What did I have to give up to be successful in self-employment? Being scattershot

In a recent interview, (The first one- 12:58 minutes long) Melody Ivory asked me a great question— “What do I have to give up, in order to make money?” What?? You mean, we don’t get to have it all? Nope, we don’t. I always think of the saying: You can have anything you want. But you can’t have everything you want.

I told her that I’ve had to resist becoming scatter-shot in my business offerings. I’ve had to hone my message and develop a more laser-like approach to my marketing. This is hard because there are many things I like to teach and write about.  For example, I could teach seminars on how to get out of debt, or how couple’s can communicate about money better. I have done these things and I do offer seminars on them sometimes. But these topics don’t come up in my primary marketing message. If you are seen as a “jack of all trades” you are not perceived as a specialist or go-to-expert for help in a needed area. You water down your message.

I think this is very hard for women .We have so many interests that we worry we will become bored with a single topic. And we naturally gravitate to being multi-dimensional since we seem ready made to multi-task. (Yes, I really can cook dinner, pay bills and supervise my son’s homework while talking to my mom on the phone! And I know you can do this too.) 

But if we practice a scattershot approach in our work and constantly change what we offer, we will confuse our audience and target market.

I had a colleague say to me, “I really admire that you can still focus on one topic. I get too bored to do that.” Well, first of all, it helps that my “topic” of women’s money and earning issues is very complex. It keeps me interested, to be certain. And if I did change horses (now I am the get-out-of-debt expert, for example) then what would become of my marketing from two years ago? I can’t tell you how many times people call me up for help and say, “I heard you speak three years ago…” What if I’d moved on to a new service? As much as we don’t want to hear it, it takes time to build a business. Don’t be scattershot. It just doesn’t pay as much.

So what have I given up? I’ve had to put a lid on some of my professional passions and interests. But I’ve learned that  if I target my meta marketing message, I still have room to offer other things that interest me, to my audience. But I don’t confuse my audience. And you shouldn’t either. If people are not crystal clear about what you do and what you offer, they will simply move on. That sounds harsh, but that is what everyone does. One of the keys to earning your worth is focusing in on what you offer. Trust me. You’ll make more money. (listen to Mikelann’s 12:58 minute interview)

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