John Doherty

I have a question for you:

What do you do where you always deliver world class work?

I see too many agencies pitching generic work and never winning it. You need to differentiate yourself.

Read more about What Is Your Skillset Moat? …

Let’s Talk About Making Marketing Investments

I’m frustrated.

Why?

Because I’ve been building a business in the marketing consulting industry for the last 18 months and I think that most businesses think about growth and investing in growth in completely the wrong way. And that is hurting these businesses.

This post is primarily addressed to marketing agencies and consultants. I’ve worked with over 100 in the last 18 months and helped many get new clients and make more money for their agencies or individual consultancy.

Read more about Quit Making Emotional Decisions About Business Growth …

I’ve recently been doing a lot of reading, thinking, and having discussions with smart entrepreneurs about how companies grow and what it takes to build a successful company. As I’ve built Credo from nothing in October 2015 to approximately $350k ARR as I write this (numbers here) and growing, I’ve been through many levels of my own psychology and the psychology of others as I’ve fought to make this thing a reality and now to keep growing it.

Some posts have really caught my eye over the last number of months.

Read more about Company Growth and Profit Lessons for Startups …

This post was originally meant to go directly on the Entrepreneur subreddit because it is a question I get asked over there all the time, but I figured it should probably live here in perpetuity. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Hi everyone.

Long time lurker, semi-often commenter, first time posting a fresh thread here (as far as I can remember).

Whenever I comment on a post and mention that I’m a marketer and have consulting clients, I *always* get asked “how did you get/do you get clients?” I see this here, on /r/financialindependence, on forums, and different sites. It’s always the same question.

My tips to get new consulting clients are:

1. Teach everything you know via blog posts, videos, etc
2. Connect with industry friends and build a network
3. Try sites like GetCredo.com
4. Niche yourself down to get hyper-focused clients
5. Hustle to sign your first ones, then use them to get bigger clients

Read more about How To Get Consulting Clients …

Like many who enjoy overseas travel (and I’ve done my fair share while still having almost all of Asia, all of Africa, and all of South America still to see), I get excited for a new trip. I remember the days of first going to stay at L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland. This was 2006, so […]

So I’ve been thinking recently about what it means to grow up as an entrepreneur and a professional. Last week, I published what snorkeling in Costa Rica taught me about productivity. I’m 32 years old now and have been out of university for almost 10 years. During that time I’ve worked seven different jobs, including […]

Last year I wrote a recap of my 2015, looking at both the wins and challenges throughout the year. From depression to a job change to a few off-the-grid vacations to being laid off and starting my own company and being more-than-able to pay my part of our bills in San Francisco, 2015 was a […]

I am currently in Costa Rica with my family for the holidays. Every day my wife and I (and sometimes a family member) do something active – stand up paddle boarding, surfing, hiking to a waterfall. It was a very active yet very relaxing vacation.

One day this trip taught me more than the others, though. That was yesterday – the day we went snorkeling.

As I floated in the Pacific, looking downwards to coral reefs to watch fish (parrot fish! clown fish! small yellow fish!) I felt myself drifting. I was headed in a general direction of “with the group” and “away from the rocks” and “toward the fish”, but I was still drifting, with only a life preserver tied around my wrist in case I wanted or needed it.

As I floated, I found myself wanting to go in a specific direction and to a specific place to see a specific fish. But when I started to swim, I felt myself staying in place because the tide decided it was going out right then. As hard as I kicked (with fins) and swam with my arms, I simply didn’t make progress.
Read more about What Snorkeling in Costa Rica Taught Me About Productivity …

I love storytelling and helping other entrepreneurs build their own lives. But at the same time, I’m also laser-focused on building my own businesses and learning as many new things as I can. Just this month, I’ve learned a ton more about AdWords (and still quite the newbie) and Facebook advertising. I’ve also jumped into doing some Local SEO with a family member to bring them more business.

Read more about My Entrepreneurial Journey = PermissionLess Podcast …

Do you experiment with your schedule to optimize your time and productivity? I do, and I recently ran a test that failed miserably and left me anxious and feeling awful. I don’t love writing about productivity, but I am endlessly fascinated by human physiology and psychology. True fact – I was almost a psychology major […]

One year ago today, I embarked into the land of entrepreneurship. A year in, my software business just recently reached the $100k ARR ($8,333.33 monthly) mark, actually right over $10k/mo recurring. I’ve also worked with 9 consulting clients over the last year that have generated over six figures in revenue for me as well. So […]

When I wrote my story of getting laid off and why I’m an entrepreneur now, I mentioned something in the section about figuring out your financial runway. What I mentioned there was Finance Night, which is something my wife and I do monthly. It’s been surprising to me how many people liked this idea. I‘ve […]