The more unexpected the metaphor, the more information it carries. Blair has four less-obvious metaphors to give you access to entire playbooks in just four words when selling your expertise. LINKS "The Power of a Metaphor" written by Blair Enns for winwithoutpitching.comBy David C. Baker and Blair Enns

Melissa Havel is a senior communications strategist, executive advisor, and team coach who blends big-idea thinking with a disciplined approach to problem-solving and delivering results. She has driven powerful storytelling and strategic communications campaigns across owned, earned, and paid channels for organizations of all sizes, drawing on her …

Ignoring any unexpected offers to buy your business that might come your way is not in your best interest. But neither is dating all opportunities in desperation. David has four things principals should consider, whether or not you are actively looking to sell your firm. Links “Should You Entertain That Offer?” by David C. Baker for punctuation.com…

Your clients are far more likely to talk to each other when you have vertical positioning. Blair has observed both good and bad things arising from this. Links “How to Ask for Referrals” 2Bobs episodeBy David C. Baker and Blair Enns

As we are hearing about more firms that are closing during these challenging times, David offers some guidance to help cut through the confusion when our worst fears in our business become reality. Links "Facing an Existential Crisis" article by David for punctuation.com Rory Sutherland's LinkedIn post David's LinkedIn post…

Mark Jones is an accomplished educator, producer, and author, known for bridging the worlds of culture, technology, and education. As the Dean of the Faculty of Animation, Art, and Design at Sheridan College and former Director at Seneca Film Institute, Mark has dedicated over 25 years to empowering the next generation of creatives. His book, The S…

Héctor Ayuso has spent the last 30 years chasing ideas and making them real. Call him an artist, filmmaker, creative director, storyteller, or just a guy who can't sit still—labels don’t matter, doing does. From Spain to Mexico, Italy to the U.S., he’s built studios, taught, spoken on stages, and created projects that live outside the usual boxes. …

As Blair continues to encourage expert practice owners to price the client and not the service, he and David discuss the pros and cons of four levels of pricing authority they should be thinking about within their firm, instead of just assuming pricing responsibility automatically defaults to a specific role or job title. Links “Who Should Set Pric…

Marcel Petitpas is the CEO & Co-Founder of Parakeeto, a company dedicated to helping agencies measure and improve their profitability. In his work as a speaker, podcast host, and consultant, specializing in Agency Profitability Optimization, he's helped thousands of agencies, consultancies, and professional services firms worldwide measure the righ…

David thinks principals should build their firms as if they were going to sell it while Blair’s advice is to run it as if you’ll never sell it. Being aware of options as your firm matures can give you the leverage you might need in negotiations. Links “Ten Reasons Firms Are Bought” by David C. Baker for punctuation.com…

Through the process of writing his latest book, Blair's thinking has evolved on whether or not firms should resist the urge to productize their services as they work to creatively meet the unique needs of each client.By David C. Baker and Blair Enns

In Blair's experience, the most common reason a lead generation plan doesn’t get executed is it doesn’t recognize and leverage the strengths or motivations of the individuals executing. LINKS "The Best Lead Generation Plan" article by Blair Enns for WinWithoutPitching.com "The Rungs You Can Reach on the Ladder of Lead Generation" 2Bobs episode…

David describes the differences in what kind of people principals should hire during the early stage of their creative firm’s development when it’s all about “what we can afford,” the middle stage when it’s about “what we need,” and then the later days of an agency when it’s about “what we can learn.” LINKS “How Your Hiring Strategies Change” by Da…

Mandi Ellefson transformed her life from battling $175k in debt to amassing a multi-million dollar net worth before hitting 40. As the visionary behind Hands-Off CEO, Mandi isn’t just another success story; she’s a lifeline for consulting agency owners drowning in the day-to-day. Her magic? Transforming million-dollar agencies into scalable enterpr…

Blair borrows a concept from finance and fitness to help creative agencies find the balance between low risk and high risk pricing strategies.By David C. Baker and Blair Enns

Cecilia Owens is an esteemed finance and operations executive with over 20 years of progressive experience in financial reporting, budgeting / forecasting, strategic planning, cash management, business operations, HR oversight, and business relationship management. Cecilia is currently the Chief Financial Officer / Chief Operating Officer at Grandv…

Blair interviews David about his new book, Selling Your Professional Services Firm: A Primer. LINKS Buy a copy of David's new book from him directly. Buy David's new book and audiobook on Amazon.By David C. Baker and Blair Enns

Blair interviews David on his recent article about the idea that expertise does involve supplying answers, eventually, but mainly expertise is about asking the right questions, first, and then offering a few answers after the truth surfaces. Links “Expertise Is Mainly About Asking Great Questions” by David C. Baker on Punctuation.com…

Blair shares how to determine whether or not we are the advantaged player the “polite battle for control” within the game of sales, and how we can get the odds of winning the sale to be more in our favor. Links “Assume an Advantaged Player” article by Blair Enns on WinWithoutPitching.comBy David C. Baker and Blair Enns

David interviews Blair about his new book, which lays out his proven framework B2B service providers can use to increase closing ratios and average proposal values. Links Order The Four Conversations: A New Model for Selling Expertise by Blair EnnsBy David C. Baker and Blair Enns

Tony Kadillak has spent 20 years in branding and promotion, servicing today's most recognizable entertainment and sports brands. Currently EP at Versus, he’s been responsible for supporting the strategic growth of his agency teams, while focusing on key clients to drive the value of design-led thinking to their bottom lines. For over ten years, Car…

Blair and David reminisce about their podcasting journey since Blair first pitched the 2Bobs idea to David back in 2016, sharing what they've learned along the way, and what they might like to try with the podcast in the future.By David C. Baker and Blair Enns

David unpacks six principles that can help creative firms benefit from delivering strategic guidance through their account managers. LINKS "Account Managers and Strategy" by David C. Baker at punctuation.comBy David C. Baker and Blair Enns

Join Esther and Tim for the DDD Catalyst Think Tank at DDD Milan this October. https://ddd.live/programs/catalyst-think-tank ​Esther Weinberg is a business growth accelerator that equips executives in high-growth media and technology industries to create game-changing breakthroughs, increase profitability in declining markets and create successful …

Blair sees four common behaviors when business owners are looking to get deals moving in times of economic decline, stagnation, or uncertainty that end up doing long term harm to their positioning and pricing. LINKS "Four Ways to Commodify Your Offering" by Blair Enns on WinWithoutPitching.com "Phase Your Client Engagements" 2Bobs episode…

Every few years we’re told that we need to move on from using email newsletters as a part of our marketing platform. And David says that advice has always been wrong. Links David’s article on Punctuation.com (subscribe to his newsletter at the bottom of the page) “Email is the Most Consistent, Reliable Marketing Channel on the Web and I Can Prove I…

David provides some clear examples of what is required for a firm to be successful at offering one service for many different verticals. Links “Strengthening a Weak Horizontal Positioning” by David C. Baker on punctuation.comBy David C. Baker and Blair Enns

This is a recording from RevThink's The Weekly Briefing from August 7th, 2024. This discussion was followed by a Q&A which you can watch here: https://community.revthink.com/c/the-weekly-briefing/resilience-in-chaotic-times-strategies-for-economic-shifts-d3d6ea28-b832-4e00-bf7b-e0aa74fd52d6 Blair Enns is on a mission to change the way creative serv…

Given these uncertain economic times we are in right now, Blair is asking if some creative firms might need to rethink the market they serve, looking at whether their positioning might be too broad, too narrow, or just wrong. LINKS "The Target Is Not the Market" by Blair Enns on winwithoutpitching.com…

David shares his decision-making framework that will help agency principals make better decisions during chaotic times like these. LINKS “Leading in a Chaotic World” article by David C. Baker on Punctuation.comBy 2Bobs - with David C. Baker and Blair Enns

Alana Tompson is a Melbourne cinematographer and the creative director of Said & Done Media. She also hosts a podcast called Said & Undone which interviews creatives about what could be done – and is being done – to increase the diversity of the film, TV, media and advertising industries to make them a more inclusive place. With her career commenci…

Pricing is a prison cell of our own making. And it’s cultural. Blair has come up with a series of prompts as a creative exercise to help us all move into a realm of higher pricing. Links “Creating a Culture of Premium Pricing” by Blair Enns at WinWithoutPitching.com “Have we Hit Peak Strategy?” “Be the Client You Want to See in the World”…

David wants agency principals to develop new business plans which delivers more new leads with less labor so their organizations can have more controllable growth, as well as increasing their likelihood for a successful exit when that time comes. Links 2Bobs episode: “The Rungs You Can Reach on the Ladder of Lead Generation” NY Times article: “How …

Blair thinks too many design firms and other service providers are trying too hard to raise prices by presenting themselves as more “strategic.” Both he and David see these agencies losing more and more work to competitors moving to off-shore teams and AI centered services. Links Blair’s “What Is Strategy?” episode of the Ditching Hourly podcast wi…

David definitely doesn’t want anyone to be like tech bros, but he has recognized a few things creative agencies might be able to learn from them.By 2Bobs - with David C. Baker and Blair Enns

Kevin Robinson is an award-winning design leader with decades of experience as a director, entrepreneur, executive creative director, strategist, and advisor. Throughout his professional career, Robinson founded and led Juniper Jones, a multidisciplinary studio, and most recently, Creative Dept., a new platform whose mission is to provide access to…

Blair has five steps creative agency leaders can take to turn their account managers, project managers, developers, engineers, and advisors into a source of instant scale to their sales efforts. LINKS “Turning Your Delivery Team Into a Sales Team” article by Blair on WinWithoutPitching.comBy 2Bobs - with David C. Baker and Blair Enns

Whether you call yourself an advisor or consultant (or not), David has seven core ethical principles that should govern advisory work. LINKS "Advising Clients Ethically" article on Punctuation.comBy 2Bobs - with David C. Baker and Blair Enns

Marlene P. Naicker, a serial fashion entrepreneur and the Founder/Creative Director of MULDOONEYS, epitomizes resilience and innovation. Born in apartheid-era South Africa in 1975, she draws inspiration from influential figures like Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, embodying fearlessness and empathy. Facing adversity head-on, Marlene battled canc…

The fact that sales people tend to talk too much is nothing new, but Blair has observed in recent client work just how profound of an effect this pervasive problem has on sales outcomes. Links “How and When to Talk About Your Firm” “Replacing Presentations With Conversations”By 2Bobs - with David C. Baker and Blair Enns

Joanne is CEO of Turner Duckworth, a world-class branding agency with studios in San Francisco, London and New York. Turner Duckworth has designed some of the world’s most valuable brands, including Amazon, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Levi’s and Samsung. Joanne’s first career was in the art world, having worked at prestigious art galleries in New York, …

Stephen Price is the founder and creative director of Stash Media Inc. and executive editor of Stash Magazine and the Stash Permanent Collection – the world’s only video streaming platform dedicated to design, animation, and VFX. Stephen has given dozens of talks on design at festivals/conferences from Los Angeles to Hamburg and Istanbul to Caracas…

When it comes to qualifications for ideal clients, David doesn’t hear anyone talking about how agencies can benefit when the person across the table is someone who presses boundaries and ethically skirts the rules within their own organization.By 2Bobs - with David C. Baker and Blair Enns

As Blair is finishing his new book that drops later this year, he comes to the realization that pretty much everything he does comes down to the fundamental issue that experts think they need to show up as a different person during the sale: pitching, persuading, and convincing instead of as the leader their prospective clients need them to be. LIN…

Will Travis is an internationally respected brand builder and social connector. With a career leading respected branding / advertising agencies ATTIK, Dentsu and SidLee as CEO, he has worked with brands like Toyota, Facebook, Apple, Nike, Coca-Cola. After a 25-year career in elevating products and services, Will launched Elevation Barn (link below)…

While discussing eight ways creative firms can do pro bono work better based on an article David wrote recently, both he and Blair discover a couple new profound insights together. LINKS “Maximizing Your Pro-Bono Contributions” by David C. Baker at Punctuation.com Left-handed Mango ChutneyBy 2Bobs - with David C. Baker and Blair Enns

By RevThink™

Blair recognizes how a Confucius quote is really bad business advice, but is still moved by how a highly principled creative firm in New Zealand continues to thrive by prioritizing their creative practices and client fit over new business strategy. LINKS "Attending the Way" article by Blair on WinWithoutPitching.com AltGroup.net…

David frequently gets hired to help resolve issues at firms between multiple principles when it comes to who does what and how much each should get paid, so he’s come up with a 7-point framework he can use in each unique scenario.By 2Bobs - with David C. Baker and Blair Enns

David interviews Blair about his recent article in which he takes a lesson from investing with compound interest to understand the increasing returns we can receive from our relentless pursuit of knowledge over time. Links “The Time Value of Knowledge” article on WinWithoutPitching.comBy David C. Baker and Blair Enns