Alastair McDermott discuss how you can earn the attention of your ideal buyers,...

We know that creating and publishing content is a key part of building your authority - you've heard it from many guests on this podcast. But yet it's still difficult to find the time to create that content. And even after we create it, we still need to deal with our perfectionism and other fears that hold us back from hitting the publish button. In this episode, Teodora Ema Pirciu and Alastair Mc...

Special bonus episode: Bland Content and Burnout with Craig Burgess This is a special bonus episode of the podcast, and it’s very different from our usual interview episodes. It’s a behind the scenes look at an impromptu conversation between Craig Burgess and I. This is the first time I ever spoke to Craig and I thought our conversation was really interesting, and might be useful for someone out t...

Building a personal brand is advice we hear a lot, but it's not always clear what that means, why it's important, or whether it's something we can approach in a deliberate way. In this episode, Mark Schaefer and Alastair McDermott discuss why personal branding is overtaking corporate branding, the four key steps to building your personal brand, and the mistakes that a lot of people make along the...

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, includi...

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 vide...

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...

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...

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 le...