Playing small to win big

The Internet is crowded. It’s so much harder to stand out today, as click-throughs continue to plummet. Email open rates are lower than they’ve ever been. And Google will continue to suppress anyone who sells generic products.

Yet, there’s still one way to cut through the noise and be relevant. And that’s by being more specific.

Play small to win big. Narrow your focus.

If you’re promoting a food product, don’t go for the whole country, start with your hometown. If you’re a photographer, don’t shoot everything. You focus on engagement photos, not wedding photos. You know every great location and every angle and every concept there is to know about engagement photos, and you can deliver it with speed and convenience.

Build a fort so high that when another engagement photographer shows up and sees it, he’ll says “Nah, that’s too high. I’ll go do something else.” That’s how you win big by playing “small.”