I have a cubby hole in my brain that is labeled “PUBLIC SPEAKING COACH.” And it is occupied.
I have a cubby hole in my brain that is labeled “TAX PLANNER.” Want in? Sorry… occupado.
The first is occupied by Fred Miller, my public speaking coach. He is a well respected authority on the subject. He has been speaking for decades, writes a weekly blog about the topic and is in the process of putting the nails in a book called No Sweat Public Speaking. He is an expert and is the tenant of that cubby hole in my brain.
The second is occupied by John Beidle. He runs a Meet Up group, conducts presentations, creates video and articles on the subject of tax planning. His business, 1040 Wealth Designs is a tax planning firm that walks it’s talk.
Here is the bad news…
If you are a tax planner or a public speaking coach, you are going to have to work pretty hard to push these guys out of their respective cubby holes in my brain.
Here is the good news…
There are lots more brains out there. And lots more cubby holes.
How to get your cubby hole in my brain…
- Decide which cubby hole you want in my brain
- Consistently create valuable content around that topic
- Provide examples and testimonials (social proof) of your expertise in that topic
That’s it. It’s really fairly simple to get your own cubby hole in my brain.
The benefits of having your own cubby hole in my brain…
- When I need an expert in this topic, I will call on you (sale)
- When someone I know needs an expert in this topic, I will call on you (referral)
Need I say more?
How to get evicted from your cubby hole in my brain…
If any of the following rules are broken, you will be evicted from your cubby hole or may be replaced by another tenant:
Rule 1: Do not try to occupy more than one cubby hole unless these cubby holes are closely linked topics. You cannot occupy both the public speaking coach and tax planner cubby holes. However you may own both tax planner and CPA at the same time for example.
Rule 2: The content you create must be fairly frequent and must be authoritative in your topic.
Rule 3: Do not be a phony. ‘Nuff said here.
Rule 4: Added by Steve Smart: Fail to continue feeding the cubbyhole with yummy stuff. I’d rather have a fresh Payday than a stale Hershey bar.
What are your thoughts? How do you grow the number of cubby holes you own? What advice do you have for claiming more cubby holes?
image courtesy of killermonkeys
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{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Russ,
and I have been thinking alot about this lately as I am currently working on three (yes, three) areas of focus for business outreach.
You know I love this topic
I want to first say that for most first time solo-preneurs(tiny business owners) the one “cubby approach” is absolutely best.
The “One cubby approach” provides critical elements that are key to learning the basic business model that tiny business will use to grow and thrive;including their individual philosophy and way of “doing their business do”
A “single cubby approach” allows the business owner the opportunity to expertly implement their techniques. So yes, a one cubby approach is excellent in this stage and yes, it allows those that you interact with to see you as a “one cubby biz”…but
For many seasoned entrepreneurs and many highly successful ones, they have not one, but several businesses they operate/own. These businesses are not always linked by any obvious “common thread”…though there is a common theme which could just be their vast wealth of knowledge from the intense and essential research that is required to be good enough in anything to “Own Cubby space” anywhere in anyone’s brain. these entreprneurs love business, they generally are full of life, knowledge and yes, they are expert enough to lead many “one cubby” first time tiny businesses to victory.
The key thing to take away is that it is better to be able to “see and discern” what and who will help you best in your quest for assistance and go with that! Everyone wins…and they win more than “brain cubby space “!!!
Thanks for the thought provoking post.
Jennifer Tobias
@jennifer — Awesome take on this subject jennifer.
There is no question that you can occupy more than one cubby hole in someone’s brain. But it is difficult.
A quick story: I fell in love with the writing of Bill Bryson while I was traveling overseas. He wrote brilliantly funny travel books that you simply could not put down. He quickly occupied the ‘travel writer’ cubby hole in my brain. He then switched gears and started writing much more serious books, history books. I got confused. I bought the first book when he moved into this new direction but he just couldn’t make the jump from the ‘witty travel writer’ cubby hole to ‘serious historian’ cubby hole in MY brain.
I capitalized and bolded the word MY above because branding is a “One Brain at a Time” battle and in my case Bryson didn’t make the jump. Also, consider the fact that he didn’t even change professions, he just changed genres — and it didn’t work for me.
I would think that in order to occupy a cubby hole in someone’s brain that there first has to be a need for whatever or whoever might fit in that cubby hole; i.e. I would not occupy a cubby hole in anyone’s brain unless they needed a toner or inkjet cartridge or their printer died and they wanted to purchase a new one. So I think staying “top of mind”, as Fred Miller would say, until there is a need, then I would hope that whoever out there would be thinking of me so I could fill that cubby hole in their brain.
@Sue Harrison — Good point. However, even if I don’t have a need for something, there is often a cubby hole and that cubby hole can be occupied.
For instance, I met with a Quickbooks Trainer, Consultant and Bookkeeper named Lori St. Clair yesterday. At the moment, I don’t need her services but she still occupies the “QUICKBOOKS” cubby hole in my brain right now. If she starts building content around her industry, public speaking, etc she will further solidify her position in that cubby hole. If someone were to ask me if I know someone that can help them with Quickbooks, I would refer them to Lori because she owns that cubby hole in my brain.
My take is that it is not necessarily NEED that creates the cubby hole, it is AWARENESS and CLARITY about what someone does. If there is competition for the cubby hole, it then comes down to which business or person I know, like and trust more in that particular area.
Russ,
I’m a student and disciple of the school of Brand Building. Brand Building is all about mind share. Whether you call it cubby hole or top of mind, is immaterial. I’ve been fascinated with your series of meetings as I look at your efforts at helping us create brand building tools to use in everyone’s techno-connected world.
The two examples of John and Fred are both tools useful for our unconnected world. Moving online brand promotion over to offline engagement is very challenging. As you said during the last meeting, it requires the “usual off line activities” of trust building. In my world, I view online activities as a supplement activity and not a replacement activity to offline trust building. I think the world I roam in is still acclimating to online Brand Building. It’s starting to happen, and I need to be in front of the mindset shift.
The power of one is a key concept for our Tiny Businesses.
@bob klein — There is absolutely no replacement for off-line networking and trust building. Online activity is a great supplement to it but nothing replaces face to face contact. Thanks for the thoughtful comment!
I find your article very interesting. And as Jennifer Tobias commented, I have apparently diverging products. I have a passion and expertise in all three. Lately tho’, I’ve been contemplating simply featuring one business and product. Your article definitely gives me something to think about.
@Mike Winslow — This phenomenon is certainly something to consider.
I thought this article was well-written, Russ as it helps us “catch” the idea. WE understand “cubby holes.” It’s creating that niche that requires more work ON our business and brand than working IN our business.
@Joe High — Very good point Joe — it can be very easy to slip into the trap of working IN your business and spending no time working on improving processes, procedures, branding, etc.
Russ, this is a great and fun way to look at it. You now have me wondering who occupies cubbies in my brain and I can think of a lot. You take the online media cubby, @Fred the speaking coach, @Karen Fox for implementation of social media, and yes now @Sue Harrison for ink for my printer etc. Thank you for the tips on how to take over the productivity improvement cubby for other. I hope you noticed that I learned something last night.
@Cathy — No question in my mind who occupies the “productivity” cubby hole in my brain Cathy, it’s you. I have seen you present and have read lots of authoritative content on the subject that was created and delivered by you. You are the expert that occupies this part of my brain.
Russ, great article with equally better commentary from your readers! My goal is to occupy the insurance cubby in someone’s brain. Creating value and consistently providing people with answers to their questions is key to a successful business. Everyone needs auto and home insurance, but it is up to me to separate myself from the pack through relevant, interesting, and current information. Thank you for reminding me the importance of focusing on one niche.
@Aaron Unell — Thanks for stopping by Aaron! You are right, every adult in this country has an “insurance cubby hole” that needs to be filled.
Well, you did it again Russ. First, I just started to eat my breakfast when I opened your blog with your brain in it. Thanks a lot, no more scrambled eggs for me.
But seriously; I can relate to what you are talking about. In one’s life, people make impressions in our head (brain), I know it happens to me. Why do you think I gave you a nick name “The Guru”?
Yes, it is not merely a joke; you are a special person in my mind. I will do my best to return the favor,
which will benefit both of us. Get ready for me, and clean out that cubby hole I need.
Dale Attila Fogarasi
@Attila — You already own a cubby hole in my brain —- Al Hrabosky lost the “Mad Hungarian” cubby about a year ago when I had the pleasure of meeting you.
Nice way to market your brain. I’m extremely impressed at how you’ve managed to build up your brand in such a short period of time while affecting those around you. Big props to kicking off your workshop as well on WordPress. That’s a great way to show others how this amazing blogging platform can generate revenue for each tiny business owner.
Keep up the great work!
@Ivan — thanks for the compliments Mr. Ivan! The Wordpress workshop went very well. It was a great group!
Hey Russ, I like the way you illustrated your top of mind referral process. One of the many processes of your mind!!! Anyway, this referral process reminds of BNI without the weekly breakfast.
I really appreciate all of the value added content that you provide to your group, I like the way you are “walking the talk” of adding valuable content. To succeed online you either need a lot of money or great content, both is even better.
What I offer businesses is a platform to help market themselves both on and off line and help create synergy between their social media marketing and their mobile media marketing. Seeing the marketing trend towards mobile media this helps businesses prepare for their future. Thanks again for all that you have shared with us.
Kathy Sammons
@Kathy Sammons — Thanks so much for the thoughtful comment Kathy and thank you for stopping by my blog. I love the analogy of BNI without the breakfast.
What a great way to explain the importance of branding! It’s a hard concept for some people to grasp, and I think you illustrated the point brilliantly.
@Lynn Alpert — Thanks Lynn! Branding is definitely something that is hard to get a grasp on, I have been doing a lot of thinking about it lately and this is the best way I can describe it thus far.