Have you heard of The Good Work Myth?
If you do good work, clients will find you.
Well, scientifically it’s not true. Research proves it over and over.
Now don’t misunderstand me. I totally believe that doing good work personally rewards us, makes us feel good because we did and delivered the right thing—not to mention the client feels good.
However, simply doing good work and waiting for clients to find you means you’re flirting with tragedy. Because in this market they probably won’t find you.
I was working yesterday with a long-time client who is just having a miserable time grasping this truth. Her words, “I just want to do my work,” rang so strongly for me. I hear it all the time.
“I just want to do my work.”
“I just want customers to arrive.”
I just…it doesn’t work that way.
You’re a wonderful subject-matter expert. You are great and your work for customers is great.
As a subject-matter expert you must recognize something…
…we know so much more than our customers do about our subject.
Whatever your field–fitness, financial health, weight loss, stress management, money management, car repair, anti-aging, real estate, back-office support systems, conquering our emotional demons, making ice cream—you name it, you know way more about it than your customers. And that’s the way it should be.
We are the trained experts in our fields. As it should be.
But are you a trained business experts???
Most have no education or acumen there.
That means we have to master business dexterity in order to deliver our beloved work to paying customers…for whom we do good work.
Ditch your “do good work and people will find me” in favor of building real business acumen to attract your Ideal Customer to your business.
Go forth and do great things,
MARTHA and CHRIS