(Web)Working@Home: Specialize... then Diversify!

When we think about it, many of the things we do seem to 'snowball.' We come up with an idea, we work on it, we execute it. Then a second idea comes up as a direct result of the first idea. Along comes a third idea and it's very much related to the first two ideas. Even though it was never in our plans to get from the first idea to the third, they all seem to fall into place. They all... jive.

For many of us who make the Internet our virtual office, we may have many 'snowball moments.' In fact, our entire online existence may be one big snowball!

Let me give you an example of my own snowball: After I finished creating my first e-mail workshop and liked the results, I created several more that would help me earn money to support my sites. I never thought I'd be writing an e-book on the subject a couple of months later. It certainly wasn't planned.

Because of the e-book, I started another newsletter devoted to the topic of e-mail workshops so I can keep in touch with people who bought the e-book. It's also a free resource for people who want to learn more about creating and using e-mail workshops, e-courses and tutorials for their business.

And because of the e-book and its companion newsletter, another idea grew: not everyone's interested in getting their hands dirty in creating and writing their own e-mail workshops or eCourses so why not offer a custom e-mail workshop creation and writing service? It's still up my alley, and it is my expertise.

I'm experiencing diversity in my specialization: I start with my specialized field (e-mail workshops) then diversify within that field (developing and conducting e-mail workshops for my own use, writing an e-book about it, publishing an e-zine that's devoted to the topic, offering an e-mail workshop creation service).

If you look around at all the things the others are doing on the Internet right now, they're also doing the same thing: they're diversifying in their own specializations.

It's an oxymoron, really, but if you often have those snowball moments, you understand what I mean.

So... what's your snowball moment?

Next Week: How to Make a Sale *Without* Selling
Sometimes, it's better not to think of someone who comes to us as a "prospective customer" or someone we can convince to buy from us. If we work on building good relationships with people, they eventually will want to do business with us...