In an era of abundant choice, every entrepreneur must differentiate their value proposition from the slush pile of competitors. In the above video, you can learn some ideas useful for creating competitive advantage in your creative business.

Back in May 2011, I was invited to speak to the AIGA Santa Barbara Chapter on the subject of business development. The venue for the talk was a tasting room and wine cellar in dowtown Santa Barbara. The audience consisted of creative professionals from the Central Coast region of California, and included independent designers, advertising agency principals, web developers, writers, photographers and illustrators.

I have been in the creative services business for nearly 30 years. I know first hand the business development challenges that face independent creative professionals. It’s a constant struggle to find clients, serve them well and get paid what you’re worth. In the video, I offer some advice and six strategies that can help you reframe your thinking about business development and creating the success you desire in business. You can also download my FREE booklet on the subject here.

The world is moving and changing so fast, it’s nearly impossible for one mind to keep up. In a time of much confusion and disruption, the secret to creating a significant life is: one thing.

I’m reminded of the pivotal scene in the movie “City Slickers” when cowboy Curly, holding up one finger, tells Billy Crystal’s dismayed character “Do you know what the secret to life is?”

The answer is one thing– nothing more, and that’s what you have to figure out. Take Curly’s advice. No sense burning daylight my friend.

One thing– you must focus all your unique talents, capabilities and resources on one thing.  Discovering your one thing and committing to pursuing it in the face of all difficulties and challenges is the measure of a life well lived. Your one thing is the only thing that will bring you life-long fulfillment, joy and satisfaction.

For many creative entrepreneurs and solo professionals, this “one thing idea” can be problematic. Creative people are naturally predisposed to curiosity and distraction. They enjoy the diversity of doing it all. At the early stages of business success, it’s tempting to cover as much ground as you can in order to create as much opportunity as possible. But you won’t discover your great work attempting to be all things to all people. Nor will you be able to do it either.

You have to focus on one thing and get famous for it. So famous in fact, you’ll always have more opportunity than you have capacity. Build your personal brand around your one thing. When you do, opportunity will find you, not the other way around.

Your one thing is your life’s great work.

A house divided against itself cannot stand. This timeless expression of wisdom applies to your mental energies too. You can’t divide your attention, your time, and your money across a spectrum of activities and build the deep and narrow expertise that will define and distinguish your great work. You can’t be great at everything. Don’t even try.

Make the decision to follow your heart because there is no better alternative.

Doing your greatest work, making your significant contribution to the world requires the art of sacrifice. Once you free your mind from the temptation of chasing random opportunities, you’ll have the clarity and confidence to open up and trust your one thing.

On the trail of discovery of your one thing.

Discovering your one thing is not an easy matter.  It’s not for city slickers – it’s rough, rugged and scary. You’ll have to be willing to venture far out into the rugged frontier of your own life without a map. And as you explore the trail, far past your own conventional wisdom, be patient. Your one thing will take it’s own sweet time revealing itself to you.

Along the way, you’ll face intense inner resistance. The discovery of your one thing will challenge you to elevate your own thinking, your beliefs, your associations, and the quality of your presence.

Here’s a hint–your one thing will involve your greater contribution to serve the good of others.

Your one thing will always involve your higher nature, your inherent talent and skills. It comes from within you, and you are a genius at doing it. No one else on the planet can do your one thing. The one thing will always require you to do what really matters to you.  Only then can you serve the good of others and fulfill your destiny.

As we like to say around here – your one thing is found at the white hot center of who you really are. Once discovered, you won’t want to do anything else. You won’t be able to do anything else.

That’s why the resistance is such an awesome clue for discovering your one thing. In every area of your life, if you are experiencing resistance, you’re going in the wrong direction. Turn around and go the other way.

Go ahead and put all your eggs in one basket.

Whatever it is–to discover your one thing, you have to be all in. You’ve heard the expression “99% is a bitch and 100% is a breeze”.  Once you make the irrevocable decision to follow your heart’s desire, the unseen forces will conspire to help you along the trail. But you have to be all in regardless. Nothing less will do.

Think about it. What clues do you already have about your one thing?

It’s such an easy thing for creative entrepreneurs and solo professionals to fall victim to–placing more value on the deliverable and not the manner in which the value is delivered.

Being brilliant at solving problems and creatively expressing solutions that satisfy client’s is the name of the game. But doing great work is not enough to give your business a competitive advantage. You (and your team) must be equally skilled in the art of consultmanship. Let me ask you a few basic questions:

Do you (and your team) deliver on everything you promise?

Do you (and your team) initiate difficult conversations that keep your client fully informed and prepared on important details of the project’s progress or challenges?

Do you (and your team) bring new or additional insight, advice and ideas to support and elevate your client’s role within their organization?

If your answers aren’t an emphatic yes, then you might want to consider putting more focus on your consultmanship–the manner in which you (and your team) behave and treat your clients while you are engaged in creating solutions for them.

The manner in which you deliver solutions determines your competitive advantage–not just the quality or usefulness of the solution.

Clients have many alternatives to you when seeking a solution. Solutions are a given. Clients care about something more important–being recognized within their organizations for having the good sense to hire you in the first place. Clients pay for trust and security, not just deliverables.

To gain a competitive advantage with your client, you (and your team) have to deliver in spades on the trust component. You earn their trust, and when you have their trust, you’ll also have their respect for the value you are providing them. Your client would never think about considering anyone else but you because it would not be in their own personal interest to do so. To get this going for you in your business development, you (and your team) must be expert at consultmanship.

Here are some practical suggestions for improving your level of consultmanship skills:

At the beginning of the project conversation, never ask “what’s your budget?”.
Rather you need to be asking your client questions about their pain or need first. When you listen carefully, the client will always reveal to you the value of the solution to them.You’re there to provide insight, advice and guidance, building a rapport that builds the client’s trust in you (and your team). You’re not there to simply take an order. Anybody can do that!

Naturally, you have to determine early in the conversation if the client has the minimum money you require to solve their problem. But if your client believes and trusts in you to ease their pain and deliver the desired outcome, they’ll come up with all the money necessary to hire you. Remember the client determines the value of the solution, not you. When you get this down, your fees will rarely be  considered “too high”, and chances are, you’ll command a premium too.

Managing expectation is your responsibility.
Never over-promise, always over-deliver. You’ve heard that a million times. Before you begin any project, it’s critical you and your client have a shared vision and expectation about what success will look like at the other end. When you (and your team) say you will do something, you better do it and put some sugar on it too. It’s easy to find yourself saying “sure, no problem, we can throw that in the deal” over-committing yourself (and your team) to curry favor to win business. Remember the old expression “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”.

You disappoint your client on any level just once, and you will secure the fate you deserve. Rarely will you get a second chance to be trusted. Say no early and often!  Use discernment and careful judgement about what you say yes to.

Everything you do must be of the highest professional standard.
This means the quality of your presence, the quality of your materials, your communications and delivery systems. Your client needs continued reinforcement in their decision to hire you. Your actions and behavior is how you reassure them along the way of their good judgment to hire you (and your team). Your behavior will also influence and elevate the quality of your client’s presence and stature within their organization. It’s all about them not you!

Provide more use value than you are paid in cash value.
At the end of the day, your client must have the perception your solution has provided them more use value (benefit) than the money they have paid you.  This is a fundamental principal of competitive advantage, prosperity and wealth. When you (and your team), by the nature of your talent and contribution to your client’s desired outcome, are valued more than money, you will command premium pricing and favored status.

Never send a bill that’s a surprise to your client.
You must never under any circumstances place your client in a position to question your bill.  When a client receives your invoice, it will always reflect the agreement you have previously made. Nothing will kill a business relationship faster than a surprise invoice–nothing is more deadly to your future.

Consultmanship is the critical skill you (an your team) must master in every level of the client engagement.  How you deliver is as important (arguably more) than what you deliver.

Consultmanship is more than good customer service. It’s a heightened awareness of what’s important to the client over the course of completing the project. It requires a method of delivery without the client ever having to ask. You’re there to lead. And leadership is service in disguise. The process of working with you (and your team) must rock your client’s world.

Year end is a fitting time to check in, take the pulse, and add up the score. With that in mind, allow me to share the Official White Hot Center 2011Year End Rant.

For many people following a vision for a bigger future, it’s common practice at year-end to check the score, assess the situation, take your pulse, make plans, and set goals for the next round of accomplishments in the year to come.

If you’re the type who engages in year-end ruminations and goal setting, it’s a good idea to begin the process by asking yourself these questions:

•     why am I following this vision?
•     why am I still driven to keep going?
•     why do I want this desire?

Having clarity about these answers is essential if you’re to continue to engage and pursue your vision for a bigger future with joy, passion and lightheartedness. After all, the whole idea here is to be creating your life in an easy and relaxed manner-in a healthy and positive way!

You need to stay deeply connected to the purpose behind all your desires for accomplishment. Without purpose driving the desire for accomplishment, you’ll never appreciate any of your accomplishments.

With that in mind, allow me to share the Official White Hot Center 2011 Year End Rant. It has been a particularly challenging year. I sum it up this way:

I feel like a racehorse trapped in the barn.  I’m kicking hard to bust out, expending precious energy needed for the race. And make no mistake I want to run (and win) some more races. Here I am with all this talent and capability, yet everything I am doing sounds like one hand clapping.  I feel frustrated, anxious, irritated, blocked and stuck.

Right now, I’m asking myself the tough “why” questions.  Why am I doing this?

Like you, I have a vision for my life and I’m committed to achieving it.  I’m asking “what’s working, what’s not” with all the year-end introspection and reflection I can muster. I’m once again connecting to my answer to “why do I want this?  My answer keeps me in the game!

The risks and challenges involved in the creation and realization of any vision will always bring you back to your purpose–your reason for being here and doing here. Risks and challenges will always be present for entrepreneurs. They’re baked into the experience of being the type person who creates value for others first.  There are no guarantees things will work out–even when you play by the rules and do the right things.

For many of my colleagues and clients this has been a challenging year too. Our economic malaise is a shadow cast over everything right now. There is a heavy worry tax paid on every business development activity. It’s getting more difficult to connect and be in front of the right people who represent the best opportunity.

Knowing why you’re still stoked to be in the game is essential to keep you in the game.

Despite any evidence that nothing is working, everything you desire to bring to the world begins within you. When you know why you’re engaged in something really important to you, it gets easier to believe everything required to make it happen you already have within you. You can’t create anything from “out there”.

In spite of the challenges of  this past year and those to come next, I am, more than ever, committed to my vision for a bigger future. My purpose provides the  reason why I continue to keep moving, learning and growing each and every day:

My purpose is to share my talent, expertise, knowledge and wisdom helping creative people BELIEVE and SEE their vision for a bigger future. I love to create and express ideas, forms and structures people can use as maps and vehicles for their success journey.

I’m so happy and grateful NOW that I am creating the success I desire doing what really matters to me. I love working and collaborating with successful people who value my contributions to their success. All that’s required for my success available to me at all times. I am creating the life I desire in an easy and relaxed manner, in a healthy and positive way.

There you have it. Why not make 2012 the best year yet? To all the good readers of the growing White Hot Center blog, I wish you a joyous Holiday Season and PROSPERITY in the New Year!

Thanks for all your comments, support, trust and confidence you have given my work here. To your inspired success,

Thomson

As a self-employed creative professional, particularly at the beginning of your business success, it’s wise to ponder whether you will build your future being a hunter or a farmer.

For many creative people, their talent, skill or craft is the white hot center of why they’re in business–they love doing the “work”!  That’s what drives their energy and passion for success! That said– to sustain and grow a business, other skills and capabilities need to be present as well.

As a business owner, there’s a fundamental decision you’ll need to make early in the game–will you work on your business or in it? Will you be a rugged individualist (hunt) on your own, or will you collaborate (farm) with others?

Thinking back on the early development in my creative business, I was convinced I had to know everything and do everything in my business. If I was going to be successful, I had to get the work, then do the work, then rinse and repeat. After all, I was a motivated self-starter out on the frontier of my new business. Early on, I valued control (hunting for today) over collaboration (farming for tomorrow).

I formed the narrow and limiting belief that I was the only reason I had clients. Everyone else in my organization was there to support me. I was out in front of everything. I was working very hard in my business taking anything that came my way.

Let that not be you!

In your business development, it would be wise to ponder whether you will build your future being a rugged individualist working hard in your business, or as collaborator free to work on your business.

Your decision has important ramifications for how you will build your business and what your future will look like.  If you’re a rugged individualist and you want to control the “creative output” of your business, then you’ll need to seek collaborators who will focus on the “input” side of the business– building new relationships, discovering new opportunity, providing more value, and developing future business with higher value clients.

Will you be the farmer or the hunter?
Farmers favor co-operation and collaboration, hunters favor individual control. A farming business is based on planting and harvesting. A hunting business is killing and eating.

I was a hunter–very skilled at killing and survival. My horizon for survival was always immediate and in real time. I was in a constant hunt for projects and struggling to make enough money to sustain the business. As is the case with most hunters, I had more capacity than opportunity. As you can imagine, being responsible for delivering and transacting, I spent very little time in my business day planting seeds for the future.

The trouble with a hunting business is when the game is scarce, hunters will eat anything.

On the other hand, farmers, use the law of cause and effect to create their bigger future. They plant and then they sow. The mindset is on multiplying and abundance. Farmers work on their business. A farming business is a more valuable financial asset than a hunting business. When you stop hunting, there is no business.

The big decision hunters need to make.
If you’re the rugged individualist-hunter type, focusing your creative energies working in your business–killing and eating the current opportunity–then you might want to consider making the big decision to collaborate with a farmer type who will plant the seeds of a more sustainable and profitable future.

To be sure, a successful business requires both farming and hunting skill if you are to have a continuous supply of opportunity that will exceed your capacity. When your opportunities exceed your capacity, two strategic things will happen– you’ll be more choosy about what clients you’ll take on, and you’ll command premium pricing.

From my experience it’s the farmer who experiences more creative freedom and sustained prosperity. As best you can, develop the discipline to work on your business.  Farm don’t hunt.

All of us want to work with great clients. But when your capacity exceeds your opportunities it’s hard to be picky. There’s only one way to work with great clients– you must pick them.

In this economy, many of my colleagues and clients are saying “any paying customer is great customer these days”. While that may be true with respect to keeping your cash flow happening right now, it’s not going to help you attract the truly great clients who are a better fit for you, and offer you more opportunities to increase your value to them and command premium fees.

How do you know which clients will represent a good fit? Have you taken the time to evaluate the criteria of what type of client will provide the opportunity for doing work that matters to you and will have a big impact on the clients business?  Do you know with confidence what attributes comprise a great client you / your company are well suited for?

Before you can serve better clients, you need to know one when you see one.

More importantly, you need to know why you are a good fit to serve them in ways that matter to them enough to pay you a premium. Here’s a checklist description you can use in your business development conversations to help you define and qualify a great client you are perfect for:

Great Clients value expertise– specifically your expertise. Great client know you are the go-to resource for a specific solution, and they are eager to listen to your strategic advice and recommendations, and will gladly pay the higher fees your expertise commands.

Great Clients always offer opportunities for you to do great work. Great clients are making a difference in the world and they believe you are just like them. They are at the forefront of their industry. They perceive your expertise to be at the forefront as well, and that your capabilities will make a difference for their business outcomes.

Great Clients are respectful and appreciative of your contributions. They will express this to you and your staff regularly. They will inspire you and your staff to provide ever-greater results and solutions for their business success.

Great Clients are forthcoming and honest about the amount of money they have to solve their problem because they trust you. They trust that you / your company will always bring the best solution to them for the resources they have to invest. As a result they are reluctant to put the project out to multiple bidders before consulting you first.

Great Clients are loyal advocates and champions for your expertise within the client organization. They have full authority over all aspects of the engagement and remove political barriers that interfere with your ability to provide the best solutions to them.

Great Clients always pay on time and in accordance to your terms.

Great Clients recognize and are comfortable that you are making money in the relationship. Great Clients want you to be a profitable business partner, primarily so you can continue to provide them with your best thinking, and your business is sustainable over the long haul, giving them long-lasting value.

If you want to grow your business with ever greater clients, you will need to change your business development and selling strategies accordingly. You have to resist the temptation to take on clients just to pay the overhead.

In your early stage selling conversations, you should stress that you only work for clients who are a mutual good fit. If you discover, by using the criteria above, a prospective client is not a good fit, refer them to a firm that you feel would be a good fit for them. Doing so will strengthen your position should you have a future conversation with them. And besides, it’s a classy, confident thing to do.

You have to be picky if you are to attract great clients. In your business development process, it’s up to you to qualify prospects that represent the best opportunity for you to create a more profitable and enjoyable business relationships. You can do this by design rather than happenstance.