Finding your whitespace

A few weeks ago I was on the phone with a friend of mine who’s been consulting for a year plus.

She called me because she’d gotten very, very busy. She needed some help, she needed some advice, and I think she just needed another person’s point of view on it.

So here’s how she got there.

She’s been involved in something very specific since she grew up. A subculture, kind of, though subculture is the wrong word for it. And then her kids got involved in the same thing. Anyways. At some point she ended up emailing the CEO of one of the companies involved in it, and they said yeah, we’d love your help.

So she started helping them. And then all the other organizations needed help. And then the people involved in it needed help. And all of a sudden she’s looking at an being a agency with influencer, brand marketing, and partnership work and too much of it.

And that’s just because she started moving in a direction she had some interest in, and no one else was really doing it.

That was a really big influence on me. I’ve been thinking about it for the last couple of weeks.

This isn’t just about consulting.

This could be if you’re in a full time job. Starting your own business. Anything. I’m telling it through the lens I’m currently in because that’s the lens I’ve got, but I think the most important takeaway is much broader than that. It’s about moving in a direction where you see space.

The way I visualize this in my head is I think about marketing and I think about what’s crowded. What’s really busy right now.

That could be influencer marketing. It could be PR and comms. It could be social media management. It could be a whole industry, maybe everyone’s doing beauty right now. Beauty is really big. Gummies are really big.

But what’s not really big?

This quote from Wayne Gretzky always sticks with me. It’s not about what’s hot rigght now, it’s about opportunity.

I think that’s what really pertains here.

It’s about building yourself into a space where there’s only a couple of people. Or a few people. Or where you can at least see your trajectory.

WA fwe weeks ago when I was realyl focusing on what I wanted my consultancy Secret Menu to be, I knew of course, I do brand marketing. But I thought I found a space in creator marketing, which I think is really interesting. It sits close to influencer marketing but there’s a real distinction there, and I think I can sprint towards it.

So I went with “Brand & Creator Consultancy.” And those words matter. Since ainching people are coming forward with creator needs because I said it. And that’s a space i want to spent more time in.

And that’s my encouragement for all of you.

But if you’re still feeling like you need some encouragement, or how to even start for yourself. I got you. Here’s 4 steps you can take.