How to find a gap
First, know what you’re really good at, ego aside. How? Do your personal inventory. A collection of the work you’ve done for clients and in your work life. Good and bad —the worst ones too, actually. Having that will give you a better glimpse of the big picture. This is how you start seeing the hidden patterns in what you do and how you do it. How you actually helped. What your contributions and impact are. In the big picture, they’re evergreen. It unveils the deep you, your core and what…
The Flip. How to claim a gap.
How to claim a gap. Once you’ve seen the gaps in your market, how can you claim it? Here’s an approach. These factors lever and build on one another to help you show your value, feel seen as a consistent / expert brand and have better sales conversations. They help you be the obvious choice —for the right people. Purpose Narrative Alignment Focus Flip Clarity Impact Going in-depth from tomorrow.
Gaps
Most people think you need to fit-in and blend-in, but actually you need to stand out, like a square in a world of circles. You don’t need to find product-market fits. ???? You need to find product-market GAPS.
I’m A Thought-Leader
Now that the Leadershit part is off my system, we can talk about Thoughts today. You do produce thoughts —as opposed to… everybody else? Right… “I’m A Thought-Leader” Are you, really? Calling yourself a “thought leader” (or that you produce thought leadership) is presumptuous and means you have no agency. Most of the self-proclaimed thought-leaders sound (and feel) like this. (It’s a 4-min inspiring presentation by Pat Kelly) Just because you write/publish, it doesn’t mean your thinking…
Breaking the Thought Leadershit Cycle
Break the cycle The point of these last emails is to provoke you and push you to question yourself what’s going on. Also, to give you some places, resources and people I’ve found that —if you take the path of making something remarkable— might help you. Remember, leadership begins with building trust. So show up with something meaningful. Show up to help, but not to give [general] advice. How can you better serve your audience? What can you bring to them that will make it worth their while?…
Perks of parenthood
Perks of having a two-year-old in kindergarten: you can get sick out of the blue. ???? Jonathan Stark sent this email: No people, no problems. Well, here i am (people) with a problem. ???? I’ll get back to you later on or tomorrow. For now, rest and lots of liquid. Here’s the thing though: Are you taking care of yourself and pausing? Things will be there when you’re back from that pause.Remember, there will be more dives (post from friend of the list and daily writer James Turner)
You need to convince them
You must’ve heard that to get people to buy from you, you need to influence them. That you need to convince them. And that that is called marketing Marketing is not about convincing (well… bullshit marketing is). People don’t “need to hear a story” to get convinced to buy. They don’t need your storytelling skills (whatever that means) “trying to convince them to buy”. Here’s why When you’re trying to convince someone to buy from you —let’s be honest— you don’t have their best in mind….
Resistance
When you’re leading, you’ll hit resistance. That’s only natural. Even when the ones you’re leading fall under the innovators part of the curve [innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, laggards], not all of them will have the same risk tolerance. When they feel threatened, they’ll fight with nails and teeth to not break “that tiny part of the new status quo”. Here’s the thing: How do you build buy-in quicker?In 2 steps: Create a system for them to thrive. Build demand. A…
There will be more dives
You’ve seen now a bit of how diving could relate to business and how some principles could be applied. If there’s one thing I wish for you to stick with —especially in this world of uncertainty, fast-pace and busy-ness— is to Think Like A Diver. Remember to pause, assess, correct and go with your gut. You have the tools. You can make the time. Thinking like a diver will put you in advantage: you’ll see things moving in slow motion and gain perspective. If after your assessment you decide your…
Diving. A commodity.
A good thing and a “bad” thing. Yesterday’s email said that diving is a commodity and a scaled productized service. And that it’s a good and a bad thing. Depending on where you stand. Good thing The first organizations who entered the market chose to make it like that. They standardized the processes, the inputs, the scope. Making it happen like that allowed them to scale and propagate everywhere. With this, they can (still) capture a high volume and different fees that support their business…