How NOT To Be A “Commodity”

So let’s say you’re a Tarot reader, and after a lot of thought, you decide you’re ready to start charging for readings. You’re going to hang out your shingle and “open shop”. Huzzah! (”Huzzah” is one of my favorite words. )

At first, you’re psyched. You know in your heart this is the right choice for you and you’re going to go for it. And then the doubt starts to creep in…

On top of all the “can I really do this?” (which is tough enough to deal with - hello), there’s another little bugaboo… maybe it started to stick out its claws after you spent the day browsing the sites of other readers. It is this:

“Wow, there are so many OTHER readers out there… how am I going to, um, compete?”

Competition. Not a fun thought for metaphysical practitioners, generally (not to mention the energy inherent in the word - bah).

Relax! You don’t have to compete - not with anyone, and certainly not for business. Your business is your own.

How can this be?

Simple. You’re not like anybody else! You know it, I know it… the trick is knowing what’s unique about your business and making sure your potential clients know it.

In marketing, we call this a USP, or unique selling position. It’s the answer to the question: why should someone work with YOU over anyone else?

There are tons of reasons why: a special service you offer, your modality or combination of modalities you practice, your clientele… even parts of your personality.

Note there was one I left off the list - and this is VERY important. Can you guess what it is?

Price.

That’s right, you don’t have to be the cheapest consultant in the land. In fact, it really doesn’t serve you.

There are countless examples of businesses that have differentiated based on price. It may work for a while, but never in the long run. (Here’s an example fresh from today’s business headlines: Wal-Mart. They’re losing big time right now. Why? Because their whole position - the reason to buy from them rather than someone else - is price, and now their competition is catching up, big time.)

So, consider: what’s your unique position? What can you offer than noobody else can?

I’ll have much more on this in later posts and resources.

[This work is copyrighted material; you may not reproduce it on your website or anywhere else (though of course you’re welcome to link to it). Please visit http://www.buildyourmetaphysicalbusiness.com to claim your free 90 minute marketing brainstorming session with Tarot Pro James Wells.]