In case it doesn’t sink in, remember, you are one of 330M people in the United States. Go to the airport, a concert or any large gathering to get a small glimpse of how minute you are in a sea of people.
The strategy to try and work with everyone is a sure fire way of failure in the marketplace. There’s simply too much competition and it’s hard to understand your offering if you are generalized. It’s the quote,
‘I can’t give you a sure-fire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: try to please everybody all the time.‘ ~ Herbert Bayard Swope
You have to be ok with not making everyone happy or trying to chase every deal. You have to be ok with people that don’t get you.
In sales speak, there is the wisdom of picking a niche or targeting your customer. Both point to being focused, clear and exclusionary. You have to have clear positioning.
Ironically, such specificity is a form of abundance. You are thinking how to be the best for the people you want to serve by solving their specific problem you or your company are designed for.
You are not diluting yourself and trying to be all things to all people.
I am about strategy. Many people do not value strategy. But, people that need clarity, business growth or getting rid of pain in their business know what I offer. I try to stay in my lane and not overreach to areas I don’t have passion, expertise or bandwidth for. I have a network of friends I try to share generously with instead in those cases.
So, maybe it would be a powerful time if you could think about, “Things I don’t do.” It could give you conviction around the things you do well and want to specialize in.
Then be clear with your marketing, networking and outreach to make sure that is understood by those that can do business with you or know people that want to do business with you.
Who do you only want to work with and what do you only want to offer?
