Building a business costs money. Equipment, marketing, employees…and maybe you get a return on those investments, maybe you don’t. There are no guarantees.
Except one.
You’re guaranteed a return when you invest in finding your unique approach. It works 100% of the time and it’s 100% available to you.
I’ll prove it.
Proof 1: You already have a unique approach
If you have worked for at least a decade, you have a unique approach. You may not think so, but you do. If I ask your customers how you are different from the “typical” person in your industry, they will tell me. (It’s always easier to see unique qualities in others.)
The differences may be big or small, but no one human is an exact copy of another. You have strengths (and you play to them) and you have weaknesses (and avoid them). It’s human nature. You are unique.
Proof 2: Your own experience shows that you’re attracted to people’s approach
I bet you had a favorite teacher or coach. Mine was Mr. Graham: eighth grade geometry. He used dramatic illustrations when teaching formulas. We weren’t just finding the volume of a cone, we were on a quest! People might die if we didn’t get it right! He’d tell a story, write the formula on the board, and we worked on it together. To this day, I still get excited when someone needs help with math.
Now, here’s the question: did I resonate with geometry or his unique approach to geometry? Probably both, but the approach matters more. It always does.
Think about your own experiences. Doesn’t the reason you like (or hate) basketball, cooking, or the clarinet come from the way someone approached it with you? If they made you play basketball, chances are you resisted more than if they invited you to play.
As humans, we don’t resonate with “things,” we resonate with experiences that surrounds those things. The same is true in business. A particular business is either interesting to us (or not) based on how we feel about the unique approach they offer.
Telling someone you’re a business coach is about as exciting as telling them you’re a math teacher. Nobody cares. But your approach to offering those things can make people care a great deal.
Proof 3: You spend money on the people who fit you best
A unique approach decides whether you will make money or not.
When you discover your unique approach and communicate it, you give your audience the ability to say, “Aha, my search is done, this is the right one for me.” Otherwise, they keep looking.
You don’t have to drop your cost or coerce people or all that nonsense. You can keep your prices at a fair value. The right audience will agree with your price if you are the right fit.
But you have to do the work and discover your unique approach. You can’t just guess at it. You need to find a unique approach that makes the most of your abilities.
If you don’t, you’re doomed. I’m not trying to be dramatic, I’m being serious. Imagine if some guy built a website that says, “I’m an accountant. I do taxes.” He wouldn’t last a month.
People already know what accountants do. The reason they’re coming to his website is because they are trying to choose the right accountant.
They want the one that fits them the best. And they’ll never know whether you’re the right fit unless you tell them your unique approach. That’s the only way they can decide.
Once you discover your unique approach, you can apply it to your marketing and sales script to attract your ideal clients. Your unique approach is the greatest investment you can possibly make in your business.
The simple, short truth to live by:
A unique approach works so well because it helps people see whether you’re right for them. Yes, they care about price and quality and all that…but more important than anything else, they care about finding someone whose approach fits them.
When it comes to investments: prioritize your unique approach. Discover it, understand it, and use it. It’s the one investment that outshines all others combined.
