I hear the term “Jack of all trades” quite often, but I never seem to hear the last half of it – “Master of none”. I don’t know about you, but I do not want to be thought of as a jack of all trades. I want current and potential clients to know that I am an expert in just one or two key areas. And I say this after accidently making exactly this happen.
Welcome to Step 6 in our Moving Online series. There are the previous installments if you haven’t already read them. This won’t be a long one, but I really believe it is one of the most important parts of the process.
When others in my industry hear my name, they think of 2 things: QuickBooks Online and the Appcenter. I’ve spent the better part of a decade trying to make people love QBO as much as I do, and in the process, I’ve made a name for myself as an expert in the product and analyzing what 3rd party add on will be the best for a small business to acquire the tools they need to run their back office. The motto of my company is that we help clients leverage technology to work better, faster, smarter. As I tell my husband: QBO is my gig, that’s my jam.
My advice to those of you working at moving towards on online practice, gaining clients with which you work remotely, is to determine your specialty. Find your gig, right?
I think there’s 2 steps to this, and while this might sound simple, it might not be as easy as you think.
My first bit of advice is determine what your ideal client is, and I’ll be honest: I found this really difficult to do. You have to take a look at all the clients you’ve worked with, both current and past. Who were your favorites? What did you love about working with them? It could be a specific industry, it could be they were all family owned, it could be they all needed help with a certain aspect of their business, such as inventory, or integrating systems. Were they all brand new startups? Take some time to really examine your client list, and find that common denominator that connects your favorites.
The second part is to think about things you’re passionate about – both personally and professionally. What do you love to do? What are you great at doing? What are the things you LOVE doing with and for your clients? Once you have a few ideas here, try to think of ways you can combine them with your ideal client..
When you combine them, you’ve got your specialty. THIS IS YOUR GIG, MAN. YOUR JAM.
Read Step 5-Provide Flat Fee/Value pricing
Next: Step 7-Market Yourself
