Becoming Significant

Listening to a recent webinar, one phrase that really stuck out for me was ‘don’t focus on being successful, focus on being significant and success will follow’ – a great quote from Oprah Winfrey.

We tend to measure our impact on how many followers we have on social media, how many Business cards we collect when networking and how many names we have on our database.

We fall into the trap of bombarding our mailing list with emails in the ‘one size fits all’ thought process, only to find that many of our emails are unopened or worse still, our contacts unsubscribe.

The dictionary definition of ‘significant’ is –

‘sufficiently great or important to be worthy of attention; noteworthy’.

• So what makes you worthy of attention?
• Why do clients choose you?
• What problem do you solve for them?
• What do they say after they have worked with you?
• Why do they come back to you?

Take a moment just to jot down your answers to the questions above and if you are struggling with the words, ask a grateful client to answer them for you or work with a coach to uncover your true value.

When you know the answers to these questions and truly believe in the value you have to share, you can start to become more visible from a position of real authenticity.

Remember, it’s not the quantity of people you attract, it’s the quality that counts and they can only find you if you have first found yourself.

So, who do you want to work with most and why?

Who are the clients who make your heart sing?

Have you defined your niche or are you offering all things to all men/women?

Once you are clear on your offering and who it is for, you can start to create your sales funnels and reach out with much greater clarity to your target market.

Let me illustrate this further – 

I am all about enabling my clients to become more visible by unlocking more of their true potential.

My work is aimed at senior leaders and senior teams.

I am creating a network and opportunities in Scotland so I can spend more time with my brother who nearly died in January and lives in Glasgow.

I researched networking in Glasgow and visited the very vibrant ‘Revitalise’ Network in June and August along with delivering a talk on networking to a CIMA group in Glasgow and meeting up with fellow authors from our book ‘Notes to My Younger Self’ to deliver our stories to an audience.

When I went to Revitalise, I had already talked to the very Charismatic Lee Foster who runs the groups and started to build rapport, so when I arrived, he knew who I was and why I was there. I was well prepared, had practised my 10 second intro to share my unique value, wore my bright trademark colours, was totally ‘present’ and instantly made some great connections.

As a result, I am working with a business coach from that meeting and also coaching her.

She has introduced me to some key people in Glasgow and I have several 1-2-1 meetings booked when I am there in October.

I am collaborating with a Glasgow Videographer to run my ‘Speaking to Camera’ workshop and I am also running a Networking Masterclass- both at The Virgin Money building in Central Glasgow courtesy of a great contact from Revitalise.

I am reaching out on Linkedin and connecting with people who are also in the business of empowering people, sending personalised messages which are bringing very positive responses and either phone calls or face to face meetings.

I booked another great Glasgow networking event through Twitter yesterday and connected with everyone mentioned.

I have been booked to speak at the Revitalise Christmas event.

I am not sharing this to show off in any way, I just want to demonstrate that when you are really clear on what you are offering, you can start to identify who you want to connect with and how you can help each other though collaboration, referrals and support.

It has been really easy to establish a presence in a city where I was unknown on the business scene and I am really excited about the opportunities that are opening up for me.

So how are you becoming significant?

• What are you doing to make it easy for others to understand how you can solve their problems?
• How are you sharing your value?

There are so many channels where we can reach out to our target market and enrich their lives and their businesses with our unique offerings and expertise.

Don’t be your best kept secret! Build great relationships and let clients know what they need before they know they need it.

Go from being invisible to significant to essential in just a few easy steps.

Where will you stand out this week??

How will you be ‘sufficiently great or important to be worthy of attention’?