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ou know, the more I discuss this subject, the more I am exposed to researches and evidence that in the next few years, monetizing people’s own potential will be what will cause people to be successful. The more I talk about it, the more I am reminded that the traditional economy where very many people are/were employed is shrinking ever so fast, and is being replaced by contractors, or the so called “Gig Economy”. In his book “Purpose Economy”, Aaron Hurst captures the following:

“Rather than fitting self to jobs and readying self to develop a career, workers now must focus increasingly on constructing self in work rather than advancing self in an organization.”

~ workplace researchers Paul Hartung and Brian Tarber

Prophecy Coming To Pass

Way before April 2017, I had always harbored this thought that ‘Purpose will be the next big revolution’. It is only on that particular day that I took the courage to write an article about it. Today, several researches are starting to bear me out. Of course I have already shared with you the statistics that indicate that in just about two years from now, the “Gig Economy” will employ more than 40% of workers in America. That’s why when I saw Aaron Hurts’ book “Purpose Economy” I did not hesitate a minute to purchase it. Here is what Aaron says:

“The market for labor is now global and increasingly virtual. In some ways, we are all becoming de facto freelancers, on our own and navigating great uncertainty in every direction”

~Aaron Hurst

Check this out too: Prophecy: This is the Next Big And Lasting Revolution

Now That We Are Sold

So now that we know for sure that monetizing potential is something that we ought to get started with, let’s continue with our quest in learning how to get it done. In the previous articles, we have shown that the process of monetizing your potential begins with two things:

1. Knowledge of your potential
2. Intention to Monetize it

There is no way you are monetizing something that you do not know exists. There is also no way that you are monetizing something if you have no intention of doing it. So once the knowledge and the intention are in place, let’s move on and see what else one needs to do.

Strategising your Monetization of Potential

So the interesting thing about potential is that it humbles you. It makes you fully aware that you are not the savior of the world. Your potential is not to do everything. Your potential is limited to certain strengths that are seen through your natural gifts and talents. The following therefore are some of the things that you need to do as you strategize in monetizing your potential.

1. Niche it

Perhaps the most potent way to start your strategy is to identify your niche. Your niche is the specific audience that you choose to serve with your value. This is sometimes so hard for very many people to do because they are afraid that if they niche, they will exclude a potential vast market. What I have come to learn is that not anyone in the world is a Savior or a Messaiah. You cannot save everybody neither can you serve everybody, even if you are the offspring of superman and superwoman. Make sure that you clarify your niche over and over again until it is specific. Those are the people that you will start speaking to with your potential and value add. Of course there will be a secondary and tertiary niche market…but your goal is to focus on the primary and the primary alone.

2. Identify their Pain

You can now see why it is important to have a clearly defined niche. It is easier to identify their problems. For example, “married people” is a large niche, even though someone might think that it is specific. In that group, there are “newly weds”. Even that is still a wide niche. In that newly wed niche, there is “the newly married woman”. Now we are talking. So what are their problems? Some of them are relating to sex, some to adjustment of living with someone else and so on. Your potential comes in attached to the emotions of love and anger. Love because you want the best for them, and anger because you hate that they are struggling. So what do you do?

3. Create Products and Services for them

The beauty here is that you do not have to struggle of what products or services you will create for your niche market. This comes directly from your potential. Now, chances are that you might not be all round gifted in coming up with the products and services, that’s OK. This is where  you hire people. For example, as a teacher and coach of productivity, I figured that my audience need to use an app in order to track their performance. There is no such app online to the best of my knowledge. I am not so gifted in IT to come up with the App. So what do I do? I find the people that are good at that and we build the App together. It is a work in progress at the moment. Each product and service that you create must have a price. That goes without saying. Please also note that you might not build a product overnight. Give yourself some reasonable time to get it done.

4. Build a Platform

This is one of the most important aspects of monetizing your potential. A platform in the most rudimentary description is an elevated place where you can be seen. People take attention when you are “elevated” and inherently, they do know that you have something to offer. Traditionally, a platform would be like a brick and mortar shop. Today, your platform could be your social media pages or even your website. It is where you place all your products and services that people purchase. It is where your audience gives you feedback and also recommend your services and products to other people. There is no monetizing your potential without a platform, that goes without saying. In essence, if you do have a book as an author, the book is not a platform. It is a product. Where people get that book from is the platform. Where they are directed to get the book from also is the platform.

We shall continue these thoughts in the next article. Stay tuned.