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Are You Special or Just Another...?

By Sandra P. Martini

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 23Nov2008
Word count: 425
Viewed: 126 time(s)

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When most of us get into business, we look around at what everyone else in our industry is doing. If we're a bookkeeper, we look around at other bookkeepers. If we're a life coach, we look around at other life coaches. If we're a financial planner, we look around at other financial planners. If we're a virtual assistant, we look around at other virtual assistants. And then we do what they do.

I recently heard something by Dan Kennedy and he reminded us the dangers of doing what I just outlined. Not only are you limiting yourself by mimicking them and their "in the box" style or management and marketing (and pricing), but you are also stopping yourself from standing out, because you've made yourself just another (fill in the blank: bookkeeper, life coach, financial planner, virtual assistant).

And when your clients can't tell the difference between you and others in your industry, you are forcing them to make their decision based on price and price alone. And the cheapest is not always the best!

Dan then shared 3 perceptions you need to make in order to give the power back to you -- not your clients. It's all about how you present yourself!

1. Authority.

Are you known as an expert in your field? If not, you need to be. Do you publish an email newsletter, articles, books or other information that shows people you know what you are talking about? Has the media interviewed you lately? These measures position you as an authority.

2. Celebrity.

Many people, especially in America, are infatuated with celebrities. They live fabulous lives, are hard to get to and maintain a certain mystique. Start treating yourself as a celebrity and see what happens.

3. Exclusivity.

All of my clients go through an application process in order to work with me. Why? Because I don't want to work with just anyone -- I want to KNOW that you are going to be successful in your business and I want to help you get there.

Do you have an application process? Do you charge for initial consultations? Do you charge (and get) more than others in your field?

The advantage of combining all three parts of the above formula is that your price can become practically irrelevant -- and that's a VERY cool thing!

If you're struggling with these concepts, you may want to take a look at your branding. Not just your logo and tagline, but WHO you are and WHAT you're about. You want everything you do to communicate those things.

For the past 5 years, Sandra Martini has been showing self-employed business owners how to get more clients consistently by implementing processes and systems to put their marketing on autopilot. Visit Sandra at http://www.SandraMartini.com for details, compelling client testimonials and her free audio series "5 Simple and Easy Steps to Put Your Marketing on Autopilot".

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