How To Stay In Your Lane While Still Playing To Your Best People

You know how you have a favorite something from your go-to source on X that arrives occasionally in your e- or snail mail?

You can’t wait to open it—maybe you even save it for later when you have more time to savor it.

I have a home décor source like that. Their emails and catalogues are chock-full of colorful textiles in shades rarely seen elsewhere.

It’s like a big dose of happy arriving in my in-box.

So when I opened their latest catalogue (while curled up in anticipation, fresh cup of tea in hand), my jaw dropped because every page was covered in soft white and beige. Not a single pop of color anywhere.

I clicked onto their website to see what was going on and turns out it was a “collaboration” with a designer who favors neutrals. Nothing else had changed in their worldview.

Still, it did seem odd that they chose a designer so different from their core look, their brand—one that made them look like every other décor site.

My guess? Some cohort of website visitors had been asking for more traditional neutrals to ground all those vivid colors.

Now imagine this same scenario in your expertise business: you’re happily ensconced in your lane and sending emails, recording podcasts, granting interviews…

And then someone comes along and says “Hey—all that colorful stuff is great, but I need me some white.”

Do you go find a neutrals whiz and do a collaboration, carefully integrating it into your own worldview?

Or do you say “Look, I’m all about the color—if you’re looking for beige, go check out so-and-so who is terrific at that.”

Hint: Stick with the color.

It is oh-so-tempting to pop your head out of your lane to try growing by attracting a new kind of buyer.

But unless you’re experimenting with an actual pivot to a new niche, resist.

Being the go-to color expert will be far more lucrative to you and awe-inspiring to your core audience than to beige yourself into looking like everyone else.

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