DIAMONDS in the DUNG HEAP
The Jack of All Skills... Gets Killed
A few years back there was a housing crisis over here in Dublin.
Because of this, there were less houses being built, which meant there were less jobs available for all tradespeople (plumbers, plasterers, brick layers and carpenters).
My friend Bobby, is a Plasterer who struggled to get consistent work, even though he is very good at what he does. With fewer houses being built, there were more tradespeople for less jobs, and so, a lot of people struggled to get work. Bobby included.
Now, Bobby was, and still is, a great Plasterer with many different skills... like all Plasterers have.
He can do interior work, exterior work, dashing, cornerstones, patching, and what have you. In fact, all good plasterers need to be adept at all these skills. It's not so different than an online Marketer claiming to be an expert product creator, email marketer and traffic expert, right?
Anyway, Bobby came to me for advice. So I told him his best option would be to pick just ONE of the many skills he has, and advertise his services to specific people wanting work done in that ONE area.
Of course, he fought me on this in the beginning, because he wrongly assumed that he would get even less work if he narrowed his market.
Not the case.
It rarely ever is.
I told him to pick just ONE skill and advertise himself as the expert in that specific category.
He chose cornerstones.
Now, while all Plasterers can do cornerstone work, none of them were advertising themselves as cornerstone experts.
The question is: If you yourself wanted someone to do cornerstone work for you, and all Plasterers are capable of doing the job, but ONE person calls himself the cornerstone expert, who do you choose to do the job?
There's only ONE option for you to choose, isn't there?
"Yes Declan, there is", is the right answer to that question.
You choose the person, or product, or service that is DIRECTLY and SPECIFICALLY related to the EXACT problem you have.
Bobby's business took off.
And here's the best part: Once he was hired to do cornerstones for his clients, he then had the window of opportunity to offer all the other services and skills he was also proficient with.
That's how you stand out like a hard-on in a nudist camp and become the ONLY option ahead of others who offer a multitude of options.
Smashing.
Now, as I said, all Plasterers could have done the cornerstone work for these clients, but it was Bobby who made the claim that he was the expert on that particular skill.
Later on, I told him to put out individual and separate ads for all the other skills he was an expert in.
Think about that?
Rather than Bobby saying, "hey, I'm a master Plasterer who can do interior work, exterior work, patching, cornerstones and dashing" ... and creating ONE ad to fit all skills, he instead could have created 5 different ads, targeting 5 different people, with 5 different problems... and become the go-to guy (the perceived specialist) for each separate skill.
Cool, eh?
Or... he could just have done what every other plaster did, and advertise himself as a Plasterer, and went out of business.
One of those strategies implies you are a specialist, while the other implies that you are a generalist.
Guess who can charge higher prices for their services?
In the end, Bobby was always fully booked; he had no desire to expand his business any further. But, he could if he wanted to, and easily so.
Are you getting how powerful this is?
Look, did Bobby have to change ANYTHING about his services as a Plasterer?
No. Not one thing.
All he changed was his message.
That's how you put your marketing, and therefore your business, on steroids.
Something to think about at least.
Hope it helps.
A few years back there was a housing crisis over here in Dublin.
Because of this, there were less houses being built, which meant there were less jobs available for all tradespeople (plumbers, plasterers, brick layers and carpenters).
My friend Bobby, is a Plasterer who struggled to get consistent work, even though he is very good at what he does. With fewer houses being built, there were more tradespeople for less jobs, and so, a lot of people struggled to get work. Bobby included.
Now, Bobby was, and still is, a great Plasterer with many different skills... like all Plasterers have.
He can do interior work, exterior work, dashing, cornerstones, patching, and what have you. In fact, all good plasterers need to be adept at all these skills. It's not so different than an online Marketer claiming to be an expert product creator, email marketer and traffic expert, right?
Anyway, Bobby came to me for advice. So I told him his best option would be to pick just ONE of the many skills he has, and advertise his services to specific people wanting work done in that ONE area.
Of course, he fought me on this in the beginning, because he wrongly assumed that he would get even less work if he narrowed his market.
Not the case.
It rarely ever is.
I told him to pick just ONE skill and advertise himself as the expert in that specific category.
He chose cornerstones.
Now, while all Plasterers can do cornerstone work, none of them were advertising themselves as cornerstone experts.
The question is: If you yourself wanted someone to do cornerstone work for you, and all Plasterers are capable of doing the job, but ONE person calls himself the cornerstone expert, who do you choose to do the job?
There's only ONE option for you to choose, isn't there?
"Yes Declan, there is", is the right answer to that question.
You choose the person, or product, or service that is DIRECTLY and SPECIFICALLY related to the EXACT problem you have.
Bobby's business took off.
And here's the best part: Once he was hired to do cornerstones for his clients, he then had the window of opportunity to offer all the other services and skills he was also proficient with.
That's how you stand out like a hard-on in a nudist camp and become the ONLY option ahead of others who offer a multitude of options.
Smashing.
Now, as I said, all Plasterers could have done the cornerstone work for these clients, but it was Bobby who made the claim that he was the expert on that particular skill.
Later on, I told him to put out individual and separate ads for all the other skills he was an expert in.
Think about that?
Rather than Bobby saying, "hey, I'm a master Plasterer who can do interior work, exterior work, patching, cornerstones and dashing" ... and creating ONE ad to fit all skills, he instead could have created 5 different ads, targeting 5 different people, with 5 different problems... and become the go-to guy (the perceived specialist) for each separate skill.
Cool, eh?
Or... he could just have done what every other plaster did, and advertise himself as a Plasterer, and went out of business.
One of those strategies implies you are a specialist, while the other implies that you are a generalist.
Guess who can charge higher prices for their services?
In the end, Bobby was always fully booked; he had no desire to expand his business any further. But, he could if he wanted to, and easily so.
Are you getting how powerful this is?
Look, did Bobby have to change ANYTHING about his services as a Plasterer?
No. Not one thing.
All he changed was his message.
That's how you put your marketing, and therefore your business, on steroids.
Something to think about at least.
Hope it helps.
for the freedoms weak people give away for safety
for the freedoms weak people give away for safety