Overview

On this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, John Jantsch welcomes back David Newman—keynote speaker, bestselling author, and creator of The Selling Show podcast. David’s latest book, “Market Eminence: 22 Strategies to Build a Bold Personal Brand, Become a Business Celebrity, and Drive Unstoppable Growth,” dives into how experts, consultants, and CEOs can escape obscurity and become the obvious choice in their market. David explains why visibility, respect, and brand preference are now non-negotiable, how to develop a contrarian point of view, and why radical generosity of your best ideas is the real growth engine.

About the Guest

David Newman is a keynote speaker, bestselling author of “Do It! Marketing,” “Do It! Speaking,” and now “Market Eminence.” With over 600 speaking engagements and 30 years in the field, he helps CEOs, consultants, and expert service providers elevate their brand, attract ideal clients, and become impossible to ignore in noisy, AI-fueled markets.

Actionable Insights

• The “obscurity tax” is doing great work in isolation—if your market doesn’t see you, know you, and prefer you, you’re paying it every day.
• Market eminence rests on three pillars:
  • Visibility (being seen)
  • Respect (deep understanding of your buyers’ pains, goals, and aspirations)
  • Brand preference (differentiation + positioning so it feels risky to hire anyone else)
• Personal branding often focuses on “look at me”; market eminence focuses on elevating your market, industry, and stakeholders.
• Being contrarian and polarizing (in a values-aligned way) is essential to attract right-fit clients and repel bad fits.
• The three content types that still cut through the noise:
  • How to think (insight, not instructions)
  • What to believe / what not to believe
  • How to get ready for what’s coming next
• A powerful exercise: identify what conventional wisdom in your industry is wrong, what harsh truths clients wish someone would say, and which strong points of view resonate with ideal clients but make insiders uncomfortable.
• Use AI as a thought partner for brainstorming contrarian headlines and positioning, not as your final output.
• Generosity is a growth strategy: give away client-facing content you’ve been paid for; prospects pay for implementation and applied insight, not information.
• Treat prospects like clients—share real value, not teasers—and you’ll get more (and better) clients.

Great Moments (with Timestamps)

• 01:37 – The Obscurity Tax
  Why doing great work in the dark is the biggest cost most experts pay.
• 02:40 – The Three Pillars of Market Eminence
  Visibility, respect, and brand preference explained.
• 03:12 – Market Eminence vs. Personal Branding
  Why this isn’t about ego, but about impact.
• 05:48 – Do You Need a Polarizing Point of View?
  How to call out what’s missing, broken, or outdated in your industry.
• 06:17 – Content that AI Can’t (Yet) Replace
  How to think, what to believe, and how to get ready for what’s next.
• 08:13 – Attracting Right-Fit Clients and Repelling the Wrong Ones
  The “10-foot gate” mental model and why polarization is a feature, not a bug.
• 11:19 – Internal vs. External Work of Market Eminence
  Leadership decisions first, amplification tactics second.
• 11:48 – The Contrarian Slant Exercise
  Three questions to craft a point of view that puts you in the top 5% of your market.
• 14:45 – Using ChatGPT as a Brainstorming Partner
  A prompt to generate “crazy idea” headlines that attract ideal clients.
• 19:09 – Radical Generosity and Giving Away Your Best Ideas
  Why sharing paid content doesn’t hurt your business—it fuels it.

Insights

“The obscurity tax is the cost of doing great work in isolation. No one can buy from you if they don’t know you exist.”

“Personal branding is about elevating yourself; market eminence is about elevating your market, your industry, and the people you serve.”

“You don’t need to be the only one fixing what’s broken—but you do need to be one of the few willing to call it out.”

“Prospects aren’t paying you for information—they’re paying you for applied insight and implementation.”

“The more you treat prospects like clients, the more prospects you’ll turn into clients.”