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Focus on your strengths to achieve success

by ibeardsley
20 replies
Hi guys,
As a business owner I am a great believer in being the best you can be at what you are good at. So if you have a talent for building websites then be the best website builder you can possibly be. Perhaps you are good at copywriting or driving traffic, if so then make sure you strive to be the best you can be, it will definitely pay off in the end.
Focus on your strengths and outsource your weaknesses.
If you are not good at a particular aspect of the business then get someone else to do it, as long as you have a basic understanding of the subject you should feel confident to outsource it.
I feel the best scenario is to JV with someone whose strength is your weakness. You get the best of both worlds and with the right JV partner you can be on the road to great success.
I like to think my strengths are business strategy and planning (the wife says I have no strengths at all only weaknesses) and my weaknesses are everything else so I try to outsource as much as possible.
If you try to concentrate on your weaknesses you will find that you are wasting valuable time trying to master something you are no good at.
The IM world is ever evolving and the big players are always ahead of the game. I am willing to bet these guys don't waste time on things they are no good at.
#achieve #focus #strengths #success
  • Profile picture of the author Greedy
    I agree, but toss some line breaks in there.
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  • Profile picture of the author garys_pdx
    One should always concentrate on their strenghs but its important to understand your weaknesses as well.

    If you've never built a website you are at a disadvantage when designing your website and contracting with the web designer.

    So concentrate on your strengths but don't assume that you can just outsource your weaknesses without understanding them.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve B
      Just two comments:

      1. Sometimes perceived weaknesses can be turned into strengths with a little work, some coaching, or new information that makes learning a subject easier for the student.

      2. Often, there are helps and automated aids that make a subject easier to master. Look what WordPress, for one example, has done for those who want to set up a blog.

      So, focusing on your strengths is good, but it's not the only way to make things happen.

      Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author ibeardsley
      Originally Posted by garys_pdx View Post

      One should always concentrate on their strenghs but its important to understand your weaknesses as well.

      If you've never built a website you are at a disadvantage when designing your website and contracting with the web designer.

      So concentrate on your strengths but don't assume that you can just outsource your weaknesses without understanding them.
      I agree that you should understand your weaknesses and I also say that you should have a basic understanding of all the systems you use in your business.

      However I still believe that you can waste valuable time trying to master something you may never truly grasp.

      I think you would be far better off if your main focus was your strengths.
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      • Profile picture of the author garys_pdx
        No argument there ibeardsley. The key word being "master". I'm a firm believer in being a jack of all trades and a master of none.
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        • Profile picture of the author ibeardsley
          An online business is exactly the same as a bricks and mortar business in that there comes a time when you can't do it all yourself, you have to outsource.

          During the early days in my business I was relunctant to employ people to do anything other than menial stuff. I was sure that giving them anything more involved would be lead to me constantly running round re-doing what they had done.

          Completely the wrong way of doing it. I soon learned that employing trained people was the way to go.

          That gave me the time required to work on my business not in it.

          I am finding the same thing with my online business. I now outsource as much as possible so I have the time to actually grow the business.
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  • Profile picture of the author dhanediesil
    Great topic!

    I've learned my lesson the hard way that the "Jack of All Trades" course of action is the most inefficient and ineffective. Mastery is a way of life.

    Choose a topic and master that.

    I use to be afraid that I'd be missing out on something if I focused in on one topic. However, now that I do, I see that I have more opportunities to create and cultivate than ever.

    -D
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  • Profile picture of the author MatthewWoodward
    Hi,

    I agree - one of the reasons I started my own blog was because I realised I wasn't putting my best assets to use which is a decade of experience with the web and more specifically online marketing.

    Things I consider normal that I do everyday are actually very helpful to others and by actually teaching it, in a weird sort of way it kind of makes me better at what I do?

    So if you have a great knowledge about an industry, niche, service or skill then think about how you can combine that with the web to help others.

    If your doing it about something you enjoy and have a passion for - its not work, its fun =D
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  • Profile picture of the author canada94
    Great post, one of my favorite authors, John Maxwell advocates this, stick to only your strengths and what you enjoy, and are good at, then farm out the things you are not so good at...time is money, don't spread yourself too thin.
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  • Profile picture of the author Patho
    Definitely a good statement...I rather be awesome with one skill than to be oke with all of them
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Ten
    Great reminder, OP!
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    • Profile picture of the author curly sue
      My strength is product creation, including design and setup but marketing is my weakness or i outsource most of it.
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  • Profile picture of the author MKCookins
    Excellent post! It is wise to work smart not hard.

    By focusing on your strengths -and outsourcing your weaknesses, you can achieve a lot more results in quicker success!

    As the saying goes "Time is money" so make the best use of your time
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  • Profile picture of the author svsets10
    I couldn't agree more. As a coach, I stressed to my teams my philosophy of "everything simple but well" meaning that we focused on doing one or two things to perfection.

    It is so much easier to perfect your strengths and exploit them rather then wasting time and energy building up weak points. In most cases, being really good at something was always a lot better then being just "ok" at many things. Sort of the jack of all trade master of none idea.
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  • Profile picture of the author CathyAnn
    One of the best things I did for myself was learn to outsource. Of course, I need to have the income to do that. What I discovered was that when I outsourced what I didn't like to do I had much more time and much more fun doing what I enjoy... like writing and energy healing work.
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  • Profile picture of the author therenegadeleader
    Definitely true, always focus on your strength and develop weaknesses into strength.
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  • Profile picture of the author zonamon
    thanks for the enlightenment, may you always be successful and I can take any positive values ​​described above
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  • Profile picture of the author DougRyan25
    At an early stage, outsourcing your weaknesses is a good idea. But you should not rely solely on that. Over time, you have to overcome the soft spots that you have. In doing so, you will be able to better spread yourself and function.

    Nevertheless, using your strengths is something that you should always keep in mind. Doing so will continue to lead you to improvement. I just want to clear the point that you should not be too dependent on outsourcing each and every time to compensate for your weak points. Who knows? Maybe you will find it enjoyable to harness those parts of you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Coach Anna
    Great post. Good perspective...thank you for sharing.
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