No, I don't have a magic wand that I am going to wave all Fairy Godmother like in your direction and shower you with sparkly dust to make wonderful things happen. Because I don't need to.
There is a big difference, however, between knowing what your Thing is, doing it, and BELIEVE-ing in it.
Knowing your Thing is Step 1, if you like. You need to know what it is you do that's brilliant before you can do it. You need to know what it is you see that other people don't. You need to know what your 'angle' on everything is so you can share your 'Thing' the version of the world you see with everyone else. You need to be clear about the value you bring, the different product or service you have that allows you to make a difference and get a result, that's the 'what' of your Thing. When you know what your Thing is, you can start to do it.
Doing your Thing will be about service... selling the product or service you have that allows people and businesses to benefit from what it is you 'see' that they don't. Your Thing needs to be packaged up, explained and offered for sale so that people can buy it knowing exactly what the outcome is they will get–this is Step 2. Then you need to get out there and tell people about it (that's the marketing part) then people can buy and you can 'do'.
Doing your Thing will get results–of course it will–but it will make it SO much easier for you to market and sell it if you believe in it. I don't know about you, but I never like buying from 'nervous' sellers. I need to have every conviction that who I am buying from is going to deliver the result they say they can. Yes, it's sometimes a 'feeling' you get, and other times it can seem very obvious it's not a Thing they are 100% sure of. Now let me add in a note here: it's not always possible to always know 100% your Thing is going to work (I can't make this claim, for example), but what I am sure of is I will always give 100% of my attention and ability to delivering my Thing (and I can say that I've never not found a Thing, but then there's always the first time!).
The last step (if we're counting) is to BELIEVE in your Thing. It's very easy to market and sell any-thing, but there is a big difference between selling with conviction and 'hoping for the best'. When you believe in your Thing is seeps out in everything you do. If your marketing messages have conviction, you'll not always take no for an answer if you can see the difference your Thing is going to make for someone (I'm not saying you'll badger people, but you'll engage with their objections!). You'll have an air of confidence in every conversation and communication you have about your Thing and this is the secret sauce to sales.
Once you believe in your Thing, it becomes 'natural' for you to market and sell it. You know what it can do, you know the difference it makes, and you don't want people to miss out if you know you can help. This is about service (not selling for the sake of it!). When you believe it, it's hard to disguise your enthusiasm and conviction which means you'll be unlikely to have to 'convince' people–instead you'll be inviting their curiosity and explaining how it all works.
Want to talk more about this?
Lucy,
Thanks for the reminder that when you really believe in “your thing” the sales is natural. I’m a week or two away from launching a new business where I truly do believe in what I’m doing. However for years prior, that wasn’t the case and I didn’t enjoy the sales. Seeing your post is a nice reminder of why it was worth putting in all the years of research and paying the price to do things my way. Thanks =)