May 5, 2009

You’re a talented writer, designer, speaker, consultant, coach, salesperson, but doors aren’t flying open for you.

Why not?

Talent, I’m afraid, is assumed — a lot of people have talent. It’s the price to get into the game. Talent, married with creativity, however, is how you get out of the cheap seats. (In fact, creativity will allow you to get places with lesser talent than others — oops, potential self indictment)

If you want to make your talent pay off than you’ve got to come up with creative ways to show people how your talent can get them more of what they want (Hint: It’s not about your talent)

If you want to write for a publication, don’t send them your articles, show them how you could help them sell subscriptions, introduce them to potential advertisers and generally bring them more readers — oh, and yes, write a whale of a feature too!

If you want to speak, don’t send your brilliant DVD, go to an organization and show them how you can put on a workshop that will benefit their clients AND you’ve got another organization that wants to partner with them so it would also be a good way to meet some prospects too.

If you want partner with a large organization, don’t send them your brochure, do your homework and find a way to help them partner with a non-profit agency in a way that helps everyone.

If you want another business to refer you, don’t just ask, put the tools in their hands that will allow them take advantage of your talent while getting more of what they want.

Use your talent to create, teach, develop and distribute information and tools and then give it all away in creative partnership proposals. That’s how you use your talent to get to the front row.