Welcome to the 74th issue of Soloist Sundays, a bimonthly newsletter focusing on longevity, balance and success on your terms for independent consultants, creatives and freelancers.

I'm your writer and host, Matthew Fenton. Thank you for being here. Today's post is about a 4-minute read.

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“What do you stand for?” is an important question. I earn a living, in part, by answering it via positioning and strategy.

But over the years, I’ve also gotten a ton of mileage from its counterpart: “What do you stand against?”

A few newsletters ago, we discussed “A Simple Way to Conduct a Competitive Audit.” If you followed along with that exercise, you probably came across something a competitor said that you found annoying. Or upsetting. Or flat-out wrong.

This is good. It’s a signal of how you don’t want to show up as an independent creative or consultant. And that can point you to how you do want to show up.

These signals are everywhere: A certain style of LinkedIn post, or the behavior of past co-workers, or all the things you disliked about working for a large agency.

When this happens, identify what exactly is irking you – and how you’ll avoid being that way yourself.

What Do You Stand Against? (Smaller Things)

To get your wheels turning, here are some relatively small things I stand against:

Tardiness

People who are constantly late to meetings drive me insane. I hate the signal it sends about how they see their time relative to everyone else’s.

So I hold myself to this standard: Never be late. Be ready for that Zoom a few minutes before it begins. And if something does come up, give the other attendees as much notice as possible. Clients notice it when you respect their time.

Spammers and Open-Pitchers

I’m confronted by a dozen of these shysters a day, with their copy-and-paste, irrelevant pitches. What really rankles me is their asymmetric approach; it takes them very little time to collectively waste a lot of ours.

The solution is to do the opposite of almost everything they do. Cold-pitching is just fine – as long as you do your homework, add value and remain respectful. But if you’re a spammer, please rethink your life choices.

Schtick

Some years ago, during an audit of public speakers, I came across a guy whose schtick was wearing a name tag everywhere he went. In his sizzle reel, one of his bits was opening his sportcoat, which of course had a name-tag on it, to reveal – get this – another name-tag on his shirt! You’ll find better comedy in a middle-school improv class.

I’m not saying schtick doesn’t work at times, and I’m not saying it’s not authentic to the person doing it. (Who can judge authenticity anyways?) I’m just saying it doesn’t work for me, so it’s not how I show up, no matter what the prevailing “personal branding” wisdom may be.

What Do You Stand Against? (Bigger Things)

And now, some bigger things I stand against:

Tactical “Wisdom”

I fear that, in our quest to create digestible content, we often sacrifice the context. And something that works terrifically in one context may be a complete bust in another.

I’m wary of anyone who presents a tactic as a universal truth. They usually have an interest in promoting that tactic, like in the post below.

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So I do my best, in this newsletter and in my consulting practice, to lead from first principles. I may not always succeed, but the intent is there.

“Lean Strategy”

In my line of work, this is actually a thing. It’s a deliberate choice to trade depth for speed, and it tends to play well with people who don’t really believe in strategy anyways. (Ex: “Things change too quickly for any strategy to work!”)

I believe smart strategy is a matter of depth, so I also believe “lean strategy” is an oxymoron. And I don’t work with clients who are looking for it. I make this clear on my website:

If you value "fast and cheap" over "thorough and deep," we’re not a good fit.

“You must have several clients, so if you lose one, it won’t hurt.”

This is often presented as a freelance truism.

My sticking point: Carrying lots of clients sounds like hell to me. I’m just one dude. And if I stick to my above principle of “thorough and deep,” I can only do quality work for a few clients at a time. (Never more than three, usually fewer.)

This also means I can, and do, have huge fluctuations in my monthly income. This is a feature, not a bug, of the business I’ve designed, and it’s my job to ensure the peaks are bigger than the valleys. (And to remain fiscally conservative.)

The Key to Unlocking What You Stand Against

You may have come across the term “spiky opinions.” These are views that are in sharp disagreement with prevailing wisdom or the status quo. If you’re trying to build a platform, spiky opinions are one starting point for your content.

But the key to really unlocking the potency of “what you stand against” is to set it into motion – to build it into your business. It’s not just about what you say. It’s about what you do.

So ask yourself: Based on what you stand against, what changes will you make to…

• Your offer?
• Your operations?
• Your sales screening?
• Your business design?
• Your rules of engagement?

Standing against something can feel risky at first. But it can also attract exactly the kinds of clients you want, and lead you to design a business that’s a close fit with your values. And I’ll take that kind of sustainability any day.

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If there’s something you stand against that’s been particularly helpful for the health of your business (or for your mental health), please drop a note back to let me know. I love collecting examples like these.

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If you enjoyed this newsletter, the best compliment you could pay me would be to share it with one person who you think would benefit from it.

​Click here to view or share this post at the Winning Solo blog.

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Today Is the Day!

Matthew Fenton

Founder & Chief Soloist, Winning Solo​

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With 26 years as an independent consultant, I can work with you to improve just about any aspect of your freelance business. You can learn more about my coaching services here.

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