my competition charges 40k/m

mind assault

As I was Michelin-dinning with a client that became a friend yesterday, he told me that the best AI outreach consultant in my field was charging 40k/m. My brain proceeded to go sideways in its skull box. The G Force hit hard: I was excited but also like “wtf” at the same time.

I knew that this guy went really high ticket as he’s fuelling on around 5-10 clients/yr and really want to filter who he’s working with. I know the power of AI outreach and that his clients, b2b SAAS, would be willing to pay that.

That’s 480k/yr x 10 clients that’s 5M+/yr business which is pretty decent. Observing my 3.5k/month that I charge my client, I was like, “where does that leave me?” This market has been quite cold this year and most are even hesitant to drop 1k/m on an agency.

But this competitor of mine has a gigantic sales pipeline. People are lining up and signing up for a wait list. Why? Because he’s #1. Winner takes all.

Instead of 100Xing on AI stuff I’ve been focused on podcast funnels, which are way more simple and more scalable, I believe. But people want big results now. I believe that even with AI-powered outreach, with a crap product, you won’t go anywhere near. Which is why podcasting is smart: it’s a data-gold mine. I’ve never been about spoon feeding people, and the long path always leads to destination. I guess I’ll just have more education to do on the podcast side of things.

The main lesson here is to surround yourself with other super-ambitious people that will have yourself question your own standards. I got the best LA Agency to hire me a couple years ago. That agency referred me to my friend Dan that I met at the restaurant yesterday. He was a client of mine for around 6 months and scaled out of my services. The student surpassed the master. He’s now better than me at Clay AI stuff and we’re teaming up on an AI outreach agency Joint Venture.

This process is still golden:

Podcast Interview > Nurture that 1% Peformer on your Mastermind > they become Clients > then they Refer you more Clients.

Dan is a direct reflection of that funnel, and so are 10-30 other clients that became friends. The friend thing might sound cheesy but these folks are young, wealthy and ambitious. We share very similar values. We are transparent and not “professional” together, which makes fun and money flow easier. They are my *Ideal* Customer Persona.

Moreover this year, as part of my “trust acceleration” thesis, I’ve been meeting clients physically here in Oaxaca, Mexico. It’s a top destination for food, culture and arts with direct flights from LA and I’ve met around 5 clients/friends in the past 12 months. I’m bullish on that. Ppl want to meet physically post-covid.