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How Big Is Your Pond?
Why you want to be a big fish in a little pond
rather than a little fish in a big pond…
Explaining this issue to my Clients got my wheels spinning last year and today, I think I have come up with a reasonable analogy.
For several years, Manchester United was the top team in football (soccer for those of you across the pond). The team’s shining star, David Beckham was bringing in more than £80 million per year while some of his team mates on the bench earned the league minimum of £200,250.
Same winning team. Why the 300:1 difference in pay?
Because Beckham was slightly better than everyone else – he developed a specialty – he could practically fly across the field and score and his PR team took advantage of this to drive sales of footballs, soft drinks, clothing, books in Barcelona, toothpaste in Torquey, bubble gum in Birmingham, shoes in Sussex, telephones in Tokyo, T-shirts in Toronto, sneakers in Sydney, Sheffield and San Diego… you get the idea.
Joe Benchwarmer got a salary but very little else – not because he lacked talent but because the perceived difference between being the best in the world and being on the team is dramatic.
The gap between first place and second place grows larger with each passing season. The gap between first place and last place is now enormous.
In many fields there is rarely one winner, but those near the top reap a disproportionate share of the rewards.
The potential market for any product or service, any author or actor, for any singer or songwriter, for any doctor or lawyer, for any athlete or academic, now extends from one end of the world to the other. Yes, we truly have achieved a global marketplace.
Lesson learned?
Either you dominate the global market in your niche or somebody else will.
The name of the game is not being “The Doctor.”
It’s about being The Specialist for Catheterization for Patients over 60.
It’s not about being “The Lawyer”.
It’s about being The Attorney for Intellectual Property, Copyright and Digital Rights Management Law for the nano imprint lithography industry.
Yes, you leverage your expertise to hyper-specialize in a given niche market so that even on the mighty Internet, you can be a big fish in a little pond.
When you’re #1 on the net for that niche – you win big time.
So, sit back, relax and plan your move into a smaller pond. Business wise, it’ll be the best move you ever made.
If you’d like some help thinking through a solid strategy that works, be sure to ask for our specialist.