I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.
When I was a new agent I was told to go after doctors because that was where the money was. Problem was everybody else was going after doctors, so the competition was fierce for their time and attention. It would be a battle like described in “Blue Ocean Strategy” by W Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne. Plus I didn’t like doctors, so I set my sails in a different direction.
I built an MDRT business off of working with young nerds graduating from college because no one wanted to talk to them. These were my people, and I quickly became the nerd specialist, focusing on engineers and computer scientists. And soon I became THE guy in the space in my region.
In niches there are riches as the old saying goes. I didn’t want to chase the executive in the corner office that had every other advisor competing for their attention, nor the partner in the law firm everyone was courting. I just found people I enjoyed working with that few others did, and worked with them so much that I literally could communicate in the jargon of their company (I speak geek as I say), and built my processes around replicable success in this space.
By focusing I was able to be better than I ever could be if I was scattered and trying to work in a dozen different industries with a wide array of ages and situations.
Ultimately dominated the local tech space, built a reputation and a kingdom of the geeks no one else wanted. I had that field all to myself, so competition was almost non-existent and my reputation preceded me and helped build the success of today by not competing with the crowd.
