The Importance of Customizing Your Message

I was reminded again of the importance of customizing your message in a meeting I had yesterday with one of my clients. With this particular client, a personal trainer and soon-to-be-professional athlete, we were putting a series of videos to promote her association with a new health club in Chicago.

Before we started, we watched a number of videos created by other local trainers. In each case, the person spoke in general terms about his or her credentials and areas of expertise. After we yawned our way through about four of these, the opportunity was clear. We needed to communicate in a way that would truly speak to potential clients.

Rather than take the generic approach opted for by the other trainers, we identified the four types of clients she most enjoyed helping:

- Out of shape/Never worked out
- Recovering from an injury
- Getting back in shape after having a baby
- Training for competition (fitness, marathon, etc.)

In each case, I challenged her to come up with a success story we could share in the video. What makes video such a great medium for storytelling is its ability to convey passion, enthusiasm, and all the nonverbals that get lost in written bios. As an added benefit, with each take, she was reminded of additional details that brought the stories to life. It was inspiring and magical to watch.

By taking the time to customize her message, she has given herself the opportunity to reach a more targeted group of potential clients who will be able to see themselves in the before/after stories she shared.

No doubt, there are people reading this who are thinking:

"Wait a minute. I don't think it's a good idea to target such narrow groups because you are eliminating huge groups of potential clients. For example, what about the people who just want to get in better shape and lose a few pounds? Isn't that a bigger group than any of the four mentioned above?"

Even if that group is larger, there are at least two compelling reasons not to go after it. First, the fitness marketplace is already cluttered with messages targeting people who want to lose a few pounds. Second, working with people who want to lose a few pounds doesn't energize my client as much as working with the specific groups we identified.

If you take the time to customize your message, you owe it to yourself to make sure you are most energized by the opportunity you are pursuing. As I've said many times, work either energizes people or it drains them. There isn't a middle ground--unless you are the kind of person who would be content putting sticks in caramel apples (in which case you probably aren't reading this anyway.) So, before you customize your message, be sure the customers or employers you are targeting are the ones with whom you most want to work.

"Fine" as a Four-Letter Word

For the last few days, I’ve been thinking about something William Arruda, the Personal Branding Guru, said when he addressed the University of Michigan alumni in Chicago. Arruda made the bold statement that “fine” is a four-letter word and should be stricken from our vocabulary. To make sense of what seems like an odd statement, let’s start with the dictionary definition:

Of superior or best quality; of high or highest grade: fine wine
(Source: Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © 2006)

So, what’s wrong with "fine"?

If everyone used “fine” as an adjective meaning “superior” or “high quality”, there would be no problem. But that isn’t what happens. Far from it.

“Fine” is one of the most common one-word answers to the question, “How are you?”

In this case, when people say, “Fine”, they don’t mean, “superior” or “top quality”. They typically, mean “about average”. Average is a long way from top quality.

Apparently William Arruda isn’t the only one who feels this way. One of the other participants mentioned that a famous Chicago restaurant owner has instructed his staff to NEVER ask any question about the food or service that could be answered, “Fine.” He simply doesn’t want to link the restaurant experience with anything that could be interpreted as average. It’s all about image.

The next time someone asks you what it is like to work on a particular project, what it is like to work for a particular boss, or how you feel about the performance review process, think twice before you say, “Fine.” Instead, challenge yourself to fine a more descriptive, more accurate way to answer the question.

Follow your Passion to Work - Believing, Thinking, and Speaking Your Truth

When you are looking for the next logical step in your career, either by changing jobs or making a greater impact at your current job, you must follow your passion to work. This means that you must believe in yourself, think about how to tell your story to your employer, and speak your truth.

There are two steps you must take before you can speak comfortably and confidently about your interests and abilities:

1) You have to understand the origin of your passion
2) You must believe in yourself

Generally speaking, step two will take care of itself once you’ve uncovered the secrets of the first step.

Tracing your passion is important because you have to convince an employer that you have logical, compelling reasons to pursue a career (this is particularly important for career-changers and entry-level candidates who, by definition, are pursuing opportunities in which they have no prior employment history). Remember, employers don’t want to feel like they are taking a risk when they make the decision to hire or promote you. That’s why your reasoning has to be sound and believable. If you ever find yourself thinking, “I know I’d be great if only someone would give me a chance,” take it as a sign that you need to do a more thorough self-assessment.

Start by answering these questions:

-How old were you when you first recognized your interest in this career?

-What, specifically, opened your eyes to this opportunity?

-Is there a particular person you admired (e.g., parent, grandparent, mentor, teacher) who served as a role model or otherwise nurtured your interest?

-Is this a subject you studied in school?

-What have you done on your own initiative to learn more about the field?

The last question is especially important because relatively few people think to sell themselves on the experiences they’ve gained as a result of their own initiative. However, from a potential employer’s standpoint, these experiences tend to be the most convincing. Think about it. If you read and studied numerous books on your own, you obviously have more than a passing interest in the subject matter. This usually gives people more than enough reason to believe your interest and sincerity.

If you’ve already begun to develop a track record in your industry (i.e., you have some work experience or a history of success), employers are less likely to feel like they are taking a risk in hiring or promoting you. After all, if you have experience, you probably know enough about the business to know what you are getting into at the next level. Regardless, it’s still important to trace your passion because this understanding will help you communicate your enthusiasm for the career.