The brains behind Ali Abdaal's IP. Charlotte Crowther chats with Ellen: All things signature IP
A deep dive between Charlotte and Ellen about packaging (and scaling) your Signature IP.
Welcome back to Chats with Ellen. Unedited conversations with peers in the online business, coaching and future of work space. Expect: trade secrets, advice we’re giving clients, and inspo to guide your business building.
Charlotte Crowther Chats with Ellen
Charlotte Crowther is the founder of Signature Framework, where she helps experts package their expertise into frameworks that are signature to them. She's the visual and verbal thinking power behind some incredible names in the online space (including Ali Abdaal) and specialises in helping people codify what their expertise is, visualise it compellingly, and leverage their intellectual property to become the go-to expert in their field.
Charlotte was a professional artist for 10 years before transitioning into this work, bringing a unique visual perspective to the often messy process of turning deep knowledge into scalable business assets.
We met at a London event for online educators and entrepreneurs, and immediately connected over our shared mission of helping experts clarify and communicate their expertise!
Hit play to hear us discuss
Why external help is essential when you're too close to your own expertise (hello, curse of knowledge!)
The emotional journey of building authority… and why it's not as rational as you'd think
How to move from "I do ad hoc consulting" to "I'm building a bank of intellectual property that scales"
Why Ali Abdaal still needed Charlotte's help despite being a master communicator; and how these frameworks played an integral role in his growth
How to protect your intellectual property (and why visuals matter more than you think)
Enjoy!
Connect with Charlotte on LinkedIn or learn more about how her Signature Framework process works.
Want to see that Miro board yourself up close? It’s pretty incredible.
The Ellen Edit
This conversation left me thinking about how we often underestimate the expertise we carry, while simultaneously overcomplicating the process of sharing it.
I've pulled out some insights that stuck with me...
From Charlotte
If you don't have visuals, you can't really register your intellectual property. Anyone can put a bunch of words together. It's the visual element that really defines what your intellectual property is.
If you were to create diagrams and frameworks in parallel to the learning process you're already doing, you accelerate your learning and your ability to synthesize and understand what your expertise is.
There's a primary signature framework, which is what people see and know. Then there's a secondary level—the how-to. And a tertiary level for specific applications. You can encapsulate your whole body of work in nested layers
A lot of people have the mistaken belief that they have nothing to contribute. But your summaries of what you're consuming, your reviews, your comparisons—you can share and report on those ideas to others.
The way you explain something is going to be unique to you, and any stories that you bring, or mannerisms and qualities that you bring will just by default be unique and different.
From Ellen
People get so consumed by what other peers in their space are saying that they assume they have to come up with the next level of insight beyond what's ever been said before. But we sharpen ideas in public, and aren’t creating content for our peers.
It's not about being an influencer and selling your lifestyle. It's about selling your ideas.
There's so much to this process of figuring out what you stand for, how to tell your story, and then grow a business and get clients as a result.
Every single part of your positioning statement dictates your ideal client, the transformation, how you get them there, and why it matters. There's all your marketing in that one sentence.
It sounds like it should be quite a rational process. But it's so emotional because of the identity that is tied to this work— “who am I to be an expert and share what I know and have people listen and maybe make money from it?!”
The conversation highlighted something I see constantly: experts who've done incredible work but struggle to package it in a way that scales their impact. If that resonates, you might enjoy:
My Authority Archetype Quiz - Discover your natural approach to building authority and make content creation more easeful and authentic.
The Authority-Led Business Playbook
Package Your Ideas, Share Them Powerfully & Become the Go-To in Your Space …a free email course.
And, if you're looking for ongoing support in growing your authority-led business? Explore 1-1 support and I’ll help you align on your business’ purpose, positioning and sustainable growth plan.
Thanks for reading as always, and until next time!
Ellen Donnelly, Founder & Chief Coach, The Ask and host of Authority Club, where independent consultants and coaches become the go-to in their space
Get in touch to explore 1-1 coaching or joining Authority Club.
