Choose
the Right Business Model
To reinvent themselves, many experts are taking
a second look at their business models. Good news:
changing your model can expand your empire. Bad
news: the wrong business model can cost you months
of spending money with no results. Below are two
questions to ask yourself when changing your business
model.
The
Venue-Based Box
What is your current business
model based on? Experts who focus on the outlet
to distribute their expertise are in a position of weakness.
Why? Buyers pigeonhole the expert by the
venue (keynote speaker, seminar leader) instead of the
value of their expertise. Models based on a "manifesto"
can easily expand across market segments. (See
the Summer 2004 issue of
The Sullivan Report.).
Example: An entrepreneurial
growth speaker began his business in the public seminar
market. A logical decision, given many small business
owners attend free-standing seminars. Problem:
this expert can't move to the paid speaking circuit
because those buyers don't see him as "relevant",
even if their audience is small business owners.
Also, buyers are worried that the speaker will pitch
his products, just like he does in the public seminars.
Best case scenario: the speaker will get the free-expert
concurrent sessions, but not the lucrative keynote slots.
Got
Execution?
Next big question: what will it take to act on
the new business model? And the bigger question:
are you willing to do whatever is needed? Many
experts learn too late that implementing their new business
model is too much money/time and too little payoff.
For every business model, there is a path for execution.
And every path requires different resources and has
different timelines.
Example: An elite
executive coach wants to broaden her appeal to the mass
market. Why? Because it's a logical application
of her content. Makes sense, right? Problem:
the "elitist" model is referral-based, with
low volume/high prices and the models for the mass appeal
market are media-based with high volume/low price.
If the expert doesn't have ongoing media such as a talk
show or syndicated column, it will require an expensive
media campaign to make enough sales. This expert
will spend too much money for too little traction.
Best case scenario: famous but not rich.
The solution: think
"three steps" ahead when changing your model.
Ask yourself: will my current model allow me to
move across market segments? Am I willing to do
what is required to execute on the new model?
Your answers will help you select the best model for
your empire.
Prime
Time Websites
Experts spend a lot of time (and money) creating a brand
that establishes their place in high-fee markets.
Next step: a website that tells the world "I'm
prime time." Below are ways to make sure
your site fits your high-end brand.
"Agency
Quality" Look and Feel
High-fee buyers
use a website for the initial round of consideration.
Two things will tell them that you are not ready for
prime time: a "homemade" look and a
disconnect between the look and feel and your target
market.
Buyers are
looking for "advertising agency quality" websites,
that extra polish that looks like professionals are
on the team. Subtle differences in fonts, colors
and layout tips off buyers and can dilute the most powerful
copy. (Examples: a soft color palette won't
work for the women's executive market. Cursive
fonts don't belong in sites going after Corporate America.)
If you're
not an expert in this area, get help. Key tactic:
give your designer five adjectives that describe your
brand. Ask for the look and feel that creates
those adjectives. Next, describe your target audience
carefully. Good designers know how to "tune"
your site to appeal to your markets. Then focus
on what you do best: great content.
Content
for High-Fee Brands
Once visitors
get past the visual, they start looking for content.
Two things separate the stars from the strugglers:
point of view and depth.
If you're
charging big fees, your point of view must show visitors
that you understand their environment enough to "talk
shop". Your expertise also must show enough
depth to provide differentiated solutions to a variety
of challenges.
Key tactic:
Use the home page to set up the "premise"
or the market condition you want to impact. Make
sure there are at least two nuanced points in this copy.
Then, go into depth with no less than five short articles
or special reports (no more than 1000 words).
These reports are narrow enough to address a specific
problem and include unique solutions.
What
are they thinking?
I just got back from the NSA Convention in Atlanta.
Good time catching up with folks and...I'm distressed
about how many experts are positioning their expertise.
Assumptions people make on this issue are tragic...I
can see the train wreck coming a mile away. It's
hyper competitive out there, so strategic positioning
is everything. Good news: the few experts
using market intelligence will get real results, real
fast.
Sounding
like a broken record...
I know, I've been saying a lot about sponsorship in
the recent issues of Tips and Trends, as well as this
publication. Ya know why? Because too many
experts are STILL PLAYING TOO SMALL when it comes to
sponsors. Opportunities are flying out into the
market so fast my head is spinning. So I'm going
to keep harping on this issue until more experts start
to get it...
Back
on the road again...
Yep, just when the weather starts to cool off here in
Phoenix, I'm leaving for colder climates. I'll
kick off the fall with speeches for Utah Speakers Association,
the Institute of Management Consultants and, of course,
Mark Victor Hansen's event in Los Angeles. Major
area of my latest rants: positioning your expertise
for high-fee markets. If you're in the neighborhood,
come on by and hear the latest selection trend and how
to position your expertise for the most strategic advantage.
The events section has
all the details...
I've heard at many industry
meetings about finding someone I admire and do what they
do. I have great admiration for this one speaker
-- not just her content, but also the amount of money
she says she makes. How do I apply a business model
that has been proven to work to my situation?
A: First
step: stop and think. The key to apply any
business model is to make sure the model takes advantage
of your strengths. In this case, you are assuming
that because she makes a lot of money, her model will
work for anyone.
Let's say your speaker can sell ice
to Eskimos. Her business model probably exploits
her sales acumen to the fullest. Do you have
that same gift? If not, then her model will be
disastrous in your business.
Remember, results are not generated
from effective models. They are generated from
effective people that apply the rights models for them.
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