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Welcome to the Finding Business Podcast. I am your host, Scott Channell.
Before we start, let me make this clear… business is not fair.
The people who win aren’t necessarily the ones with the best product, the lowest price, or the most talent.
They win because they’ve stacked the deck so far in their favor, everyone else is just playing catch-up.
Today, I’m going to give you six of those “stack-the-deck” moves that give you a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
In the last podcast, we talked about three of the most powerful unfair marketing strategies. They are unfair because they provide multitudes of the benefits and clients that other strategies generate for the same time and money investment.
Well, today we’re talking about an additional six unfair marketing strategies. They’re unfair because you get far more clients and revenue than other strategies, and most of your competitors will not use them. Because most of your competitors won’t do them, they give you an edge.
Let’s hit six of them, fast.
1. Positioning & Authority
If you’re not positioning yourself, you’re being positioned—probably in a way you won’t like. So properly position yourself and set a goal to be just a little bit famous. You don’t have to be mega-famous, but you do have to be one of the first names people think of in their niche, or one of the most impressive they let their fingers run across the keyboard seeking providers online.
You engineer that. That is not accidental. That is what publishing, being in the media, authoring a book, or being published does for you.
2. Multi-Step Sequences – Don’t Stop at Two Touches
Don’t care whether we are talking phone calls, snail mail, or digital touches—don’t do too few. I don’t know a gentler way of saying this… this is a pile of dog mess you do not want to step into.
You know the stats. It takes 12 dials on average to get someone to pick up the phone, 7 snail mail touches to get their attention, and 21 digital touches. Most sales close after the 5th or 7th interaction.
If you are a stop-short, as most people are, you are purposely self-sabotaging your results. Stopping early is the same as doing nothing. Keep going until you complete your process or get a yes or a no. Stay in the high-probability results zone, and stop placing yourself in the low-probability results zone.
3. Premium Pricing as Positioning
If you price like everyone else, you look like everyone else. Price is perception. Premium pricing says you’re worth it.
And yes, get payment in advance—it weeds out bad fits and signals you’re the real deal.
4. Being Different – Do What Others Won’t or Don’t
Your competitors think some things are “too hard” or “unnecessary.” Do those things. Longer follow-up, more research, more touches, personal touches—this is where the real separation happens.
Resolve to be different in some form or way. Ask yourself, “How am I different from my competition? What do I do different?” It does not have to be a big thing.
When I was a young pup right out of school with no experience and offering a professional service, I would send clients a copy of every piece of mail received or sent out regarding their matter. I had nothing to start with, but I spent double the usual cost of letterhead so that it could be embossed, and I would be different.
My competitors did not send out copies of all correspondence. My competitors did not use Wall Street letterhead. I did, just to be different. You must be different.
5. Be Able to Spend More to Get a Client
Remember this rule: whomever can spend the most to acquire a client wins.
That means you have premium pricing and high margins, a good backend—upsells, repeat sales, multiple income streams, referrals—so you can afford to invest more upfront and still have a low marketing cost and more profits. That requires planning, purposeful action, and systems.
6. Have a Point of View
Stand for something. Have an opinion. Don’t water it down. Safe, vanilla, “I could hear that from many others”-type opinions blend into the noise. That won’t earn you attention, loyalty, or premium pricing.
People remember bold viewpoints that make them lean in—or run away. Common thinking and viewpoints are forgettable, and forgettable isn’t a compelling reason to choose you.
Think about the service providers and experts you remember—they all stand for something. They have sharp edges. You know exactly what they believe, and you know it within minutes. That’s why they’re worth more.
Bland, “safe” opinions keep you stuck in the middle with everyone else, competing on price. A strong, distinct point of view makes you memorable and distinctive. It’s the fastest path to being known, trusted, and worth a premium.
These six unfair strategies work because most people won’t make the effort. They’re unfair because they give you results way out of proportion to the time and money spent—and most of your competition won’t bother. That’s why you should.
Pick one, start today, and start tilting the playing field in your favor.
If this makes sense and you need some help, check out the options at ScottChannell.com. That’s Scott Channell with two t’s, two n’s, and two l’s.
