https://indiestrategist.com/ Training library, tools, and support helping indie marketing professionals build successful practices. en-us https://indiestrategist.com/interim-vs-fractional-cmo/ https://indiestrategist.com/interim-vs-fractional-cmo/ Wed, 25 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT Fractional CMO work pays well but breaks down as responsibilities pile up. Going interim lets you take control early, then step back into advising. https://indiestrategist.com/future/ https://indiestrategist.com/future/ Mon, 26 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT Freelancing means grinding and agencies mean scale you may not want. Fractional and advisory work sit between them, and they serve clients better too. https://indiestrategist.com/imperfect/ https://indiestrategist.com/imperfect/ Fri, 07 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT Waiting for perfect content is just fear wearing a nicer outfit. Ship consistently, aim to be one percent better, and let the reps do the work. https://indiestrategist.com/segment/ https://indiestrategist.com/segment/ Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT If your earnings feel capped, the limit may be who you serve. Design separate services around buyer size so you're paid for the value you create. https://indiestrategist.com/content-stategy/ https://indiestrategist.com/content-stategy/ Mon, 10 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT Publishing daily can nurture an audience you never built. Balance the writing with top-of-funnel awareness or your list stops growing. https://indiestrategist.com/relevant/ https://indiestrategist.com/relevant/ Fri, 24 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT AI is absorbing the hands-on execution work that used to command a premium. Staying valuable means pairing real strategy with real AI fluency. https://indiestrategist.com/program/ https://indiestrategist.com/program/ Mon, 09 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT Good marketing runs like a radio station that's always on, not a campaign you switch on when you need clients. People learn to expect you. https://indiestrategist.com/specialization/ https://indiestrategist.com/specialization/ Thu, 24 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT You don't have to bet everything on one sub-specific niche. A target market plus a few named specializations buys credibility without the corner. https://indiestrategist.com/communities/ https://indiestrategist.com/communities/ Thu, 17 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT Niche communities are full of prospects, which is precisely why pitching in them fails. Contribute first and earn the right to teach later. https://indiestrategist.com/strategist-way/ https://indiestrategist.com/strategist-way/ Tue, 15 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT Almost nobody moves from execution to advisory in one leap. Most strategists run a spectrum of services and shift the mix slowly over years. https://indiestrategist.com/highly/ https://indiestrategist.com/highly/ Fri, 04 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT Getting paid well comes down to two levers: create more demand, or reduce your supply. A pressure washer beats a garden hose for a reason. https://indiestrategist.com/easy-work/ https://indiestrategist.com/easy-work/ Wed, 02 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT Good work will get you far, and so will being easy to work with. Do both and clients stay longer, refer more, and your reputation compounds. https://indiestrategist.com/talking/ https://indiestrategist.com/talking/ Fri, 27 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT Publishing runs on momentum, and skipping one day makes skipping the next easy. The more you ship, the better the ideas get and the easier it is. https://indiestrategist.com/think-long/ https://indiestrategist.com/think-long/ Fri, 30 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT Most of today's results were baked months or years ago, so tomorrow's fires are the wrong place to aim. Part of the job is teaching clients that. https://indiestrategist.com/buyers/ https://indiestrategist.com/buyers/ Mon, 26 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT One kind of buyer just wants a seat filled, and you have no leverage there. Position tightly enough and the other kind comes looking for you. https://indiestrategist.com/viable-mentorship/ https://indiestrategist.com/viable-mentorship/ Fri, 09 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT Mentoring peers pays better than most people assume. You already have the experience and processes to turn it into a real income stream. https://indiestrategist.com/change-niche/ https://indiestrategist.com/change-niche/ Fri, 12 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT Your niche is a business decision, not an identity, so you're allowed to replace it. Keep the old work funding you while you build the new thing. https://indiestrategist.com/first-clients/ https://indiestrategist.com/first-clients/ Tue, 09 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT Winning clients isn't complicated, it just takes tenacity. Pick a market, publish constantly, build relationships, and send every road to your email list. https://indiestrategist.com/decide/ https://indiestrategist.com/decide/ Fri, 05 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT Most people already know what to do, they're just waiting to feel sure. Follow the hunch, since most decisions can be reversed later. https://indiestrategist.com/audiologs/ https://indiestrategist.com/audiologs/ Mon, 24 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT Short, unpolished audio notes shared privately build closer relationships than anything you publish. The idea matters more than the production. https://indiestrategist.com/byproduct/ https://indiestrategist.com/byproduct/ Fri, 21 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT Positioning isn't your messaging or your copy. It's what the market concludes from the strategic choices you make, so start with your promise. https://indiestrategist.com/keeping/ https://indiestrategist.com/keeping/ Fri, 14 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT Businesses drift toward chaos the way a living room fills with toys. Look back at what actually drove results, then do fewer things better. https://indiestrategist.com/engagement/ https://indiestrategist.com/engagement/ Wed, 05 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT Engagement from your peers feels great but doesn't pay. Judge what you publish by whether the people you want to serve reach out to buy. https://indiestrategist.com/5ps/ https://indiestrategist.com/5ps/ Mon, 27 May 2024 00:00:00 GMT Most companies run marketing with no structure, and consultants get pulled into the same mess. Five parts give you a system to diagnose it instead. https://indiestrategist.com/first/ https://indiestrategist.com/first/ Fri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 GMT Nobody starts out good at video, writing, or speaking. Publish before you feel ready and let repetition and market feedback do the rest. https://indiestrategist.com/instructions/ https://indiestrategist.com/instructions/ Thu, 02 May 2024 00:00:00 GMT Clients have the picture on the box but no instructions. Your job is to document the steps so clearly that people barely need you to get the result. https://indiestrategist.com/slowing/ https://indiestrategist.com/slowing/ Fri, 26 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT Rushing to a proposal is how promising deals go quiet. Slow the sale down, get conceptual agreement, and walk them through it on a live call. https://indiestrategist.com/conferences/ https://indiestrategist.com/conferences/ Wed, 24 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT The stage isn't where the value is at a conference. Go to meet the whole ecosystem with no angle, and the referrals follow on their own. https://indiestrategist.com/soft/ https://indiestrategist.com/soft/ Thu, 18 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT Technical expertise is table stakes; empathy and patience are what keep clients around. Half your long-term success rides on the soft skills. https://indiestrategist.com/talk-money/ https://indiestrategist.com/talk-money/ Mon, 25 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT Clicks, likes, and time on page have almost nothing to do with money. Learn to speak in revenue, ROI, and margin, and sit on your client's side. https://indiestrategist.com/weather/ https://indiestrategist.com/weather/ Thu, 14 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT Marketing budgets shrink in hard times but never disappear. Specializing around your best clients and services keeps you hired in any market. https://indiestrategist.com/inverse/ https://indiestrategist.com/inverse/ Fri, 08 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT Your hands are the least valuable thing you sell. Document the process, hand off execution, and you keep most of the value for a fraction of the labour. https://indiestrategist.com/execution-commodity/ https://indiestrategist.com/execution-commodity/ Tue, 05 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT Technical craft can be hired cheaply and increasingly handed to AI. The value sits in the strategy and taste that shape the work, so sell that instead. https://indiestrategist.com/channels/ https://indiestrategist.com/channels/ Mon, 12 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT Blog, newsletter, podcast, or video: your own consumption habits are the best clue. It's hard to create well for a platform you don't use. https://indiestrategist.com/never/ https://indiestrategist.com/never/ Mon, 29 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT Your messaging, pricing, and services will never be perfect, because the market keeps moving. Work on helping people instead of waiting for perfect. https://indiestrategist.com/oversubscribed/ https://indiestrategist.com/oversubscribed/ Fri, 19 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT Getting busy is when most of us stop marketing, and that costs us price discovery. Aim for twice the demand you can handle, then set your terms. https://indiestrategist.com/pricing-confidence/ https://indiestrategist.com/pricing-confidence/ Tue, 16 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT You'll charge too little at first, and that's fine. Build a base of work, then raise your rates when the market starts telling you it's time. https://indiestrategist.com/it-takes-time/ https://indiestrategist.com/it-takes-time/ Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT Building a client roster from scratch takes longer than anyone admits. Sell what you can now, publish more than feels comfortable, get picky later. https://indiestrategist.com/status-quo/ https://indiestrategist.com/status-quo/ Wed, 10 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT Your buyers are probably doing things the conventional way and it isn't working well. Contrast your approach honestly and make that the enemy. https://indiestrategist.com/first-meeting/ https://indiestrategist.com/first-meeting/ Fri, 05 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT The first meeting sets the tone for everything after it. A real onboarding process, good questions, and clear expectations let a new client relax. https://indiestrategist.com/business-case/ https://indiestrategist.com/business-case/ Thu, 04 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT Value pricing can feel to clients like you're charging whatever you can get. Framing it as a business case makes the conversation collaborative. https://indiestrategist.com/strategist-manifesto/ https://indiestrategist.com/strategist-manifesto/ Fri, 29 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMT Strategy work looks invisible from the outside. Here's a manifesto on the roles we play, from researcher and allocator to listener and rebel. https://indiestrategist.com/seekers/ https://indiestrategist.com/seekers/ Thu, 28 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMT Strategists don't invent from scratch; they collect what works and recombine it. Keep a swipe file, use it in client work, and teach what you find. https://indiestrategist.com/supply/ https://indiestrategist.com/supply/ Thu, 21 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMT It only takes a little more demand than supply to push your prices up. That is why you keep marketing even when you are already fully booked. https://indiestrategist.com/prolific/ https://indiestrategist.com/prolific/ Wed, 20 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMT New niche or new business, the way in is building a body of work fast. Publish relentlessly for six to twelve months and you reach escape velocity. https://indiestrategist.com/level/ https://indiestrategist.com/level/ Tue, 19 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMT Being right about the topic isn't enough if you pitch it above or below your buyer. Pull your content from real conversations with the people you serve. https://indiestrategist.com/conversation/ https://indiestrategist.com/conversation/ Mon, 18 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMT Strategic or tactical matters less than meeting buyers where their heads already are. Join the conversation they're having today. https://indiestrategist.com/builds/ https://indiestrategist.com/builds/ Fri, 15 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMT Emails written to build a relationship, not just to teach, read completely differently. You tell more stories and sound like an actual person. https://indiestrategist.com/peer/ https://indiestrategist.com/peer/ Wed, 13 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMT Teaching implementation attracts implementers, and they don't hire you. Articulate the problem at the leadership level and you reach the buyer. https://indiestrategist.com/intuition/ https://indiestrategist.com/intuition/ Tue, 12 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMT Nobody can tell you the right name, format, or direction, and no data will. Gather what you can, then trust the hunch you could never outsource.