Let’s face it, every business and every person has to have a unique “message” to separate themselves from everybody else in their world.  The message of your business is something that makes you stand apart from the rest.  It is unique to you, and is genuine and authentic about you, your business, your service or product.

Far too often there is little thought given to this unique part of every business.  Let me give you an example from my own business life.  I once owned a chain of private schools.  When I was going into that business, I studied what all of the other competitors in my marketplace were saying about themselves – how they were distinguishing themselves from all others in the marketplace.  I was astounded to see how many had actually copied – many times verbatim – each other’s “unique message” of why they were in business.  One that stood out is that several of these schools said they went into the private school business because they just couldn’t find a private school that offered everything they wanted for their own children.  Now, does it stand to reason in one community that two, three, even four sets of parents would start their own private school because they just couldn’t find a school that offered what they wanted for their own children?  Sounds a little far-fetched, doesn’t it, particularly when they basically just copied the traditional curriculum from other private and public schools!

Run the experiment yourself on any business you choose.  You will start to see the same claims over and over and over again about the services and products offered: We are the best, the fastest, the most affordable, and on and on…

This “message” dilemma is not limited to business; we all have a personal message that we share with the world as well, and sometimes that message has, well, turned into a mess.  What other messes do you have in your life?  Your Marriage?  Your Kids?  Your Job? Your Finances?  Come on, we all have something that needs addressed.

Now, here’s a real-life story about turning a mess into a message in your business and personal life.  I know an interesting story about a guy who was very shy, particularly with the ladies, but shy in all respects.  He tried his luck with real estate sales, but with his timid personality he never sold a house.  What really bothered him, apart from being unable to earn a decent living, was that he could never get a date – he was nice looking, a good dresser, very smart, but, oh, so shy!

So one day he said to himself, “I’ve had it with this job, and I’ve had it with my personal life!  I’m going to attack both problems with a new message, I’m going to write a book on how shy guys can get dates.”  Since obviously he knew nothing about writing or getting dates, he had to do a lot of research.  But he did the hard work and research, and actually wrote a pretty good book.  When book sales were slow, he decided he would have to learn something about marketing and selling books.  So he learned that.  Before long, the book sales took off.  So then he thought, what is the next logical step?  I know, I’ll start a dating service for people who can’t find dates in the traditional ways.  Before long, this shy guy who couldn’t sell a house and couldn’t get a date was making millions of dollars a year in an online dating service.  By the way, he is now happily married to a beautiful woman and they have a child.  Do you get the point?  He turned his mess into a message, and you can too.

So how do you find and choose the unique message for your own business and life?  Well, here are five steps that will work every time.

5 WAYS TO “UN-MESS” YOUR LIFE

 ASK YOURSELF THESE 5 SIMPLE QUESTIONS… 

1. As you review your life, what is the biggest mess that you have ever had in your business or personal life, and how did you clean it up?

2. What did you learn from that experience?

3. How did you overcome that adversity?

4. Do others have this same issue plaguing their lives?

5. Do I really believe I have found genuine answers to my problem(s), and am I willing to share them with others?

When you answer all of those questions, you will have your own “unique message.”  Did you recover from a financial reversal, even a bankruptcy?  Did you have a product that became obsolete and you had to reinvent your business?  Did you lose most or all of your business to a new competitor, and you had to learn how to market and sell yourself or your business in a unique way to recover?

Chances are you have had to recover from many things in your life and in your business.  On the personal side, did you have to recover from a serious illness, a divorce, addiction issues, your kids being on drugs, a cheating husband or wife?  How did you do it?  Maybe you are a very spiritual person, and you can show others how faith changed your life.  No matter the issue, you can turn your mess into a powerful message!

This may not resonate with you yet, but the world needs to hear the answers you have found. They need the encouragement, the insight, the wisdom that only you can impart.  They are looking for answers whether in their businesses, their personal lives or their communities.   There is no one exactly like you.  There is no one who has been equipped in life the same way you have.  You are unique.  So take that uniqueness and turn it into a powerful message.  Allow yourself to be vulnerable by sharing your own failures and how you turned your mess into a powerful message.

Your message may just change the world – even if it’s one person at a time!

Tommy Runfola

“Get Back Up, Give Your Best…WIN!”