BOBC Episode 131 – August 15, 2023
INTRODUCTION:
If you build your business on the next project, then the pressure to take what comes next is overwhelming. Digging deeper holes does not mean only one thing. It is all about skimming the cream off the top…
BODY:
So today we’re going to talk about, well, a lot of things, but I really want to dig into some of the things that are pervasive in business. And especially as you know, we’re enjoying the last of summer, beginning of fall, where you worry about what the flow is, what could be, what might be. And you’re worried about, you know, the size and scale of the business. And so again. I am always amazed that sometimes the answer to the problem is always, how do I become a better chameleon? How do I try to be something for everybody when my business just isn’t that right? And when my business is built on doing things for the people that care the most, right, and getting that advice to actually be divergent to say, Hey, I can change my price or, Hey, I can, you know, really do the things that are going about trying to get somebody to say yes to me, whether or not that yes is a yes that I want or not is so pervasive and what it is based on is an antiquated way of being that for me is profound in the idea that our culture no longer exists that way.
And where I’m going with this is to use the term that we all learned in anyone who has a parent and throughout the world, not necessarily even the United States has learned everything about asynchronous and synchronous learning and synchronous communication right?
And so to land all of that is, you know, synchronous communication is we all having a conversation in real time, whether that’s a personal meeting, whether that’s a zoom call, whatever it is that people commit. To being present to each other in that moment. And asynchronous is clearly consuming media, whether that’s communication from somebody personally, or just generally, whenever it is that you might want to consume it at your schedule in your way.
Best example of asynchronous, which we all understand, is Netflix and streaming things. Consume content whenever you want. Not whenever it’s convenient for the person who wants to provide that communication. Well, that’s true for your business too, right? That’s true for the creative end of things. And it’s true for what’s happening. So it offers this as we change the world, as asynchronous communication starts to rise.
Opportunity for you during your creative business is to create ultimate streams and different ways of doing business and different ways of segmenting yourself are much, much more prevalent. And yet your focus is on figuring out how to get somebody to say yes, using the same old model that you’ve always used, doing the same old thing you’ve always done and waiting for the next big project to come along.
And so while I appreciate the value of the next big project, whatever that might be for your business, it is. Also, you know, really a fool’s errand to think that you’re not going to try to think about how would I diversify my business, start to create different opportunities for myself that is based on the different ways of being that might offer different opportunities for me to communicate and offer value in ways that were never thought of before.
I’m going to ground this plane. I promise. And what I mean by this is that we’ll take the most ridiculous example that I can think of, which is always wedding planning that provide full service, medium service. And Oh, by the way, maybe, you know, bottom service and have different levels of a la carte deli meats at the counter, right?
The most horrible way of doing things because you’re literally cheapening yourselves in order to get extra money. And because you’re trying to get somebody to say yes. That is a perfect example of just doing the same old, same old, just, you know, and skimming from the bottom, not the top.
And yes, I am fully out there saying if you’re in the wedding business and you are a planner and you’re offering a day of services to supplement your income from full service planning, um, yeah, thank you for sharing. Please don’t play anymore. I don’t believe in it. I don’t feel it because all you’re doing is cheapening the very essence of what you have for value.
Compare that to trying to figure out how to offer those things that are intrinsically valuable for what you do, digging a deeper hole, skimming off the top.
You know, all you have to do is look over the pond just a little bit. If you’re a planner to say, Hey, wait a second over there in interior design, there’s a thing called the expert that’s booming and has been funded and took great acclaim where you get to provide an hour of advice to someone trying to work on their home and you get paid, Oh, $1000, $2000 sometimes even $3000 for that hour, right?
One hour. So if they can do that over there, why can’t you do it? And then there’s the intro and all that stuff where it literally is skimming off the top. Now I’m not a huge fan of that because clearly requires you to be present and to do these things. But what’s stopping you from figuring out other things you can do that is really about the creative and intellectual energy that you offer.
And also to take advantage of now, the length of time that exists for the average creative business, for the most part, yes, there are some creative businesses that are providing things just in time, you know, things like, you know, maybe even a baker or something like that. But for the most part, creative businesses have a very long lead time.
And what happens is that, that the bookings happen early, but the work doesn’t happen until later. So to go to weddings or do an interior design, right. It’s like, Hey. You get booked, but it might take a year for it to go along. And there’s just a lot of lead time, you know, if you’re in interior design, then the house is getting built. There’s just this marathon and not a sprint.
And so my point to that is, okay, wait a second. What could you do during that time when you have an active client that wants to engage you that would offer a different way for you to think about making money and creating value that some people might just want, whatever that might be.
So, for instance, I don’t know one, truly do not know one, other than people have advised to do this, creative business that fundamentally communicates with video. What you do is you send a boring spreadsheet that was invented in the eighties to have somebody look about what’s going on, or you send a really, really detailed email that nobody wants to read.
But instead you can send a 45 second update, right? A 30 second update and by video. And what does that look like? What does the service look like? What can you get offer somebody that just provides a little bit of insight into who you are and what you are. And up ends this notion that you have to go through life thinking we just do one thing, we do the products we get, we wait for the next project. We get paid on that project. We get a percentage or we get a fee and that’s how we make our money and wait and wait and wait until we get the next one and the next one, next one. And you’re not thinking about, wait a second , the entire world has changed. The entire way of thinking and doing and being, and the ability to leverage off of your expertise is never been better. It’s never been better.
People are much more receptive to what you have to offer by way of intelligence and your deliverables and what you can produce using that communication and using tools that 10 years ago either didn’t exist or way out of reach for the average. Player, right? But they’re not out of reach now.
Your ability to draw your ability to use video, to communicate your ability to do just about anything by way of relational asynchronous communication has exploded, and yet all you do is hunt and peck for the next event.
So you’re not thinking about how could you serve this great client better? How could you give them, if they don’t necessarily want the big thing that you’re going to do, the wedding, the, the new house or whatever it would be, what else could you do to skim off the top?
While I might not be a fan of the business model for the expert, I certainly am a fan for what it’s doing because it’s validating the fact that what is the most valuable piece of what you own and all of you own is what’s between your ears. That is the most valuable piece of the business bar none. It is what is between your ears and your ability to manifest and talk about that and to give those who are seeking it a little piece of it if what you’re seeking for is other forms of revenue that give you the opportunity to not be so dependent on the singular piece of business that a project represents.
That’s the way to go about do things is what else can I do to take advantage of the world you actually live in today? Cause we don’t have to wait to be communicated to, to wait to schedule a meeting. Yes, there is incredible value in meeting and talking to somebody real time.
I don’t denigrate that at all. .
But I also don’t want to say. That again, not getting titillated with the entertainment value of your ability to communicate when you’re not literally there is rife with opportunity and that we don’t take advantage of that as creative businesses, and that you don’t seek to see how else can I leverage the very thing that I have that nobody else has, which is what’s between my ears is a fool’s errand.
And instead you’re wasting all your time thinking about how you can get to yes. With the next client that comes in your door, that’s really a wild waste of energy. Because you’re not looking in the mirror. You’re looking at the person across the table from you trying to figure out how to get them in your fold.
And instead of saying, Hey, wait a second, why don’t I just dig in for myself and figure out what is that I could offer that is at a premium for myself, and maybe not ultimately going to give you all of the revenue that you need and all the world you want, but then you know what a perfect egg business is a perfect egg business, and you have to take it for what it is.
But simply, it’s about skimming off the top to give you opportunities that would not otherwise exist. And from there, who knows, who knows what the relation things are going to be and who knows what could be offered and who knows what you can then go and use these great new tools to do in order to skim off the top.
To give people the idea that you are the expert in the way that you want to be seen as an expert and to be paid for that effort and that effort alone, not only does it help you with a new revenue stream, but it also helps you differentiate yourself as you decide for what, when people make that decision as to why to hire you, what’s the level of intimacy that you’re going to be providing to somebody.
And that means that for just a moment, just a moment, take a long walk, take a long thought and say, what is it that I could offer my clients during the time that I’m working with them? And if I’m not working with them in that capacity that they would just want to pay for, what are those ideas look like?
Am I going to provide plans? Am I going to provide that intellectual information that maybe I provide directly, but maybe I also provide in a very quick and easy way in a different kind of media that we don’t really, really consume. And so think about that the next time you choose not to send a video.
To not be saying that someone couldn’t digest this and, and see the value of it. And what would offer you if you did do that and how could you then leverage your core business to not be solely dependent on the next big project to walk in the door?
That’s my riff for today. Thank you so very much for listening
