What Makes You So Special?
January 2nd, 2010
Why should someone listen to what you have to say or buy what you have to offer?
Take a minute and really think about those questions. Do you have a clear answer? Because if you don’t, then the people to whom you want to market your business won’t have one either.
At a session I did awhile back, one of the attendees shared how valuable zeroing in on these answers was for her own business. Looking at it from a two-pronged approach, she knew that in her personal life, she had a huge story which went all the way back to her father. She personally struggled with conveying the story because, in her words, “I felt that feeling of ’Oh god, I can’t tell people that because I would feel uncomfortable telling them. And they would feel uncomfortable hearing this story.’ ”
But at a networking meeting where each participant was given seven minutes to talk about his or her personal life instead of what they did for a living, she relayed her story. “The whole room just went silent. They couldn’t believe it.”
Afterward she was approached by people encouraging her to write the story she had just told. Someone asked, “When is the book coming out?”
She had always felt very embarrassed about telling her story. But in light of the reaction she received, she had to rethink her reluctance. As she said, “I’ve always thought of it as being, ‘Oh no, you don’t do that.’ So that sort of turned it on its head slightly.”
Though it took a good deal of courage for her to share her story with the group, she knew that her story was a significant part of what made her so special. And the feedback she received from that group was quite the opposite from what she expected. They weren’t at all uncomfortable or embarrassed, they were compelled. “Godsmacked,” as she put it.
She didn’t even know why she chose to share her story that particular morning. This is what she told me … “I thought, ‘Oh for goodness sake, just tell them. Just tell them.’ And I did. And I think actually after I’d done that, their attitude towards me changed.”
It sometimes does take bravery and nerve to explore who you are and why you are doing what you’re doing. It takes fortitude and mettle to share your stories and reasons, especially the ones that once left you feeling vulnerable.
But these are also the reasons why you are special. And sharing them is one of the most powerful ways to really take your marketing to a whole new level.
Bernadette Doyle is a small business marketing expert. Get more tips and advice at http://www.clientmagnets.com
Tweet
Posted in 
Tags:
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by bernadettedoyle: What Makes You So Special? http://short.to/128op...
We all have a story that is unique and if it is packeaged up correctly it can be interesting and compelling to others. Having the courage to be transparent is often the difficulty and getting through the thought that ‘this wouldn’t be interesting to anyone.’
My personal specialty is helping people understand their small business numbers.
Words and numbers need to go together like a great song.
So often people are confused by the numbers and as a result they go to denial castle and try and forget about them.
How many times have I heard the phrase ‘Where’s the money gone?’ when talking with business owners.
Our new product for 2010 is called One Minute Business Checkup (beta at the moment) It is designed to help small business owners get to the bottom of their numbers in seven easy questions. Have a look at the beta version at http://www.onesherpa.com/ombc
If you’d like to promote this to your list then let me know. We have a way of giving you great information from the data collected during the process.
Hi Bernadette,
thank you for this inspiring post! In my opinion, feeling special is closely linked to being self-confident & knowing yourself inside out. There are so many factors that contribute to making every one of us special&unique, but we can only appreciate them if we stop comparing ourselves to others & simply be grateful for who we are (and are growing into, because we constantly evolve, right?).
I’ve just written an article on this topic, too, and called it “Emphasize Your Uniqueness To Boost Your Results” http://bit.ly/802yQ2.
Bottom line: We are all special. But not everyone cares enough or dares to actually use their uniqueness to pursue their true life purpose.