In order to become the #1 expert in your industry or niche, you must deeply understand your target audience’s sources of pain. For a relationship coach, for instance, the source of client pain would be that the client feels lonely or unattractive because she or he is not in a relationship. For a plumber, the source of client pain would be the water damage and expense caused by a leaky faucet. For a real estate broker, the source of client pain might be difficulty in procuring financing to purchase real estate, or (in the current economic climate) owning multiple properties which remain vacant or empty. There are usually many sources of client pain; your job is to understand each and every one of them.

The more deeply you understand your client’s pain, the better you can help them. The goal here is to understand what your clients want, what they are missing, and what the pain of not having means to them.

You should spend at least 30 minutes to an hour every morning, or when you are in your most creative moments, to self reflect on the pain in your industry. As you self reflect you need to be writing. The quickest way to leverage the power of your subconscious mind which does up to 90% of your thinking is to write. Put yourself in your target market’s shoes and understand what keeps them awake at night. As you begin to really understand and feel the terrible plight they are in, you will better position yourself to more clearly understand what you offer your target market with your programs and services.

Remember, we call this your million dollar story because if you position it correctly in the market place to reveal your target market’s pain, you authenticate you message with your target market as someone who can empathize with them.

As you focus on your value around your million dollar story, you must always remember to contextualize it toward your market. So think of ‘looking in’ from a microscopic view point and ‘looking without’ as your telescopic lens to ensure your message fits the pain of your target market.

Do this, and your million dollar story will create a million dollar (or more) business.