In February, I ran my “Million Pound Master Plan” event for the seventh time.
It’s a two day event that breaks down and dissects, in quite some detail, what has to happen to build a million pound business.
One of the foundation stones on which everything else is built is the recognition and understanding that to make a lot of money you have to decide to be abnormal.
You see, most people don’t build million pound businesses.
According to the Office of National Statistics, only 9.6% of businesses in the UK ever get to £1 million turnover.
If your business is turning over a million pounds then you’re in the top 10% of entrepreneurs. And if your business is making a million pounds of profit, then you’re in the top 0.4% of entrepreneurs and the top 0.1% of the population at large.
By definition, you can’t get to these places by doing the same things – or thinking the same way – that everybody else does.
You have to be different. Abnormal.
Offensive & Repugnant
Stop for a minute and think about how money moves.
You’ve heard the phrase “the rich get richer” and there’s some evidence to support this because every means of money’s movement.
People, favourable media attention, interest, fees or prices willingly paid, etc, is enormously affected and influenced by how important a person is perceived to be. Much more so than an assessment of how knowledgeable, skilled, talented, qualified or intrinsically valuable that person is.
For example, you’ll know someone in your industry or sector who isn’t as good as you are – yet they earn more money, get more attention and have a higher profile than you.
And it probably annoys you. A lot. In some cases, you’ll really hate them. You’re properly p****d off by how they’re seen and perceived by others because they’re no better than you.
But what you’re seeing there, is exactly the point I’m making. It’s clearly evident, but it’s disregarded by most people because they view it as unfair and unjust.
Most people believe that it should be the quality of your service or your product that determines your market share or price. And they might be right. Maybe it should. But it doesn’t.
People really want to believe that it’s the quality of what you do that should be the determinant of your success but it isn’t. It’s how important you’re perceived to be, i.e. your status, as seen by the market.
On this one, if you’re with the masses, it means that, in essence, your ego would rather be right than rich. Think about that.
WHO-ing
In every industry, there are those people who do the same thing but some are paid a great deal more than most. This is NOT an accident.
The biggest difference in how much one person is paid versus another ‘comparable’ is NOT what he/she does or how well he/she does it.
The difference is found in WHO he/she is (i.e. perceived to be by his customers) and/or who she makes herself for.
The lowest pay is earned by the labour. The more a person is viewed as a labourer (i.e. a do-er), the less important he’s perceived to be.
It’s a hard habit to break. Most people default to think about, and are emotionally wed to their own ‘doing’ rather than their own ‘WHO-ing’.
It requires a fundamental redefinition of the business you’re in and the activities which you default to and are enthusiastic for.
In short, you’ve got to acquire some status.
Wozniak v Searle
Those of you that came to the National Entrepreneurs Convention in 2014 saw Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple on stage.
But Steve’s not the speaker that people remember most from that event.
On the second day, Debra Searle completely stole the show. She was, by quite some margin, the most popular and impactful speaker of the Convention. She was the best.
But her pay was only 1/21 of Wozniak’s. That’s one twenty first.
Woz earned twenty one times as much for his slot as Debra did for hers. Same stage. Same time on stage. Twenty one times the income.
Why?
Because he’s a “somebody” and, she isn’t. Yet.
Life doesn’t give you what you want, it gives you who you are.
And there’s no other position in any marketplace that is more magnetic to money than that of ‘celebrity authority’. How do we create and deploy that kind of positioning, so we can utilise its benefits in our marketing and in our marketplace?
Positioning
Your positioning needs to be centred around what you want your marketplace to think about you.
A really good way to think about this is to imagine that you’re about to take the stage in front of 200 of the best potential customers you could possibly be speaking to. How would you want to be introduced?
This is the most useful way I have found to craft your desired position. The problem is, we’re British. We’re uncomfortable talking about ourselves or building ourselves up.
But if we don’t consciously and deliberately position ourselves as we want our market to perceive us, we’ll stay in the large scrum of ordinary businesses and ordinary people at the bottom of every market.
And it becomes impossible to ever emerge towards that top 10% to whom more money flows.
Let me try and help you at a practical level. A good way to get clear on your desired position is to fill in the blanks in this sentence:-
“[Your name] is known as the most sought-after [insert what you want to be known as here] in the sector/geography/marketplace”.
(You don’t have to be “the most sought-after”, you can choose another phrase here. I’m just trying to help you get started).
The next sentence says:-
“He (or she) is famous for…”
Now fill in this blank with what Frank Kern describes as your ‘magic power’.
Then your final sentence will be something that you stand AGAINST. This is important – and it can actually attract more people to you than what you stand for.
Let me give you an example. If I was being introduced, here’s what I would want them to say:-
Nigel Botterill is known as the most sought-after business growth expert in the UK.
He’s famous for building eight separate million pound plus businesses of his own in the last 12 years…
…and for providing straight talking, practical help and training that WORKS for many thousands of entrepreneurs…
…without being boring, obnoxious or using any bullshit. Brace yourself!
That’s my desired positioning.
Another example is from Mastermind member Paul Youngs who has also cracked this:-
Paul Youngs is known as the most respected print expert in East Anglia.
He’s famous as the print expert that other printers go to, as Paul can get anything printed…
…and he does it at amazing prices, with extraordinary efficiency and his customers always become his friend…
…because Paul never takes advantage or makes a quick buck. With him, it’s all about trust, his reputation and long-term relationships.
Making sense now?
My prescription for you this month is to get really very clear on this.
You don’t actually have to use it as a statement in your advertising or your marketing (although you can) but you do want to frame all your promotional materials around it.
Because life doesn’t give you what you want, it gives you who you are. So you might as well deliberately and consciously decide who you want to be.
Self-aggrandisement
If you’re serious about building a million pound business then you’ve got to be in the ‘self- aggrandisement’ business. No one is going to come along and anoint you. You have to do it yourself.
This means that you have to be in the “you” business. You have to build your status. Create who you want to be.
All sorts of things can help. Writing a book is useful, speaking from stage helps massively (you become an instant celebrity in the confines of that event. It’s amazing).
Having your own newsletter in which you feature prominently is also hugely helpful. PIA member Graham Rowan has built an entire business on the back of his hugely impressive newsletter and his online TV channel, for instance. Brilliant positioning.
In short, nothing is more powerful when it comes to significantly moving your business forward and attracting more money to you, than by being known – by the right people – for the right things.
There’s so much time and energy spent by EC members on honing, improving and refining their sales processes and their offers and promotions and, whilst these things do matter, the impact of them is trumped by the impact that effective positioning has.
And whilst you might wish that it wasn’t so, I promise you that it is – and the evidence is all around you.
Undertaking the exercise in this article, giving it some real thought and deep understanding could be transformational for you because, when you become a somebody in your market and the right people know about you for the right things, business – and life – becomes a whole lot easier.
Life doesn’t give you what you want, it gives you who you are. And you get to decide.
Have a great month.
