Narrow, broad or both?

A strange paradox – the narrower you go the broader people want you to be. Being remembered by a client is about building a brand around a specific theme or domain. Once you do, you become top of mind and they will often ask you to do other things.

Examples of a brand include:

• ‘the expert in indirect tax’
• ‘the person that brings innovative ideas’
• ‘the operational improvement expert’
• ‘the firm that get things done’

Most people get concerned that going narrow will exclude them from other roles. My view – the client lives in a crowded space with constant noise from internal and external parties. By building a brand they will think of you. Not having a clear and identifiable brand means that you become lost in the noise as you fail to stand out from the crowd.