February 24, 2026
Scope Last, Price on Value, and Build Authority
Host Jason Bradwell invited me to join him on Pipe Dream to talk about pricing, positioning, and why daily publishing changed everything for my business.
AI outline based on the show notes
- Why hourly billing fails:
- Punishes efficiency and caps income.
- Forces clients to focus on time spent instead of outcomes achieved.
- Keeps experts trapped in low-margin work.
- The “fixed pricing” illusion:
- Many consultants believe they’re doing value-based pricing.
- In reality, they’re doing cost-plus (estimate hours × rate + margin).
- True value-based pricing starts with what success is worth to the client.
- Signature principle — “Scope last”:
- Lead with the outcome the client wants, not the tasks you’ll perform.
- Price the engagement based on the value of that outcome.
- Only define scope after the client agrees to the price.
- Positioning as leverage:
- Aim to be the obvious choice for a specific problem.
- Avoid competing on price among interchangeable providers.
- Strong positioning makes scope-last pricing viable.
- Daily publishing as a growth engine:
- Jonathan has published something every day for years.
- Creates “asymmetric intimacy”: the audience feels they know you deeply.
- Builds trust at scale and compounds over time via owned media.
- Newsletter and content tactics:
- Focus first on capture: getting people onto your list.
- A consistent cadence matters more than perfection (daily works for him).
- Podcasting can create localized celebrity in a niche market.
- Advice for starting:
- Done is better than perfect.
- Start publishing or podcasting now; refine as you go.
- AI is a tool to assist thinking, not a replacement for it.
- Bottom line:
- Escape the pricing–scoping trap by abandoning hourly billing.
- Use value-based pricing and scope-last thinking to work less and earn more.
- Build authority and demand through consistent publishing, not hustle.
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Yours,
—J