One of my most successful posts on LinkedIn was something I never even posted.

Guess I’d better explain...

We’ve been talking a lot lately about the mark of a true thought leader is a willingness to openly and freely share one’s best ideas—without the expectation of reciprocation or reward. Many are afraid of sharing their ideas publicly and at no charge for fear that they are “giving away free advice” or allowing access to “the secret sauce.”

But here’s the deal: The more you give, the more you get.

What if, like many, you suffer from an aversion to the notion of “selling,” either out of ethical concerns or a simple distaste for the perception of peddling your wares? After all, you want to practice law, or accounting, or consult...you didn’t earn an advanced degree to be a sales person.

Understandable. But as our careers mature, business development becomes crucial to advancement opportunities. So, we might not like to “sell,” but we’d better be active relationship builders, if nothing else. You might not want to cold call a prospect, or send an unsolicited invitation to lunch, or attend a networking event. But you might not have to.

And this is where content comes in.

Learning to talk about what we do and what we sell is a common stumbling block for professionals who are looking to master the art of business development, marketing, networking and generating broader awareness for what they have to offer the world. And I find that the stumbling block usually arises from a simple matter of positioning—not “positioning” in the sense that we marketers typically mean (as in, your value proposition, your brand statement, and your marketing language), but rather who we’re positioning at the center of the conversation.

People looking to buy any product or service—and certainly a sophisticated, high-stakes professional services—almost always are thinking about themselves when they go looking for a solution and service provider. They are considering their own pain, their own apprehensions or ambitions, their own fears or greatest aspirations.

But yet, too many marketers are also thinking of themselves first when they sit down to write marketing copy or bullet points for a sales pitch—when they should be thinking about the prospect out there looking for that solution to achieve their own ends. It is natural—but unwise!— to start with first-person product claims when developing messaging, pitches or marketing language.

Instead, turn that mirror you’re gazing at…into a window. Here’s how….

Budding entrepreneurs understandably want things to move faster than they typically do. If there were a fast-forward button to success, most would lunge for it instinctively.

But there is a danger in getting too far ahead of oneself. Too many entrepreneurs, in my opinion, are being seduced into thinking the path to fame and fortune is paved with viral videos, digital marketing campaigns and the miracles of social media. I'm here to caution you, however, that the Dollar Shave Clubs of the world are the exception...not the rule.

There is a danger in conflating sales with marketing, or considering them the same function, when really they are distinct activities and requisite skill sets. But there is an equal danger in keeping the functions entirely separate, which is often where both programs (sales and marketing) come up short, with departments at large companies pointing figures and making excuses. There is both an art and science to achieving sales-and-marketing success, if only you can properly identify the obstacles and create manageable workarounds to address them.

Which brings us back to professional services firms

As we approach Q4 2020, there is no better time to reassess where this past year has taken us, and to be more purposeful about how we finish the year—and perhaps look ahead to 2021 with a clearer picture of what we want the future to look like.

Consider this, if we can muster the optimism to do so, the moment at which you regained a degree of control over events, rather than being a victim to circumstances unforeseen and out of one’s control. The time to take charge of your fortunes is now, but it will require not only a shift in mindset, but also an admission of what has changed...some things permanently, and most indefinitely.