Discovering your ‘why’ in business is essential to long-term success.
Around ten years ago, I worked with a fantastic branding expert, Liat Kotner. We were trying to create a logo and slogan for my growing brand, “Doctor Persuasion.” What I thought would be a quick, simple process turned out to be complex, fascinating, and even life-changing.
Why?
Because Liat asked me, “What is it you actually do for people?”, in other words, she led me to “discovering your why in business”.
Initially, I came up with technical answers like, “I meet with them,” “I explain how to persuade others,” “I write content for them,” or “I guide them in sales.”
But Liat pressed me, “Not what you do or how you do it. Why would people come to you? What’s the common thread between all your activities – workshops, lectures, consulting, books – and the varied audiences you serve?”
I struggled to answer…
This began an enlightening journey of several weeks, multiple meetings, and discussions.
In the end, we came to a conclusion: I help people succeed in situations that require interpersonal skills, sales, marketing, persuasion, and public speaking. In other words, I increase people’s chances of success in job interviews, sales calls, marketing campaigns, presentations, investor meetings, and more.
From these insights, the slogan that accompanies me to this day was born: “Doctor Persuasion – Leading to Success from the Start.”
Fast Forward Two Years
In 2014, I wanted to run a crowdfunding campaign for my new book, You’ve Persuaded Me Again! Crowdfunding was still new in Israel; few people were doing it, and I knew little about it.
So, like a good student (every expert is always a student first), I started learning and ‘discovering your why in business’, as Liat told me to. I spoke with people who had run campaigns, read books on crowdfunding, watched YouTube lectures, and more.
One of the first things I learned was that I needed to understand my values and the values my book represented.
It sounds odd, right?
“What values does my book represent?”
Who thinks about that while writing?
This was my sixth book in Hebrew, and I’d never considered the values my books represented. This led to several weeks of further reflection and discussions to clarify the values of my “Doctor Persuasion” brand and my new book.
It wasn’t an easy process. It required real soul-searching and an honest look at my core values. I came to understand that my guiding values are transparency, creativity, optimism, reliability, and initiative.
This clarity led to a highly successful campaign, where I raised 109,000 shekels, the third-highest amount raised for a book in Israel at the time, selling over 400 copies to hundreds of people before the book was even released.
Why?
Because I shared the values my book represents and explained what drives me.
I told my audience why I do what I do, expressing my frustrations and beliefs. And people who connected with these values bought the book and supported the campaign.
Simon Sinek, in his famous book and TED Talk, says, “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.”
Discovering your why in business is probably the most important thing.
Customers buy from businesses not because of the business, but because of themselves. Investors invest not in the startup but in what resonates with them. If people see their values in yours, they’ll choose you over others, pay more, argue less, and speak highly of you.
If you’ve read this far, then this topic speaks to you in some way. Now, I invite you to ask yourself:
What motivates you to get up every morning and take on the world?
Why did you choose your profession, whether as an employee or an entrepreneur?
What do you love most about your work?
And most importantly, what would you answer if I asked you, “Why do you do what you do?”
Take the time to think about this, then let me know.
You can reach me anytime, just click here.
Yours, with love,
Dr. Yaniv Zaid
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