I learned last week that knitting is much more than a hobby.
And in doing so, I also learned a paradigm for how to hire experts.
Background: I was attending a Genius Network meeting (Joe Polish’s group of exceptional entrepreneurs and results leaders) when one of the speakers (who I had never met before), Gwen Bortner, delivered an excellent presentation titled, “Three Questions to Ask Before Hiring an Expert.”
Gwen is an accomplished business advisor…and what was so refreshing was that the three questions originated from her passion for knitting.
Who knew that hiring a business expert/consultant for multimillion dollar companies could be rooted in finding experts to knit for you or teach you how to knit?
That happened.
Thank you, Gwen!
I will use her three questions…which she positions as binary choices…to illustrate how they apply to hiring marketing experts…where the choices may be more definitive… and even predetermined.
At least to me. 🙂
Let me explain through her three questions:
1) Doer vs. Teacher?
As it pertains to knitting, and many other areas, this is a choice.
If you need someone to deliver a result, you hire a doer; but if you need someone to transfer knowledge, you hire a teacher.
In marketing, you need both because a teacher who hasn’t “done it” is often an imposter.
Yes, you can hire someone to deliver a “done for you solution” …but if that person can’t also teach it to you (i.e. at least enough that you understand what they are doing so you can supervise them properly), you are marketing into a black box.
Sort of like the horror stories I’ve heard over the years—multiple times—about the consultant you paid $10,000 for promises they couldn’t keep with no positive results.
Remember, according to Despair.com, a consultant lives by the credo:
When I decided to teach a full semester of direct marketing at my alma mater, Rutgers University in 1989, it was in response to the chairman of the marketing department approaching me because he was sick of assigning purely academic professors to teach the course…academics who had never sold anything through direct response marketing themselves.
Given that direct marketing is its own discipline under the heading of “marketing” — that is practical, measurable and accountable–a “teacher” of this craft who was never a “doer,” is wholly inadequate.
To take it a step further, I will quote (once again) my mentor Jay Abraham (who wrote the forward to my book Overdeliver) because there is lots more work to be done before you sleep, once you’ve mastered something:
“If you did it you have a (moral) obligation to teach it.”
Gwen’s thesis is still valid:
When looking for experts you can make a binary choice of hiring a “doer” or a “teacher.”
But since teaching (and learning) are always part of the equation, I will maintain (at least for marketing) that you always want teachers who were (or are) doers.
And you also want doers who can teach…at least enough to be dangerous. 🙂
2) Specialists vs. Generalists?
In various forms of consulting…while searching for an appropriate expert…this can be an “or” rather than an “and.”
Specialists excel at diving deep into a niche, but generalists can see the bigger picture and may help identify the root cause of problems.
However, in marketing, there is only one choice and generalists need not apply.
And I have an example from my past…and the present.
In the 1980’s and 1990’s (that would be the past 🙂 ), if you hired a direct response agency to handle everything for you (media, offer creation, copywriting, production) you were hiring generalists who would guarantee your destruction…or at a minimum, put you woefully behind your competition.
If you were (and are) committed to differentiation (which I believe is critical for every marketer), you will never get there with general, ho-hum, anyhow solutions.
State-of-the-art needs to be standard operating procedure.
Why would a top-of-the-game media buyer or copywriter work in an agency as a salaried employee when they could command commissions and royalties for their respective specialty (genius)?
I have countless examples of marketers and creative talent who began their careers in an agency…but when they saw that specialization was their key to success, they jumped out on their own (after years of going a mile deep rather than a mile wide)…to a much richer life.
It’s not for everybody…that is, not everyone can command top dollar for their services (it takes a lot of work to become that good) …and not everyone can afford the best…but I implore you to not be a cheapskate when buying marketing services.
And don’t shortchange yourself when selling your genius either…assuming you pass the smell test of specialization outlined above.
This concept is now on steroids today.
Call it Severe Specialization.
With advertising opportunities now being infinite, there is no place for one-stop-shopping for all your advertising and marketing needs…and it gets more specialized every day.
A Facebook marketing expert can’t be an expert with all social media/online platforms when there are others who are 100% dedicated to being an expert with one…such as TikTok, Instagram, Google AdWords… or creating a YouTube channel and presence…or webinars…or building an Amazon store…or taking full advantage of everything LinkedIn has to offer.
I know because I’ve had experts in each of those individual areas (and many more) speak to my mastermind groups (like Titans Xcelerator) …with each speaker speaking on the ONE topic or area they know better than anyone.
I follow the words of my mentor Marty Edelston on this one:
“You only go through life once. Why not be the world’s best?”
And I’ll add to that:
“Why not only work with the world’s best?”
See the P.S. for how you can be exposed to this kind of information and inspiration.
It’s about going deep on the “what” …leading to the “who” and the “how.”
This also applies to copywriters, even writers who are writing in a category where they are “world’s best.”
They might be an expert at creating scripts for video sales letters…but can they also be an expert with email launch campaigns…or writing a 12-page sales letter…a web site…or a killer landing page…and dare I say a direct mail campaign?
It’s possible.
But not likely.
It’s difficult (and it takes years, maybe decades of training) to be all things to every assignment.
I much prefer buying a la carte from experts in specific niches who have put in the time on the marketing battlefield rather than looking for generalists who are jacks of all trades…and masters of none.
Remember, everyone knows everything about something.
This 6-minute video is a reminder of that.
Find the right person who knows everything about the something you need.
But keep this corollary (and caution) in mind while following “everyone knowing everything about something”:
No one knows everything about everything.
But you know that already. 🙂
There is a place for generalists…just not in today’s direct response marketing landscape.
3) Flexible vs. Fixed Solutions?
When hiring experts, it’s important to understand if the solution you expect from them requires flexibility and customization…or if it follows a fixed, prescribed process.
This can be a choice…but not in marketing.
In marketing, formulas may be part of the mix…but a solution that is not flexible will eventually lead to commoditization.
And that’s the last place you want to be in marketing, competing on price rather than creating a unique offering (that you can also charge more for too).
ChatGPT, marketing funnels that are working for others, step-by-step course creation are all part of the fixed solution world.
But how you add your special sauce will always be the key.
Re: using AI for creating copy, my buddy and copywriting coach extraordinaire Kevin Rogers famously said about copywriters in the future:
“You will end up in one of two camps: The Best or The Bots.”
When someone “sells you a working funnel,” always ask what flexibility and personalization can be built in to accommodate your specific offer to make it stand out from all other funnels that have been used as a fixed solution.
No off-the-shelf purchases allowed.
Or…if someone presents you with a one-size-fits-all solution for a course, a membership, or how to buy within a particular medium…question everything.
In summary (as it pertains to marketing and not necessarily knitting):
Do and then teach (and never be a student of someone who never did it).
Specialize.
Look for flexibility and uniqueness in everything (by practicing insatiable curiosity and asking enough questions to actually be annoying). 🙂
All with an eye towards becoming a category of one.
Warmly,
Brian
P.S. Chapter 7 of my book Overdeliver (titled “Multichannel Marketing”) opens with a quote from legendary “mad man” advertising executive Bill Bernbach:
“Never adapt your technique to the idea; adapt your idea to the technique”
In the post above, when I talked about the “what” before the “who” and the “how,” I was borrowing from the book by Ben Hardy and Dan Sullivan, Who Not How (which is my spin on this very important concept).
My angle includes accumulating the “what” first…from the expert on every what (in marketing) …who I am on a perpetual quest to bring to my Titans Xcelerator Mastermind…to enable the members to assess everything…so they can make a determination what will work for each of them.
Adding in prioritization so they don’t go crazy by making every “what” into a shiny object.
It’s a winning formula.
There are almost 275 active members with close to an 80% renewal rate once they get through the second year…and higher in years three through six.
And that’s because they are connected to the best-of-the-best in every category of marketing…within the membership…and on the outside, through the people I bring in to present.
Check out some of the success stories here.
And we have recently instituted “accountability PODS”—made up of 4, 5 or 6 members—so that each one can further assess all of the “whats” with a feedback loop, so they stay on track on a weekly basis.
Again…to prevent shiny object syndrome while assessing only top experts and information in every category of marketing, copywriting and entrepreneurship.
Titans Xcelerator is inexpensive, virtual and global…and it serves as a de facto Board of Advisors and a “marketing insurance plan” for every member for as little as $200 per month.
In addition to the Accountability PODS weekly, there are at least two live group calls a month, with hot seats, speakers (from inside the group and outside the group)…an active, private Facebook Group…a content portal with recordings of the calls (plus other valuable content from my archives).
I encourage you to check it out here.
It’s chock full of teachers who are doers, specialists in their areas of expertise, and 100% flexible in their thinking.
It doesn’t get any better than that.
It’s a very special family and I would be honored if you joined.