Jills of All Trades, Masters of None?
Since starting Sweet Talk last year, we have been asked countless times, “What industry do you specialize in?” In fact, the question is so prevalent, and so automatic at networking events, that we have found ourselves trying to formulate an answer to it.
Here’s the thing…as entrepreneurs getting started, with somewhat varied backgrounds, we didn’t plan to start out specializing in any industry. We figured we would take what business came our way. But we also strongly believe that our expertise and the marketing/PR/communications principles we know can be applied to just about any industry and customized a little bit to fit each clients’ needs.
Then we had a long conversation with a woman slightly older than us, who had had tremendous success in the marketing world by being a generalist - by applying her expertise to all industries, and we felt this justified the Sweet Talk philosophy.
But the question kept coming…”What do you specialize in?” And we started to feel like not having an answer was hindering us. So we took a look at our clients, our backgrounds and what we enjoy. And here’s what we know we specialize in:
We work with clients who are trying to reach a luxury audience - either with a high-end product or service, or as a nonprofit looking for donors.
That’s our thrust. That’s our answer. BUT, we still strongly believe that our expertise and our knowledge can be applied to just about any industry out there, and we certainly don’t want to close ourselves off.
Last week, I saw this post on the Blog of Tim Ferris (author of The Four-Hour Work Week) about the Top Five Reasons to be a Jack of all Trades. And it made a lot of sense.
Sooo…we continue to struggle with whether or not to specialize in a certain industry, or to proudly be generalists. What are your thoughts? Are you a specialist or a generalist? Let us know!