Why the World Doesn’t Need Another Generalist Firm

The reason why running your agency still feels so hard is you have not successfully positioned your firm. And let me tell you, avoiding The Difficult Business Decision is the single biggest problem when it comes to business development.

Specializing is scary. It feels risky. You don’t want to scare off leads — lord knows, they’re hard enough to come by!

Think about that for a second.

You call yourself a “full-service agency” because it makes you feel like you’re covering all the bases. Look no further, Mr. Client! There’s nothing we can’t do for you.

But if your client list is bloated with too many clients, paying too little but demanding way too much and, keeping you from actually attracting the ideal clients you so dearly need — you have a positioning problem.

Maybe it’s time to rethink risk.

Like a list of competitors as long as your arm — and that’s just your local market.

That is risky.

In this scenario, you have little or no power so you capitulate and write the Big Damned Expensive Proposal (and miss eating dinner with your family, again).

Your power comes from being seen as meaningfully different in the eyes of your ideal client.

To choose a focus for a market is to choose power. You are choosing to be strong.

The truth is, successful positioning is what separates the good WWP firms from the great.

They didn’t get there by failing to decide.

They got there by boldly staking their claim and building deep expertise in the service of their ideal clients.

They didn’t let an expensive consultant do the picking for them.

They didn’t delegate it to a writer or make it a branding-by-committee exercise.

They did the hard work of reframing their business around their bold decision (we’ll get to that later) … but first, they decided … to decide.

“I’m going to do X discipline for Y market.”

Stay tuned: we’re going to share the framework for making that Big Business Decision and all the things that flow from it that have served other WWP firms just like yours so well in a few days.

And just in case you’re thinking:

“I get it. I do. But we’re a creative firm … I’ll be bored with any one thing I choose in about 3 months flat. Then what?”

That’s a topic for our next email.

It’s one of the BIGGEST misconceptions — that your creativity will shrivel up and die. I promise you, it’s the opposite.

I’ll show you what your new and powerful world will look like in my next email.

We’ll look for it and get it posted!

This post compliments of Shannyn Lee, Director of Coaching at Win Without Pitching