#345: How to Be a Generalist AND Specialist at the Same Time

Welcome to the High Income Business Writing Podcast, helping you propel your writing business to a whole new level. And now, here's your host, Ed Gandia.

Hey there.

Welcome to another episode of the High Income Business Writing Podcast, the number one podcast for business writers and copywriters who want to earn more and less time doing work they love finding for better clients. With over 1 million downloads from listeners just like you across 101 countries, this episode is much shorter than usual. Rather than my typical 45 minute format. Today I'm sharing a quick tip with you. This is part of the audio insights I publish for my private coaching clients every weekday, and I thought you'd find it helpful.

So here we go.

Hope you enjoy it.

I've heard this a million times. I don't have a niche and I'm a generalist who works with all kinds of businesses. So I'm having a really hard time doing this positioning work you're having me go through. And when I ask these people about their motivation for continuing to do things this way in terms of, you know, being a generalist, not having a target market, I typically get a response along the lines of, well, I just want variety in my work. I don't want to be writing for just one industry. And that right there is the crux of the problem. Most people who view themselves as generalists use the work client variety justification or the fallacy that it has to be an industry. So let's address these individually. First of all, this idea that you're better off being a generalist because of work variety, that's just not true. You can be much more tightly focused and still have plenty of work variety. What being more narrowly focused asks of you is to get more specific about what and whom you pursue, not what and whom you accept. That's a very important point. Let me say it again, where being more narrowly focused asks of you is to get more specific about what and whom you pursue, not what and whom you accept. It means that your marketing outreach becomes way more focused, efficient and and effective because you now have a very clear direction. Now you no longer have to do haphazard outreach, you know, because not everybody's a prospect anymore. You can get way more targeted and focused, which is not only more efficient, it's also way more cost effective for you. It also means that you can accept opportunities that may not be squarely in your target market, but that come to you via, say, referrals, word of mouth, or other means. Opportunities that when you qualify them, you realize are exciting and worth accepting. So that's the first key point. The idea that having a target market only limits what you pursue, not what you accept. The second key point is this. Your target market does not need to be an industry. I can't say that enough. Your target market does not need to be an industry. Yes, in 70, 80% of cases it is an industry, but it doesn't have to be. And many successful professionals do not have an industry as their target market. Instead, they describe the target audience by other common attributes they share. When I work with someone who's really stuck with this decision, I have them go back and list and analyze every client they've worked with over the past three or more years. Then I have them highlight the better ones, the better clients, and list a few of their attributes. From there, I have them look for common threads among some of these past better clients. For instance, is it were they brands? Were they brands with attitude? Brands that are very much founder focused? Maybe there's a big lifestyle element to what they offer. Or maybe there are companies that that sell into the higher education market. Or maybe many of them were companies that sold complex products or services. Or maybe products, services and their your better clients have shared over the years. This is detail oriented work that requires diligence and creative thinking. The answers may not be right there in front of you. You have to look for them carefully. But I tell you, once you find the answer for you, you won't be able to unsee it and you're going to start thinking of your value in a completely different way.

Well, that's it for today. I hope you enjoyed the episode. And just a quick reminder to GR free copy of my latest book Earn More in Less Time. The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance writer. You can get your free copy@b2b launcher.com or you will also find the detailed show notes to this and all my other episodes. Enjoy and have a great day.