Franklin Taggart's Unconventional Life Blog

I had a realization the last few days that doesn't come as much of a surprise, but it is liberating to finally see. Several people wondered why I had a small mailing list after being perceived as a marketing expert. It felt good to finally articulate that I don't really want to be found, and I don't think I'm the expert that others see. I do love marketing because it's the most human thing about business, but I still don't believe that there is an honest-to-God marketing expert anywhere in the world. It's too fluid to be mastered. All that said, when I saw and admitted that at the root of it all I don't want to be discovered, located, found, or noticed, I breathed a huge sigh of relief at having made the statement.  Visibility may or may not have helped my situation. At some point, people did find out about me, but more often than not, I found them first. If I meet someone and discover I can help them, I will be relentless in my pursuit. But I don't

I have an artist friend who had a realization in one of my workshops that many people she had known for years had no idea she was an artist. For reasons unknown, she never revealed her creative work to people, even those in some of her closest circles. And her chief concern about being an artist was that people weren't buying her art. People won't buy what they don't know about. Another friend has been working with a lot of anxiety and persistence on clarifying the niche for his business and in doing so, his business has come to a standstill. He's so concerned about getting his niche right that he's become isolated and is not reaching anyone. I'm not here to diss ideal client avatar niching exercises. They can be truly helpful, but I am concerned if your stuckness on the exercise is keeping you from meeting people and having conversations that could lead to business opportunities. I'll be offering a new version of an old workshop on Monday afternoon called C