Most marketers believe great work leads to great business.
David C. Baker would disagree.
In this episode, Drew Neisser sits down with The Business of Expertise author to unpack what really separates thriving expert firms from struggling ones. From positioning and pricing power to the myths of growth and creativity, this is a candid, no-BS look at what it actually takes to build a successful expertise-based business.
If you’re a B2B CMO trying to sharpen your company’s positioning (and prove marketing’s impact on the business), this one will hit home.
Key Mistakes:
- Staying a generalist instead of narrowing your positioning
- Assuming talent or creativity alone will drive success
- Chasing growth without understanding the tradeoffs
What You’ll Learn:
- Why saying no is the real starting point for positioning and pricing power
- How to tell if you’re acting like an expert or just an order taker
- Why most firms overestimate creativity and underestimate discipline
- What AI is actually changing—and what it’s not
- How to build demand so you’re not forced to take every client
One idea to stick with:
If clients can easily compare you to alternatives, you’re not positioned.
If you want to go deeper, David shares more at punctuation.com—but fair warning, he might tell you to stop reading business books altogether.