Depending on when you were born you may or may not know of a movie called Coming to America featuring Eddie Murphy, where a prince from an imaginary African country called Zamunda sets out to find his humble future bride from working-class America.
There’s one line from the movie that comes back to me a lot in discussions, which I believe is simple yet profound business and career advice.
Often when we embark on a new career or business, we want to try to be everything to everyone, but often ending up being very little to not too many!
When I started my first business, I had a business card that listed what many other digital marketing agencies did, like:
We offer the following services:
- SEO
- CRO
- PPC
- Email marketing
- E-commerce web design
- Social media
- App Development
- etc
I showed it to a close mate who didn’t (and still doesn’t) mince his words – he said, “I still don’t know what you do!”
So I went back to the printer and created a one liner of what I thought I could help businesses achieve without any mention of the services – plain and simple. I help you achieve X & Y & Z!
I felt this lesson was important because we can all-too-easily get caught up in the technical jargon of what we do and lose sight of the main thing we are trying to help people or businesses achieve.
Because isn’t that why many of us are in business? We want to help people achieve something they couldn’t otherwise reach without our help because they are either too busy or don’t have the expertise.
Or said in another way that I heard from a mentor:
“it’s not what you know
and it’s not who you know…
It’s who knows you!”
When people need help with something specific, do they think of you or someone else?
“When you think of garbage think of Akeem!”
If you are starting out in business or in a new job or trying to reposition your brand, how can you get people to think of you when they have the exact problem that you solve?!
Just the question alone can challenge you to go back to the basics of what and why you do what you do.
But once you work that out, the clarity gained will hopefully propel you further.
Ask yourself, “When my ideal target client/audience needs X, do they (and perhaps how can I get them to) think of me”?
If you need help figuring who your ideal target market is and how they can find you, please get in touch with us directly for a free strategy session with either myself or my co-director Joel Gerschman, an awarded E Myth Business coach.
By the way, if you want a more tangible reminder of this idea, buy the t-shirt here.
