I once got – in 2003 – a LONG email response to a proposal I submitted. It was from the CEO/founder, of a company regarded as one of Nigeria’s foremost brand marketing and advertising companies.

He politely declined interest in my proposal of a Strategic Partnership between my start-up Self-Development Academy, and his well established, highly respected company.

But that’s not why I’ve recalled our exchange.

Instead, it’s the comment he made towards the end of his email that I find worthy of mention.

It confirmed what I’d read, that even great minds won’t always see benefit in every good concept. But that’s only because they are human – not that they’re mean or any less smart. The problem is not all of them are willing to admit when they “cannot see, or do not know”.

Each of us, who has to relate with them, must therefore ensure we are well grounded in what we know.

This is to avoid letting them throw out our “idea babies”, with the bath water, presumably “for our own good”!

So what exactly did he say at the end of his email?

He noted that I “seemed to have my hands in many pies”, and wondered why I did not make things easy for myself by narrowing down to one. As he put it, doing so would boost my chances of making an impact faster, and more successfully. He then closed the paragraph with a rhetorical question:

“Or do you want to become another Henry Ford?”

I found that curious. What could be bad in becoming another Henry Ford?

Except for some trouble he got into in relation to racisim or so, nothing that man did is unworthy of emulation!

But there was no opportunity to further discuss the matter.

The CEO’s final words made it clear he expected me to decide whether to act on what he’d said, or not.

In my case, I felt – back then – exactly the way I still feel today.

What did I do?

I simply kept doing what I was doing. Have done so till this day. My multidisciplinary approach works for me.

In fact, I do better when I work this way. And I’m not alone.

What’s more, my achievements – including feedback and testimonials from others – confirm I’m right! However, back then many people around me made comments similar to his.

My seeming lack of “focus”, to them, meant I could not possibly be competent enough in one area to command reliable patronage.

But what exactly was it that I was doing then that bothered people so much you might ask?

Let me start by saying it’s been ten years since then, and I’m still doing EVERY single one of the things they all criticised back then.

Not just that – I have repeatedly done so quite successfully, with buyers paying handsomely too!

1. Custom Excel-Visual Basic driven Spreadsheet Software Development

2. Web Marketing Systems Development

3. Public Speaking/Training/Coaching

4. Information Publishing/Sales

5. Freelance Writing/Author Publishing Support Services

All Over the World, Things Have Changed, and Keep Changing

Over the years, economic realities have made more people, and business shift away from the narrow strategy of sticking to just one thing. Now, they actively explore profitable ways of providing interrelated products and services to various target audiences.

Take a look at MTN for instance. They are a telecommunications company. But over the years, they’ve found ways to integrate what they offer seamlessly with other business models. They do not make smart phones, but you can buy MTN branded phones on special sales, with a promotional service package attached to it.

To offer smart phones branded with their names, they did not have to open a phone making factory. They simply teamed up in a mutually beneficial arrangement with a phone maker to offer it.

Another thing MTN sells: Ring tones.

The company comes to some kind of agreement with musical artistes and then offers ring tones of their popular songs for download by customers on their network.

So, in addition to selling phones and airtime, they also make money selling ring tones and other digital products to the same customer base. Again, they’ve been in the talent hunting business in an industry they know has an active population of buyers.

Every season, a group of young people,with singing talents, are selected to participate in a reality show sponsored and organised by MTN i.e. Project Fame. The company spends money to make it happen every season.

A lot of money. But we all know the voting done by millions of viewers every day, gives them massive returns on their investment.

So the question could be asked: What exactly does MTN do – or what should it be doing…perhaps?

Are they into the telecoms business or they are also a phone maker and entertainment company?

Do those running the company need to be told to make up their minds what to focus on?

I doubt it. The ultimate determinant of where to “focus” effort is often “volume of profit margin gain” to be made.

And so far, dabbling into multiple markets seems to have paid off quite well for them!

And it’s not just them.

Many of today’s successful companies, who are able to competently navigate the waters of harsh economic times globally, behave the same way.

A good example outside Africa, is Richard Branson’s Virgin Group ,which has a myriad of product and services companies serving different target markets.

What won’t these companies stick to just ONE thing, like companies used to do in the past?

A quick answer: Many companies evolved this way over time as a survival strategy. The global economic crisis forced many companies to spread their offerings to include interrelated products and services.

But to do that successfully, ONE must understand two important concepts.

They are: Niches and Specialties.

Many people use them loosely. Only very few really have a sound understanding of what they really mean, and how to apply them to what they do.

Incidentally, I did not gain clarity about this subject by myself.

It took my reading the 27th May 2001 issue of Philip Humbert’s Weekly TIP(The Innovative Professional)’s Newsletter to get it right.

That’s right. I read it over 12 years ago, and I’ve kept the printout, in my files, for re-reading since then!

Philip defined “a specialty as the particular skills or benefits you provide for your customers.” I like the word “benefits”.

I tell people my specialty is “Performance Improvement”. That’s the benefit I provide.

Willing and diligent clients become better at doing what they do, as a result of my intervention.

But my specialty – according to Philip – will NOT say anything about the “market niche” I can serve.

Niches are “the people who buy from me” – that’s how Philip said a client of his put it.

And I really liked the clear language used there!

If we now put it all together:

My specialty refers to what I do, or provide, or help others achieve.

In my case it’s Performance Improvement.(Think about what yours is!)

Then my niche refers to those who pay me to do what I do i.e. people who buy from me.

But we’re not done yet. In fact, this is where it all gets very interesting!

What follows below, explains why MTN, Virgin and multipreneurial individuals often survive/flourish in harsh business times more than others.

Business owners can generate huge profits by creatively using their specialties and niches.

Philip gave the example of Martha Stewart, who he described as “specializing” in Elegant Living.

He said she “identified many separate niches”.

Did you get that?

Not one niche. But many separate niches.

In other words, she found different target markets to offer her appropriately tailored “specialty”.

Very smart thinking by Martha!

To illustrate, Philip gave examples…

For instance, her deal with a large store chain (K-Mart) enabled Martha sell to a completely different audience, from those who watched her TV show.

In addition, the audiences served by her magazine, were distinctly different from those interested in her Internet businesses.

To paraphrase Philip, Marta understood her specialty.

And that enabled her multiple income streams/huge profits selling to many different niche audiences!

How I Put It All to Use for Myself

As a Performance Improvement Specialist, I earn multiple streams of income helping people in different industries do what they do better.

1. Independent consultants/professionals buy my books (www.lulu.com/sdaproducts) and custom Excel-VB software (www.excelheaven.biz)

2. Groups/Organisations invite me to speak at their events (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQCR2–qBe8) – sometimes sell my products.

3. Businesses in different industries hire me to develop custom software, implement web marketing systems, do freelance writing, training etc.

To do the above, I “customize my specialty” to meet peculiar needs, wants and interests of each different market niche.

That’s why I have custom software that computes/chart farm operations Key Performance Indicators (www.tayosolagbade.com/pfmgr.html); another does automated feed formulation (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChaF2MP0zEk); yet another auto-generates payslips for employees in hotels, hospitals (www.tinyurl.com/ExcelVBPayslipGeneratorDemo) etc

In all cases, my role remains that of a Performance Improvement Specialist, who helps them find practical, reliable ways to do what they do better.

You Can Do The Same!

Remember: By spending time to think of how your specialty can be used to help people in different market niches, you can dramatically boost your income earning ability.

Think about it.