Your Sweet-Spot (And How To Find It)

When I met “Zelda”, she had just finished her first year in business. But instead of congratulating herself for replacing her former income (plus 35%), she was considering going back into corporate.

Not because she didn’t like being a solo, but because she’d made a rookie mistake: she hadn’t figured out her sweet-spot before she started selling herself.

Instead, she said yes to every project she uncovered.

She said yes to designing training programs (which she hated).

She said yes to delivering training sessions (which was a yawn at best).

Before she knew it, she’d spent a year doing her least favorite work. No wonder she was ready to quit…

But a deep dive (see the series of questions I’ve outlined below) quickly showed her that she had a sweet-spot that the market valued greatly: developing women leaders of color in financial services.

Sure, there was more to it—the how, the where and the when—but she’d found what she’d been missing.

And it changed everything.

How she spent her time, the clients she courted, how she marketed herself and—ultimately—how much money she made (year 2 came in at 200% of year 1).

If you’re at all like Zelda, your goal is to spend as much time in your sweet-spot—your genius zone if you will—as you possibly can.

But it’s tough to just accidentally discover your own personal brand of genius.

It requires a little discovery, some contemplation time.

So here are a few questions to get you started:

• Remember when you felt at the very top of your game: slam-dunking good. What were you doing? Who were you doing it with?
• What have you created when you felt most open—when love for what you were doing literally coursed through your veins? Who did you create it for or with?
• What kinds of problems do you solve?
• What do people ask you for over and over again?

The key is to match up your special talents and passions with the market willing to pay a premium price for them.

Because without paying clients and buyers, it’s not truly a sweet-spot, is it?

Note: If you’re ready for a much deeper dive into this and your brand + business as a soloist, stay tuned for my next ConsultantBrand virtual workshop, starting September 29. More on that soon.

So—have you discovered your sweet-spot yet? And what difference did it make in your business?