If you’re an independent professional, I imagine you have an “elevator speech” that is the organizing principle of your marketing brand. It consists of one to three sentences that can be delivered in 30 seconds, as if you only had someone’s attention between the lobby and the 5th floor.
Even if you never attend a business networking meeting, what do you say when someone at a party asks “What do you do?”
One of the most common mistakes is to make your business description too broad, for fear of losing potential business. The more people you can serve the better, right? But in actuality trying to include too wide an audience has the opposite effect.
When you don’t claim the specific work that expresses your unique life purpose, you’ll be going against the grain of your own blueprint trying too please too many people. It becomes an uphill battle to keep the attention of your market. You’ll sound too generic and not special enough, spreading yourself too thin with mixed results.
In contrast, when you are doing the work you are meant to do exactly for those you are meant to serve, you’ll be lifted into the flow of your inherent gifts and get the best results. A growing and loyal client base will send referrals your way. And, naming the purpose that fuels your business allows your ideal clients to find you among all the other voices.
Imagine that you met several marketing consultants at a convention and got these three responses when you asked about their work.
- I create marketing plans and campaigns for small businesses.
- I help my clients rank at the top of the major search engines.
- I help conscious companies that want to use business as a force for good create campaigns that share their vision.
How did each one touch you? Notice that while the 2nd statement was more specific than the first, it still is purely task-based. The 3rd statement speaks from the bigger picture of the consultant’s purpose and those of her clients.
The person hearing this elevator statement may not own a company that fits the description, but if they know someone who is, they will know exactly where to send them!
While stating the impact of your unique gifts in this way means that you are turning many away, it also means that your ideal potential clients will be saying “You’re exactly what I/we need — when can we start?”
It’s worked very well for me since I discovered and started using my purpose in my marketing — including having people in tears saying “I can’t believe I found you — I’ve been looking for this for so long…”
Are you clear on the impact of your life purpose in the world? Is it time to boldly claim your purpose in your marketing brand?