Tired of getting beat up by low-ball competitors?
The truth is that every business and profession is commoditized…
That’s the market reality…
But it doesn’t have to be your reality.
In fact, I love this quote from Seth Godin…
Commodities are in the eye of the producer. If you don’t want to sell something that’s judged merely on price, then don’t.
My guest on this episode of The Unstoppable CEO Podcast is Philip Morgan, and he’s an expert at specialization.
He’s got a great process that will help you figure out how to specialize, and how to escape the commodity trap…
In the interview we cover:
- Why you should specialize
- How to overcome the fear of losing out on opportunities
- Why specialization actually speeds up client acquisition
- The importance of frequent communication with your market (and one unusual side effect)
- How to use specialization as a launching pad for increasing your fees and reducing the complexity of your business
And so much more…
Episode Timeline
00:11 Today Steve speaks with Philip Morgan. He helps businesses make better positioning decisions and is the author of The Positioning Manual For Technical Firms
01:03 Philip tells us how he got to be an expert in positioning after becoming unemployed in 2008.
05:14 Steve talks about the pushback he gets when he advises companies to reduce the number of clients.
05:58 Philip explains the immediate benefits of reducing and specializing.
08:28 Philip explains how publishing to his email list 5 days a week helped his business more than anything.
10:18 Philip explains how he is an “unlicensed professional” and talks more about email marketing.
13:36 Steve and Phil talk about the difficulty of coming up with new ideas for email marketing but also the benefits that that difficulty brings.
16:40 Steve talks about the self taught skills he achieved through publishing frequently.
18:40 Philip talks about the importance of having a point of view.
22:34 Philip explains how he approaches his clients about positioning.
28:32 Philip talks about how we tend to focus on the loss rather than the gain and rappelling clients you don’t need.
31:11 Philip explains how you should take the chance and make the decision when the opportunity presents itself.
34:08 Steve talks about the benefits of learning on the job when going in a new direction.
36:17 Philip and Steve talks about the negative thoughts such as Imposter Syndrome.
42:21 Philip gives a great example from his own podcast of someone who specialised down to just 6 clients.
45:48 Philip tells us how best to get in touch with him.
Mentioned in this Episode
- The Position Crash Course by Philip Morgan
- Al Reece
- David Baker
- Blair Enns
