I was driving home from a meeting baffled. It was a 150 mile return journey. For the first time in my career I told a prospect that I couldn’t fulfil their requirements. I’d actually turned away work. As they say, it was the straw the broke the camel’s back. This was when I knew it was time to break convention.
Time for a very brief CV:
- Years since I finished my Economics degree? 18.
- Years since I started my first role as a digital marketer? 18.
- Businesses worked for? 2.
- Businesses owned? 2.
- Clients as a consultant? 200+
I’m now entering my sixth year as a consultant. It has been a busy six years. When I sold my business and took the plunge as a consultant I was concerned about which label to use. Which ‘niche’ to represent. I’d spent 12 prior years working across a wide range of marketing initiatives. Areas such as SEO, Paid Search and Affiliate Marketing. Lots of different hats. Now, here I was, deciding upon the hat I should wear as a consultant. I chose the one I knew best. The one that had the most comfortable fit. That’s how I defined my niche.
The majority of my work involved Paid Search. It was my comfort zone. It was where I provided the best and quickest results for my clients. As a consultant, it’s where my reputation was built. But, there I was, travelling back from a meeting where I’d told my prospective client I couldn’t help them. They were struggling with their current Adwords agency and I had been recommended into them.
The problem? Nobody I met around that table believed in what their company offered. It was a false pretence that left me uncomfortable. Could I improve their KPIs? The all important ‘numbers’? I’m confident that I could. But, there was a hollow feeling when we talked purely in numerics. It felt decidedly unhuman.
I’d been so busy fulfilling a role within my marketing silo that I’d lost touch with what really mattered. To me.
When I decided I preferred humans to numbers
On that long journey home I decided it was time for change. The company accounts told me it had been a great 4 years so far. I had a buffer zone available to me, if I needed it. I let my heart lead… it was time for change.
It was convention that told me to ‘fulfil a role’ rather than to ‘fulfil a purpose’. A role pays the mortgage. A role keeps you busy. The role I had taken on wasn’t the role that I had decided upon. It was a role that my experience defined for me. Those hats I’d previously worn.
Breaking convention
I’d grown tired of my label. It was time for change.
My career, up until then, had been far from conventional.
- Starting out as a marketer for an online retail business in 1996 was a rarity.
- Taking on the role of European Marketing Director for a travel company that sold hotel rooms by asking customers to name their price? That was far from convention.
- Starting up my own retail business where we focused upon products we believed in that were from unknown brands in a market dominated by big name brands? A little quirky too.
I’d learned my trade by selling the unconventional. By thinking unconventionally. By marketing the unconventional.
By selling a story – digging deep into what really mattered to the audience we represented. There I was, on my return journey, frustrated by what I now represented. I’d lost touch with my own story.
So, how do you break convention? You find out what you really stand for. Then you focus, you educate and preach. I made the decision to continue working with the clients that believed in themselves, believed in me and those that I believed in my self. For the rest? Some tough conversations were had.
The time for change
With the additional time now available to me, I gave myself 3 months to decide upon a new path. I hadn’t decided what action to take if I passed that deadline, but I only really needed 2 weeks. That was more than enough.
In 2008, when I launched my consultancy I defined my niche by my offering. During those 2 weeks of considered contemplation I decided to define my niche by my purpose. There’s a dramatic difference in mindset.
What I’d witnessed through my prior client work was a relentless pursuit of targets. Spend x to generate y. Spend 2 times x to generate 2 times y. The focus was always on the numbers. Those numbers represented actual people spending actual money. That’s where my fascination lay. Why people did things rather than what it was they actually did. That’s what I’d learned and what I’d studied throughout my career. It was where I wanted to concentrate my efforts and my learning.
The reshift of focus was simple. I have no staff. I have no logo to update. I am my own brand. The tough call was culling 150 blog articles that had represented the ‘old me’. Those blogs talked about numbers and processes. That wasn’t my purpose. I just hadn’t recognised it until that journey home.
So, I started afresh. Was there a fanfair? No. Were my existing clients concerned? No. I just started writing new articles about a topic I was genuinely passionate about. Changing the way we do business online, for the better.
What change meant to my business
What I went through with my own business represented where I believe many businesses are positioned right now. Their marketing message pushes what they do without knowing what that ‘doing’ represents. So, they push money into advertising in hope that 1% maybe 2% of visitors will enquire about their services.
I knew I had the skills to change direction myself. I also had the skills and experience to help businesses change their direction. I recognise the need for change.
It’s funny. I no longer write with SEO in mind. I don’t believe people actually search for what I do. I’m simply a marketing strategist with ideas.
I was pleased when I reached no.1 on Google for the term ‘Adwords Consultant’. It boosted enquiries significantly. I did what people wanted me to do.
2 years on since changing the direction of my consultancy, enquiries are just as frequent. Those I receive now are from businesses where the reader believes I can help change their business. That’s an exciting proposition to get your teeth into.
As an ‘Adwords Consultant’ my newsletter subscriber base grew by a few names per week. Now, it’s growing by significantly more. Not because of what I do (my label), but because of what I ask my readers to think about (my purpose). There’s an almighty difference. Subscription growth is the only benchmark I’m now concerned with. ‘Do people get what I write about?’ In analytic talk, Am I converting more business?
It’s a wonderful feeling to know that recommendations have moved on from ‘Speak to Ian, he can help you with your Adwords campaign’ to ‘Speak to Ian, he helped change the way we do business online’. It fulfils purpose.
Believe in what you do
We’re just heading into the August. I’ve written 75 articles on the blog you’re currently reading during the past 7 months. That’s more than in the previous 2 years. Why? Because I believe in what I say and I’m fervently sharing what I learn.
What I now know
Your niche isn’t a label you decide upon. It’s not ‘what’ you do. It’s everything you represent. Everything you believe in. Everything you want to achieve for your client.
Not everyone will get what you represent. It does limit your market. It may limit it by a level you’re not entirely comfortable with. The result? It’s quality over quantity. Your work is far more enjoyable. You believe in what you do. Most importantly, you believe in what you can achieve for your client. I’m going to be very English here… but it’s bloody exciting too.
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