Being clear and concise about what you have to offer is the most important network and marketing function of all, but also the most poorly articulated because it’s so obvious, we take it for granted.
Have you sat down and thought very clearly about what you have to offer? And, are you able to articulate it in a sentence or two?
What you say about yourself is more important than the level of exposure you get. A good message will make hay from very little exposure, but a poor message will fail in even massive exposure.
There are some, perhaps many, who go to BNI meetings and deliver clichéd, poorly articulated 60 second presentations and think that they’re doing a great job because ‘everybody knows what I do” (very often those presentations are dreamed up on the spot while other people are doing their 60 seconds).
The same holds true for radio advertisements, websites, brochures, flyers, sales calls and all other forms of marketing and sales.
However, the only way for you to distinguish yourself from the noise is by what you say.
You may ask: “How do I clearly articulate who I am and what I have to offer in an already over-crowded marketplace where every second person does what I do?”
“Observe all men; thy self most.” —Benjamin Franklin
The world is full of business coaches, lawyers, accountants, graphic designers, insurance brokers, financial planners…
The world if full of 60 second presentations, sales pitches and advertisements…
All of them are selling pretty much the same things as you are.
The first step to rising above the noise is to:
1. Understand exactly what it is you have to offer;
2. Understand why that is a benefit; and
3. Articulate it clearly and concisely.
You are not just a lawyer, or a real estate agent, or insurance broker… you are a unique person with unique gifts and unique skills living in a unique environment influenced by unique events and unique circumstances and surrounded by other unique people… how you appeal to them will be unique when you understand yourself.
Could any market be more crowded than pizza?
Yet, Dominoes came up with: “Fresh hot pizza in 30 minutes or its free”.
The Dominoes message is clear and concise. It lets people know exactly what they have to offer, as well as a clear benefit.
You may be stumped because everybody seems to do what you do, and in the way that you do it too…
Schlitz Beer had the same problem. Everybody made beer in exactly the same way, but Schlitz was the first to articulate how they made beer:
“The beer is cooled by dripping over frigid pipes in air as pure as human means can make it…”
Common beer production. Everybody was doing it, but by articulating it first they took ownership of it.
The moral of the story is to be really clear on who you are, what you have to offer and why that is beneficial. Then stick to it.
Your message is the foundation of all good networking, indeed, of all good marketing…
