How to Build a Steady Stream of Work Without Spending a Penny on Ads. Most small business owners have been sold the same lie: if you want more customers, you have to throw money at marketing. Funny thing is, that’s usually from the media companies. However, now it’s starting to get silly, and bloody expensive. We ARE throwing money at marketing and it ain’t working as well as it used to. Most business owners are in agreement, paying more and getting less. Does that sound familiar? Facebook Ads, Google Ads, Boosted Posts, Email Marketing, Magazine Ads, LinkedIN Ads, it ALL adds up. But here’s the truth: steady, reliable work rarely comes from paid ads, it comes from reputation. It’s comes from building relationships... yes, even in our CRAZY AI world. Yes, I know ChatGPT is taking over. Yes, I know “Terminator” was a documentary, but at the moment, people buy from people. If you’re tired of the “spend more to earn more” hamster wheel, here’s how to build a pipeline of work without handing Mark Zuckerberg a single penny. OK, here goes. 1. Referrals: The Free Gold Mine Most Businesses Ignore If you’ve been in business more than 5 minutes, you’ve probably had someone say: “Oh, we used you because our friend recommended you.” Brilliant. That’s a referral. But most small businesses leave referrals to chance, instead of making them a core part of how they grow. Here’s the thing: • People love to look clever by recommending someone reliable. • They love even more if you make it easy for them to do it. Do this today: • After finishing a job, ask: “Do you know anyone else who could use this?” • Send a quick thank-you message to happy customers and include your website or contact details for easy sharing. • Sweeten the deal: a bottle of wine or a small gift card for successful referrals will cost you less than a single online ad. I always say do this AFTER the referral so it looks like you’re not “buying the referral”, but that’s just me. Referrals compound. If you deliver a solid job and make it easy to recommend you, every customer can become a free marketing machine. How obvious is this? Yet less than 5% of businesses have a Referral Strategy in place. OMG, you’re leaving thousands on the table. 2. Partnerships: Borrow Someone Else’s Audience (Collaboration) You know who already has access to your ideal customers? Other local businesses that talk and target the same people you are.. why would you not work together and share the heavy lifting? If you’re a roofer, local property agents are constantly meeting people who need roof checks. If you’re a financial advisor, accountants work every day with your target market clients. If you’re a decorator, property managers can send you a steady stream of rentals to refresh. Partnerships are free advertising disguised as relationships. Here’s how to make it work: • List businesses that interact with your target customers. • Offer them value first. For example: • Give a plumber’s “quick fix” guide to local estate agents to hand to new homeowners (with your name on it). • Offer joint social media posts or a shared leaflet at their counter. • Agree to send each other referrals, without any awkward commission conversations to start with. The right partnership can bring you repeat work without you spending a penny on ads, and it builds credibility because you’ve been “recommended” by someone they already trust. 3. Google My Business: The World’s Most Underrated Free Tool If you want strangers to find you without paying for ads, you need to own your patch of Google. Your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is what shows up when someone searches: • “Plumber near me” • “Financial Advisors in [Town Name]” • “Electrician reviews [Your Area]” Most small businesses claim their profile and forget about it. Big mistake. To turn your listing into a lead machine: • Get reviews, and keep getting them. Ask every happy customer to leave one. • Add photos of your work. People believe pictures over promises. • Update your profile. A profile with opening hours, services, and a recent post ranks higher than a dead one. Update your profile every week. If you show up in the top three local results, your phone will ring, and you didn’t spend a single pound on ads. How utterly awesome is that? You knew all this, I know you did. However, were you DOING it? The Real Lesson Most small businesses don’t have a marketing problem. They have a visibility and reputation problem. You can throw £500 a month at Facebook ads and maybe get some cold leads… or you can focus on three free, proven strategies that build a steady, predictable stream of work: 1. Referrals – turn every happy customer into a recruiter. 2. Partnerships – connect with local businesses who already meet your ideal clients. 3. Google My Business – own your local search space. However, a wee word of warning. These are NOT free. They require your time, and you must NEVER, EVER value your time at £0. Finally… You don’t need to outspend your competition. You just need to out-care, out-connect, and out-follow-up. The days of “ spray and prey ” marketing are gone, the days of consistent, SMART marketing are here, and have been for a while actually. Be you start any marketing be 100% clear on who your target market is, why you target them and make sure you address the biggest pain point that target market has. How are you going to make their life so much better ? It sure as hell isn't going to be telling them how many years you have been established or how many awards you've bought (sorry, won) this year. If you found this helpful, then please refer me to your business buddies. (did you see what I did there?)

We’ve all been there. The client who wants you to “just knock something up quickly”, haggles over every penny, and then ghosts you for weeks before popping up with a new demand. These “tyre-kickers” don’t just eat into your profits, they chip away at your sanity. The weird thing is, and sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your marketing and messaging might actually be attracting these types of customers. Promise: This isn’t about being an arrogant diva and saying “I only work with premium people, darling.” It’s about creating a simple filtering process so you can confidently say YES only to clients who respect your time and value your work. Oh, BTW, that’s a win-win for everyone. Here’s a few thoughts on how to avoid attracting these nightmare clients. 1. Get Clear on Your ‘Right’ Client If you don’t know who you’re trying to attract, you’ll end up with anyone and everyone. Niche is GOOD, you’re not losing out, you’re gaining. TRUST ME. So define the following, and be crystal clear on:- • What industries or types of people you work best with. • Budget level you need for projects to be worthwhile. In other words, your “I will not go below this price”. • Personality traits that make for a smooth relationship (e.g. decisive, communicative, realistic). Pro tip: If you’ve ever caught yourself saying “never again” about a client, write down why. That’s your red flag list. 2. Make Your Positioning Crystal Clear Your website and marketing should do the heavy lifting for you. Spell out your value and who you work with. Avoid any reference to price and being the cheapest, however, show your prices on your website, be clear, be concise. If you’re too expensive for them they are not suddenly going to use you later. • Use clear pricing signals (“Projects start from £X”) to deter bargain hunters. • Share case studies that show the type of clients and projects you excel at. Posts like “this great decking project for this clients home was £x” • Be upfront about timelines and processes. Humour injection: If your site screams “I’m cheap and available now”, guess who you’ll attract? Perhaps you’re already there. “We won’t be beaten on price”. Jeez, do people still say that? 3. Qualify Leads Before You Invest Time Before you start drafting proposals, hop on a quick call or use a form to weed out tyre-kickers. Ask questions like: • What’s your budget range? I prefer NOT to use the word budget and prefer to say something like; “Based on what we’ve discussed, a rough price would be £x. Is that in line with what you expected to pay”? • When do you need this delivered? You’re not being nosey, you’re saving everyone time. I call this a “Qualification Process”, and it’s vital to save both your time and your prospects. 4. Stop Saying ‘Yes’ to Red Flags If a client shows early signs of being a nightmare (late with info, vague about payment, asking for endless revisions before you even start), trust your gut. Politely decline or suggest they’re “not the right fit”. The biggest advantage smaller businesses have over their large competitors is the ability to say “No Thanks”, however, this is NEVER done in a rude or abrupt manner. 5. Build Boundaries into Your Process When you do say yes, protect yourself: • Clear contracts with scope, payment terms and deadlines. • Deposits upfront. • Limit revisions or changes. • Confirm costs and changes in writing (email or through your CRM) Nightmare clients thrive on chaos. Boundaries make them disappear like vampires in daylight. Nightmare clients will also win if you haven’t safeguarded yourself and got key points in writing and agreed. You have been warned. 6. Focus on Attracting the Clients You DO Want Positive marketing attracts positive people. Share success stories, be confident about your value, and build relationships with clients you love. They’ll refer more of the same. Quick Wrap-up: Filtering out nightmare clients isn’t about being harsh, it’s about making space for the right people. Set clear boundaries, be upfront about how you work, and you’ll find you spend less time chasing tyre-kickers and more time doing great work for clients who actually pay (and thank you for it). Some More Help: “Want a simple client filter checklist you can use before you waste another hour? Download my guide to “ABCD Customers” – this will all make perfect sense. Has this been helpful? Follow me or Connect (Stuart Mason) or my LinkedIN page for How To Wreck Your Business, there’s load more helpful info to come.

3 Simple Ways to Charge More Without Losing the Job I know what you’re thinking , it's okay, you're amongst friends, I’ve been there. But try this... Right now, you’re probably working harder than ever, long hours, last-minute client changes, juggling deadlines, and still thinking “Where’s all the profit?” Why? Because too many good print and graphics business owners get stuck in the race to the bottom. Competing with the big online printers. Knocking prices down just to win the job. Doing favours for “good” clients who still expect discounts then take 90 days to pay... Does this sound familiar? (be honest) And what happens? 👉 Your margins shrink. 👉 Your stress goes up. 👉 And you end up resenting the work you used to love. But here’s the thing: you CAN charge more, and keep the job. In fact, you’ll often gain better clients in the process. We all know that customers won on price are always lost on price as some idiot is always cheaper . Are your “cheap customers” the ones that you enjoy working with? Asking for a friend!! Let me show you how I think this works – it worked in my print business. 1 - Stop Selling Just Print – Sell the Outcome Here’s the brutal truth: Most customers don’t care about print . They care about what it does for them. They’re not buying “500 leaflets on 170gsm silk paper”. They’re buying more footfall in their shop, a better-looking brand, or a way to look more professional to their clients. If you’re only quoting for “leaflets, banners, business cards,” you’re a commodity. They can price-check you online in seconds. But if you frame it like this: “This pack will give you everything you need to attract more walk-ins for your new café launch. We’ll design, print, and even advise where to place them for maximum impact.” Suddenly, you’re not competing with VistaPrint. You’re solving a problem, and that’s what your customers are buying. Try this. “5000 leaflets, full colour, 130gsm gloss for £99” is that what the customer is buying? NO , not in a million years. This is what they are buying, “ 5000 leads for less than 2p each ”. Now they are interested. YOUR Action step: When quoting, don’t just list the spec, explain the benefit they’ll get. Add a line that ties it to their goal. Not “Vehicle wrap – £650” Instead: “A moving billboard for your business, seen by thousands locally every week – £650.” Like the leaflet example - “5000 leaflets, full colour, 130gsm gloss for £99” is that what the customer is buying? NO, not in a million years. This is what they are buying, “5000 leads for less than 2p each” Clients will happily pay more if they believe it leads to better results. Can you see the difference? 2 - Make Yourself the Safe Choice Here’s why some clients push back on price: they’re scared. Scared they’ll waste money. Scared the print will look cheap. Scared YOU won’t deliver. Scared of being LET DOWN. Scared of getting MORE hassles, not less. So, they default to the lowest price. If you’re the same (in their eyes) as every other printer, then the choice will be made on price. YOU NEED TO STAND OUT – YOU NEED TO BE THE OBVIOUS CHOICE. Then build your reputation and credibility to remove those other "fears". WHEN you show them that you’re a safe, trusted pair of hands, they’ll pay more for peace of mind. How do you do that? • Show examples of your work solving similar problems. Not bloody pictures of leaflets, sorry, they are not interested. Show examples of problems being solved. • Share testimonials from real clients (bonus if they’re local or in the same industry). • Explain your process clearly so they know what to expect - no surprises. Customer crave clarity. • Use visuals: before-and-after photos, videos of jobs, even a quick timelapse of a sign install. When they feel confident you’ll get it right the first time, price isn’t the main deciding factor. YOUR Action step: Turn every project into a mini case study. Post it on your website, social media, or even as a one-page PDF you can send with quotes. Show the result they got, not just the print you produced. Remember, it’s not the product that’s exciting, it’s the BENEFIT that product provides. It’s the pain point that product removes. 3 - Offer Better Options (and Anchor the Price) Most print and graphics businesses make one classic mistake: they send a single price and hope for the best. I know I used to do that, so I learned the hard way . In fact, you could say I wrote the book on it - unashamed plug for "How To Wreck Your Business - the #1 Amazon Best Seller (sorry, I'll stop now) But smart businesses give options, and the middle option is usually the “preferred one” Why? Because when you give one choice, clients can only say YES or NO. But when you give three choices, they start thinking “Hmm, which one?” Does that make sense? Example: Basic – £250 – Standard design + print (what they thought they needed) Better – £375 – Design refresh + premium finish + delivery Best – £550 – Full design revamp, premium finish, PLUS a mini social media promo graphic pack Most people pick the middle option, which is already higher than what they originally planned to spend. And some will surprise you and go for the top tier, because it feels like better value compared to the rest. This is called price anchoring, and it works because you’re shifting the decision from “Should I buy?” to “Which one should I buy?” YOUR Action step: Next time you quote, send three versions: Good, Better, Best. And make sure the “middle” option is the one you actually want them to choose. Give the options catchy titles and avoid at all costs making the lower option look like a poor alternative. You’ll notice in the above example I used “Good, Better and Best”. So, avoid things like “Bronze, Silver and Gold” – no one wants to win bronze. The Harsh Reality… Are You Ready For This? If you keep competing on price, you’ll burn out and go broke. There’s always some idiot cheaper, especially in this game. The big online printers will always undercut you. They have economies of scale, you have the personal touch, so damn well use it. And the “cheap” clients who haggle the hardest? They’re the ones who complain the loudest. But when you: ✅ Sell outcomes, not just print specs ✅ Make yourself the safe choice ✅ Offer better options with price anchoring …you stop being just a “print supplier”. You become a trusted partner who helps clients look good and grow their business. And that’s worth paying more for. Want to Stop Working Hard for Pennies? I help print & graphics businesses just like yours... GROW by attracting better clients who actually value your work STAND OUT in the market and charge more without constant pushback PLAN your business and build a pipeline so you’re not living month-to-month Want to see how you can make this work for YOUR business? It’s all based on the “ Inverted Business Growth Model ” from my #1 Best Selling Book “How To Wreck Your Business”. I have seen the enormous success that print creates, and the hull crushing lows when it goes wrong. I’ll share BOTH with you. 👉 Let’s have a quick 15 minute chat. No fluff, just real fixes. Just message me on Linked IN Always happy to connect with forward thinking business owners.

10 Practical Tips to Start Scaling Today + An Obvious Bonus #1 -Productise Your Core Offering If you’re customising for every client, you’re not scaling. Package your most common solution into a repeatable “product” with fixed scope, price, and timeline. Stop trying to reinvent the wheel. Tool: Use Notion or Canva to build a simple one-page product brochure. #2 -Automate One Manual Process This Week Pick a repetitive task (invoicing, email replies, onboarding). Automate it using Zapier, Make, or a CRM workflow. Bonus: Record a Loom video to train staff (or your future VA) to take it over. Loom is a great free resource for small business owners. #3 - Raise Your Prices for New Customers Scaling is margin-driven. Increase pricing by 5-10% for new clients. Track conversion and push value instead of volume. Every penny of additional profit goes right onto your bottom line Example: Agencies that scale often double prices and halve client load. Think about that. #4 - Delegate the Bottom 20% of Your Tasks Audit your week. What’s low-skill, low-leverage? Outsource it to a VA or junior hire. Free up mental bandwidth to think strategically. The world is a small place now, consider Fivrr and Upwork for outsourcing. Tool: Use Clockify to track time, then cut ruthlessly. #5 - Test a New Geography or Niche Online Scaling doesn’t need a full market launch. Consider expanding your geographic reach. Start by having a look at our article on Tam, Sam and Som. You’ll love it. Here it is . A great way to expand to new territories is to have a virtual office with a managed call and mail service. Explore and test new geographic regions with minimal risk. Run a £50 targeted LinkedIn or Google ad to a different vertical or region. Test demand fast. #6 - Create a Referral Flywheel Turn customers into your sales force. The best way is to ask. Ask when your customers are at the height of their experience with you. We disagree with MANY of the referral strategies out there that talk about incentives. A genuine referral comes from the heart, not the wallet. A customer will refer you because you are awesome. That way they share that awesomeness within their peer group, and that makes them look uber cool. That’s how referrals work, not because you offered an M&S Voucher. #7 - Build a Scalable Onboarding Flow If you hand-hold every new client, you’re not ready to scale. Many will see that as bad thing, it’s absolutely NOT. You cannot have a scalable business and know every customer. You can, and MUST, however, have a scalable business by knowing what every customer WANTS. Build a templated onboarding experience using Typeform, Notion, or Airtable. Bonus: Add explainer videos with Loom. #8 - Install a Lead Magnet on Your Website Offer a short guide, checklist, or calculator. Capture emails passively and build an audience you don’t have to chase. Give away genuine help, guidance and business tools – YES, that even means stuff you may have even charged for. People are wise now, they know the marketing tricks, and are immune to them. A scalable business thinks differently. Tool: ConvertKit or Mailerlite for fast setup. #9 - Turn 1:1 Into 1:Many If you coach, consult or train, or provide a service, then record your most common sessions and sell them as an on-demand product. This is what we call leverage, and this combines recurring revenues. Now you’re scaling, possibly on a global scale. This converts time into recurring revenue. #10 - Build a Weekly Dashboard Scaling businesses are measured. Track 5 core metrics every Monday: revenue, leads, churn, conversion, and customer satisfaction. Small steps lead to big jumps. What was it Neil Armstrong said? Tool: Google Sheets + DataBox or just Notion + Zapier. The Obvious BONUS AI is the obvious bonus, in fact, everything mentioned above can be assisted by AI. If your business is not grasping AI at serious kick ass levels, then you’re already being left behind by businesses half your size. You need to have an “AI Integration Team”. That will be a mixture of smart people from within your business, and even smarter people from outside your business. You need to meet monthly and discuss what AI systems are going to move the needle for your business. Look at the basics where AI can help and assist, but also look at the crazy bat shit stuff where AI can disrupt your industry and give you first mover advantage. Has this been helpful – then follow me, (not in a weird way) - I’m Stuart Mason and my book and business is “ How To Wreck Your Business ”. It’s an Amazon #1 Best Seller. Buy it here .

The best people to REALLY tell you how well your business is performing is your customers, so it makes sense to ask them. The big question is HOW do you ask them? The first question I always ask is this, "What do you want to hear, what you want to, or what you NEED to". Everyone then answers, "what they NEED to", and continue to conduct surveys that deliver only what they WANT to hear. Nuts, or nuts? The thing is us humans are not great at telling the truth when asked, so we default to the "won't upset anyone" answer. This is why 99.8764376% (approximately) of surveys are either i) a waste of time, or ii) just annoying. Here's the proof. You're in a restaurant and have just had a completely underwhelming meal with mediocre service at best. "Was everything OK for you" comes the text book question, quickly followed by the textbook reply... "yes, fine thanks" You LEAVE the establishment vowing never to return, a loss for you and the restaurant. You have also done the owner a massive DIS SERVICE by not alerting them to their failings and giving them the opportunity to correct it. You won't tell the truth on the night, however, oh my god, did you leave them a REVIEW !!!! This is " Restaurant Feedback Syndrome " - I just made that up, so don't Google it. When you send a "Customer Survey" that comes from YOU, then you are asking, "was your meal okay this evening?" - expect the majority to either ignore you are say "fine". You can now pat yourself on the back that 99.6% of your customers are delighted, without realising who are leaving you, or why. This is where the Net Promoter Score is a game changer. NPS works by asking ONE key question, and that question is this. "On a score of 0-10, how likely are you to refer ABC Widgets Ltd to a friend or colleague?". The answers then provide a NPS Score. Anyone who scores 0-6 are termed DETRACTORS . Those who score 7 or 8 are deemed PASSIVES , and those who score 9 or 10 are termed PROMOTERS . We then subtract the DETRACTORS from PROMOTERS, and ignore PASSIVES. Lets' say your score was this... 5% Detractors, 65% Passives and 30% Promoters. 30-5 = NPS of 25. That's OK, as the UK average is 20. Anything above 20 is good, above 50 is considered exceptional, and above 80 to be world class. The key with the Net Promoter Score is it's 100% confidential, and SEEN to be confidential, so you get accurate feedback that you can ACT on. When I do NPS for clients I do it through Value Builder which then provides full details of the score and answers, just not the customer info. If you're serious about conducting a GENUINE Customer Survey - it has to be NPS. NPS is a great predictor of compnay growth, so it makes sense to add that to your "to do list".

With most financial experts predicting a “ Challenging ” 2023, what does this mean for your business? How do you grow your business in a shrinking economy? Have you ever wondered why in challenging times some businesses seem to thrive, while others in the same industry simply struggle to pay rent? How do you thrive, not just survive? The first mistake many business owners make in challenging times is they reduce or stop marketing and advertising, the reality is, the opposite is true. This graphic illustrates why. In “normal” times the number of opportunities and businesses “chasing” them are balanced. As we enter challenging times the opportunities reduce, in this illustration by more than half. Panic, panic ? No. Look what happens to the number of businesses ACTIVELY chasing those opportunities, they have reduced substantially as the default reaction in a downturn is to cut back. The irony in this illustration is that there are MORE opportunities. Of course your advertising is just ONE part of your overall strategy in a shrinking economy. How well do you differentiate yourself from your competitors? Do NOT make it about price. People don't buy on price, they buy on VALUE. If you are the same as me, and I am the same as you, and we're both the same as them, then the customer WILL ultimately make that decision on price. However, if your business or product shines head and shoulders ABOVE your competition, then the sale is yours, possibly for more than your competitors. Make it easy for your customers to buy from you. Sounds obvious yeah? Businesses create “barriers” every day. Online offers advertised that don't take you DIRECT to the offer. Businesses that don't accept Amex, or indeed don't accept cards at all. Too many clicks on the website. Hidden costs and conditions. Look around your business, how can you make it easier for your customers to buy from you? As we enter 2023, don't let the media depress you, there ARE opportunities, they just aren't always obvious. Don't stop the marketing, differentiate, and make it easy for your customers to buy from you. Have a Prosperous and Profitable 2023.

3 EASY Ways to Change Repeat Customers to Loyal and HAPPY Subscribers. The above image, "The Surprise Box" is just one of the NINE Subscription Models. Before you look at them, consider the THREE ways to start changing repeat customers into subscription members. Repeat business drives profits and the value of your company. You can categorise these sales into one of two main types. REOCCURRING Revenue, and RECURRING Revenue. What’s the difference? 1. Reoccurring revenue comes from customers who purchase from you sporadically. They’re satisfied with what you offer, and they buy regularly, just not at a specific time. 2. Recurring revenue is predictabl e, and you get it from customers who buy on a fixed schedule. This is usually in the form of a subscription, the main difference is your recurring revenue comes in on a regular rhythm. This creates predictable cash flow and customer loyalty. Nice! Therefore, it’s worth considering how to turn repeat customers into subscribers. HP Instant Ink is a great example of this… As an example of an organisation that turned reoccurring sales into recurring revenue, let’s look at the “HP Instant Ink” program. HP would sell you a printer in the old days and hope you would come back and buy your toner cartridges from HP. As cheaper replacement options became available, HP started to lose reoccurring revenue from people who owned HP printers but chose a more affordable alternative to refill their cartridge. In response, they launched the HP Instant Ink program to solve this problem by offering a toner subscription. HP simply sends subscribers new toner for their printer each month. They offered a variety of plans all designed to SUIT THE CUSTOMER. That’s the bit a lot of businesses MISS. Suit the CUSTOMER, not the business. HP nailed it. What are the THREE Simple Ways To Build Subscribers? (in my humble opinion) 1) Offer flexible plans based on volume that suits the customer. That may be weekly, monthly, quarterly – it’s what suits them... not you. This is where many businesses fail, they don't look at their business through their customers eyes. 2) Allow Carryover – be flexible, and NEVER penalise a customer for being loyal – are you kidding? Consider a “pause option for one purchase” – that prevents the subscription being cancelled. 3) Never Let Them Run Out – ensure you have an option to check in and top up. This is all part of what we call “flexible subscriptions”. Do not become a faceless subscription provider. One of the reasons consumers prefer buying on a subscription over a one-time transaction is that they never want to run out of what you sell. Just like HP, find a way to measure your customers’ supply of what you sell in real time to ensure subscribers never run out. Repeat customers are the lifeblood of any business, to say nothing of REFERRALS. If you want to seriously jack up your company’s value, consider ripping a page from HP’s playbook, and turn your reoccurring customers into subscribers. The thing is, the cost of acquiring that customer has been met, why not improve that ROI massively by getting REOCCURING REVENUE. Would you like to know more about these and the NINE subscription models for your business? Then have a look at the ebook we have created here .

Stop Selling Your Time If your goal is to build a more valuable company, stop selling your time. Billing by the hour or day means customers are renting your time rather than buying a result, which means that your business model lacks leverage. To grow, you need to either work harder or hire more people. Since it can take months to ramp up new employees, fast growth is just about impossible. One of the eight factors that acquirers look for in the businesses they invest in (or buy) is your company's Growth Potential. Simply put, they want to know how fast they could grow your business, and nothing diminishes your Growth Potential more than selling your time. Billing by the hour can also drag down your customer's satisfaction with your business — because customers dislike the feeling of being nickel and dimed. They know you’re incentivised to lengthen the time a project takes, while they want a solution in the shortest time. This misalignment leads to unhappy customers, which can destroy the value of your business. Peddling time also invites competition. When you sell your time, you allow customers to compare you with others offering the same service. This can lead to downward pricing pressure and lower margins as you become commoditised. How Likeable Media Stopped Selling Time Carrie and Dave Kerpen started Likeable Media, a social media agency, in 2006. Facebook was emerging as a dominant platform, and marketers were trying to figure out how to monetise users of their platform. The Kerpens started selling their time but quickly realised the limitations of an hourly billing model. They realised that customers didn't want to buy their time. Instead, Likeable customers wanted to buy social content. Marketers wanted a video they could post to their Facebook feed, or a blog post they could publish on their site. The Kerpens decided to switch from an hourly billing model to the Content Credit System. They assigned each piece of content several credits. For example, a tweet might be one credit, a written blog post might be ten, and a video might cost twenty credits. Customers signed up for an annual allotment of credits they could roll over month to month. The Content Credit System transformed Likeable Media for the better. To begin with, customers were no longer buying time. Instead, they were happy to pay for tangible output rather than trying to scrutinise an hourly bill. The credits also made it easier for Likeable's Account Managers to upsell customers. They no longer needed to justify why a particular project would take more time. Instead, they suggested that customers buy more credits if they needed more content. The Kerpens’ innovative billing approach also created recurring revenue because The Content Credit System relied on annual contracts renewed each year. The Content Credit System also transformed Likeable's cash flow because customers paid for their credits upfront. Most importantly, the Content Credit System enabled the Kerpens to stop selling their time and build a team. By 2020, Likeable was up to more than 50 full-time employees when they caught the attention of 10Pearls, a digital strategy company which acquired Likeable Media for 8.5 times EBITDA, a healthy premium over a typical marketing agency. The bottom line? If your goal is to grow a more valuable company, stop selling your time and start selling your customers' results. Obvious right… yet few see it… fewer DO IT.

Would you agree that finding and RETAINING the RIGHT people is vital for your business? Try this simple system and score your team out of 10 for each. Score YOURSELF too... Aptitude: How good are they in their role, their skill level if you like. Are they the "Yoda" of your industry, or the "Yawn"? Attitude: How many of your team share your vision and strive to achieve the highest possible standards - or are they just there for a pay check at the end of the month? Or worse, do they actively disrupt you and others within the business? Acceptance: Are they ready to accept responsibility, learn new stuff continually, push boundaries, and accept that there's so much more to learn? They want to be better today than they were yesterday? When you have high flyers scoring 25+ then you are on your way to building a team of EXCEPTIONAL standards. It is CRIMINAL for any business to lose those team members. On the other hand, if you have team members scoring low overall, or in Attitude - are they the right people to take your business where it NEEDS to go? Hire on ATTITUDE, you can train Aptitude.