I was talking to a client this morning discussing advertising idea’s and how we can make their business better, and during our conversation I brought up a strategy that we have brought up many times before. This strategy is a very simple idea, that is very difficult to implement but is really the only way to success. The strategy is that before you do any advertising, before you attempt to push any traffic to your website or place of business, you need to have a clear definition of what makes you different. Being an Entrepreneur for over 10 years now, I have read and heard this strategy many times – all of the sources of this strategy were highly successful people that were essentially sharing the secret to success with me. This strategy is such a big and difficult idea because you have to be brutally honest with yourself and truly learn who and what you are, but possibly more importantly – who and what you are NOT.
People crave honesty – especially in this day and age. What better marketing tool can you have than to begin by offering something that everybody craves? There are a lot of “Fake it ‘till you make it” types of businesses and business owners that push quantity over quality and people generally like hearing those type of tactics because it means that they don’t have to admit what they are or aren’t. The biggest issue with this stance is that eventually the facts come to light and it can knock you down hard. There is no such thing as being perfect, especially since the requirements continue to evolve. Without this understanding that we all need work, you will not strive for improvement and let’s face it – If you’re not striving to improve then you are moving backwards. Not that you are getting worse at something, but that the bar is constantly being raised and if you are staying static the bar is getting further away.
One of our first things to help sculpt your business, or you personally for success is to come to terms with what you and your business are good at and what you’re not. People enjoy doing what they are good at, people enjoy being successful, and people crave recognition for those things. For this reason, you can have several very successful, very similar ventures in very close proximity to each other – because we are all unique. A perfect example of this is the food industry. Think of all of the different restaurants in your area and realize that there is really not any other reason that there isn’t just one big restaurant that serves all of the different styles of food under one roof. You can hire chef’s to prepare a burrito right next to one preparing a pizza, or Chinese food. The reason for so many is that they all have their own niche – something that they offer and the next guy does not. If you’re a simple mechanic shop, or if you’re a large consulting firm the facts still stand true… If you focus on what you’re good at and are able to admit what you are not, you can make the decisions that you face daily being properly prepared and with the proper perspective. The list of things that are unique to you and/or your business is nearly limitless and all can be used to set you apart. Be it that you offer the absolute best in customer service, quickest turn-around time, simply the best product, that you are the most knowledgeable in your field or the most driven and hungry in your field these are all things that can be a strengths and uniqueness that drives customers to you.
Now onto implementation and how to use this information that we have just realized about ourselves or our business. We can certainly just advertise what we’ve learned and hope that people will take us at our word and ignore our shortcomings due to the things that we are not good at. But how do you allow your business to grow into something really great? This is where teamwork and partnerships make all of the difference. We now know what we are good at, and we know what we are not – which forces us to begin our quest for a person or company that is good at what we are not that can compliment our strengths – allowing our business to become more rounded. I am not suggesting that you take on 15 partners or even any partners unless that is what you’d like to do. This is the part that is difficult because you will need to find like-minded businesses that have been through this journey of self-review to allow both of you to clearly see how your strengths would work together.
This entire theory is how BPetersonDesign was founded, and how we continue to grow our business each day/month/year. We are looking to provide the very best of what we can do and become a part of your team to compliment what you are already good at. We want to take you to the next step by offering services where you are lacking. One of the few phrases that I like to use during our initial consultation is that “If you were really good at what we are proposing to do for you, you really shouldn’t be in the business that you’re in, but doing what you are good at”. We have strived for and have been pushing ourselves and our company to be able to provide the absolute best in the services that we offer, and will continue to do so through research and learning. We want to take on customers that are like minded and want to build something great together – we are not just another company looking to talk you into a contract knowing that you will not be happy with the results and will move on at the end of that contract. We want to build strong co-beneficial relationships that complement each other and allow us to work towards success together. The more successful our customers are, the more successful we are – This is the simplest and most complicated strategy at the same time.
We would love to talk about becoming part of your team and provide our knowledge and skill-sets… our strengths to help relieve your weaknesses – to follow the simple guideline of being the best result for what people are looking for which can only be achieved after you realize what skill-set you have that would honestly be that result. From a simple conversation to get another viewpoint on your situation, to technology integration/streamlining consultations and as far as allowing us to manage your online presence through web design and social media marketing – Let us use our strengths in the fields that we are good at so that you can focus on what you are good at, and we can conquer the world together.
-Ben Peterson
President
BPetersonDesign
