Being an expert in your industry is vitally important. During the past several years the greater cultural mindset has shifted very strongly toward valuing specialization. Doctors and attorneys have been specializing for decades, and now folks in any industry are discovering that they have to specialize too, or risk going out of business.

Used to, there was a lot of value in being a generalist, and people looked for “turnkey” solutions from one source. They needed generalists to help them figure out what they needed, then found it easier to stick with that generalist for all their work. Now-a-days in the age of the internet, with any conceivable information at our fingertips 24 hours a day, things are different. People have become very proactive and self-service oriented. We research everything!

Who needs to hire a generalist to tell us what we need when we have Google?

Now folks do their research, get educated, figure out exactly what they need or want, then find the best (read: most expert) source they can. The generalist has been cut out of the picture, and people want to find the “very best” to fill their need.

People have also come to realize that a jack of all trades really is a master of none, so the generalist cannot, by definition, also be an expert at anything. At least in the minds of consumers. If you present yourself as a provider who can do anything, people will assume you do nothing extremely well. And everyone wants to hire “the best.” If that doesn’t describe you, then you get passed by.

This speaks to the marketing of your business, but back to my point from yesterday, being a specialist also helps you intrinsically. Not only will people have more confidence in hiring you, you’ll have more confidence (and enjoyment) doing the work!

It really is better to be the big fish in a small pond.

This entry is the first in a series of posts I want to write about specialization. Many things have happened recently to make me think about my business – what I like about how my business is going, and things that have happened in the past that I’d love to avoid in the future. As I’ve thought through these things I began to realize that it all comes down to specialization.

If I reflect back on the web design projects I’ve done that I am truly happy with, that have had the most positive impact on clients, they are projects that revolve around my area of expertise. When I work with a client from my top skill sets, in my areas of highest expertise, they are extremely happy with the outcome and I am extremely happy throughout the process. When I try to take on things that are outside my core areas, we all end up frustrated.

Now, don’t get me wrong, as a  person that builds websites for a living I constantly have to grow my skills and learn new ones. Web designers who sit still for very long go out of business! What I’m talking about here is picking one or two things that I really love doing and to focusing on being the absolute best at those. And letting the rest go.

It’s hard to turn away projects. Anyone who is freelancing or owns a small company know exactly how stressful it can feel to turn away work. It feels better, safer, to take any work you can get. However, when this work is outside my expertise I generally end up feeling like I’ve lost money on the project because it takes so much longer to complete. I also usually feel like I’ve lost a few days/weeks/months off my life from the stress! These projects make me feel like changing what I do for a living. So not worth it!!

When I’m doing what I’m best at, what I like doing, and serving the types of clients I prefer to work with, I feel empowered, energized and productive. I’m happy to be working and get a huge amount of satisfaction. I feel great knowing the I’m helping my client.

So, in the next few days I’m going to be covering different aspects of why specialization is best, and I hope it reminds me of how to stay on the right track when I’m tempted with bad decisions, and I hope it motivates you to find and follow your passion!