Is your uniqueness your excuse or reason?

I'm going to try very hard to say this in a way that doesn't sound ranty. Because it's meant with love.

Some of y'all need to get over yourselves and turn your focus outward.

Every day (or perhaps what feels like every day) I have a new person in my inbox writing to me with some version of the following complaint:

"I'm not like other coaches! I can do so much more! I actually bring tons of different life experiences that I've learned from, trainings and expertise in lots of things besides coaching... it's not just one thing, which makes it really hard to narrow down and turn it into a specific compelling offer and message like you teach."

Uhhhh that actually makes you EXACTLY like other coaches.

(Just like the person who messaged me yesterday, and the one who messaged me the day before that, and the one who messaged me the day before that.)

And 100% of the clients I've worked with in the coaching industry have also brought a wide variety of amazing life experiences, expertise, trainings, and certifications besides coaching, just like you do.

So you need to stop blaming your "uniqueness" as the reason you can't sell what you do.

You are not unique, not as far as the topic of this post goes anyway.

Everyone on this planet is a multifaceted person who's had a variety of experiences that make them who they are today and (for entrepreneurs) represent the aggregate of the value they bring to the marketplace.

Not a single person out there brings "just one thing" to the table.

I include myself in those who used to think my gifts or that totality of what I brought to the table was fundamentally "uncapturable." Too special, too unique, too much.

What I've realized?

Is that there is never EVER going to be one single satisfying answer to how to articulate my gift.

Because... my gift needs to be articulated differently depending on who is listening!

I have many gifts and abilities and a lot of education. I'm a great strategic thinker. I'm a great writer. I have communications training and formal training in psychology and different research modalities.

But there is no need to try to tie all of that up in a neat little bow. Because from a client attraction perspective, it just doesn't matter.

So I don't tell prospects about my writing abilities or my strategic abilities or my psychology training.

Because my ideal clients don't care about any of that!

They care about getting clients into their business so they don't have to struggle anymore. Or, if they're not struggling, to scale more elegantly so they can have more money to provide for their families and the causes they care about.

So what I tell them is that I have an awesome process for helping them to scale their business to multi-six and seven figures using organic marketing to sell high-ticket offers.

That message is about the client, not me.

If I were ever to stop doing my current business and create a different one, or help folks in a different industry besides coaching, my message would change to reflect whatever outcome I'm helping those new clients to get.

Clients will come to you because they hear and see your confidence that you can help them to get a specific amazing outcome.

So, to create a compelling message, you start with the outcome - not your gift(s).

It's essential to go in that order, not the reverse.

Coaching clients want simple outcomes. More money. More free time. More love. Less anxiety. A better more aligned career.

The question to ask is: "What's a scenario that I could step into where somebody wants one of those simple amazing outcomes and the only thing stopping them from getting it is the gift(s) I bring?"

That becomes your message and offer.

You say, "I have a great offer for [demographics] who are at [starting point] and want [outcome]. To get you there, I'll work on [a, b, and c mini-outcomes]. And I bring x, y, and z gifts/expertise/trainings that will help me to get to the bottom of your issue and shift it."

The gifts part comes last (if you even say it at all) because if you understand a problem well enough to make a bold clear offer (like the above) to solve it for people, it's almost implied that you bring the necessary gifts/expertise/training.

For me it was almost a downer to realize that I didn't ever have to figure out how to articulate the gifts part because no one except me really cared.

And I suspect that's what's going on for a lot of other "stuck" people as well.

They think they want clients and a business, but deep down they really want to feel some kind of validation by having a way to talk about themselves that "feels good."

In which case, as ever, you'll need to evaluate what outcome you truly want, and (if it's business/clients) why you're stressing yourself out so much about something that doesn't make one lick of difference to getting there.