Why (and How) I am Renting Out My Brain

Before we even get started with this article, yes, I will be shamelessly discussing our consulting services. But, this will also be a look into our internal efforts to focus content, as well as a glimpse into how we approach clients and partnerships.

Well worth the next 5 minutes of your time.

Walk the Walk

Our discussion of travel-enticing content centered around the idea of focusing your content and answering useful questions. It also touched upon the need for simplicity, a subject we have also written about.

But as I looked at our own pages, I felt the need to reevaluate our content and content marketing efforts. Specifically, the Consulting page began to bug the shit out of me.

Blah, blah, blah.

Too much text.

Too much focus on answering the wrong questions.

Of course, many of our consulting peers suffer from the same affliction…attempting to explain the entire history, philosophy and rationale of their services without addressing the potential client’s key questions.

Or just trying too damn hard to be clever.

See for examples.

Conducting a Self-Audit

I have a pretty simple conversion path for Travel 2.0.

People typically find the site through an article. After reading the article we want them to complete one of two actions: 1. Learn more about our consulting services. Or 2. read another article (either directly or via our email subscription).

You can see this approach at work in the sidebar (scroll back up). 3 calls to action: Consulting, most-recent article or email sign-up.

Done.

While I am satisfied with the success of our additional reading goal based upon Google Analytics and our email sign-up rate, the consulting page did not answer the right questions to move the reader (you) closer to working with us.

Call it consultant-enticing content.

Specifically, two questions rose to the top of the list: How can Travel 2.0 help us? How much does it cost?

The helping question meant destroying and simplifying some lovely, but thesaurus-riddled existing copy. Not a big loss.

But the cost question represents a perceived taboo in consulting, revealing your pricing model is rarely done, especially in the public domain of a website.

Yet the consumer wants to know the answer to that question.

So, I needed a way to simplify the page, provide the needed answers and somehow give people a price.

For Rent: My Brain

The answer is a combination of clear pricing, easy to understand deliverables and a simple price point.

I am renting out space in my brain, unlimited access, to a maximum of 10 clients, for $1,000 per month.

We are calling it On-Demand Tourism Consulting, but others such as Rohit Bhargava and Tom Martin call it and , respectively.

I really like this approach because it works, as evident by our current clients, plus it provides a clear answer to any prospective clients.

Here is how much I cost, no strings attached.

The pricing is clearly stated. Some might think the price is too low (or too high), but I don’t see it as a detriment to my value. I think the pricing is fair and appealing for potential clients.

And it is much better than making you guess.

Damn, I really like this model.

Transparent. Easy to understand. Even easier to explain. And it creates a sense of urgency and exclusivity.

That is why (and how) I am renting out my brain.

Simple, useful and focused.

Exactly what I have been saying.

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