Ditching Hourly

Hello and welcome to Ditching Hourly. I'm Jonathan Stark. Science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein famously wrote, specialization is for insects. A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, con a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Okay, I tend to agree with Mr. Heinlein. Maybe not with the specific list of items, but yeah, it's probably beneficial for a human being to have a wide range of shallow competencies. But this is life advice, it's not business advice. Do not confuse the two. I have seen time and time again that running a business as a jack of all trades generalist is a recipe for income stagnation and eventual failure. One of the folks on my daily list, Graham McGregor, sent in this fabulous story of a business thriving by virtue of their extreme specialization. Here's what Graham had to say. Hi Jonathan, I had a bicycle accident a few weeks ago and badly sprained my wrist. I saw a physiotherapist for two weeks but my wrist was not improving. My physiotherapist recommended I go to a specialist physiotherapist of your fingers. They're called hand works. I had an appointment a few days ago with one of their specialist physiotherapists and the first thing I noticed was how big their team of people is. They also have a number of branches around the city and they are incredibly busy. The physiotherapist told me my problem was tennis elbow air quotes, which meant my ligaments were severely stretched when I came off the bicycle and landed on my face and wrist, and that I needed to wear a wrist brace and strap for at least a month. My wrist is starting to feel better in a few days and I feel I'm in the right hands, no pun intended, with this business. The first physiotherapist I saw was a one man band. He was good and knowledgeable and nice and deals with any type of injury that might need physiotherapy. However, the specialist physio firm that only deals with injuries on a tiny part of the body are huge in comparison and are doing amazingly well. I told my specialist physiotherapist that I also had a minor sprain in my right shoulder from my crash. I can't help you, she told me. We only work on problems between the elbow and fingertips. You will need to see your other physiotherapist for that issue. I like the way this business has got very specialized in what they do and as a result are super successful. Feel free to share if you think it will help. Warm regards, Graham McGregor. Thanks, Graham. First, I hope you're feeling better. Second, it's really hard to say specialist physiotherapist. But here's the thing. Back to Robert Heinlein. According to Wikipedia, his sole income generating activity for the period from 1947 till his death in 1987 was writing. Not changing diapers, or butchering hogs, or designing buildings. More than 30 years after his death, his name is associated with what? Writing. Why? Because he wrote almost nonstop for 40 years. It's what created his legacy. It's where his biggest impact came from. It's how he dented the universe. That sounds pretty specialized to me. That's it for this time. I'm Jonathan Stark, and I hope you join me again next time for Ditching Hourly. See ya. Would you like to learn how to get paid what you're worth? How about selling your expertise and not your labor? What about making more money without working more hours? We work through all of this together in The Pricing Seminar. Registration starts soon, so head on over to thepricingseminar.com to add your name to the announcement list. That URL again is thepricingseminar.com. I hope to see you there. Hey, Jonathan again. Do you have questions about how to improve your business? Things like value pricing your work instead of billing for your time? Or positioning yourself as the go-to person in your space? Or maybe productizing your services so you never have to have another awkward sales call or spend hours writing another custom proposal? Book a one-on-one coaching call with me and get answers to these questions and others in the time it takes you to get ready for work in the morning. Best of all, you're covered by my 100% satisfaction guarantee. If at the end of the call you don't feel like it was worth it, just say the word and I'll refund your purchase in full. To book your one-on-one coaching call, go to jonathanstark.com slash call, C-A-L-L. That URL again is jonathanstark.com slash call. Hope to see you there.