The Argonautic: 0027

OpenAI's new "Study Mode" for students is a perfect metaphor for how leaders should be using AI. Instead of just giving answers, it helps develop critical thinking. For solos and small firm owners, this is the right mindset. The goal isn't to outsource your brain but to sharpen it. As leadership strategist Sara Canaday points out, the best thinkers aren't handing work over to AI; they're using it as a strategic partner to strengthen their own judgment.

So, where do you start? Instead of feeling overwhelmed by a sea of tools, try asking the machine itself for guidance. Organizational psychologist Dr. David Burkus suggests a simple prompt: "Here's what I do in my job every day. What would you need to know to help me do it better?" This frames AI as a collaborator, helping you identify opportunities to offload busywork like summarizing meeting notes or drafting first-pass emails.

The aim is to free up your attention for high-value strategic work—the kind clients pay you for. It's not about replacing your thinking; it's about creating more space for it. This approach moves you from a passive user to an active director of your own AI-powered productivity system.

If you heard the US government paid over $500 million for a website, you'd probably assume it was another case of massive overspending. But as Blair Enns explains in a masterful breakdown, the story of Recreation.gov is a powerful lesson in value-based pricing and performance pay. Instead of a traditional fixed-fee or cost-plus contract, consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton is paid a percentage of the transaction revenue generated through the site.

This arrangement completely changed the incentive structure. Instead of focusing on minimizing their own costs, Booz Allen was motivated to build the best possible platform to maximize bookings for national parks and recreational areas. A better user experience led to more reservations, which meant more revenue for the government and a larger fee for the firm.

This is a model that creative firms, dev shops, and consultancies can learn from. When you tie your compensation directly to the value you create—more leads, higher conversion rates, increased sales—the conversation shifts. You're no longer a cost to be managed but a partner in growth. It's a bold move that requires confidence in your ability to deliver, but the potential rewards are significant.

One of the most common mistakes service professionals make is marketing their process. As email marketing expert Michael Katz puts it, "Nobody Buys Process." Clients aren't interested in your proprietary 7-step framework, your unique methodology, or the intricate details of how you do what you do. They are only interested in the outcome.

Think about it: when you buy a car, you care about how it drives, its safety, and how it makes you feel—not the schematics of the internal combustion engine. Your firm's services are no different. Prospects are looking to solve a problem or achieve a goal. Your process is simply the vehicle you use to get them there. Focusing on it in your marketing is like a car salesman spending an hour explaining the alternator.

Instead, your messaging should be relentlessly focused on the client's result and the benefits they will experience. Shift your language from "we use agile development sprints" to "we deliver a functioning app that generates revenue in 90 days." Instead of "we conduct in-depth brand audits," try "we uncover the hidden story that makes ideal clients choose you."

In a crowded market, it's tempting to look at what competitors are doing and try to emulate their success. But as WP Engine founder Jason Cohen warns, "Whenever you copy a competitor, you're falling further behind them, and becoming a worse version of them instead of a better version of you." This is a fast track to commoditization, where the only differentiator left is price.

The alternative is to develop and sell your unique perspective. In a recent meeting with advisor Ezequiel Apelbaum, expert David C. Baker offered a powerful piece of advice: "The product isn't the work. The product is your perspective." This is the fundamental shift every expert needs to make. You're not just selling code, designs, or marketing plans; you're selling a distinct point of view on how to solve a problem.

This means codifying your expertise into proprietary models, frameworks, and processes that are uniquely yours. This intellectual property becomes your defensible moat. It's what allows you to escape the commodity trap, charge premium prices, and attract clients who want your specific approach, not just any pair of hands.

Conventional wisdom says you should make it as easy as possible for a potential client to contact you. But what if the opposite were true? As Wil Reynolds of Seer Interactive explains, he once solved a sales bandwidth problem not by hiring more people, but by making his lead form harder to fill out.

Inspired by another agency, he implemented a form that required prospects to do "homework" before they could even submit an inquiry. The result? The number of leads dropped, but their quality soared. The firm's close rate went up, and the sales team spent their time on serious buyers who were already invested in the process, rather than wasting hours on tire-kickers.

This illustrates a powerful principle for professional service firms: a bit of friction can be an incredibly effective qualification tool. By asking thoughtful questions that require prospects to think about their problem, you filter for clients who are serious, organized, and ready to engage in a true partnership. It signals that your time is valuable and that you are selective about who you work with.

Most personal branding advice boils down to being a polished, professional, and palatable version of yourself. But as The Futur's Chris Do argues, true branding is an act of remembering and embracing your authentic self—especially the parts you think are "too much." The parts you worry people won't like are often the very things that make you unique, memorable, and human.

Branding, Do says, is about meaningful differentiation. You can't be meaningfully different if you're sanding down all your edges to fit in. He suggests a powerful exercise: make a "too-much" list. Are you too direct? Too nerdy? Too quiet? Too loud? Then, reframe those traits as strengths. Ask yourself, "How might this be an advantage? Why is this a benefit? How is this a gift?"

This counterintuitive approach is the key to building a powerful personal brand. When you stop hiding your quirks and instead celebrate them, you stop attracting everyone and start attracting the right people. You create a magnetic pull for clients and collaborators who resonate with your true voice, while naturally repelling those who don't.

For many service firm owners, chasing unpaid invoices is a soul-crushing part of the job. One consultant on Reddit shared a story of nearly going bankrupt with $47,000 in outstanding payments. His solution was to completely reverse the standard model: get paid first, then deliver the work. He calls it "Billing Backwards."

The traditional model—deliver service, send invoice, hope to get paid—effectively turns your business into a lender for your clients. The backwards model eliminates this risk entirely. While it seems radical, it's how nearly every other industry operates. You don't get to drive the car off the lot and promise to pay in 60 days.

The shift is as much psychological as it is financial. When clients pay upfront, they are more committed to the project's success. They show up prepared for meetings and provide timely feedback because they have skin in the game. It also signals your confidence and positions you as a premium provider, not a desperate vendor. The consultant found that after making the switch, he lost a few prospects but ultimately increased revenue by 150% because he was only working with serious, committed clients.