“He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle away ” Raymond Hull.
Here is a (Sixth century B.C.) fable that illustrates it beautifully,
A MAN and his son were once going with their Donkey to market. As they were walking along by its side a countryman passed them and said: “You fools, what is a Donkey for but to ride upon?” So the Man put the Boy on the Donkey and they went on their way. But soon they passed a group of men, one of whom said: “See that lazy youngster, he lets his father walk while he rides.”So the Man ordered his Boy to get off, and got on himself. But they hadn’t gone far when they passed two women, one of whom said to the other: “Shame on that lazy lout to let his poor little son trudge along.” Well, the Man didn’t know what to do, but at last he took his Boy up before him on the Donkey. By this time they had come to the town, and the passers-by began to jeer and point at them. The Man stopped and asked what they were scoffing at. The men said: “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself for overloading that poor Donkey of yours—you and your hulking son?” The Man and Boy got off and tried to think what to do. They thought and they thought, till at last they cut down a pole, tied the Donkey’s feet to it, and raised the pole and the Donkey to their shoulders. They went along amid the laughter of all who met them till they came to Market Bridge, when the Donkey, getting one of his feet loose, kicked out and caused the Boy to drop his end of the pole. In the struggle the Donkey fell over the bridge, and his fore-feet being tied together he was drowned. “That will teach you,” said an old man who had followed them “PLEASE ALL, AND YOU WILL PLEASE NONE.”
Habits worth considreing:
- Communicate ‘who you are’ to resonate with customers and prospects you want to attract.
- Focus on ‘who’ you want to get the message across to and communicate to them in a way that they understand it.
- It is much easier to get across a ‘single message’ than to throw everything but the kitchen sink at your target audience.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post! I’ve been confused myself about where to focus for a long time and consequently confused my prospective clients! It’s now coming together under one message .. been a long, disorientating time though!
Hi Rosemary,
It happens to all of us. The important thing is to learn and move on. Hope all is well with you!