2Bobs—with David C. Baker and Blair Enns
Maelezo ya Kituo
2Bobs—with David C. Baker and Blair Enns
Conversations on the art of creative entrepreneurship with David C. Baker and Blair Enns
Vipindi vya Hivi Karibuni
234 vipindi
Shower Your Way to Sales Success
David interviews Blair about his recent article in which he gives us methods to cope with our own natural emotional and physiological responses that c...
Why Entrepreneurs Are Unemployable
Blair interviews David about a recent article in which he argues that the very traits that make entrepreneurs successful also make it hard for them to...
The Problem of Mechanistic Thinking
David interviews Blair about his recent article in which he explores how our businesses are not simple machines that can be tuned (or killed) with spe...
Oppositio Singularis: The Positioner's Folly
David sees too many marketing agencies trying to attract new business by staking claims of specialness on things for which nobody is claiming the oppo...
Dealing With the Ghosting Problem
Are prospects not responding to your follow-up after you submit a proposal? Blair goes through what might be causing their lack of response and then p...
Defending the Castle When the Moats Are Drained
One characteristic of our industry is disappearing moats. After a brief overview of the fourteen moats we've lost from 1965 to today, we'll look at wh...
The Four Priorities of Winning New Business
What do we do in those situations where we have to pitch? Blair simplifies some important principles from his books into a sequence of four precepts w...
Understanding Earnouts
If/when you sell your firm, it'll likely be the largest transaction of your life, and so it makes sense to understand it! In this episode David gives...
Grow or Die?
Blair recognizes growth opportunities in every area of life and business, yet sees many people chasing metrics while unknowingly resisting genuine pro...
You're Cheating Clients Unless You're Repetitive
David recognizes that the fear of repeating ourselves in our client work is motivated by the right things: "am I delivering value?"
LINK...
How to Get $500M to Build a Website
Blair tells the story of recreation.gov and how its performance pay deal has been nothing but wins for every party involved, with plenty of lessons fo...
When a Key Employee Wants Equity
David provides a framework for one of the most important conversations in a creative agency principal's life.
LINKS
"When A Key Em...
SpamHack Your Way to Growth!
Instead of railing against AI-generated spam, Blair decides to "get in on the action" with his brand new SpamHack AI Growth System™️ in this spoof epi...
What I Learned From Teaching Motorcycle Racing
David recognizes more than a few parallels between his passion for motorcycle racing and the work being done in creative and marketing agencies.
...
A DIY New Business System
Instead of just relying on the talent of individual sales people, Blair recommends creative agencies identify and invest in six elements as a part of...
Dealing With Today's Employee
David finds the courage to address a topic he's been putting off for awhile, as he is seeing more agency principals struggling to maintain both health...
There Is No Credential Meeting
Instead of beginning the relationship with a prospective client by presenting a deck on why your agency is so amazing and why you should be invited to...
The Waterfall of Differentiation
When it comes to positioning, David is still seeing creative firms failing to answer three essential questions in the proper sequence: category, speci...
Always Be Anchoring
Blair sees high price anchors everywhere—from buying a suit to ordering a burger. So what factors should creative firms keep in mind as they use ancho...
What to Ask, Sign, and Share With a Potential Buyer
Following up on the recent episode on whether you should be considering that offer to sell your firm, David provides four questions to get answered, t...
The Power of a Metaphor
The more unexpected the metaphor, the more information it carries. Blair has four less-obvious metaphors to give you access to entire playbooks in jus...
Should You Entertain That Acquisition Offer?
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...
When Your Clients Talk to Each Other
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 th...
Facing an Existential Crisis?
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...
Who Should Set Prices?
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...
10 Reasons a Buyer Might Want Your Firm
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...
To Standardize or Customize
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 servic...
Don't Bother Eating Your Veggies
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 motiva...
Adapting Hiring Strategies Over Time
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 al...
The Barbell of Pricing Risk
Blair borrows a concept from finance and fitness to help creative agencies find the balance between low risk and high risk pricing strategies.
Selling Your Professional Services Firm
Blair interviews David about his new book, Selling Your Professional Services Firm: A Primer.
LINKS
Buy a copy of David's new book...
Questions, Not Answers
Blair interviews David on his recent article about the idea that expertise does involve supplying answers, eventually, but mainly expertise is about a...
Assume an Advantaged Player
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 Four Conversations: A New Model for Selling Expertise
David interviews Blair about his new book, which lays out his proven framework B2B service providers can use to increase closing ratios and average pr...
200th Episode Special
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...
How Account Managers Deliver Strategy
David unpacks six principles that can help creative firms benefit from delivering strategic guidance through their account managers.
LIN...
How to Avoid Commodifying Your Offering
Blair sees four common behaviors when business owners are looking to get deals moving in times of economic decline, stagnation, or uncertainty that en...
Are Email Newsletter Even Viable Anymore?
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 al...
How to Make Horizontal Positioning Work
David provides some clear examples of what is required for a firm to be successful at offering one service for many different verticals.
...
Are You Fishing in the Right Pond?
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...