In Michael Mastersons newletter today, Bob Bly wrote a piece entitled "What's your Signature Dish?". The article referred to restaurants creating a specialty that identifies them and sets them apart from the competition. The premise being that you can't be all things to all people.
I personally experienced the importance of this when I first started my Concierge service. A Concierge does many different things for many different people. So, how do you convey exactly what it is you do when you do so many things?! One of the things that the Networking Organizations stress is creating the "Elevator Speech". That 60 second sentence that conveys what your mission is and peaks the curiousity of the other person to ask for more information. "I help people find more time in their day." "I help people create Work-Life Balance." "I do all the things people don't have time to do." More often than not, people didn't get it. Until I identified and promoted myself to specific niche markets, the concept of a "One-Stop Shop" was not understood.
I started promoting myself to Realtors. At that time the real estate market was exploding and realtors valued assistance to their clients. Everything from relocation assistance to waiting for service vendors, were services that they were anxious to have someone else take care of. The HomeWatch division was a service that realtors offered to their clients who were Snowbirds with dual residences. This became particularly popular during hurricane season. Out of towners had the security of knowing someone was monitoring their properties before, during and after a hurricane. The service morphed into Estate Sales for homeowners or families looking to sell belongings of family members who passed or were moving into Assisted Living facilities, and Demolition Sales for homeowners who were doing reconstruction or remodeling. All the time, organizing and coordinating sales and marketing efforts and essential service vendors.
As that market began to wane, I promoted my Event Planning and Sales and Marketing experience to promote the Executive Concierge services. This was a great niche market, not only promoting myself through speaking engagements, but also promoting other Executives looking to promote themselves through Seminars, Trade Shows and Speaking engagements. I not only promoted my clients, but also represented them at numerous Networking functions, managed and coordinated their seminars, but consulted with them on their Sales and Marketing and business strategies.
All the same time, I maintained ConciergeOnCall, a service marketed to hotels who did not have an on-premise Concierge, and EventsPlus, marketed to Country Clubs and Condo Associations to create a variety of events and parties for their membership.
Using my business and life experience, I even became the Speaker of choice for many of the clients I represented, as well as a number of Non-Profit Associations.
Many distinct niches all under one umbrella!
So, what is it I do? What is my signature dish?
As a consummate service professional with experience in so many different arenas, how do I identify the one thing that makes me unique?
Any suggestions?
Life challenges and difficulties lead us to a path of growth and possibility and incredible breakthroughs.—Christine Catoggio
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Personal Branding
Expanding my horizons!
As the entrepreneurial spirit that I am, I am always looking for ways to substantiate myself. Let the world know what it is I "do". And, hopefully, along the way, make a living at it!
My recent quest has taken me through endless hours on the internet, examining all the possibilities. I receive worlds of advice daily in my email from Michael Masterson, Philip Humbert and Michael Angier, to name a few. Examined all the business opportunities they recommend, and implemented many of their suggestions. Currently, I am experiencing information overload! So many great suggestions, where does one start?
So, when I came across a teleseminar featuring Jason Alba (author of "I'm on LinkedIn- Now What" and creater of JibberJabber.com), I felt compelled to follow his succinct advice on Personal Branding.
His Number One suggestion was "Get a Blog".
So, here I am; a virgin to the world of blogging! And, now that I've put my toe in the water, it's not so bad. I'm still working on tweaking my profiles on the online social networking sites, so my Personal Brand will be obvious to all who read them.
As the entrepreneurial spirit that I am, I am always looking for ways to substantiate myself. Let the world know what it is I "do". And, hopefully, along the way, make a living at it!
My recent quest has taken me through endless hours on the internet, examining all the possibilities. I receive worlds of advice daily in my email from Michael Masterson, Philip Humbert and Michael Angier, to name a few. Examined all the business opportunities they recommend, and implemented many of their suggestions. Currently, I am experiencing information overload! So many great suggestions, where does one start?
So, when I came across a teleseminar featuring Jason Alba (author of "I'm on LinkedIn- Now What" and creater of JibberJabber.com), I felt compelled to follow his succinct advice on Personal Branding.
His Number One suggestion was "Get a Blog".
So, here I am; a virgin to the world of blogging! And, now that I've put my toe in the water, it's not so bad. I'm still working on tweaking my profiles on the online social networking sites, so my Personal Brand will be obvious to all who read them.
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