Now I’m sure that title created an interesting visual…let me get to what I’m talking about. How it happened and played out was almost like watching a movie… a constant, continuous confirmation that I’m doing what is right for me and right for my business.
Last week I did a post about selecting a target market (Hit The BullsEye), then I read a blog post/article about Charging More Than The Other Guy, then I had a conversation with a “virtual co-worker” that circled around both of those things. In brief, we were talking about a third party, a friend of hers, that is a bit all over the place when it comes to their side hustle. Let me tell you what I mean – said third party is a Jill of All Trades. She is a “fundraiser”, “event planner”, “marketing consultant”, “graphic designer”, “sales consultant”… and that’s just the the stuff that I remember.
Now I don’t profess to be a marketing expert… but I’ve been in business long enough and I’ve read enough articles, blogs, and books to know that people don’t take you seriously when you are all over the place. When you are all over the place, you don’t get (consistent) business or referral business because the person who would have referred business to you doesn’t know what the heck you do… nor are they convinced that you do any one thing well enough to warrant them sticking their neck out on the line to provide you with the referral. And when you’re all over the place, you can only charge “novice” prices. If you’re charging novice prices… well, you can figure out the rest.
By the end of the conversation with my virtual co-worker, we had both turned the spotlight off of the third party and began to focus on ourselves. *scratching head* So that got me to thinking, is my business all over the place? Am I presenting a “Jill of All Trades/Master of None” persona when it comes to my service offers?
I’m sure I’m not the only one in the blogasphere who’s had a business related identity crisis. Have you had a similar issue? How did you handle it? Help me out here! Tell me all about it…
