Figure Out What's Special About You
Then sell a lot of it.
Most solopreneurs take years to figure out what makes them special.
The funny thing is, the moment they do figure it out, their business starts growing “on its own”. It feels effortless.
Finding your unique competitive edge helps you:
Become recognizable.
Attract a devoted audience.
Create a long-term strategy for your business.
Create your own rules and pricing.
Make your business easier to run (because it feels like a natural extension of who you are).
That’s exactly what I want to help you achieve. At the end of this newsletter, you’ll have:
Deep-rooted confidence that you are special.
A much better idea about what’s special about you.
A business strategy built around your brand.
Specific know-how about promoting your brand on the right platform & monetizing it.
Ready? Let’s dive in!
Secret to Success: Find your secret sauce as a solopreneur.
My career as a writer started with writing about pages.
Back then, I worked at ridiculously low prices, which allowed me to write the about pages of hundreds of people, most of them solopreneurs.
They always asked me the same questions. What’s special about me? How do I write something that doesn’t feel like showing off but also portrays my best qualities?
Using a short questionnaire that I’d designed as a life coach, I learned more about them and always found their unique angle. Even my most confused clients loved the about pages I wrote for them.
I’m not saying this to brag — I was surprised that so many people left me feedback that said, “I can’t believe this is my about page; I’d work with myself after reading it.”
That’s when I figured out a part of my secret sauce: I could see what made people special.
Today, I want to help you see it, too.
Here are the big steps we’ll cover:
Be certain that you have a special something. Many of the hundreds of people I worked with didn’t believe there was anything special about them — and there always was.
No need to be the only one in the world. Branding is much easier than you think. You don’t have to reinvent the hot water.
Look for your competitive edge instead of waiting for it to find you. This is not a superhero movie where your powers surprisingly kick in when you turn 16. Who am I is a big, important question, and it needs a little work.
How to figure out what you’re NOT. This should be fun.
How to figure out what you ARE. Answer these 13 questions to gain incredible clarity. For paid subscribers only.
How to sell your brand to the people who’ll love it. A 3-step strategy that turns your branding into money. For paid subscribers only.
Be certain that you have a special something.
When I first heard Marie Forleo’s signature line, “The world needs that special gift that only you have”, I thought yeah, right.
Even though I’d written 300 About pages, and I always found something awesome about each of my clients, when it came to me, I didn’t really believe there was anything worth mentioning. So I went with the flow, writing about nothing and everything, making some money but feeling completely lost.
Then, I became a fan of a few online writers, and I noticed two things:
Even though they talked about similar topics, they said different things, used different stories, and wrote in completely different ways. They all had something specific I loved. A voice. An opinion.
I see hundreds of content creators daily, but very few of them make my favourites list. I’m sure they make someone else’s favourite list, but not mine.
This final drop opened my eyes. If they were different in a way I could clearly appreciate, this means I was different too. I just hadn’t figured out how I was different.
You don’t have to be the only one in the world.
When I first became a life coach, I took a marketing class for solopreneurs. One of the modules was about branding.
That’s where I learned that most solopreneurs think branding is more difficult than it is. They think they have to find the most unique angle; the most incredible competitive advantage.
In reality, the foundation of branding is about choosing a lane. The easiest way to imagine it is to choose which one you would be in a girl or a boy band. Would you be the cute one? The confident one? The smart one? The sexy one?
Obviously, these are not the proper categories for solopreneurship, but you get my point, right?
Start there. Define what type of people you know in your niche and which type of brand feels closer to you.
Look for your superpower instead of waiting for it to find you.
In the beginning, I thought I was supposed to “just know” what I was about.
It’s not that simple. The answer to the question “Who am I” in any context is complex and ever-changing.
If you want to find what’s special about you, look for it. Think about it. Become brutally self-aware. Here are a few steps that will help:
Try more things. I’ve written short and long-form content. I’ve worked on all kinds of topics. I’ve worked with clients, and I’ve sold small digital products. Do more, and you’ll figure out what’s you.
Look at your history. Amadeo Giannini was the son of an Italian immigrant who passed away when Giannini was 6. A few years later, his mother re-married to a merchant who first showed Amadeo the specifics of sales and managing money. Later, Amadeo married the daughter of a local banker and soon became the head of a bank. Back then, banking was only available to the rich; the working class didn’t have access to deposits or credit. As more and more immigrants arrived, Amadeo thought it would be good to create an institution that serves this part of the population. That’s how he created the Bank of Italy, which later (after he met his partner) turned into Bank of America. Reading this story, it seems like everything in Amadeo’s life led him to his competitive edge. What about your personal story?
Listen to the whisper. Your true voice doesn’t scream; it whispers. The reason we don’t hear it is that the monkey mind does scream. It wants you to get instant results; it wants you to do what’s “smart”; it wants you to throw faeces at your enemies. Try journaling or meditation to quiet the monkey mind and hear the ever-present guidance of your inner voice. It knows who you are and what to do next better than anyone.
Figure out what you’re NOT.
It’s easier to figure out what you’re not than to figure out what you are. For a while now, I’ve known that I’m not a copywriter. I’m not data-driven. I’m not a fast-results optimizer. I’m not a tough-love writer.
I still do copywriting because I have the skills, and it pays well, but knowing what I’m not helps me build a long-term strategy for creating the business I want.
Figuring out what you’re not is super fun. Start listing things and be brutally honest. Somewhere in between the lines, you’ll start seeing the real you.
How to figure out what you are.
This is where I’ll share the 13 questions that can help you clarify your brand and build a business around who you are (instead of building yourself around your business).