Hi Reader!
Today's newsletter is a little different.
Whenever I start working with a new VIP Business Accelerator client, our first session is an hour and a half stepping back and looking at the business as a whole. What's working? What's frustrating? Where are we trying to go? More importantly, is the business they're running today capable of getting them there?
Those ninety minutes become the roadmap for everything else we do together, and I thought it might be helpful to give you a simplified, DIY version you can do today. You won't get the benefit of me interrupting you every few minutes to ask, "Okay... but why?" (You're welcome.) But you'll get some of the same questions I use to help clients think through where their businesses are today and where they need them to be over the next few years.
I've been thinking a lot about the next few years lately.
When AI really started taking off, I think most of us knew it would hit the bottom of the market first. If your business was built around high-volume, commodity execution, the loss of business was pretty easy to predict. AI can produce a blog post, write an email, summarize a meeting, or generate social media content in a matter of seconds. It isn't always good, but for some buyers, "good enough" is good enough.
That happened pretty much as expected
What I didn't expect was how many highly experienced professionals would find themselves in the same position.
People with years (sometimes decades) of experience started telling me about the same problems: no leads, long-time clients disappearing, and prospects questioning pricing that nobody had questioned before. I've talked to a lot of people who are wondering whether they still have a place in this new marketing world.
At first, that feels backward. If your work is substantially better than what AI produces, shouldn't that protect you?
The more I've watched clients, colleagues, and the market over the past couple of years, the more I think we've been asking the wrong question.
The question isn't whether AI can replace great work.
The question is whether execution alone, no matter how good it is, is still enough to build a thriving business.
I don't think it is.
That doesn't mean execution stopped mattering. Far from it. Excellent work is still the foundation of a healthy business. But foundations don't usually convince someone to buy the house.
The businesses that seem to be growing are helping clients solve bigger problems. They're becoming trusted advisors and building relationships that extend beyond the project itself.
In other words, I don't think the market stopped rewarding quality. I think it started rewarding something more.
That's why I wanted today's email to be your very own coaching session.
Before we talk about your business, though, I want to share four changes I'm watching closely because I think they're changing where many of us are headed over the next few years.
Four Changes I'm Watching Closely
If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that predicting the future is a good way to embarrass yourself. Markets change, technology changes, and businesses have a way of surprising us when we least expect it. If I could predict the future, I'd have a winning lottery ticket and we'd all be having this conversation somewhere relaxing with our drink of choice. Beach? Mountain lake? Yacht? If it comes to that, we can vote on it.
That said, I do spend a lot of time paying attention to patterns. Between coaching clients, consulting work, service clients, conversations with other business owners, and simply watching what's happening in the marketplace, there are a few things I keep seeing over and over again.
None of these are certainties. They're observations. But I think they're worth paying attention to.
Relationships are becoming more valuable, not less.
If you've been reading Boss Responses for any length of time, you probably knew this one was coming.
I've been talking about relationships since long before AI became part of every business conversation, and everything I've seen over the last few years has only reinforced how important they are. Almost anyone can generate content, create images, or draft a proposal in a matter of minutes. The businesses that stand out are the ones people know, trust, and genuinely want to work with.
AI can produce output. It can't build trust or notice that a client seems hesitant and ask the question that helps uncover the real issue. It can't connect someone with a valuable referral, celebrate a client's win, or care whether the end result actually improves their business.
I've also noticed an interesting pattern. Businesses using AI to replace commodity work often stick with it because it's accomplishing exactly what they need. Businesses that try replacing experienced advisors, consultants, or strategic partners often find themselves coming back. They don't miss the deliverable nearly as much as they miss the person behind the strategic thinking.
I think that's where the premium is shifting. The work still matters, of course, but the relationship surrounding the work matters more than it used to.
Businesses still need expertise. They're just buying it differently.
One prediction that hasn't held up very well is the idea that companies simply won't need experienced professionals anymore.
From where I sit, that isn't what's happening.
Businesses still need experienced marketers, writers, consultants, strategists, designers, and communicators. They still need people who can look at a problem, ask better questions, and help them make good decisions. What has changed is how they're choosing to access that expertise.
Rather than hiring another full-time employee, many companies are bringing in experienced professionals on a fractional, advisory, or ongoing project basis. They want someone who can step into the business, understand what's happening quickly, and provide the guidance they need without adding another permanent position.
For those of us who have spent years building our expertise, I think that's an opportunity. It requires a different conversation than selling deliverables, but it also creates room to have a much bigger impact.
Businesses that continue to evolve are creating more opportunities for themselves.
One of the biggest differences I see between businesses that are thriving and businesses that are struggling has very little to do with talent. Most of the people I know are exceptionally good at what they do.
The difference is that some of them have accepted that the business they built five or ten years ago isn't necessarily the business they need today. They're...
- Rethinking their offers.
- Adding strategic services alongside execution.
- Becoming known for solving specific business problems instead of offering a menu of deliverables.
- Paying attention to how clients buy today instead of wishing clients still bought the way they used to.
None of those changes happen overnight, and none of them require abandoning the expertise you've already built. They simply require asking an honest question: if you were building your business from scratch today, would you build it exactly the way it looks now?
That's a question I've been asking myself too.
Your positioning is becoming one of your biggest business assets.
Before someone finds you and decides to work with you, they have no practical way to evaluate the quality of your work (other than samples).
Instead, they evaluate the signals your business sends.
They notice how clearly you describe the problems you solve, whether your website speaks to them or simply lists your services, how confidently you price your work, the clients you talk about, the questions you ask, and the way you show up online.
Those things don't replace expertise. They communicate expertise.
And because buyers have more choices than ever before, those signals have become increasingly important. Your positioning is often shaping a prospect's opinion of your business long before you ever have the opportunity to speak with them.
Now Let's Look at Your Business
It's one thing to read about where the market is headed. It's another to sit down and honestly evaluate whether your own business is headed in the same direction.
I usually include a practical application section in the newsletter, and I did this time too. It's a self-guided business evaluation session using some of the coaching questions I use for my VIP Business Accelerator clients. I had it all right here, then I realized it added almost 3,000 words to the newsletter! (Even I have my limits.)
In an effort to not send you into an overwhelm spiral, I decided to turn it into a document you can go through now and then keep using in the future.
I recommend setting aside an hour on your calendar and working through these questions.
Go ahead. I'll wait while you schedule it in. Adding your business to your calendar is the smart thing to do.
As you work through the questions, resist the urge to come up with the "right" answer. There isn't one. The value comes from being honest about where you are today and curious about where you want to go next.
You also don't have to answer every question. Some of them will be easy. Others not so much.
Grab your copy by clicking on the button below, go through the questions, spend some time on your answers, then let me know how it goes.
One thing you may have noticed is that we didn't spend much time talking about AI.
That was intentional.
AI may have accelerated many of the changes we're seeing, but I don't think it's the real story. The real story is that markets evolve. They always have.
Client expectations evolve.
Technology evolves.
If you want to keep your business going, you need to notice those changes early enough to adjust before you're forced to.
And remember that these aren't questions you answer once and forget about. I revisit them in my own business regularly because the answers change. My business has changed dramatically over the last several years, and I fully expect it to keep changing. Yours probably will too.
We aren't trying to future-proof our businesses so completely that they never need to change again. I don't think that's possible. We're trying to build businesses that are flexible enough to adapt, intentional enough to know where we're headed, and strong enough to weather whatever comes next.
Obviously I couldn't fit a ninety-minute coaching session into one newsletter, but I hope this gave you a place to start. If nothing else, I hope it encouraged you to step back, ask a few better questions, and spend some time thinking about where your business is headed instead of reacting to what's happening.
A few things happening around Boss Responses
Since we're talking about building businesses for the future, I thought I'd let you know about a few things happening on my end.
The Boss Responses Podcast is back next week, and I'm excited to get into a regular rhythm again. Lots of great information and practical application. If you have a question you'd like answered on the podcast, hit reply and send it to me!
If you'd like someone to walk through the questions I've included here instead of answering them on your own, that's exactly what we do in the VIP Business Accelerator. This is a condensed version of the first coaching session, but the real value comes from the follow-up questions and helping you connect the dots. If that sounds helpful, I'd love to work with you.
And finally, if you've been thinking about moving toward strategy, consulting, or advisory work, registration for the next Content Strategy Bootcamp is open now!
Until next time. Keep building the business that supports the life you want, not the one that keeps you too busy to enjoy it.
Cheers,
Treasa
