There is an affliction service providers and consultants are suffering from and it’s killing their businesses.
It’s called FOMO. The Fear Of Missing Out.
And it's becoming an epidemic...If one more person tells me that their target audience is “everyone” …I will scream!
I believe FOMO is one of the main reasons why most service providers struggle to find and communicate their point of difference.
They don’t want to ‘miss out’ on all those potential clients out there by being specific about the distinct type of person they help. They try to be “everything to everyone”.
As a service provider or consultant it can be difficult to narrow down your “inch wide, mile deep” niche, because you believe your service can help almost anyone.
Trouble is, going after everyone is virtually impossible, especially on a zero marketing budget, and it’s detrimental to your brand.
FOMO could be stopping you from becoming known for a specific service, with a specific clientele.
Why is it so important to become known as a specialist?
More...
If you really want to become a sought after expert in your field, with ideal prospects falling over themselves to work with you and raving fan clients doing your marketing for you, you are going to have to focus on being an expert provider of a particular type of problem for a certain type of person.
Lets face it, specialists get paid more than generalists.
Consider if you were an accountant and you decided your niche was hair dressing salons or a Mortgage Broker who only helped self employed business owners finance their home or investment.Instantly your scarcity mindset is going crazy and screaming at you…”what about all the other potential clients you are missing out on???”
It’s understandable, because as a service provider you are exchanging your time for money and there are only so many hours in the day for you to earn a living from…FOMO can develop very easily.
The biggest problem is that when FOMO does kick in and you try to “be everything to everyone” you lack direction and look just like every other service provider or consultant in your industry.There is no point of difference, no compelling reason why someone should choose you.
Without a single focus, you have to rely on old fashion ‘sales’ tactics to convince and cajole prospects to do business with you.
The benefit of having a Single Minded Proposition (SMP) is that you become a respected authority and well known expert, which means a couple of vital things happen to your business:
- 1. You can charge more for your specialist services
- 2. Your clients become raving fans who spread the word about your specific service
- 3. You get loads more referrals because people know exactly who you help
So how do you overcome FOMO and choose your SMP?
By becoming an expert in your sector.
And what’s the definition of an expert?
Well there is a joke that an ex is a has-been and a spurt is a drip under pressure…
Seriously, my definition of an expert is someone who does something completely effortlessly that others find difficult to do.
So what is it in particular that you do naturally, without thinking, by instinct?
That’s your expertise.
Who cares the most about that being done right and has no idea how to accomplish it themselves?
That’s your ideal client.
The next step is to totally smash FOMO by packaging and promoting yourself as that expert and telling the world exactly who it is that you help.
Do you suffer from FOMO?
Maybe it’s time you took a look at your specific expertise and who craves that solution the most.