You may just be.
It’s not uncommon – particularly for women. I see it again and again.
And it’s a profit killer, a happiness zapper and a business buster.
Can you guess? (it’s going to seem too easy once I say it…)
The most obvious business strategy in your arsenal is to leverage the expertise and strengths you already have.
Huh? That’s it?
Yes.
Because a good number of you aren’t doing it. You’re making it way too hard, too complicated and too much work.
When easy is just around the corner.
I had an awesome conversation with a business owner today. This woman is smart. Good at what she does. Savvy about business.
But she’s been running two seemingly unrelated businesses and neither are reaching the success levels she wants. She’s thought about getting out of business A before, but that’s where the money is. She wants to do business B but can’t seem to get traction.
The irony is, once people start working with her on Business A – they start asking for services from Business B.
Confused yet?
She had it in her mind that they were two totally separate entities. That they couldn’t talk to each other. She loves doing the work of both – but doesn’t like feeling that operating one was coming at the expense of the other.
She thought it wasn’t working.
I knew she had an incredible opportunity to leverage both and create a powerhouse, unique brand that very few could compete with.
You’ve likely heard me talk about finding your unique selling proposition (USP) or your Brand’s Brilliance Factor – that thing that makes you different. It needs to answer the question, “Why should I do business with you?”
Well, this woman had a killer USP sitting right in front of her.
There are many ways to get to a USP, but one way is what’s called the Crossroads USP (I’m giving credit to Copyblogger for this).
A Crossroads USP is the intersection of two seemingly unrelated things. Copyblogger is a great example – it bridges traditional copywriting advice with online/social media marketing. And poof – a killer combo.
And that’s what this woman had too. She had a very left-brain, analytical offering (Business A) and a very right-brain, creative offering (Business B) and a HUGE opportunity to bring them together and tell one amazing story to her right people.
It would allow her to show up fully as herself while also leveraging her hard-earned expertise. It would allow her to stop having two separate conversations, and start having one powerful one.
She was excited. And I can’t wait to see where she takes it next.
You may just have an incredible USP staring you in the face. Stop overlooking your gifts. Stop stifling your strengths. Stop worrying about how they work together.
If you are great at what you do, it gives you energy (don’t just put something together if you hate doing it – ugh), and you can find a meaningful connection between the various pieces to create one dynamic, fascinating story that offers your right people something different – GO FOR IT!!!
You’ll be well on your way to a stand-out brand.
*Do you need help pulling together your 2012 marketing calendar? I’ve got a few spots left in the Marketing Calendar Get-it-Done Day on Feb 1. Grab your spot here:
