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The Invisible Business Part 2: The Key to Being Seen and Wanted

March 7, 2012 by Lizabeth Phelps

So, your service business isn’t different enough, and you know it’s not acceptable
because you’re here for such a bigger game! So, how do you go about setting yourself
apart in the marketplace? 

Branding consultants uniformly advise business owners to differentiate on the
following:

• Pricing. Lower pricing establishes you as a easy-grab option; higher-end
  pricing cultivates an image of prestige or quality.
• Convenience/Efficiency: You position yourself as being able to get
  customers results faster than anywhere else.
• Personality. You separate yourself by what you wear; a particular way of
  speaking; an attitude, etc.
• Past Career/Adventures: You separate yourself by branding your business
  on a past career (Kenny the Monk was a monk, and now he teaches leadership
  in corporatations), or adventures (a mountain climber now helps leaders scale
  the highest peaks in their own lives.)
• Uncommon Credentials: You have a PhD in psychology but are teaching/ consulting business owners on business growth.
• Target Market: You stand apart by having a very tiny niche. Freed Gleek
  built his business fortune by helping the self-storage industry sell information products.

There are other typical branding/differentiation strategies, and clearly sometimes
they work. If they’re “Brain-Sticky” enough, they capture attention, leads and
dollars. Much of what we see on the internet are differentiation strategies that
succeed here—for much the same reason as we are all drawn to bright, shiny
objects: they’re sparkly bling and we can’t look away.

But too often that does not foster quality leads or clients, just those wanting quick-
fixes, convenience, or some thrill—then they’re gone. If you are here to effect change
in the world, most of the differentiation strategies you will find will be too superficial
for you. Your business identity must be substantive.

What makes a substantive business? One that offers intellectually stimulating
ideas; ideas that turn heads, provide rare insights, suggest provocative direction.
This is, or should be, the domain of the expert, wouldn’t you say? To speak not about
hackneyed concepts, but fresh and innovative ones that inform and expand.

What if your business was separated from all the rest in this way? What if you stood
on the mountaintop with a concept that had never been posed before and that
taught those listening something new and substantial, that they are hungry to learn?

Why do you think you’d stand out from everyone with this idea? Because good,
provocative ideas are hard to come by—so by that alone, you will be different. But
also because nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come. You want to
have such an idea.

When people work with me, this is how I differentiate them because teaching is the
domain of the expert, and service providers are experts—especially those with
big visions. They need to be out there in a very different way,  pulling prospects in
with their “Teaching Story.”

A “Teaching Story” puts forth a premise that no one else has. It’s yours and yours
alone, grown from your expertise, unique perspective, and wisdom. And it is how
you are known. It is your brand. As such, it is the secret weapon to becoming famous
and to changing the world.

What make a good “Teaching Story”? It: 

• Is highly relevant to your narrow-market—something they have high
  interest  in learning about.
• Tells prospects something new, that they didn’t know about that subject; it
  widens their intellectual horizons.
• Stirs the emotions—often inciting disbelief or outrage, sometimes sadness,
  and always hope and excitement.
• Has a provocative, even controversial, premise.
• Provides satisfying support for that promise. 
• Peels back veils, exposes untruths, and excites possibilities 
• Creates a significant shift in perspective. Participants say, “I will never look
  at this subject the same way again.”
• Dynamically unfolds to build suspense, alleviate tension and provide a
  satisfying and viable solution.

Like any good story, it is complete with hero, villain, desires, goals, obstacles,
suspense, climax. A Teaching Story has a deliberate “arc”—one that pulls the
prospect through a roller-coaster of emotions, to a final climactic finish of “a-ha!”
and transformation.

In order to get at your Teaching Story (i.e. your differentiation), it is imperative to
have your business identity fully established: who your target market is, what their
pains and desires are, how your solution is “urgently wanted” and what its results
are, what your mission is and, finally, your leadership message: the single-sentence,
mountaintop inspiration message of universal truth.

I do this work in a 7-session private program called, The Powerhouse Method™.
It is the fastest, most unique process you will experience for securing your one-of-a-
kind brand and the leadership message you are known for. To be considered for a
40-minute call to discuss your business differentiation and how the Teaching Story
works for you, just contact me at info (at) inspiredleadersacademy.com today! I
am confident you will never find a more effective, soul-stirring process for revealing
your one-of-a-kind business differentiation.