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We all hear about making yourself different to stand out from your competitors, but how do you really differentiate yourself without having to color your hair purple?

Our guest today is Jeffrey Shaw and he’s going to talk about how you can make yourself more marketable by discovering what makes you different.

A former photographer, Jeff is now a professional speaker, an author, a business coach, and a podcast host. This is Jeff’s second time on the show where previously, he talked about Selling the Intangible.

Here are the highlights of my conversation with Jeffrey:

Redefine Your Niche

Jeff believes in the diversified model. Instead, redefine your niche. It’s not the one thing that you do. It’s not the one thing you stand for. It’s not the one audience you serve. The new niche is the space you own. What are you the category king of?

How to find your new niche:

Figure out what makes you different. What makes you different makes you marketable. Every day we’re competing to rise above the noise. Really dig deep and figure out what really makes you different.

How to make yourself different:

• What is your unique perspective? Perspective is as unique as your DNA.
• The biggest mistake people make about storytelling is they allude to the story that they don’t tell their story.
• Fully own who you are. When you let go of whatever it is you’re holding back or keeping and let that show up, that’s what makes you different.
• What’s different about you makes you brandable. Brand that hard so that the world interprets it to just the right perspective that makes you rise above the rest.

Great insights into BRANDING:

• Branding has been given a bad rap because of its so many different definitions.
• The Pareto principle states that 80% of your income comes from 20% of your clients. It can also be said for productivity where 80% of your productivity comes from 20% of your efforts. However, it’s predicted that by 2030, 60% of the American economy will be driven by freelancers. And these folks can’t afford only 2 out of 10 clients to pay off. Therefore, you have to have the right clients.
• The right way to get to your clients is through your branding. Your branding communicates to your customers when you’re not there. Your branding does the talking.
• Branding is done well magnetizes and attracts the people you want and the people you don’t want don’t even know what you’re talking about. If your branding is so spot on, it should be unappealing to people you don’t want to work with.

Understanding your customer’s LINGO

• Your branding has to be aligned to your right clients. Jeff’s upcoming book is called Lingo. Lingo is the evolution of buyer personas and avatars.
• You need to understand how different audiences speak in their minds. If you want to reach them, you have to know what their perspective is.
• It’s all about the experience. Be value-conscious, not money-conscious.

How to get ahead:

Embrace the idea that your business should not follow the 80/20 rule. Make 80% to 90% of your clients your ideal customer. This makes your business predictable because you know exactly the lingo of every person walking in your door. You know how to communicate with them. You get the best results with the least amount of effort.

The 3 I’s

• Impressions
• Involvement
• Interactions

Look at these three I’s to give you a one-of-a-kind perspective about what you do.

Jeff’s Major Takeaway:

Get out of the mindset of selling and into the mindset of moving people. Sales is moving people from one place to another. It’s about moving them from indecision to decision. It’s about moving them emotionally. It’s about knowing and caring so deeply what’s best for people that you want to slowly bring them to where they could best be served. And you do because you’re committed to service and moving people.

Episode Resources:

Get The 12 Must-Have Mindsets for Uncommon Entrepreneurs on www.musthavemindsets.com

Listen to Jeff’s podcast, Creative Warriors

TSE 623: Interview with Jeffrey Shaw – Selling the Intangible

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

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