I luckily learned a lesson back in the 1980s when I worked at AT&T. During a performance review, my supervisor said, “Son, you are an expense. I can hire two people for what you are asking for and I would do better with that than with you alone. So the answer is NO!” Let me repeat that… “YOU ARE AN EXPENSE”

I realized that if I did not make a change, no one would do it for me. I needed to leverage my time, and leverage the time of others in a way that was successful, repeatable, and valuable to clients in a way that they would want to invest in and integrate my solution into their business.

I started with writers (people who could do it better than me) and started to build systems around them. Next, I found people who could manage websites, create emails and social posts, and topped it off with a project manager who had extensive corporate experience. I can bring people into some consistency of repeatable projects with room for them to learn and grow with other clients.

This model allowed me to bring in an expert at just the right time to complete a task and then let them focus on other customers they were working with. The key was a level of expertise, that could work the client’s ebbs and flows of needs and wants. It allows them to access an incredible pool of talent who bring creativity and innovative solutions to keep them at the forefront of trends.

In this episode, we will explore… how to look at what you do as an invaluable resource to your clients or bosses, and not just as an expense.