The Client Letter
May 2, 2013
The Northland
Cloudy 36 Degrees
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“What do you do?”
Why is that such a difficult question to answer when you’re asked by a prospective client?
I remember when I was struggling with my “U.S.P” (unique selling proposition) years ago. I went through several different ones trying to find something that worked.
Most of them fell flat… really flat. Like people didn’t even notice me flat.
The thing I didn’t get at the time was that discovering the unique value I brought to the world was virtually impossible because I was blind to it.
My “training” and brainwashing had made those parts of me that are most valuable invisible to me.
As you might imagine, this was a problem.
Yes, I read things about developing a U.S.P. and I listened to others who had done it. For some reason, I always ended up with something blah that kind of sounded like someone else… or it was so awkward that it just didn’t fit at all… or it was something that I liked but meant absolutely nothing to the clients I was trying to attract.
Whew… what a mess. Talk about feeling lost.
I had no idea at the time that my problem was I was trying to make decisions without seeing all of the facts. My “training” by the system had reduced my vision so that I couldn’t even see the REAL ME.
And then I chanced upon something in my life that turned a light on my whole self. For the first time ever, I got it. Holy crap.
All of a sudden I could SEE the most valuable parts of myself that I had been unable to see earlier.
Soon after that, “what I do” became very, very clear.
It was a long journey. And it’s a journey that many, many service providers are on right now.
Why is this such a difficult journey? Why is wrapping your business in a unique package so it really impacts your prospects such a challenge? Why is the path forward so hard to see?
Your vision is fogged because you were told a lie. You were told you are small when you are not. You were told you are powerless when you are not. You were told that success is something reserved for others… but it is not.
Why were you told these things?
You were told these things because the people who told you were also told these things.
The good news is that this cycle can stop with you.
Are you walking into client engagements forced to “work at a discount” because you lack the understanding about why you are the best person in the world to be doing the project?
You can change this.
The biggest benefit of getting this right has nothing to do with the clients you want and everything to do with you.
When you know what you are about and when you know what mission you are on, that clarity is freedom.
It makes your decisions (even the hard ones) more simple.
There is power in clarity.
You want a way to get the right clients for you? Turn up your light and shine it as bright as it was made to glow.
Helping people discover that light is what I do.
This is not a dress rehearsal here, this is it.