How To Become The Authority In Your Market

Stand Alone: Six simple steps to set yourself apart from your competition in order to make more money, add more value, and dominate your market

According to Forbes magazine, 8 out of 10 small businesses fail within the first 18 months in business. Ouch! Entrepreneurship has its downside. Considering most small businesses start as sole proprietorships or “freelancing” gigs we are safe to say that large majority of freelancers are doomed to failure.

That number jumps to 96% when looked at over a 10-year horizon according to Inc. These statistics clearly show the odds are NOT in your favor when you quit your job and decide to give your business or freelance idea a shot. This begs the question, “Why even try if the odds are so heavily stacked against you?”

Like anything great in life, nothing great is ever easy and the best things in life are always reserved to the few that can persevere and overcome the odds. Also, we have to understand that part of the appeal of being your own boss and running your own company is the inherent risk involved. It’s sexy. It’s fun. It’s glamorous. Until it’s over and you’re stuck looking for a new job with your hat in hand.

As someone that runs his own business I can tell you it’s hard. It’s damn hard. Just take a look at my industry:

Average income for personal trainers is $37,000/year
- That’s $17.79 per hour! FML. Better cancel those Gary Danko reservations. No more Michelin star restaurants for me 🙁

Personal training, like any small business just getting started is often plagued by low pay, long hours, and schedule that’s absolutely bananas. According to eLance, the average freelancer is making about $20 per hour which is not far off from my personal training example with many industries below the $20 mark on a per hour basis.

Geez Jackson, this all sounds like doom and gloom. Fear not my friend. Today, I’m going to show you exactly why most freelancers fail and what you can do about it. If you are a freelancer working full time or someone thinking about starting a side hustle — this article is for you.

How would you like to move up the value chain (and pay grade) and become the AUTHORITY in your market?
How would you like to have a wait list of clients begging to work with you?
How would you like to dominate your competition? Better yet, how would it feel to not even have any competition?
How would you like to set your own schedule, only take on the clients you want, and earn a six-figure income while doing what you love?

In this post I’m going to show you how to do all those things. Don’t worry, we’ll go step-by-step so nobody gets left behind. Remember, I’m a Chicago boy and loyalty is high on my list of values. You go, we go…

Damn, that’s such an awesome movie. I nearly teared up just watching that 30s clip. Okay, you got me. I’m lying. I had full blown tears :'(

Why Most Freelancers Fail

The reason most freelancers fail is simple: they don’t differentiate themselves and they get lost in a crowded and competitive marketplace marketing/selling to anyone that will pay them. As a result they become another “me too” option for clients. This phrase was coined by Jay Abraham in his fantastic book Getting Everything You Can Out Of All You Got. There is nothing distinct about their product or service and there is really no reason for clients or customers to pick your product or service over anyone else’s.

Most likely you get clients because of luck, circumstance, or maybe even pure hustle. This is often where people start, but this isn’t going to allow you to truly thrive. Ultimately, you cannot thrive because you are now being compared to others in your industry based on price. Yuck! No good.

You may as well close up shop once this happens because you are doomed to long hours, bending over backwards for ungrateful clients, low pay, and a mediocre existence. Trust me, I know. I’ve made this mistake like most freelancers do when I first got started in personal training.

I’ll give you an example. I don’t want to blow up anyone’s spot so I’ll make it up, but keep in mind this is something I’ve seen a million times on a personal trainer’s bio page:

Specializations:

Weight loss, muscle gain, sports performance, corrective exercise, injury prevention, CrossFit, competition prep, kettlebells, etc.

Here is another example from another industry, let’s go with marketing. And yes, I’ve seen profiles like this when I’ve searched for marketing consultant to hire on eLance/Upwork:

Specializations:

Copywriting, email marketing, social media content marketing, Facebook ads, Instagram ads, Twitter marketing, video sales letters, landing page conversion, sales funnels, pay per click, landing page optimization, A/B split testing, brand marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), content creation, blog writing, marketing strategy, Salesforce, etc.

What are the chances that a personal trainer or a marketing consultant is awesome in all of these areas? Not likely. It’s more likely they are (at best) just average in all of them. As a result they (at best) add average value to their clients, charge average prices, and run a average freelance business that provides them a pretty average existence.

They are just another “me too” option crowding up the page and making it difficult for me to find someone truly special at what they do that is worth the money. There is literally nothing distinct or unique about them or their service. They are not great at anything in particular and they don’t stand out in a crowd. This is the eternal plight of the industry specific generalist.

Why You Should Specialize

Most people think they need to market and sell their services to anyone that will pay for them. I get it… it’s competitive and you need to pay your rent. But if you want to move up the value chain, become an authority, and be paid like it — you need to begin to specialize. Let’s look at the income pyramid for my industry, personal training but remember this can be applied to any industry:

Celebrity

At the highest level we have our celebrity types. In fitness, these are people like Jillian Michaels and Tony Horton who are household names. To a lesser extend someone like Adam Bornstein or John Romaniello also qualify as both are New York Times Best Selling Authors and own/operate very popular fitness blogs. These days even someone like Paige Hathaway would qualify who is a fitness Instagram star with over 3.7 million followers. I’ll keep my personal feelings about these “Insta-Trainers” and their “Adobe gains” aside for now.

To relate it to another industry (cooking) this would be people like Rachel Ray, Gordon Ramsay, and Mario Batali. These people can charge the most by far ($500+/hour), but are more likely to paid to speak at conferences, appear on products, and be featured on television. There is absolutely no price haggling. They can be super selective on who they work with, what they do, etc. and they have the highest demand for their products and services. Clients, offers, partnerships, and business ventures will just flow to this person. As a result, it’s the absolute best position to be in.

Authority

This is the next best position to be in. People look to you for guidance and direction. You’re very well known locally and have a little national exposure but you’re still far from a household name. A simple Google search will provide all the credibility needed for anyone interested in working with you. You have lots of options, can be selective on clients and charge high prices ($150-250 / hour) with very little pushback if any.

An example of this in fitness would be my mentor Billy Polson, owner of DIAKADI Body in San Francisco. He’s been featured in many magazines, his gym DIAKADI Body has won “Best Gym” by Bay Area A-List 12 years in a row, and he is very well know locally. A quick Google search will show you massive credibility. As a result, he will always have a constant flow of clients willing to pay big bucks to work with him (if he wants).

Another example in the restaurant industry would be San Francisco local and Business Movement speaker Cortney Burns who is co-chef and owner of a massively popular restaurant called Bar Tartine. Cortney’s restaurant, Bar Tartine, has been featured in Food & Wine, Bon Appétit, Saveur, Shape, InStyle, Men’s Health, Travel + Leisure and appeared in Morgan Spurlocks 2015 documentary “Crafted”. She has also worked on numerous cookbooks. However, despite her national exposure and local celebrity she is still far from a household name and thus is only at the Authority level and not yet a Celebrity when it comes to the income pyramid.

Specialist

Next is the specialist. They are known locally for what they do and they specialize in a specific niche. As a result, they can charge fairly high prices ($100-150 / hour) but will get some haggle. They can be modestly selective on clients and most will fit into their specific niche. A simple Google search will add credibility and show people who you are, what you stand for, and who you work with. This is a good place to be and a launching pad to become an Authority.

I’m an example of this as well as a former colleague of mine by the name of Martin Spector. For example, I help busy professional men, mostly in their 30s, build lean muscular physiques so they have the confidence to take their shirt off at pool party and look awesome. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, Martin worked exclusively with elderly people and he helped them stay active so they could enjoy their retirement.

Anyone in San Francisco that wants to look awesome without their shirt on or get six-pack abs knows I’m the best. I’m the ab guy. I’m even San Francisco Magazine’s “Best Personal Trainer For Abs”. As a result, I have zero competition in this market, can charge appropriately for my services, and I add massive value to my clients because I’m able to deliver.

Another example of this from a different industry would be my friend, client, content marketing consultant, and Business Movement speaker Rafael Balaguer. Within marketing, he specializes in content marketing strategy. He may know a lot about search engine optimization, copywriting, and landing pages but his specialty and what he is best known for is content marketing strategy. He sets the strategy and can hire other lower level consultant or freelancers to implement his strategy.

Generalist

At least 90% (if not more) of all freelancers in all industries fall into this category. Being a Generalist is the worst position to be in. You have no ability to dictate prices above general market value and you’ll endure lots of price haggling because you are just another “me too” option. You aren’t really known locally (or on the internet) for anything and worse — you probably aren’t awesome at anything. A Google search will produce some random general professional info but will not position you as an expert at anything. A search will not demonstrate what you stand for because you don’t stand for anything. As a result you have to take on any and all clients you can get.

If you are reading this blog post, my guess is that you are stuck at the Generalist level. The rest of this blog will be dedicated to a very specific strategy to take you from the Generalist level and move you up to the Authority level. If you are already at the Authority level, this might stir some insight or work as a refresher for you. Onward!

How Can You Target?

Remember, you aren’t Coca-Cola, Pepsi, or 24-Hour Fitness with a mass appeal and a multi-million dollar marketing budget. You must be much smarter about how you spend your time and hard-earned money marketing your services. Let’s narrow it down a bit and create a target for ourselves so we have something to shoot for. You can always broaden out later.

You can target people:

Geographically (e.g. San Francisco, Marin, United States)
Demographically (e.g. age, gender, income)
Attitudinally, how a customer feels about something (e.g. CrossFit vs. Yoga vs. Bodybuilder or Apple vs. Microsoft)
And other ways (e.g. Where they shop)

Why Should You Target?

To think about it further, what do these 3 people have in common?

38 year old stay-home-mom, married, overweight, mother of 3
62 year old male, retired, married, osteoporosis, fairly sedentary, normal body type
27 year old male, single, very active, athletic build

Some questions to ponder:

Will they be looking for the same thing in a personal trainer, a restaurant, pair of shoes, or even the type of clothes they buy?
Do they share the same exact problems and struggle with the same issues?
Will the same marketing messages resonate with all 3 people?
Would your website, Facebook, Instagram have to be different to effectively attract each?
Would a 62 year old even find you on Facebook?
Would a 38 year old stay at home mom want the same thing in a pair of shoes that a 27 year old man wants?

Of course not. No, on all accounts! This is why specializing and niching down your target audience is so powerful and frankly necessary for success if you are a freelancer. This is also going to be your first-class ticket to leaving the mediocrity of being a Generalist behind and help elevate you to a Specialist.

Targeting Exercise

If you already have a roster of clients, think about your least favorite type of client. Maybe it’s female fat loss or corrective exercise if you are in fitness. Maybe it’s 20-something hipsters or senior citizens if you are in clothing. They may be a nice person, but it’s the type of client that just doesn’t excite you. You don’t stay up late reading about their problems or working on new ways of helping them. The only reason you work with them is because they are paying you.

Now, think about your favorite type of client. The type of person you love working with. Think about how you feel when you see them. How excited you get when you hear about the results they are getting with your product or service. How energized you feel when you work with them. Think about how much they love working with you. How appreciative they are for your help and how life-changing this has been for them (if this applies).

Now think about what it would be like to have a roster full of people like your favorite client. This “favorite client” is often a good starting point for your ideal client. It’s the type of client that you get excited about helping, are damn good at helping, and would love to have more of.

If you don’t have a roster full of clients yet and are just starting out, I just want you to think about who you would like to work with. Picture them, every single detail. It can help to imagine a friend, colleague, or family member that fits your description. It can even be someone just like you!

Now, whether you have clients or not, answer these questions: in an ideal world…

Who do I want to work with?
How old are they?
Are they male, female, or both?
What problem(s) do they have?
- What type of freelancer do you want to be?
How do they feel you solve their problems?
Why did they choose your services over someone else?
What keeps them up at night (hopes, fears, dreams)?
Where do they hang out?
What are they interested in?
What types of messages would appeal to them?

If you have a roster of current clients you can just refer back to your list to answer these questions. Just be sure to look at the type of clients that fit your “favorite client” profile. You can also survey your clients to obtain this information. Just create a simple Google survey or TypeForm survey for free and send them a few questions. Be warned, do not ask them too many questions in the survey. Keep it brief to be sure they complete it and actually answer honestly. A long survey will suck and make them hate you. They won’t want to complete it and they’ll just write anything or skip questions to finish it. Think about how you would act (seriously) if someone you worked with sent you a survey.

Ideal Client Profile

Now that you have narrowed down your target demographic and created a “favorite client” profile we can move on and create your Ideal Client Profile. This is going to be your avatar or the perfect person for you to work with based on the responses to the questions above. This is the person we are going to target with your marketing. Keep in mind, this person doesn’t really exist and you may not actually have a client that completely matches this profile. This is the hypothetical person that you’ve created in your head and on paper that you are going to target with all your marketing efforts and the person you think about before you write an email, create a product or service, or go out looking for prospects.

Exercise:

Let’s take 5-minutes and create your individual “Ideal Client Profile”
This is the perfect man or women you want to work with.
This is the person most stoked about working with you and the person you are most excited about and qualified to help.

Here’s an example. This is mine based on the people I work with:

36 year old male
Lives in San Francisco — particularly Castro, Mission, Potrero, Soma, Fillmore because they are closest to DIAKADI Body (the gym I train out of)
Highly educated (attended prestigious university and often has an advanced degree)
Income $125,000+ (needs to be able to afford personal training)
Works out 3-5x per week on his own
Works in technology or venture capital (tech savvy and values outsourcing)
One of two scenarios:
- Used to be in better shape back in college, spent last 5-7 years working too much. Got to a certain income level and now wants to look like they did in their 20s or better.
- Has worked out 3-5x per week for many years and cannot understand or figure out why he doesn’t have the lean muscular physique he wants. He’s spending the time, but not seeing the results and wants to maximize his time in the gym.
Wants to have the confidence and the body to take shirt off at a pool party and look/feel awesome about it.
Uses one of two phrases when describing what he wants: 1) six-pack abs or 2) lean muscular physique

What’s yours look like? Please, please — I beg you… DO NOT SKIP THIS EXERCISE. Turn off your phone, put some noise cancelling headphones on, block out everything else, and sit for 8-10 minutes in silence and write out your Ideal Client Profile. It’s easy to say, “yeah, yeah — I got it.” It’s another thing to actually do the exercise and have the details of your ideal client on paper.

It’s not going to be perfect the first time. It’s a living thing and will change over time as you evolve, get older, and especially if you move. Just sit for 10 minutes and do it. Anything is better than nothing. Now go ahead. I’ll wait here…

Okay, great. Now that you have that down on paper, how much easier will it be to find this person? I have my ideal client profile dialed in so I can easily walk down the street in the Castro or Soma and find my ideal client on the street walking around. In fact, I can’t tell you how many clients I’ve gotten simply by engaging and talking to people on the street, in coffee shops, at restaurants, or even at other gyms. Once you know who you are looking for, your brain will access your reticular activating system and find them.

Ever notice how when you buy a certain car you start noticing the same exact car on the street? Before it seemed like nobody had that car and now everyone does. That’s your RAS at play. It’s not a coincidence. Here’s a video to help you better understand your RAS:

Goldilocks Method

We just wrote down a LOT of information about your ideal client, but now we have to start summarizing and narrowing it down a bit. It’s great to have all that information but we also need to isolate some defining features of the person so we can easily and quickly identify who they are, where they live, etc.

I’ve noticed when doing this “Ideal Client Profile” exercise with other trainers I’ve worked with or friends of mine with freelance businesses that it’s common for people to wind up going too broad still or on the opposite end — going to niche. You want to be somewhere in the middle. I learned the Two-Qualifier Method from my Surrogate Asian Father, Ramit Sethi. You can read more about it here, but I’ll summarize it for you.

Pick at least 2, but no more than 3 qualifiers to quickly and simply identify your ideal client. Here are some examples:

Too Broad: 20-50 year old women
Too Niche: 25-30 year old single women who are too thin, want to gain weight, live in Dogpatch, and also have eating disorders
Just Right: 25-35 year old women interested in losing weight who live in San Francisco

Take 5-minutes and create 2-3 qualifiers to niche down to your target demographic. Here’s mine:

Male age 28-38
Interested in physique training (single digit body fat, six-pack, lean muscular physique)
Lives in San Francisco (Castro, Mission, Soma)

Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Lastly, now that we have figured out how to target, who our ideal client is, and summarized with our 2-3 qualifier — it’s time to create our unique selling proposition or USP. This is what sets your services apart from everyone else’s. This is what you do, who you do it for, and why. It’s going to drive all the decisions you make regarding your brand and your marketing.

It’s also going to be what you say to people when they ask, “What do you do?” For me, instead of saying, “personal trainer” I repeat my USP. Let’s be honest, when it comes to the fitness industry everyone is aware of the negative stigmas associated with the words, “personal trainer” and “bootcamp instructor.”

I used to get sideways glances and looks of disappointment that said, “Oh, I’m sorry… you’re a loser that works out for a living” when I uttered those words at cocktail parties or at weddings. No more. And when it comes to freelancing in general, we are all aware most people think “freelancer” is synonymous with “unemployed.”

From now on you can have a little pride when you shoot back with your USP, which will be more specific, more interesting, and sure to lead to a very specific question about your product, service, or the people you help. Hell ya!

If you actually spent the time and did the exercises above, you should have a very detailed picture of who you work with or want to work with at this point. If you didn’t do the exercises, I urge you — even beg you… please do them now. Okay, I’ll trust you did them. Now, let’s create our USP:

Step 1: Who do you help? Describe the person in 1-2 sentences max.

I know, this is a bit redundant but I want you to summarize the information you gathered above. Using the 2-3 qualifiers you came up with in the last exercise might be a good place to start here. I also want to burn into your head the details about your ideal client.

Step 2: What do your clients want? What’s their end goal or desired outcome? Keep it simple, straightforward, and brief.

Mine is “six-pack abs” and/or “lean muscular physique.”
Another example might be increased website traffic, social media followers/engagement, or even increased sales.

Step 3: How are you helping to solve their problem? Describe how you specifically help your ideal client. What’s unique about the service you offer to them?

Mine is “customized exercise and nutrition programs.”
Another example might be “creating and posting social media content” or “increasing SEO ranking for existing content”

Step 4: Put it all together.

I help [your ideal client] [accomplish their goal] by [specifically how you help them].

Here is an example of my UPS based on the exercise above:

I help busy men in their 30s get lean muscular physiques by providing customized exercise and nutrition programs that get results quickly.

Another example:

I help professional bloggers double their sales in less than 6-months by tripling their website traffic with increased SEO rankings.

Here is a breakdown of my USP: I addressed several concerns of my ideal client, I narrowed down who he is, I’ve used his language, and I’ve even told him what he will get (the benefit of my service).

I said “busy” because my clients tend to be working professional men that have demanding careers. They are outsourcing to me because they don’t have the time or attention to work on this problem.
I narrowed down the age range. My average client is 36 years old although I do still work with many guys in their mid-late 20s and early-mid 40s the majority of my clients are in their 30s. Remember, every client isn’t going to meet every single criteria.
I mentioned the benefit of my service, which is what they will get. Men who work with me use the phrase “lean muscular physique” to describe what they want. A close 2nd is “six-pack abs” so I could easily use that as well. This is their language not mine. It’s what people tell me they want.
I mentioned features of the services (customized exercise and nutrition programs) to let them know how I will help them achieve their “lean muscular physique.” The men I work with know they could do this themselves if they had the time or put in the effort. They are smart and highly motivated guys that already workout 3-5x per week. What they don’t have and what they want is a customized exercise and nutrition program to follow. They don’t want to have to think about it. They want someone else to do it for them so they can just execute. For them, execution is not the problem — they need the right strategy.
I address one of their concerns by saying, “get results quickly.” These guys are mostly Type A overachievers that are used to creating a plan, executing, and measuring results. They have been working out long enough to know effort simply isn’t enough anymore and effort isn’t the problem. With the right strategy, they expect to see measurable results quickly. They want a timeline for reaching their goal and milestones along the way to measure progress against.

What To Do Now

We’ve come a long way. Not only do you know more about your ideal client than ever before, but you’ve come up with a quick and easy way of identifying them and you now have your USP in your back pocket. You might be asking yourself, “Now what? How do I actually use this information to get more/better clients? How will this information make my life or my business any easier?”

Fair enough. You are going to use this information to provide direction for everything you do in your business going forward. For example:

Before: Randomly post anything related to your industry on your Instagram or Facebook. Ever wonder why you have like 200 followers and an engagement rate of sub-10%? It’s not an accident. You’re just another “me too” freelancer that just moderately appeals to everyone on a low level. When I did this I had 400 followers and single digit engagement numbers.

After: Specifically and strategically post images, video, and text that speaks to my ideal client. Use the words and phrases they use. Post things they are really, really interested in and they get excited about. I still don’t have a million followers but I’ve built an audience larger than 200 and my engagement is much higher. Since getting clear about my audience and being strategic about what I’m posting I’ve built a following on Instagram of 3,500+ as of this article with an engagement of 30%+.

Before: I’d run Facebook ads to an offer with very general parameters using randomly selected images and text that sounded good to me. This resulted in a lot of wasted money with no prospects, sales, or revenue generated as a result of the ads. What a waste of time and money.

After: I now run Facebook ads with a very specific and strategic purpose (getting people to know, trust, and like me before being presented with an offer) targeting a very niche and specific audience using text, images, and video they will relate and respond to. As a result I can turn on my Facebook ads and get 1-2 new leads per week anytime I want. There was a LOT of upfront work, but now I can get new leads anytime I want and I’ve sold several clients thousands of dollars worth of personal training services based on a relationship created from my ads.

These are just two examples of how I’ve used this information to transform my business. You can easily do the same for your business in your specific industry once you know who you are targeting, how you are targeting them, and have created your Ideal Client Profile and Unique Selling Proposition.

Go Where The Fish Are

If you need new clients today, right now, all you have to do is go where the fish are. Before, you had no idea who you were targeting or how to find them. Now, you have an arsenal of information to access and leverage to find these people. Look over the information you wrote about your ideal client. Where could you find these people, if you needed to, today?

When I first got started in personal training, I had a crappy website and no real online marketing strategy so I got a majority of my clients from in person prospecting. I’d meet people on the street, in a gym, at a restaurant, and I even once met and sold a guy I met in a movie theater. I know my ideal client so well I easily can pick them out in a crowd. I know exactly who I’m looking for and as a result I’m able to filter out the excess and focus on who might actually be interested in training with me.

Don’t think this is limited to personal training because it isn’t. This can be done for any industry. Let’s say you are a freelance iOS developer and you are targeting new startups looking for a minimal viable product (MVP) or a prototype to show to investors. Where would you find these people? Using Meetup San Francisco you can easily drop in on more than a dozen meetup groups in the next few weeks all of which will be filled with people in the startup game. You can even narrow it down by industry if you want and focus on those in the financial, gaming, or productivity niches.

For a final example, if you are a yoga instructor I’d bet you’d have some luck getting prospects by hanging out in the vegan aisle in Whole Foods. It can be that simple; don’t overcomplicate it. It just takes a little guts and grit to get outside your comfort zone and talk to people you don’t yet know.

Take Action Today

There is a lot of information here. I know. Just take it one step at a time, break it down, and execute. To summarize, here are the steps you need to take:

Identify how to target and narrow down your market.
- Remember, you can target geographically, demographically, and attitudinally.
Identify the attributes that make your “favorite client” type unique.
- You can do this by surveying your current clients, reviewing your client roster, or thinking about who you would ideally like to work with if you don’t have any clients yet.
Create your Ideal Client Profile
- This is your avatar or the imaginary person you will think about when creating an email, ad campaign, or designing a new service offering. This person is a combination of all the attributes you identified in Step #2.
Summarize your Ideal Client using the Goldilocks Method (2-3 Qualifier Method)
- Pick 2-3 qualifiers that perfectly, simply, and quickly identify who your ideal client is.
Create your unique selling proposition (USP) to summarize who you work with, how you help them, and what benefit(s) you provide.
Apply this information to every single decision you make in your business moving forward from the language you use to the images you post to the services you offer and even how you dress.
- There is a reason why I wear a heavy rotation of Lululemon cut-off shirts when working with clients and it isn’t just because I like Lulu. Just like there is also a reason why I’m shirtless in all my exercise demos on Instagram.

Go and do likewise gents. Clients are out there. You pick em up, they’re yours. You don’t, I got no sympathy for you. You have the 6 steps to niche marketing success. Follow these 6 steps and YOU WILL have more clients than you can handle.