How can you liberate something by constraining it?

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Oh, I see it now, and realize this is what I’ve been saying since 2017.

Hear me out, k?

I follow Peter Diamandis, and recently read a blog post of his that made me stop and apply the concept of this message to myself and my business when he quoted Dan and Chip Heath, the bestselling authors of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die:

“Go box shopping. Keep trying on one after another until you find the one that catalyzes your thinking. A good box is like a lane marker on the highway. It’s a constraint that liberates.”​

You see, I hear the same complaint over and over from entrepreneurs who have built a bit of success in their business by offering custom, personalized services to anyone they can impact, and will pay them.

These industrious entrepreneurs reach a pivot point that starts the pendulum swinging in a longer arc. They have just enough customers that they can uncomfortably handle, and that keep them from continuing to prospect for new customers. They are in the “feast or famine” pendulum swing, and this is the #1 pain caused by that initial unrestrained success.

Usually this pivot point is right around the 6 figure mark for agency owners, coaches and consultants.

So, in order to reach the next pivot point in their business and revenue, they need to do something different, otherwise the pendulum starts to swing to the side of no customers, and all prospecting.

As Dr. Diamandis says, “It’s human nature – but it’s not being innovative.”

Everyone who desires to go beyond that initial 6 figure mark MUST innovate in order to liberate the actions and behaviors that will allow them to reach the 7 figure mark.

What are the constraints that will create revenue and time liberation?

The first constraint you need to apply to your business is your focus on one niche.

This is usually a quick separator of the successful business owners and the dabbling hobbyists.

In this busy, noisy online world, you cannot reach your ideal customer if you aren’t speaking their language.

And, you don’t know what language to speak unless you know your audience very well.

✅ Niche Constraint

Okay, next you need to constrain yourself further by choosing which services or solutions you want to create and offer for this niche.

There aren’t many solopreneur full-service marketing agencies making north of 6 figures.

Why?

Because one person usually can’t be an expert in all the services in a “full-service” shop for long.

  • Website Design
  • SEO
  • Copy
  • Social Media Posting
  • Email Marketing
  • Public Relations
  • Events
  • Media Buying
  • Google My Business
  • Chatbots
  • etc.

If you offer all these services, and more, you need to be an expert at each, or hire someone who is.

When I started Messenger Funnels, I niched my services too narrow – I exclusively offered chatbots. I lost several large clients when I said, “I don’t do FB ads.”

When I branched out, and added FB ads, which are a perfect driver for chatbot success, I saw a huge upswing in my revenue and impact.

Now, I didn’t create and manage the ads, myself.  I contracted with someone I trusted to fulfill the FB ads services, while I fulfilled the chatbot services.

✅ Service Constraint

These are just the first two lane markers that you can use to put your business in a specific box in order to liberate your creativity, expertise and revenue.

If you’ve already put these constraints on your business, and you’re not seeing progress:

  1. You have a mindset hurdle ahead of you.
  2. You don’t have a painful enough problem that you solve for your niche.
  3. Your niche can’t afford your solution.

I hope this helps you narrow your focus and broaden your success!

Cheers!


Your M.I.S.C.H.I.E.F. “Constraint for Liberation” Advocate

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