I thought it’d be helpful to break down ‘Wide Shoes Only’ from yesterday…

Yes, I was (slightly) joking about the money laundering litmus test…

But this seemingly silly example actually nails the fundamentals.

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They found a very real pain point for an underserved market...

...and made a bold (and in many ways, risk-minimizing) branding move by going full Captain Obvious with ”Wide Shoes Only”

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So what’s going on here?

Three big things:

1. They solve a painful, specific problem (finding wide shoes in-store)
2. That enough people have (those Reddit defenders were just a random sampling of locals)
3. And they use crystal-clear messaging that resonates instantly with their niche, and no one else

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So why does this sound so easy for them, but so hard for us as solo consultants?

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1. We’re wishy-washy on the problem

We’re quick to claim domain authority (’strategy’, ‘people ops’, ‘brand marketing’) but hesitate to commit to one problem we can solve.

If Wide Shoes Only had stopped at ‘footwear’, where would we be?

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2. We overestimate how big a niche needs to be

Remember your magic number? The number of clients you could possibly serve? It’s very small. Maybe 10 per year.

Ask yourself:

• Can I name 10 companies that definitely have this problem?
• Are there 100 more that might?
• Are there communities where 1,000 of them hang out?

If so, that’s probably enough.

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3. We overcomplicate our messaging

If it takes more than a few sentences, we’ve almost certainly lost them.

But when you narrow in on one clear problem, for one clear audience…

Your message will almost write itself.

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So, no, the takeaway isn’t to niche yourself into obscurity.

Or to go hyper-literal with your branding.

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It’s simply to follow the pain you’re uniquely equipped to resolve.

And speak clearly about how you resolve it.

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💡

-Wes