CHAPTER 11

Take Inventory and Build
Your Brand

This chapter isn’t a what-do-you-want-to-do-with-your-life kind of discussion but instead is an honest look at the tools in your career toolbox. Once we take a good inventory of what you have to work with, then we’ll talk about molding those into an overall brand that you can communicate to potential customers.

What Do You Have to Offer?

Your toolbox contains a number of skills and experiences that you have collected over the course of your career and your life. These tools are all worth accounting for, and we will. But first let’s take a look at what expert skills you possess and then build on those.

The 10,000-Hour Rule

You may think that you really aren’t an expert at much of anything, but perhaps you are if you think about it like Malcom Gladwell, author of the riveting book Outliers. He makes a case for what he calls “The 10,000-Hour Rule,” which is a guiding belief that professional success in any field is due in large part to dedicating 10,000 hours to practicing a specific task in order to become an “expert.”

Let’s break that huge number into something more manageable so that you can determine what you may, in fact, be able to market as an expert skill to potential clients:

10,0000 hours / typical 8-hour day =
1,250 days of dedicated skill-based learning

1,250 days / 5 days per week =
250 weeks

250 weeks / 4 weeks per month =
62 months

62 months / 12 months per year =
approximately 5 years

Five years. That is the approximate amount of time that it takes to become an expert at something if you work at it five days a week for a typical 8-hour workday. If you work at it less frequently or more intensively, then the calculations must be adjusted accordingly. Given all of that, what are you an expert of? You are absolutely an expert of something!

Your Expert Skills

To jump in and get started, simply become what you already are. In other words, take the expertise that you already possess and use those skills to get you out there in the marketplace, at least initially. But remember, this time you will use your expertise to find work on your own terms so you may need to apply familiar skills differently. But for now, let’s focus on identifying your areas of expertise. What areas have you dedicated 10,000 hours to either in concentrated amounts or in small chunks over the course of your lifetime?

Although your expert skills in a specific area may not appear obviously marketable, the goal here is just to create a laundry list. So after each of the following sections, write down any skill that meets the 10,000-hour rule and let’s see what turns up (you will think about how to package and assemble this information later in this book):

• Do you have previous work experience? This area is the most obvious place to begin the inventory of your expert skills. The trick is thinking back on the skills that may have previously been very sharp and could be once again with a quick dusting off. The best way to take that walk down memory lane is to locate a copy of your resume or curriculum vitae (CV), grab a highlighter, and start circling any expert skills that you can pluck out of that chronology. Use this official document to jog your memory, but don’t rely on the text that appears on the page exclusively because those words are, of course, only a mere snapshot of the work you actually did in those previous positions. Your resume or CV is merely an edited, brief summary of those experiences. In this moment try to think about all facets of the work you did previously in order to conduct a full inventory of your skills. Use your resume or CV as a jumping off point.

• Do you have a history of military service? In my civilian estimation, military service is a combination of work experience (the previous category) and technical training (the next category). Most people enlist for a period of several years and train for a specific position that is, with rare exception, highly technical and specialized. The hands-on skills gained during your military service are only the obvious takeaways that may render you an expert about one or more technical topics, such as handling a weapon, driving a Humvee, or repairing a jet engine. Put all of those skills on your list and include the credentials associated with each that you can tout when the time is right. Also, remember to list any “soft skills” you learned that may be worth mentioning as you interact with potential clients. An example of a soft skill is having a wealth of experience with active learning while in high-pressure situations.

• Do you have academic or technical training? The obvious expert skills here might be, for example, having attempted or completed an associate’s degree in some specific technical field, such as welding, or a bachelor’s degree that emphasizes specialized knowledge in some area such as biology. Aside from professional training for medical doctors or other similarly lengthy programs, your academic program may not meet the 10,000-hour threshold, but remember to include on-the-job experience where you put those skills to work and deepened your understanding of the concepts learned on campus.

• Do you have any unique and noteworthy life experiences? I’ll tell you right now, if you have a unique life experience to bring with you to the pitch, that is going to be your conversational hook! People love a good story, and a unique story is even better. “Unique life experience” can be defined in many ways, but here are a few examples to get you thinking along those lines:

  • Have you lived in another country? On an Indian reservation? On a military base?

  • Have you ever worked for a wealthy millionaire? For an absolute genius? For a starving artist?

  • Have you biked across the country? Hiked the full length of the Appalachian Trail? Competed in an Ironman competition?

  • Or have you done something else?

  Think! One person’s unique experience is another person’s humdrum life. Someone I know has lived in five countries and has had to run for her life on several occasions due to political uprisings in the region where she lives. However, when I asked her to list her unique life experiences during a career-related exercise, she believed that she didn’t have any to offer. Are you kidding me? Compared to her friends in the region, she was living an average life, but to me she was living a life filled with drama, intrigue, and adventure. The point is, never underestimate how interesting your life may sound to someone else.

• Do you have a gift? Are you gifted in some area of your life that may not commonly be considered a work-related skill? For example, I am gifted when it comes to interacting with people whose native language is something other than English. I come to life, and so do they. There is an instant rapport whether we meet on the city bus, in line at the grocery store, or by phone during a customer service call. That is an intangible gift that I’ve had since childhood. A woman I know has this same gift when working with the disabled. Someone else may be gifted in working with the elderly. Do you have a gift—or perhaps several? Consider not only the gift(s), but the actual skills associated with each. Do you have any formal or informal work or volunteer history where you put those gifts to work in specific ways?

• Do you have a hobby? Deconstruct your hobby and think about the many individual skills that you have honed in pursuit of an activity you enjoy. For example, if you are a shutterbug, think about how much time you have dedicated to learning about mechanics, lighting, composition, cropping, and printing. Those are technical skills that can make you some money. I’m not saying that you will be a professional photographer out of the gate, or perhaps ever, but I am saying that you may be able to package those expert skills alongside other skills for a winning pitch. We’ll get to that. For now, think about your hobbies and the specific, expert skills associated with them.

• Do you have a record of volunteer service? Although unpaid, volunteer service can sometimes result in the development of specialized skills. For example, if you volunteer at a botanical garden, perhaps you have training in how to care for orchids, which may, in turn, give you an edge when applying for a job with a national gardening outlet.

• Do you have a child? If you do, you know very well that children require a wide array of specialized skills and knowledge and a great deal of concentrated time to care for. Some people pay a great deal of money for this experience. Take, for example, a first-time mother who pays for post-partum assistance. Another example is a friend of mine who has two children diagnosed with severe autism; she has undoubtedly acquired some level of expertise with regard to raising autistic children and may be regarded as an expert about some facets of the parenting experience that may be of relevance to a potential client. Someone else that I know struggled with infertility for many years and could easily be categorized as an expert about coping with and overcoming infertility from an emotional standpoint. She would also be a wealth of information regarding local doctors, available local and national resources, support groups, educational outlets, and more. If you have a child, think about any skills you may have acquired over the years and add them to the list.

Finally, list any soft skills that could be applicable in your work life as a Patchworker. These soft skills are the interpersonal abilities that enable you to effectively interact with other people. Common examples of these abilities are coaching, teaching, motivating, negotiating, leading, and socializing.

What do you think? Are you an expert at anything? Or perhaps at many things? What did your self-inventory reveal? Continue adding to your list of the traditional and nontraditional skills and abilities that you possess, and then begin brainstorming about the many ways that you could apply those skills. Capitalize on your natural gifts and talents; then couple them with your area(s) of expertise for a winning combination.

What Do You See Out There?

Okay, so now that you have some of your expert skills and abilities at the front of your mind, what do you see in the marketplace? Observe your surroundings—only this time, look at the marketplace like a business owner, not like an employee. Think about where and how you could potentially insert yourself into an organization as a Patchworker. Here are three great shortcuts to get you started:

1. Utilize communication tools. Such tools allow you to have quick access to news or events taking place within organizations or industries you would like to tap for work. Examples include electronic mailing lists, blog posts, and social networking media such as Twitter and Facebook.
2. Scan the appropriate trade publications. You can use these publications (both online and in print) to learn about trends that you could be part of. Then you can approach the trendsetters with a pitch about how your product or service is a good fit with the organization’s new initiatives.
3. Get some boots-on-the-ground experience. Actually comb your hair and jump into a plane, train, or automobile and visit the location of potential clients to have a look around. I have a trick for learning about the pulse and culture of a workplace, and it has worked well on several occasions: Pack a bag lunch and find a place to sit in the atrium or some other bustling public space in the potential client’s building. Enjoy a leisurely lunch while making seemingly idle conversation with anyone who sits nearby—essentially, interview them about the company in an innocent manner and learn fabulous insider information that would never be available otherwise. Surprisingly, people rarely ask what I am doing there, and when they do, I have a prepared answer that is appropriate to the situation. Generally speaking, however, it’s best not to mention your interest in working for the company because people tend to censor what they say to potential co-workers. My advice is, be truthful but be vague.

Surveying your territory for existing opportunities that you could plug yourself into is an important step in this phase of the process, but let’s take it one step farther. In this next section, consider any niche products or services in your territory that are not currently being met by existing businesses. Explore the possibility of defining a niche for yourself and reaping the financial rewards.

What Do You Not See Out There?

I have said it before, but I’ll say it again: Finding a niche is how I hit it big as a Patchworker. I don’t mean to say that it turned me into a millionaire; it hasn’t. However, what it did do was immediately take me from flailing to fully booked in less than one month. It sounds impossible, I know, but that is my story. Having said that, I feel compelled to flash one of those ads that you often see on weight-loss commercials: Results not typical.

However, in all honesty I think that the results of this find-your-niche strategy could very well be the norm for just about anyone. If you remember my story from earlier in the book, I found my niche by asking myself simple questions. It wasn’t rocket science; in fact, the idea was so simple minded that I hesitated to tell you the real story. The way I found my niche was simply realizing that a group of friends all needed the same basic computer services, and they all kept calling me, hence my business idea. It was a niche. It set me on the path to becoming a Patchworker. It set me on the path to this moment in time, when I could share this book with you. It’s true—or as they say in Washington, D.C., it’s a “true fact.”

Identifying a niche seems impossible, right? All of those pessimists out there believe that anything worth doing has already been done. However, for good or for bad, I’m an eternal optimist and so I believe in possibility, always. When it comes to putting your finger on a niche, try thinking about it from this optimistic vantage point of unknown origin: Instead of thinking about what you’re missing, try thinking about what you have that everyone else is missing.

Look around; see what everyone else is already doing successfully and think about how you could put a unique twist on an already-existing product or service. This originality affords you a “first-mover advantage” that can catapult you right into a thriving business.

Even if a limited number of people already provide the very product or service that you want to offer, survey the territory and see if there is enough business available to insert yourself into the marketplace. The only sure way to find out is to pitch your product or service to potential customers and see if you get any bites. Remember, just because someone else is already doing what you would like to be doing doesn’t preclude you from joining in. It just means enjoying a little friendly competition. The world is a big place. Find a way to carve out your own territory where you can operate independently of your competition, if you have any. It’s an alternative that’s worth pursuing.

How to Pitch Your Niche

Having a niche means that others will be intrigued by your unique spin on things, which can get you some coveted media attention if you play your cards right. Pitch your niche in the form of a press release or an e-mail message to newspapers, radio stations, and television programs, both local and national. Getting a press release out there is as easy as navigating to the company’s Web site and looking for the Contact Us link, which typically allows you to submit a press release either by filling out a Web form or sending an e-mail message. Writing directly to media personalities who report on products or services in line with what you offer is also a great way to get some positive attention for your business. Alternatively, use the company’s Web site to look for the e-mail address of the reporter you wish to contact.

Receiving attention from the media will not only help to get your message out there, but also will give your business some added credibility if picked up for a newspaper article, radio mention, or television bit. It’s the same principle as the As Seen on TV logo that appears on product packaging. People figure that if the media have found the product worthy of time and attention, then maybe they should, too. This is exactly what you want for your business: attention! Being awarded time and attention by the media in any small way is a form of recognition and a way to reach new audiences all rolled into one!

Collecting credentials for your business and for yourself in every way possible is a great way to build a case for your niche’s credibility. Cultivate new titles and awards for yourself and your business in every way possible. Apply for every major and minor award out there in your city and state, and nominate yourself for awards. Better yet, ask colleagues to nominate you. Awards tend to build on themselves with one award causing others to believe that you must be award worthy, which results in them crowning you yet again. Apply! Apply! Just like the lottery, “you can’t win if you don’t play.”

Now that you have identified which expert skills you could pitch to a potential employer, it’s time to discuss how to identify opportunities to apply those skills in a workplace setting. In other words, it’s time to talk about how to “fish” for leads that utilize your skills and fit into the Lifestyle Design you have in mind.