Differentiate yo’self with a good-old-fashioned work ethic

... that is, a roiling sea of people and companies plying their wares on the Internet.

I probably don't have to tell you that there's a sad lack of service, dependability, and consistency among people who sell products and service online.

I've been trying for weeks ... make it months ... to find a reliable person or company to help me with my tech issues:

• Increasing site speed
• Maintaining and optimizing plug-ins and themes
• Creating a store and an affiliate program for my soon-coming product, The Blog Post Inspiration Deck

But I've found that people oversell their tech skills -- they don't want to admit that they can't solve a problem, and so create messy, duct-taped hacks that bog down a site and cause constant breakages.

They overpromise and underdeliver -- saying, "I will have this ready for you by tomorrow morning," and then not having it ready.

Then, even worse, they don't let you KNOW that something came up and when the new delivery date will be.

No joke, I have literally spelled out to several developers exactly how to keep me on as a client and the money flowing their way. 

"If you tell me you'll deliver something by morning, and you can't do it for one reason or another, please leave me a message on Skype, or send me an email, to let me know so I'm not left in the lurch, wondering what happened."

And can you believe?!? I have yet to find a developer who actually takes my advice to close loops and keep me as a client.

They STILL don't get it.

They don't do it.

They leave me in the lurch, time and time again.

Maybe it's a cultural thing ... I don't know. Most of these people have been from overseas -- Eastern Europe, Indonesia, India -- although I've had more than my share of bad apples from the US as well.

Use this scary-crazy lack of work ethic to your advantage

But far from this being a *complaint* blog post, with me just whining about my problems, I am writing this today to point out that YOU can use this unbelievable lack of worth ethic to your advantage by:

1. Committing to a strong work ethic yourself 
2. Documenting how and why your work ethic developed
3. Letting prospects know of your ethic in your website, proposals, and other marketing materials

Then, you can use your work ethic to ... Differentiate Yo'self.

(I've been waiting a long time to use that meme! It comes from Parks & Recreation.)

And Differentiating Yo'self is not just about "saying" you have a work ethic, and that you'll complete work on time and on budget. Everyone "says" those things, so it really means nothing to the people reading your materials. 

Their eyes will simply gloss over ... "Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah." 

You need to make your statement about work ethic strong.

Potent, even.

Here's an example of how I might talk about MY work ethic.

My work ethic comes from my mother and father. Strengths of each of them shape who I am in relation to work. 

My mother has the eye for detail. She taught me that just because you can’t see a shelf doesn’t mean it doesn’t need dusting; that just because the vacuum won’t fit between the couch and the table doesn’t mean that space is exempt from vacuum duty. She taught me that details count: the table must be set just so, a wrinkled shirt points to a sloppy life. From my mother, I learned the pleasure of doing a job right, and in doing it with all your heart. 

My father, now retired. was self-employed, self-motivated, self-confident. He worked six days a week for as long as I can remember. In the early days, he'd leave for work at 7am and be back by 6pm. He taught me that hard work means showing up every day, rain or snow, because other people depend on it, both customers and family. He worked hard. He worked consistently. He never complained. He provided well.

I am proud to have taken on those traits from my parents.

I tell you this so you know that when I talk about work ethic in relation to our project, it means something to me. And to you, it means that 99 percent of the time:

• I will return your calls or respond to your emails within four business hours; if I can't, I'll let you know, and will tell you when I can
• I will meet my deadlines; if for some reason I cannot, I'll let you know and tell you what the new deadline is shifting to
• If you tell me you'll do something, and I see that you haven't done it, I'll follow up with your just to be sure something hasn't gone awry
• I will treat your content as if it were my own, ruthlessly checking for flow, correctness, and typos; I will not send you work I can't be proud of

That's pretty strong, wouldn't you say?

I invite you to do the same on your website, in your content, in your proposals. Let people know you're serious about earning their trust and serving them with all your heart, and you'll earn more business than you'd ever thought possible.

P.S. This is post #22 in my 30 Day Blogging Challenge! 

P.P.S. Curious? Join my tribe to learn more!