#014 - The Power of One

#014 - The Power of One

‍Use these 'five ones' to unleash growth in your business.

Full transparency: I’m writing today’s newsletter as much for me as I am for you.

Something I’ve grappled with this year is focus.

In an attempt to grow, I experimented with many new initiatives.

I worked hard. Put in effort. And yet, I often felt like my wheels were spinning.

And yet, reflecting on the year, my focus was spread a mile wide and an inch deep.

I'm proud of myself for my creativity, ingenuity, and curiosity.

But, because my energy went into many new things, I didn’t develop depth and mastery in any particular thing.

I've come to see I'm quick to move to the next thing before any one thing can achieve its full potential.

Today, I present us both with a challenge as we enter 2024:

To ‘go all in’ on the five ones.

One target market.

Choose one audience that you’re going to serve.

Be as specific as possible.

If you’re struggling to pick, choose one you know and love.

The common pitfall here is failing to pick just one market.

We’re often scared to pick.

We’re scared to pick wrong.

Scared to turn away business.

But when you focus on serving just one target market, everything else in your business gets 1000x easier.

One product.

Identify the one thing you sell that provides the most value.

Your one product is the thing you do that delivers on your promise to your target market.

What can you provide better than anyone else that creates results for a group of people?

The trap is trying to do too many things.

Adding more products is just a distraction until you can consistently deliver value to one market with one product.

Launching a new product or service takes exponentially more effort and energy than honing something you already have.

One channel.

One channel means one strategy to get customers.

Find one tactic that works at driving demand, and double down on it.

Go deep and develop the skills to become efficient and effective with that channel.

Become an expert at producing content for that channel that speaks to your audience.

The best part is, it doesn’t matter which one you pick, so long as you master it.

The trap is that we often get distracted by new marketing trends we see in a LinkedIn post or hear at a conference.

Freelancers often abandon a channel to chase what’s new before investing enough time to achieve mastery.

One conversion.

One tool you use that gets people to buy.

This is what you do to translate demand into sales.

It could be a sales page, a sales call, sell-by-chat, or sell-by-email.

Pick one and commit to becoming great at that conversion tool.

Document it. Have a process for it. Systematize it. Hone it.

Few freelancers take time to build a repeatable and reliable sales process.

I understand we didn’t go into freelancing to become salespeople, but becoming a proficient seller will help you bring your value and gift to more clients.

One year.

What if you made a commitment to yourself to be consistent with these choices for one whole year?

1. Focusing on one target market.
2. Focusing on one service.
3. Focusing on one channel to drive demand.
4. Focusing on one conversion tool to close sales.

Imagine how proficient you would be twelve months from now.

It’s a scary thought, though.

We’re afraid of failing.

We’re afraid of the discipline it would take to say ‘no’ to everything else.

We’re afraid of making the wrong decisions.

I know I hold all these fears.

And it's what keeps us stuck and what keeps us small.

Here’s a freeing mindset shift that may help:

The goal isn’t to make the right decision. It’s to make a decision and then make it right.

That’s what the five ones allow you to do.

They give you the space and permission to become world-class at something that provides incredible value to a specific group of people who stand to gain a lot from what you offer.

I've always thought that my growth and success were a product of how much I did.

This time next year, I will look back on a year of unprecedented growth. But this time, it will have come on the back of having the discipline to do very few things and do them incredibly well.

Who's with me?

-Jeff

Freelance Marketing Alliance
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p.s. On January 16 at 12pm EST, I'm hosting Freelance Office Hours (over Zoom). An opportunity to connect with other freelancers, learn new skills, and ask questions. Sign up here. More details will come in the weeks ahead. If you have ideas for topics to cover, reply and let me know.

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