How to Win Client Business When You Don't Know Where to Start

CHAPTER 6The Power of Focus : The Key to Being Remembered

The narrower and more focused your brand, the easier it is for people to remember who you are.

—Goldie Chan, writer, 10 Golden Rules Of Personal Branding, 2018, Forbes

The first step in the process of becoming a rainmaker is establishing your personal brand identity; it's the cornerstone of everything else you'll do to win client business. The primary reason a highly focused personal brand works so well is that it helps you stand out from the crowd. Until those we wish to serve remember us, there is very little chance that our talents will have a chance of being discovered and utilized.

Of the top client pathways, the top two – referrals and inquiries from people you know – represent over 50% of all new client business. People need to remember you in order for these two pathways to open and flow. Having a strong focus is the key to being remembered.

Focusing your personal brand is a hard topic for many to wrap their mind around. The difficulty stems from two main reasons:

• Reason 1: The very notion of narrowing our focus defies what our intuition is telling us.
• Reason 2: It is often really hard to choose one thing to focus on.

Trevor is a highly skilled and talented project leader working for a management consulting firm in Dallas. Trevor has one client that he works with full‐time – a very large technology company. Trevor's client loves him. He and his team do great work. He is seen as the person you go to when you ...