I want to kick off the new year by encouraging all our readers to approach your business with the right mindset. To that end, I’m going to share a pearl of wisdom from a recent post by Seth Godin titled “True Professionals Don’t Fear Amateurs“.
Talking about the effects of a lowered barrier to entry in businesses that previously required training and expensive equipment, Seth says:
The insecure careerists fought off the amateurs at the gate, insisting that it was both a degradation of their art as well as a waste of time for the amateurs. The professionals, though, those with real talent, used the technological shift to move up the food chain.
When the world around you is changing you have the option to change with it, or to fade into obscurity moaning about the good old days. As a professional you have the skills and expertise that no amateur can match – but they have a passion for what you do. So should you fear the potential damage to your business, or proceed with confidence acting like you really are at the top of the food chain?
This is why I can only smile every time I see another florist, wholesaler, spouse-of-a-florist or some such person jumping into the SEO For Florists market. At Strider, we don’t fear the amateurs, we just just keep on rolling providing great, effective service to our clients that the amateurs just can’t match.
Walk proud, florists, and don’t fear the hobbyist and the unlicensed Basement Betty. Look for revenue opportunities related to them, but most of all conduct yourself like a professional and the wisest customers will know the difference.
Seth observed it right. Talented professionals nowadays leverage the “technological shift.” They’re always ahead of the game (spotting trends, filling an underserved niche, etc.) and it’s not because of pure luck. I believe it’s partly intuition and foresight that’s mostly backed by cold data.
Quite true. A professional never have to fear the amateurs. Its exactly that I keep saying to people who say that SEO have been made really hard by all the search engines. Its just that with the search engines, they have actually made it hard for the amateurs and the professionals can easily bank now.
This is a mindset that is really difficult to inculcate in the minds of employees who have already served the company for a longer period of time. I have had subordinates who have been in the company longer than I have been. The resistance to new policies and changes I am implementing is very strong. It’s becoming a very difficult challenge for me.
I agree that approaching the New Year off with a professional attitude, because as we all should know by now, one’s attitude about their business is key, however if a person does feel fear about others entering into the same market that they are in, they perhaps should pay attention to that fear. Perhaps that fear is trying to tell them something.
Have you been lazy? Are you being complacent? Are you in fear of more competition because you feel you can’t keep up? Are you fearful because you know that you have not been putting your best foot forward in your business? Fear about competition can be very telling. If you know that there is something more that you can do to improve your business, if you know that you are fearful because you know that you have been sub-par in your business practices, then use that fear to propel you to fix those things that need to be fixed.
***Excuse the typos at the start of the above reply.*** It should read,
“I agree about approaching the New Year with a professional attitude…”
I agree that fear about a competition can be incredibly telling. One must be confident in there abilities so that they can be credible to whomever is watching them later.
I like what this article highlights when they say the world is changing and you must learn to change with it. Professionals definitely are up to speed on how rapidly the world is changing and it’s so important to stay with the trends to keep your business afloat and successful.
If you want your business to succeed, you should make sure you are up to the signs of the times.
I don’t think that professionals should fear amateurs at all. In fact, if both can be a little open-minded, many times it’s advantageous to both parties if they work together from time to time. I have to admit, I enjoy working with new hires, simply because they see things and have new ideas that I’ve never imagined, much less considered. A fresh set of eyes can sometimes see opportunities that aren’t obvious to us old-timers.
I really like the idea of working together at any level in your business. You both could really help each other. The professional has the expertise and the amateur has the basic foundation which is very reconfirming….
Happy Groundhog’s day to everyone.
It’s true that search engines made the work of amateurs a little harder! SEO has become something that not every person can do like a professional that’s why I think professionals don’t have to fear the amateurs in any way. Truthful article!
In any business, you have to be willing to work hard and adapt to change. That has been true since long before the Internet was around. However, people seem to think that you can just post something online and customers will flock to you.
Keeping a positive attitude is the only way to overcome any adversity. Simple truth. I personally like the idea of looking at the newbies as potential income generators. Seth is a very observant writer and I will be looking into reading more by him thank you for this post RKF
I couldn’t agree more! Your mindset is everything when it comes to how you conduct yourself in business! It is the mindset of growing and learning that always comes out on top!
Success is directly related to dedication. You get what you put into your efforts, whether you are a professional or a “Basement Betty”. Accept all levels of competition as a challenge. Analyze the strengths of your competition, and use them for your own benefit. Here is an example:
My guess is that Basement Betty has a highly interactive social media presence. She has posted lots of pictures, and her prices, on average, may be slightly lower. She is talking to people to generate sales.
Now think about your strengths. Consider what she doesn’t have that you do. First of all, she’s “always save” and you are “name brand”. You have the professional look and the delivery service. You purchase supplies at wholesale, and she is likely purchasing supplies at retail. How can this truly be unwanted competition to you? Rise to the challenge, increase your social media presence with photos, keeping a variety of price ranges. Add polls, trivia questions, and comments to your profiles to get customers to interact with you. If your market will allow such, create return buyer incentives. Humans are creatures of habit. After two or three happy purchases, they’re yours to keep if you treat them right. No Basement Betty will lure them away.
Locally, we have a floral business that posts one male and one female first name each week on the door of her business. The person or people who have that name (and can prove it) wins a free rose. This savvy owner knows people are driving by every week to see which names have been chosen, thus her storefront displays are being viewed far more often now. I believe this sort of thinking is certainly ‘outside the box’. It is also another thing that Betty cannot do. Good article and comments!
Mindset in business is everything. I am reading this almost halfway through the year and it is a big pick me up. I am not on top of the competition right now but what this Blog does for me is to tell me that it is possible to just push through. While someone might pop up and seem affective with the next technology change they will probably fade because they do not have the professional ability and skill to continue with change. So if you are halfway through the year and doubting beating the fly-by-night competition do not worry it will pass as soon as there one off effective try fades and they fail to change as needed.
I could not agree more. When you have a business, especially an online business, you have to adapt to changes quickly. The internet is constantly changing and growing at a rapid rate, and in order to stay successful, you need to continue to educate yourself on the new trends.
Moaning about the good old days does not help! The more adaptive you are, the quicker you strart seeing possitive results. Poeple often fail to let go old habits and approaches…
So true. I try my hardest to adapt and pride myself on being able to change with new coming trends, but I always try to set myself apart in creative ways. Your attitude and how you present yourself is so important. You have to create an image for your company that doesnt give to competition, this is where carving out your “niche” is really important.
Moaning about the good old days won’t bring the back so no matter what happens you need to go with it. If things change you need to find out what changed in your industry and correct your course of action.
The world itself is evolving in every way so it makes perfect sense that business will evolve as well. Some will quit because they fear change, others will embrace it and others will start it.