Have you ever been somewhere and someone has asked you what do you do and when, for example, you replied “photographer” they responded with a “that’s nice” and moved the conversation on to something else because these days they think that everybody is a photographer, or they think that all a photographer does is point his camera and take a few photos?

It can be so demoralising.

Yet there is a very simple way to stop that kind of reaction and get people more interested in what you do.

I call it a Core Promise and in it’s simplest form it is simply a statement where you tell how you help a specific group of people to achieve a certain thing in a way that is compelling and interesting…

…So that your audience will truly understand what you offer and what you stand for.

It is a great way to answer the question “What do you do?”

Your Core Promise gives you a simple and effective way to communicate what you do without being bland and “me too”.

And you do this by applying the knowledge you have gathered in understanding and getting to know your Ideal Client avatar. (You have done that?)

It stops you being just another photographer among the many and helps you stand out in a very specific way.

Let me give you an example.

Which do you think is more like to get a small business owner’s attention and lead to a conversation when they first meet a photographer at a networking event, and the business owner asks the photographer what they do?

a – “I’m a commercial photographer”

or

b – “I help small business owners sell more merchandise through their website so that they can earn more profits without having to worry about their products looking great.”

I’ve written more about this, including a formula to help you come up with your own version at this link here.

In the meantime, what are your thoughts? How do you reply when people ask you “What do you do?”