A Win Without Pitching Manifesto Kindle Edition

This has been a complete game changer and I would consider it essential reading if you are in the creative space and need guidance on how to position yourself as an expert. Blair's writing style is engaging and easy-to-read. He's able to distill big concepts into bite-sized, highly actionable, nuggets of gold. Easily could be priced over $100 and still be a bargain in the knowledge you gain. Buy this book. Read it. Re-read it. Apply what you learn and crush it!

There are books. There are good books. There are really good books. There are bestsellers. There is even the Good Book. And then there is this kind of book. A true classic. A Thomas Paine's Common Sense for creative business owners and bus dev people. More in the company of Paine, Jefferson, Lincoln, Twain, Franklin, Marx... you know, truly great manifestos. And look, I've read a lot. And you just don't read things this good very often. If you are in the creative professions, you are going to hang on every word, love every sentence and compulsively turn every page. If you happen to own an agency or design firm or web shop or... well you get the point... you are going to find the answers to the questions you've been struggling with - and you're going to find the answers to even better questions you hadn't yet thought to ask.Yes: "The forces of the creative professions are aligned against the artist." However, with this slim, succinct Molotov Cocktail of a book, you can create your own successful revolution, one artist, and one creative firm at a time.

This book has helped me tremendously, it’s change the way I look at, talk to and deal with any clients. Selling yourself, your work and your abilities is not taught in college. It seems almost taboo to talk about, at least where I’m attending. While watching a video on YouTube trying to figure out what I did wrong with dealing with a client I came across Chris Do of The Futur. He went over exactly what he read and learned most with this book. I realized that it wasn’t so much what I did wrong, but how I needed to sell, appreciate and position myself and not just be a designer, but rather be a problem solver. Without giving it another second thought I purchased this book immediately. Once I started reading couldn’t stop, I was so engaged on what he was saying. Blair Enns style is so easy to read and he doesn’t pull any punches. Right away on first page and I can’t stress this enough, but it went word for word what I was dealing with and had gone through with some clients. The more I read it was like Blair Enns knew my thoughts, questions and put it all down with ways to go about it differently. I’ve read this book a few times now I’ll keep reading it because there’s always something new that I take away from it. There’s never a moment where it’s not in my bag, I’m constantly bringing this up in different conversations with all of my professors and fellow classmates. I also tell them to watch the Money Talk series Chris Do has on the Futur YouTube channel because he lead and suggested this book to me plus he goes over a lot of other good stuff. I’ve read a good amount of other kinds of graphic design books and or what/how to be a graphic designer and none of them comes close to going over what this book does. This is not just a must read but a must have for any graphic designer or really anyone dealing with sales and business strategy.

I’ve been running my own design agency for almost a decade and this is the first book that I’ve read that has had me emphatically agreeing throughout its entirety that “OH MY GOD THIS GUY GETS IT.”It is abundantly clear from the first few pages that Mr. Enns has worked extensively with ‘creative types’ across the spectrum and has a great love for this industry. He addresses so many of the common pitfalls that creatives run into: namely, how to set yourself apart from the myriad of technicians who are willing to do free/spec/cheap work for those who do not value their skills and the creative solutions they bring to the table.If you want to position yourself as an expert at your craft, read this book as soon as you can. And bring a highlighter and a notebook - you’re about to get 12 great lessons on how to win at what you do without having to subject yourself to the constant demoralizing pitch.

As someone who spent more than a decade in professional services and over a decade on the other side, buying professional services, this is a great book with practical examples that are useful to everyone.In particular - the fact that you should walk away from RFP processes where you don't have the inside tracks, and that the big "surprise" presentation is a bad idea. Also great is the focus on talking money early to establish value and that change orders and small incremental bills kill the relationship much more than the "big" bills that justify the engagement in the first place.For all business people, the key insights are to SPECIALIZE and gain expertise in your craft. There is no way to compete as a generalist in an RFP situation except on price and this is the road to the bottom and bankruptcy.A great book and pithily written and well worth your time. I would pair this with books by Maister on Managing the Professional Service Firm.

If you get paid for the power of your thinking, this is a must-read. The 12 proclamations are deceptively simple if you only read the ‘look inside’ part of the book. The actual text puts each of those proclamations into a context that makes their wisdom undeniable, and gives examples of how each one comes into play. You will see both positive and negative outcomes based on how well you apply the proclamations to your own business. Simply put, just read this. Likely, more than once.

Win without Pitching Manifesto is full of concise meaningful advice on how you can stand out and run a successful creative business by removing the need for a pitch.If you do any sort of creative work that puts you in contact with clients, I highly recommend investing your time in reading this book.This is one book that I wish I had read years ago.

I value greatly this manifesto, written in a constructive and practical fashion. It's built as a list of declarations on the way of managing creative firms which goes deeper and deeper as the text pregresses, and it might show You that, before following "the client's requests", You might be better thinking twice about what the client (and You) need.

This is an essential read for anyone running a creative business. Don’t even think about it, it’s very well written and you’re bound to learn something. On my phone and I dip into it regularly.

This book should be read by every creative who sells their work and every creative agency leader. Blair is shaking the agency world up and bringing us into the 21st century. If you want to be paid more and have less competition then take head of the principles explained in this book. Fantastic book and easy to read.

Recommended by The Futur, this book is going to change the way you do and think of business, if you just dare to read it :)