What's your unique selling position? I like to call it Your Flamingo Advantage. Let's look at how to find your unique Flamingo Advantage and how to leverage that. A big part of this is self-assessment. By looking at the things that you are good at, and the things that you enjoy, you can discover your unique advantage.
Listen to the Podcast episode here:
You can download your own personal assessment here. It's especially helpful if you are at the end of a quarter, year, month, or season where you need to self-evaluate and figure out what your next steps are. This is going to be helpful for that, as well as finding and honing in on that unique Flamingo Advantage. So check out that gift. When you share this episode with friends use the #myflamingoadvantage hashtag on social media.
What is your unique selling position?
Now, most of our audience are going to find themselves a flamingo in the world. What do I mean by that? I mean that you are someone special.
I know you are thinking, “Ah Katie I've heard that all the time.”
Well, maybe you have and maybe you haven't. But maybe you need to hear it again because I believe scripture tells us that God created each of us unique. He knew us before we were born. He knit us together in our mother's womb he gave us a purpose here on Earth to do a purpose for him. So, everything that we do could bring glory to Him.
What is Your Flamingo Advantage?
Everything, including our business, gives Him glory. So, as someone who is uniquely designed for the ecosystem in which He has placed you, I believe you are just as unique as a flamingo in the wild. When you hone in on that uniqueness, whether you feel like it's a quirk or something that makes you stand out and noticeable, it can be a blessing. It can be something that you leverage in your work and in the marketplace.
But, how do you find that? You might be thinking, “I don't think I'm a flamingo. I don't think I'm anything special.”
Let me tell you what I don't think those birds think they're so special either. They don't know that they're pink and don't realize that there's such a huge distinction between them and their surroundings.
What Do Flamingos Have to Do with Business?
In term of color, flamingos don't know that they stand out so much. All they know is that they were put on Earth to do this thing. They do it day in and day out without worrying whether or not they stand out and look different in the world. They do what they were created to do. You, my friend, regardless of what you feel like makes you stand out in the crowd, can show up every day and do what you were created to do for the glory of God in this world.
You can do it through your business. I believe that God gifted you this business and put it in your hands to be able to steward for Him so that you can use this uniqueness. Only you can do the way that you do in the marketplace, to help other people, and to ultimately bring glory to the Lord. So how do you find that Flamingo Advantage?
What Do I Always Wear a Flower?
A lot of you have seen the flower in my hair. Maybe we've met at event. Perhaps, you've seen me on somebody else's stage, podcast, or interview. Then, you know that I wear a flower in my hair. It's not just for show. It's not just part of our branding, it is actually a part of who Katie is at her core. Let me tell you the story behind that.
When we first came to Mexico, we were working in a particular organization where drawing attention to yourself was severely frowned upon. We were all there for this mission, for the cause. Therefore, anything that drew attention to you and away from the organization as a whole was severely frowned upon. So, I took the Katie that loved color, fun, glitter, parties and all of that and hid it. I took that fun part of me and stuffed it down into my long, floor length skirts. I complied because, who am I to take away from this cause that we're all here for?
Is It Right or Wrong to Be Uniquely You?
I mean my heart was in the right place. I wanted to do what was expected of me, but in doing that I lost a part of me. Really, I lost who I was at my core. It wasn't until many years later in another organization, another Ministry opportunity that I found me, again.
I had to teach an online class. In southern, tropical Mexico, it's very hot and humid. I was running behind and a little bit scattered. I had to try to throw things together and get online on time. So I just grabbed my daughter's headband with a flower on it and stuck it in my hair. I thought, “This will have to work, ” as I entered that class.
So many people said:
-Oh, I love that flower in your hair!
-That's so cool, you should you should wear that more often.
I didn't think anything of it until the next week when I showed up without a flower. Someone commented, “Katie, where's your flower that you had last week? That was so beautiful!”
So, I started wearing it more. The more that I wore the flower the more God started revealing to me that how I felt when I wore the flower in my hair was how he created me to feel every day. He revealed to me that He loved my love of color, my sense of fun, the crazy pins and scarves, and different things that I would wear because I enjoyed them. That's how He created me.
Flowers and Flamingos that Build Businesses
So I began wearing the flower more often as my reminder, my physical, visual reminder, that I get to show up and be me today just the way God made me. Now in my business is the flower an advantage? Well, maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I know that I've had lots of conversations that started with, “Hey, tell me about the flower in your hair.” or “I love your headpiece.”
It gives an opportunity and an open door.
But that's not the primary reason I wear it. I wear it for me. It is my Flamingo Advantage to remember that I get to show up just as I am and that God can use that today to serve other people and to glorify Himself. Oftentimes, that is through my business. Now, you may not have a flower, you may not need one. You have something else in your life that makes you unique and special.
What is unique strategic position?
Maybe your Flamingo Advantage is:
-education
-upbringing
-experiences
-the unique way that you apply the information that you have gathered in a certain sphere of knowledge
-how you love on people
-the way that you make things simple
-how you make things fun
-the way that you can always see a certain perspective
-that you're quick to fix or find an alternative solution
You have something unique about you that you can leverage in your business for greater good, greater impact, and greater revenue even in this world that you were put in to serve.
How do you find? that well how do you say Katie for you it was a flower that that brought out to you this fun piece how do I find my Flamingo Advantage I believe that if you find your Flamingo Advantage at the crossroads of the things that you enjoy us the things that you're good at plus the things that people ask you about a lot plus the thing that can be a potential for income this is where you find your business Flamingo advantage and what does that look like
How Unique Selling Position Examples Change
Well, for me it was teaching. I have been a teacher all of my life. I have loved teaching. Truly, I still light up every time I get to come away from a virtual call, an in-person stage, anywhere I get to share with people and see their eyes light up. I get to see them get excited about taking the next step with the information that they have learned. That is what I I love. I also love to make learning fun.
If you've been at any of our training events online, you know that we do fun at every single one of them because fun is part of that psychological safety piece that allows people to learn in an unencumbered environment. That's part of who I am. I teach, I make things fun, I help people be all they were created to be so they can show up in the world and do what they were created to do.
Flamingo Advantage Possibilities
I love it. This is what I was created to do. I wake up every morning so excited that I get to do this again. One of my mentors in the past called it a sacred Duty and I really feel that it is. This is what I was created for. I was created to help specifically those that are Christians, that are believers, who have a business be able to shine their light stronger and be more of who they were created to be in the world.
It is my delight. It is my joy. I would do this if I got paid or not. Guess what? Do it now without having to worry about who's going to pay those bills because I trust God is my provider. My Father, the owner of the business, will take care of that provision when I just show up and do what I was created to do. You can do the same with your Flamingo Advantage.
Looking for the Positive in Your Uniqueness
If you get that assessment that I mentioned above, it walks you through:
-What am I doing that I love?
-What do I want to do more of?
-How do I want my life and my business to look?
-How do I do that?
It starts with what would I enjoy because the God who created you is the God who put those desires in your heart? He's the one who wants to bring those desires to pass. He's the one that can create out of nothing and one that can bring into existence the things that did not exist. Scripture says and He wants to do that for you and your business just the same as He has done it for us in ours.
Does Your Flamingo Advantage Create Revenue
So looking at what do you want to do and what are you good at? What do I enjoy? How do I do more of that in a way that can create some financial income? How can you generate some revenue for the business that would then in turn allow you to do more of that? If you're thinking that money shouldn't be in this conversation, I would beg you to think again.
Money is just a tool. Let me put that there and let that thought start percolating in your head. A little bit money is a tool that God gives us and that money is a tool for Him. When you're able to do more, because you love what you're doing, it's fun for you, and you enjoy it, you're able to do more of that which brings in more income. Then that allows you to do more in the world. The more money you make, the more good you can do.
Unique Opportunities to Invest in
The more we make, the more we can turn around and invest in other people. We can invest in opportunities, and in the things that God wants us to invest in. We can give to the things He wants us to give. This is how the world continues to grow and how we continue to impact people by the revenue that we make. So when you think about money as a tool and you think about what you would enjoy doing and could do in a way that makes money, now you're on the right track to finding your unique Flamingo Advantage. You can now use this to grow this thing in the marketplace, some people have called it a unique selling position.
How do you answer unique selling points in an interview?
I don't necessarily know if I agree with the word selling. But that may be a close correlation. That Flamingo Advantage is the thing that sets you apart. You are not the only one in the world who does what you do otherwise there would be no market for it. The fact that somebody else in the marketplace is doing what you do and getting paid for it is proof that there's a market for this. That's a good thing but what you need to focus in on is how do you do it differently because I do know that no one in the world does what you do like you do. That, my friend, is the Flamingo Advantage that you can leverage to grow your business and change the world.
Get your personal clarity assessment here: https://theflamingoadvantage.com/clarity