News

This is What We Do.

10-09-2009

Excerpt from the Book:
“It’s Not Who You Know, It’s Who Knows You! The Small Business Guide to Raising Your Profits by Raising Your Profile” (©2009 John Wiley & Sons)
by David Avrin, The Visibility Coach

But creating confidence in your buyer is more that simply touting a capability, it’s asserting a leading role. While others may say, “We can do that, market leaders will remind us,“This is what we do.”

For example, most web design firms boast that they can do everything from layout, design, and functionality, to search engine optimization, incorporation of social media, and even managing your Podcasting. While it’s certainly smart to have a broad array of capabilities, what then separates you from the thousands of other companies that tout the same capabilities?

Price? Yikes! Who really wants to be the “low-cost leader?” Not me.

Web development firm Oniracom, based in Santa Barbara, California, is populated by an eclectic mix of casually dressed, twenty-something, slightly Bohemian, environmentally friendly, cyber-geeks (and I say that with all affection). They have assembled much of the same broad-range, leading-edge, Web development capabilities claimed by others in their space. The difference is that they specialize in creating a Web presence and online fan connection for music groups and rock bands. They love music and this is what they do. In fact, they have created web sites and fan-based social media integration and capabilities for top music performers such as Jack Johnson, the Counting Crowes, John Legend, The Wailers and Lenny Kravitz.

If a major record label or management company were to approach most Web firms and asked them if they could create a “killer web site” for their artists, what do you expect the response to be?

“We certainly can!” they will reply. The leaders at Oniracom, by contrast, will simply smile and say confidently: “This is what we do.” They will then go on to show the broad portfolio of musician web site and promotional efforts they have created.

In a head-to-head competition, who do you think the music exec is going to go with? It’s not even a question. Why take a chance? There is way too much on the line. It’s also much easier for them to sell the decision to hire Oniracom to their superiors or stakeholders. “They’re the best at this,” they’ll say. “This is what they do.”

Remember: in the end, the specialist is the safe choice. The specialist knows how to get it done because this is what they do. All things being equal (and remember, we can never allow anything to be equal!) the specialist will most often win the day. As long as your services are priced competitively, your niche will make you an attractive (and safe) choice for those looking to get it done right. And isn’t that the kind of client and customer we are trying to attract?