There are a number of ways to think about that question but I invite you to consider it in terms of your business (or career).

How easy is it to answer the question: What are you passionate about?

I think it is easy to see and hear when someone is passionate about their business. There is an energy about them, they speak in more elevated tones and their eyes twinkle. Have you ever seen that? It can be very attractive as a prospect, it leads you to think: “here is someone who really cares about their business and by extension will probably care about me”. Remember the quotation from Theodore Roosevelt: “People don’t care what you know until they know that you care”. That applies hugely in putting together a marketing message

How does your passion for what you do impact others?

Here is the key marketing rub. How do you get people to connect with your passion and ultimately hire you? As a clue, I have never heard anyone say they are passionate about the money that their business makes them. Even if it is true, it is not always an attractive message. Much more commonly the passion is for something that is intangible at first sight. Examples include: helping people, people generally, making something better, serving, being seen to make a difference, standing out from the crowd and so on.

What is it for you?

So what’s the point of all this?

It is very common - I mean very, very common - for the initial message a business sends to concentrate on a laundry list of services. Whilst we may love what we do, the services are the tool, a means to an end and the end is what we are passionate about. Most people would much rather hear about the difference you seek to make generally, and how that applies to them specifically, than about the list of things that you do.

When you provide a list you are asking prospects to turn that into a message that applies to them, and they generally won’t. Remember that they have things they are passionate about as well. As these relate to their business they may well be looking (or know someone who is) for a solution to a problem that would allow them to deliver THEIR difference making service better.

Find out what your clients and prospects are passionate about and how what you are passionate about helps them. Within that lies the foundation of a strong, attractive marketing message