Every weekday morning, my wife drives her clunky old Nissan to work. At the first stoplight, she turns into the Hess parking lot, walks inside and gets a coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts. It’s the kind of daily non-event that that doesn’t warrant a mention.
Until this morning.
“Do you know Dunkin’ Donuts sells pizza now?” she asked.
“Pizza?” I said.
“Sandwiches, too. Not the breakfast sandwiches, but hot flatbread sandwiches. Turkey club, that sort of thing.”
“Well, that’s crazy,” I said.
“I know!” she said. “Who wants a Dunkin’ Donuts pizza?”
Several weeks ago, I was stammering and stuttering in a room full of small business owners, a bank manager, a CEO, a public accountant and my career counselor. “Will you explain your business idea to me once again?” the accountant asked.
“Sure,” I said as a small BB of sweat rolled down my spine. “I do technology counseling for home and business, technology writing and marketing through weblogs.”
“Wow,” she said. “That’s a lot of stuff. Which one do you do well?”
Ouch.
This was the culmination of a week-long business class. After forming a basic business plan, financial projection and so on, our assignment was to speak for three minutes about just what we intend to do. Several of the students nailed it. I wasn’t one of them.
Later, when the group was mingling, exchanging business cards and eating donuts, the accountant approached me.
“Good job up there,” she said.
“Oh, please,” I said. “I think it’s too early in my ‘career’ for me to be in this class.”
“No,” she said. “It’s the perfect time. You’re full of good ideas and enthusiasm. That’s great. You just have too many ‘buckets.’ When you told me what you do, I thought, ‘Here’s a guy who is mediocre at three things.’ I want to know that you’re an expert at one thing.”
In other words, I was selling pizza at Dunkin’ Donuts.
For all I know, the pizza at Dunkin’ is the best in the world. Their flatbread sandwiches might surpass those at my favorite deli. But I’ll never find out, because I won’t try them. My perception of Dunkin’ Donuts is that they make great donuts. They taste good, they’re fresh (in the morning anyway), they’re consistent and inexpensive. I know that if I buy a Boston Creme from Dunkin’, I’ll love it.
But pizza? No. If I want pizza, I’ll go to Carmine’s. Flatbread sandwiches, The Corner Store. They’re the experts at pizza and sandwiches, respectively.
It’s easy for ambitions freelancers to inadvertently market themselves as Dunkin’ Donuts selling pizza and sandwiches. You’ve got killer ideas plus oodles of talent and confidence. That’s all wonderful, but consider your customers’ perception of that same far-reaching ambition.
I once heard someone describe himself as a “New media freelancer.” My immediate thought was, “I have no idea what that means” — and I’m a techie! Imagine you’re the owner of the General Store or the director of the tri-county library system. You may very well benefit from the services of a new media freelancer, but you probably won’t because that confusing title won’t get him in the door.
The lessons I learned are
- Identify your niche. I’m an IT guy.
- Describe it in plain language. I help people and small businesses make computer repairs, set up networks, make purchases and get the most out of their technology with one-on-one coaching.
- Avoid “also-rans.” Again, it’s not easy, but it’s crucial. Consider your client’s perception of what you actually do.
I hope this was helpful. Good luck!
This is great advice, Dave. We’re all wearing so many hats these days; it’s important to take some time to think about what it is we actually do — especially from our potential clients’ perspective!
When people ask me what I do now, I simply tell them I’m a web developer. More and more folks know exactly what that means. To the ones who ask “what’s that then?” I simply say, “Oh — it’s like property development, but for spiders.”
“Oh right”, they say.
Dunkin’ Donuts makes good donuts, that’s their one thing. The coffee isn’t even that good (imho.)
I work at a sign shop; when I started the boss had just bought the business the year before and hadn’t done signs before. Over the last 12 years, we’ve learned stick to what you’re good at and don’t do the stuff you aren’t (or doesn’t make money for you.)
Nick,
Thanks so much. Your answer to that question, “What do you do?”, is crucial (as I learned). If you can develop a 30 second version of your pitch, even better.
Jason,
Exactly. I imagine you’re better off because of that decision, right?
What a great entry Dave! It really gave me a lot to think about, and I think your take-aways are very, very helpful.
Now, I haven’t had Dunkin Donut’s pizza, but I did have one of their bagel sandwiches once — it was quite good — but again, it wasn’t what I expected from DD (I think that it was the only thing nearby or something).
Are Dunkin’s still standalone in Massachusetts? In Atlanta, Dunkin Donuts, Baskin Robbins and Togo are all usually in one location — all owned by the same franchiser. It’s bizarre getting Rainbow Sherbet and a whole wheat donut at the same time, but oddly satisfying. That doesn’t really fit with your analogy, your entry just made me think of Donuts. Mmmm. donuts…
Christina,
Thanks so much! I’m glad you got something out of it.
As for Dunkin’, some are stand-alone, some are inside gas stations (Mobil mostly) and some are in the Stop & Shop super market. We don’t have Baskin Robins or Togo here on The Cape, so we don’t see that grouping.
And, I have to admit, I went out and bought a donut after writing this.
Great post Dave. Narrowing your focus is very important to the “new media freelancer” – a title I may have used in the past as well. When you’re out consulting and looking from job-to-job you often feel compelled to do anything to generate some billable hours. However, long term success is more likely if you develop your niche and turn it into your brand.
I call that becoming ‘that guy”.
Dave Caolo should be “that IT Guy” for small business.
BTW – where was that business class? Sounds useful.
Jim
Thanks for writing. It’s tempting — especially for “green” freelancers like me — to say “yes” to any job, just to secure the income. While all that work may look good on your spreadsheet, the same can’t be said for your portfolio.
The class was called “Smart Start” and it’s offered by the Lower Cape Community Development Corporation. Talk to Lisa over there. I recommend it.
http://www.lowercape.org/pages/programs_and_services/small_business_programs/
Hi Dave -
I think you absolutley belonged in that class if this is what you took away from it. That insight and discipline as a freelancer (especially a new one) is really difficult to achieve especially when you are working toward name recognition in your field. If you have skills outside your initial branding of yourself you can offer them to clients who already trust you for IT support. It’s also nice to hear that you were in class with people who offered personal advise and not just criticism. Also nice that you’re open to it. Learning the hard way is not fun – and sometimes expensive.
[...] do I want to do? Well, the honest answer is “both.” However, as I learned several weeks ago, that only leads to confusion and uncertainty for the customer. Saying, “I do IT consulting [...]