I’ll never forget the moment that changed everything.
I was sitting in a conference room, watching yet another consultant fly in for the day and fly out with a check for what I made in a month. No long-term responsibility. No bottom-line accountability. Just show up, talk, leave.
Meanwhile, I was grinding it out across New England—making calls, booking meetings, coaching teams, delivering results. I was good at what I did. Maybe better than most of these hired guns. But I was making a fraction of what they earned.
The thought hit me like a physical blow: “I want those gigs.”
That’s when I realized the brutal truth about selling your knowledge: being good isn’t enough. Working hard isn’t enough. Even delivering superior results isn’t enough.
The trap that keeps experts poor
Here’s what nobody tells you when you start selling professional services: you’re not really competing on quality. You’re competing on perception.
When I was out there hustling for clients, I thought the equation was simple: deliver great results, charge fair prices, build a reputation. Do good work, and clients will come.
That’s the “fair” approach to marketing.
The problem is that buyers today are overwhelmed with options. Before they ever speak to you, they’ve done their research. They’ve looked at ten other consultants, coaches, or advisors who all look the same online.
When buyers perceive little difference between their options, they default to one decision criterion: price.
This forces you into a race to the bottom. Without strategic thought leadership to differentiate you from the pack, you’re stuck competing on price rather than value, shrinking your margins while less-qualified competitors somehow command premium fees for inferior work.
I watched this happen repeatedly. I was the regional guy who knew his stuff, grinding away for modest fees. Meanwhile, consultants from “500 or 2,000 miles away” were getting hired at rates I couldn’t dream of charging.
Why? Because I looked like a vendor. They looked like authorities.
The business card book that made $100,000
In the early 2000s, I decided to do something about it. I took all the content I’d developed for a marketing seminar I was delivering across the country and turned it into a book.
Let me be clear: this book was terrible. I didn’t have it professionally published. I had it photocopied and velo-bound at Staples in small batches. It was embarrassing. I wouldn’t show it to anyone today. It was essentially a business card book—something to hand out just to say I had one.
But I promoted myself as the author of “Marketing Professional Services” and started cold-calling large professional service firms across New England. These were clients way out of my league at the time.
And they started booking meetings with me.
Here’s the part that taught me everything I needed to know about authority: When I asked these big clients why they hired me, the answer was always the same: “You wrote the book.”
Then I’d ask what they liked about it. The typical response was awkward silence, followed by: “Um, ah, well… I didn’t really read it. Just flipped through it. But you seem to know what you’re talking about, so we hired you.”
Over and over again, I heard the same thing.
That one photocopied, embarrassing book generated more than $100,000 in training and consulting fees. From clients who never actually read it.
That’s when I understood: you don’t need permission to be an authority. You just need proof.
Why this client development strategy feels unfair
I call authoring a book an “unfair” marketing strategy because it creates an unlevel playing field. It gives you an outsized advantage over competitors who are grinding away with the same old tactics.
Here’s what happens in a prospect’s brain when they discover you’ve written a book:
The authority bias
We’re hardwired to trust and defer to perceived experts. A book is a credibility signal that instantly elevates you above the pack. You’re no longer just a service provider—you’re an authority. No book? What elevates you above the pack?
The halo effect
When someone is impressed that you’ve written a book, they automatically assume you’re also a great consultant, a dynamic speaker, and a top-tier expert. The perceived quality of the book spills over, creating a “halo” that elevates everything else you do. No book? What creates a halo for you?
The commitment principle
When a prospect buys your book or even just spends time reading about it, they’ve made a micro-commitment. Because humans feel pressure to act consistently with past decisions, they’re now psychologically more likely to take the next step—agreeing to a call, reviewing a proposal, or hiring you. No book? How do potential clients spend time with you without you being present?
These aren’t manipulation tactics. It’s understanding how trust is built and leveraging it strategically.
What changed when I started self publishing a book
In 2004, I got serious about the process of self publishing a book. I released my first real title on Amazon: Setting Sales Appointments. Total out-of-pocket cost: $100. Time investment: three months of morning writing sessions.
That book sold 7,000 copies. But more importantly, it changed my life.
I was hired by three Fortune 10 companies as a direct result of that book. Those engagements would have been impossible without it. My fees shot up. Instead of grinding for regional work at vendor rates, I was suddenly competing for corporate contracts at premium prices.
One of those Fortune 10 companies had me speak to their national and regional sales VPs. From that single engagement, I booked more than 30 paid speaking gigs over the next few years—work I never could have competed for at the rates I commanded without that book.
The book didn’t just get me clients. It got me better clients who were pre-sold on my value.
The real ROI nobody talks about
Here’s what surprised me most: the book worked even when I wasn’t there.
A large national franchise company called me one day. One of their franchisees had gone from the bottom rankings to the top in sales performance in just one year. When corporate asked what they were doing, the franchisee explained they’d bought my book and CDs, discussed a chapter in their weekly sales meetings, and executed the advice.
The most incredible part? I had never spoken to them. I was completely unaware they even existed.
That single success story led to corporate hiring me to speak at their national meetings. Two speeches generated more than $20,000. From those events, I landed over 50 speaking and consulting projects with their franchisees over the next five years.
All of it was a direct result of having a book that gets clients working as an automated attraction engine.
The price integrity lesson
Once you have a book, you’ll face a new challenge: holding firm on your value.
Years after that first book, I was negotiating with a Fortune 10 company for a presentation. They’d seen massive, proven results from my system—results worth hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to just one location.
They came back and said the cost was too much. It wasn’t in the budget.
I knew they were just trying to get a lower price. I also knew that if I seemed desperate or willing to cut my fee, they’d grind me to the bottom—and that reduced fee would become my benchmark for future projects.
So I waited a few days and sent a polite but firm email. I reiterated the value just one of their locations had already received, and concluded: “If you don’t feel that my fee is fair, which is your right, then there isn’t enough trust and confidence between us for a mutually beneficial relationship. Therefore I will pass on this.”
Ten agonizing days went by. Then I got a voicemail from the decision-maker, mid-round on a golf course, sounding alarmed: “Scott, I just saw your email. Yes, we definitely want to hire you on the terms in your proposal, and we want to pay in full with one invoice to get the discount.”
If I hadn’t held firm, I doubt I would have received fair compensation—or been perceived as worth the 50+ follow-up projects that came from that engagement.
Low price equals low credibility
A CEO once told me something I’ve never forgotten. I was trying to be “competitive” by cutting my rates for a perfect-fit client. He reviewed everything, acknowledged I clearly knew my stuff, and then said: “Scott, if this isn’t worth $15,000, it is not worth my time.”
In trying to be competitive, I had disqualified myself from a great prospect. A certain class of clients will not hire you if your price is too low. A low price reeks of low credibility.
Your turn
I’ve now written eight books. Each one has opened doors, elevated my positioning, and attracted clients I never could have reached otherwise.
But here’s what I wish someone had told me earlier: I waited far too long to start. Every year I waited, I was actively leaving money and opportunities on the table.
I could have escaped the grind, stopped competing on price, and started attracting premium clients and being paid what I was worth years earlier than I did.
Don’t make the same mistake.
You have the expertise. You deliver superior outcomes. It’s time to stop being the best-kept secret in your industry.
Self publishing a book is the unfair advantage available to anyone willing to claim it. The only question is: how much longer will you wait?
Read my book Write Books Get Clients on Amazon here.
Or contact me directly to discuss your situation and options.
