Some time ago Chris Brogan wrote a post, that I'm still thinking about partly because I love beignets and secondly I tend to be slightly OCD (just kidding, I think) and can not stop thinking of something until my thoughts have run their logical course.
Chris' post was about doing one thing very well and I have to say that Chris is correct, not every brand is built on a single solidly identifiable widget, but many are. It doesn't mean that you have to be one dimensional. It is important to have a few complimentary products or services. Maybe one of the best examples that I can provide is from my previous life as an adventure racer. Our team was made up of four individuals and we often had special duties that we elected to fulfill for each race. My role was second navigator and pacer. For some reason I have an odometer built into my brain that can get you to your destination within a few meters of the actual spot and I can also tell you what pace you are walking and running. Many runners I know have that same sense so I'm not that unique, but I could do that at night, on a trail, in a dark forest with a combination of walking running and still get the team where we needed to be. I say this not to brag, but simply to point out that I had a "brand" of being a great pacer so guess who got that job every time? Sure, I did and that's okay, because I really enjoyed it. I could have done other things like navigator, encourager, transition help or one of the many other "jobs", but I did one thing very well and concentrated on that. Of course, we were a team so we all helped out doing whatever it took to be successful, but we also had 1 or 2 things that we specialized in and that made our team function well.
So what's your specialty? What widget do you make or piece of insight that you can bring that is uniquely you?
Thanks,
Mat