The Landmark Play: For Experts Who Don’t Want to Beg
Hello there,
Not All Problems Bleed – Some Just Drip Dignity
Some clients aren’t panicking.
They’re not googling emergency consultants.
They’re not downloading your lead magnet.
But they are feeling it:
- Work feels harder than it should
- Their team is busy, but not effective
- They keep adding, never subtracting
- They know something’s off, but can’t name it
This is where the Landmark Play works best.
Not to fix. But to reframe.
THE LANDMARK PLAY: 4 STEPS TO STRATEGIC REFRAMING
- Reveal the invisible struggle: “You’re not stuck because of X… you’re stuck because you’ve been using the wrong map.”
- Raise the altitude: Give them a new way to see the whole system. Model, metaphor, or uncomfortably accurate opinion. Wave your flag.
- Show new options: Lay out the landscape – don’t push your solution. Let the options do the talking. Even if they’re up someone else’s mountain, let them see your flag.
- Let them self-select: The best-fit clients will lean in. No pitch needed. No needy energy.
📌 Landmark books don’t shout. They whisper: “You’ve outgrown where you are.”
MINI EXAMPLE: The Book That Did This Brilliantly
The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt.
It didn’t scream for attention. It didn’t fix bleeding neck problems.
It reframed operations management completely and planted a landmark:
Theory of Constraints.
A method. A movement. A multi-million-dollar consulting business.
ASSET TO BUILD: The Landmark One-Pager
Want to try a Landmark move inside your next proposal, chapter, or sales page?
Use this format:
You’re not telling them what to do.
You’re showing them what’s possible. That’s what makes it irresistible.
🐴 DISASTER FARM DISPATCH
The horses broke into the feed shed. Again.
They weren’t hungry. Just bored of the usual hay.
Sometimes clients are like that – not desperate, just disillusioned.
If they’re not buying what you’re selling, it might be because they’ve already tried everything.
Offer a better view. Not more oats.
🏆 CLIENT BRAG
The ever-brilliant David Pullan and Sarah Jane McKechnie are back this Autumn with their second book.
It’s called Read the Damn Thing — and honestly, you should.
More on that soon. Until then, just remember: they don’t write books.
They drop depth charges.
COME TALK TO US ON LINKEDIN
We’re unpacking big ideas and sharp metaphors over here:
- Ideas don’t belong in feeds. Here’s what we’re doing instead. → https://shorturl.at/sU4TI
- If AI does all the thinking… what happens to your brain? → https://shorturl.at/gGjXd
You know the drill: like, comment, lurk, or share with your smartest friend.
TL;DR
- Landmark Plays don’t fix urgent pain. They show a better path forward
- They work best for clients who are capable but stuck in an old frame
- Your model is the map. Your book is the new desirable viewpoint
- Done well, the right clients come to you
Still selling a bleeding neck solution to a landmark audience?
Might be time to reframe to a weeping wound.
– Debs
Publisher of Dangerous Ideas (and snack provider to rogue horses)
PS: Have a Landmark idea but no clear way to express it yet?
Send me your old view + new lens. I’ll help you sketch the one-pager that does the heavy lifting. No pitch. Just clarity.
PPS: I made a print magazine in 2025. Because apparently, I like doing the hard, meaningful things — and because some ideas deserve more than 24 hours on a feed. It’s called Postnoted. You’ll want a copy. Sign up here – https://postnoted.com/magazine/
