The Desert of Arizona
Cloudy 41 Degrees
Back when all I did was copywriting for people, the focus was on showing the marketplace that I was “better” in some way. Better, better, better.
If you get to be “better than” the other choices, good things happen, right? That’s kind of the accepted premise. Of course we know that doesn’t always happen. But I’m going to go further than that to say that is the completely wrong place to focus your energy. Particularly if you want to stick out as a one-of-a-kind option for your prospective clients.
Yes, be great at what you do. But when you put the focus of your prospective clients on the idea that you’re “better than” their other choices, you run into some big problems.
First, you lose most of your potential for differentiation because you have willingly placed the focus on incremental comparisons that transform you into a commodity.
“I can get you that project faster than he can,” is one simple example.
Do this type of stuff enough and all you’re allowing your prospective clients to see are points of relative similarity between you and everyone else.
Second, you have little time left for what is truly the foundation of becoming an Incomparable Expert. The foundation is to give freely, without want. That is the real secret of the platform model.
The platform model is the model of NATURE. It gives freely without requiring anything in return.
So on an energetic (dare I say spiritual?) level, this is a high road where we can all choose to walk. No degree, certification or amount of wealth is required to GIVE.
Despite what you’ve been told, reducing this work we do to the level of a “transaction,” where you do X in order to manipulate the creation of result Y, that takes all of the real power and life out of it.
The platform model is more of a freely give and prepare to receive type of model.
It allows authenticity because it builds a structure where manipulation towards a RESULT can fall away. You can stop worrying then. You can begin to trust. You can power your work on an energy of abundance, not one of lack.
They say we humans are an advanced species.
I doubt that the deer in the forest spends too many waking hours worrying about the way interest rates are going. Or about his investments. Or about closing that big deal.
Seems like those creatures are living a few things we could benefit from learning.