If you peek into your spam folder (go on, I’ll wait), you’ll find something fascinating.
Among the cryptocurrency schemes and miracle cures, there’s a particular species of business communication that seems frozen in time. “Just circling back,” they cheerfully announce, before offering their “12 secrets to success.” It’s like discovering a business time capsule from 2005, preserved in digital amber – about as effective as a fax machine at a TikTok convention.
I share these examples not to criticise – we’ve all been guilty of defaulting to comfortable communication patterns – but to spark a conversation about intentional change. Because as we stand at the beginning of 2025, many of us are yearning for something different in our businesses, aren’t we?
Learning from Military Strategy: The Power of Working Backwards
My colleague David Olney introduced me to the concept of backcasting through a fascinating military history lens. He often references the Heroes of Telemark mission – where Norwegian commandos had to destroy a heavy water plant crucial to Nazi Germany’s nuclear program.
The mission’s success came from working backwards from their end goal.
They started with “destroy the plant” and worked back through every challenge: crossing a deep gorge, scaling ice-covered cliffs, navigating a minefield, all while surviving brutal winter conditions at 1,200 meters above sea level.
These commandos couldn’t start with “here’s what we usually do.” They had to envision success and methodically address each obstacle between them and their goal.
While our business challenges may be less dramatic, the principle remains powerful: start with your desired end state and work backwards through each challenge you’ll face.
A Personal Experiment in Backcasting
Writing this article has prompted me to apply backcasting to an aspect of my personal life I want to change.
Like many Australians, I’ve been contemplating a healthier relationship with alcohol. Instead of the vague “drink less” resolution, I’ve decided to use backcasting to envision specific success of having alcohol free evenings despite that end of workday tension and gnawing hunger pangs prompting me to reach for a glass of red.
Working backwards reveals several crucial steps:
- Having restored our Sodastream to ensure there is sparkling water ready on demand (with or without a little Bickfords Lime added)
- Keeping nuts or cheese handy for that post-work hunger that often triggers wine cravings
- Planning evening meals ahead so, as the household cook who loves spontenaity, I don’t let my brain plea for a little drop of wine while “thinking”
- Giving permission to family members to ask how I’m going on this goal
There will be more to add later but this is a rough start.
The Business of Being the Prize
This brings me to some transformative insights from Blair Enns’ “The Four Conversations” that have been percolating in my mind alongside several other influential works. At the heart of Enns’ philosophy is a powerful mantra that’s been rattling around in my head lately:
“I am the expert, I am the prize I am on a mission to help I can only do that if you let me lead”
This isn’t about ego – it’s about creating value through confidence and leadership.
Enns argues that we should be auditioning clients, not just being auditioned – a principle that resonates deeply with Robert Ringer’s observation in “Winning Through Intimidation” about wealthy people maintaining their position partly because they don’t project desperation in deals. They are happy to wait and walk away, while “lesser” operators scrounge after every morsel of work, no matter how poor or damaging the terms.
Enns goes further, laying out four crucial conversations that transform this mindset into action, which we’ll be expanding on in season 6 of Talking About Marketing:
- The Probative Conversation: Where you move from vendor to expert by asking insightful questions and challenging assumptions. This isn’t about proving your expertise – it’s about demonstrating it through curiosity and insight.
- The Qualifying Conversation: Where you determine if there’s a genuine fit between your expertise and their needs. Notice how this flips the traditional sales dynamic – you’re not just being evaluated, you’re evaluating.
- The Value Conversation: Where you explore ways to create value and, crucially, how to capture some of that value for yourself. This is where your confidence in being “the prize” directly impacts your ability to price based on value rather than time.
- The Closing Conversation: Where you transition seamlessly from sale to engagement, having maintained your expert position throughout.
David Sandler touches on this too in “You Can’t Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar” when he warns against “spilling your candy in the foyer” – that tendency to over-explain and over-offer before the relationship is ready. These insights weave together into a compelling truth: our business success often hinges on our ability to step back from reactive patterns and intentionally create new ones.
And that cuts to the heart of this reflection: Do we want to repeat yesterday or break the mould and shape something new?
Sarah’s Story: A Work in Progress
Consider Sarah, a graphic designer, whom we might envision in a mind experiment.
Imagine she has reached peak frustration over her past practice of taking on every project that landed in her inbox, including those that underpaid and overwhelmed her.
What might her desired future state be? Being the prize that Enns talks about – the professional who confidently auditions clients rather than merely being auditioned.
Working backwards from this vision could reveal complex layers of change needed:
- To confidently turn down misaligned projects, for which she will need a financial buffer
- To build that buffer, she will need higher-paying clients
- To attract premium clients, she will need to demonstrate distinctive expertise
- To showcase expertise, she need to stop taking every job that comes along
- To be selective, she need to overcome the fear of saying no
- To manage that fear, she need to build confidence in her value
But here’s where Enns’ wisdom becomes particularly powerful: he argues that establishing yourself as the prize isn’t about holding your expertise close to your chest. Quite the opposite. It’s about sharing your best thinking generously and in detail through blogs, talks, and thoughtful content.
The key distinction? You give away your thinking freely, but you charge for its application to specific situations.
This insight could fundamentally shift Sarah’s approach to content marketing. Instead of seeing her blog as a chore or her social media as just another task, she might begin viewing them as platforms for demonstrating her expertise. She could start sharing detailed case studies of her design decisions, writing about the psychology of colour in branding, and creating in-depth analyses of successful rebranding projects.
The result? Her content would have potential to attract clients who already value her expertise before they even contact her.
Such new clients won’t be coming to her “just” for a logo – they will be coming to her for her proven strategic thinking about visual branding. This would transform her qualifying conversations from “Can you design this for us?” to “We’ve read your analysis of brand evolution – could you apply that thinking to our situation?”
But here’s the crucial part, if she were to do this, each of these steps would require their own backcasting process. Take “building confidence in her value.” Working backwards from that goal revealed she would need:
- Clear documentation of past successes
- A content strategy that showcased her strategic thinking
- Regular publishing of in-depth insights
- The ability to articulate that value in client conversations (applied curiosity that surprises and delights clients, prompting them to see their businesses anew
- Practice handling difficult pricing discussions
This approach exemplifies what we believe at Talked About Marketing – that true expertise isn’t diminished by being shared; it’s enhanced.
When you generously share your best thinking, you’re not giving away the store. You’re demonstrating the depth of your expertise and creating desire for its specific application.
Your Turn: Navigating Your Business Telemark
As we stand at the beginning of 2025, I invite you to choose just one mission-critical objective for your business. Not a scatter of vague intentions like “get better clients” or “make more money,” but a single, specific summit you’re determined to reach. Perhaps it’s transitioning to value-based pricing, or maybe it’s repositioning your business to serve a more specialised market.
Like those Norwegian commandos, your mission needs careful planning and unwavering focus. Let’s work backwards from your objective:
First, identify your deep gorge – that seemingly impassable gap between where you are and where you need to be. For many of us, this might be the chasm between our current pricing and what we know we’re truly worth, or between our current client base and the ones we aspire to serve.
Next, map out your ice-covered cliffs – those challenging transitions that require new skills and approaches. If you’re moving to value-based pricing, your cliff might be learning to lead those crucial value conversations with confidence. If you’re specialising your service, it might be developing the courage to turn down work outside your new focus.
Then, consider your minefield – those dangerous areas where a wrong step could derail your progress. These might be toxic clients who drain your energy, habits that keep you stuck in old patterns, or beliefs that undermine your confidence.
Finally, assess the resources and stamina you’ll need for the long haul. The Norwegian commandos survived for months on their mission, living off reindeer meat and determination. What will sustain you through your transformation? What support systems need to be in place? What mental and emotional reserves will you need to build?
Remember: This isn’t about racing to the objective. It’s about methodically preparing for and executing one significant change that will reshape your business.
Like those commandos, you’re not just aiming to reach your target – you’re planning to fundamentally alter the landscape.
A Final Thought
Change isn’t about dramatic leaps; it’s about understanding each small step between where you are and where you want to be. As you plan your 2025, don’t just list your goals. Envision your ideal future state, then methodically work backwards until you can see every stepping stone along the way.
And if you’re wondering whether such transformation is truly possible, consider this: Lamborghini began life as a tractor company, LG started as a facial cream brand, Samsung was originally a grocery store, and IKEA’s first product was a pen. As author Brian Solis notes, your current position doesn’t need to be your final destination – it’s simply the starting point from which you’ll plot your course.
So as you peek into that spam folder and roll your eyes at those fossilised business practices, remember: many great transformations began with someone looking at where they were, envisioning where they could be, and methodically working backwards to bridge that gap. The only question is, what’s your heavy water plant, and are you ready to start planning the mission?
Let’s Close With a Laugh
I will share a quick look at some of the screamers I received in my spam folder over the past day or so.
Business Inquiry
Alice from [email protected] BCCed me in on this message:
Hi,
Do you want a goldmine of over 700 Million Verified Leads of Real Buyers/Decision Makers with features of Sending Unlimited Emails, Unlimited Warmups and AI-Powered Writer?
Visit her shady website to Watch the Demo of AI Tool, which has the HIGHEST Ratings on Product Hunt, G2 Crowd, Capterra, TrustRadius.
Best Regards!
Alice
Wow, yes, you too could end up in spam folders all around the world.
Exploring Collaboration in 2025
Levi from [email protected] sent me this message:
Hello again Steve,
Happy New Year! As we start 2025, I wanted to reach out and explore how we can support Talked About Marketing Adelaide’s digital transformation initiatives.
Our expertise in AI/ML, RPA, Dashboards, CRM optimization, and custom software solutions has helped businesses like yours achieve impactful results. I’d love the opportunity to discuss how we can do the same for your team.
Let me know of a suitable time to connect.
Best Regards,
Levi
P.S If you wish to not hear from me again, respond with Opt-out.
Stragenly enough, despite “hello again”, I have never heard of this Levi character, unless he’s being having a delusional conversation within my spam folder. Oh, Levi, two words: Opt Out.
SEO Services Proposal
Kanika from [email protected] sent me this email:
Hello
I think there is a lot of potential for your website and business after looking over it.
For your website, I would like to submit an SEO proposal.
It will outline exactly what has to be done to improve your rating considerably so that your website can show up on Google’s first page.
Do you like a quote to be sent to you? In case you’re curious!
Sincere regards,
Kanika
Well, Kanika, that does not inspire confidence for three reasons. Firstly, you do not address me by name (so I assume this is generic gunk). Secondly, you share no specific, testable insight to allow me to guage your expertise. And, thirdly, you are a purveyor of SEO services using spam to suck people in – that red flag dwarfs all other concerns.
App Builders & App Creators
Ajay from [email protected] not only sent me one bit of spam, but also the all-too-common impatient follow up, which is echoing about inside that folder of oblivion:
Hi,
Hope you are well.
We offer Web and App Development services at extremely competitive prices.
Are you interested in enabling your business with Web or Mobile Apps?
Your apps can be for internal operational management or for customer facing service offerings!
Drop in a line in response if you are interested and our business team will get in touch with you.
Want a direct call? Drop in your number and a preferred time slot (With time zone) and we will call you!
Thanks and Regards,
Ajay Sahu
[And the follow up four days later]
Hi,
Just checking if you received my email I sent you.
I am waiting for your response. Please let me know if you are interested. I can provide you with the best offer.
Kindly share your requirement with your contact number.
Ajay, some spammers just don’t take a hint. The least you could do is actually look at my business website and tailor your suggestions – still terrible cold calling but at least it would show you have some sort of business savvy.
Talked About Marketing- Handy Resource Guide
Andrew from [email protected] has sent this message:
Hi Steve,
How are you? Andrew here from Juice, hope you are well.
I just wanted to circle back and see if I can help you with branded merchandise?
I have also included here a resource guide that will give you 12 secrets to maximise your ROI with merchandise as well as inspiring ideas from around the world.
Also, are you free for a quick Google Meet next week? Here is my calendar where you can book a meeting with me.
Please check us out if you have a moment – http://www.juicepromotions.com/
Please do not hesitate to call us on 1300 269 844 for further assistance.
Kind Regards,
Andrew Benke
This is a doozy. It has the “hope you are well” throwaway line, the circle back jargon, a “resources guide” that is not even thinly disguised as spammy sales material, and the link to calendar giving me the privilege of meeting with him to be “sold at”. At least he scraped my name.
There are hundreds more, but this will need to do for now.