The other day I was talking with Brittany about an idea I had and we were pretty excited. Literally minutes later, I saw that someone else I knew was doing pretty much the same thing.
My immediate thought was “well, my idea isn’t good enough and we need to do way better.”
Now, is any idea really and truly new? No. Ideas are delivered to us and we must choose to act, refine or decline them. (Thank you for Elizabeth Gilbert’s Creative Magic for that.)
Even though there are no new ideas, I subscribe to the motto, “different is better than better” which comes from Fascination Advantage creator Sally Hogshead. Yes, you can do better, but you’ll truly rock when you’re able to bring something different to the mix.
If you’re not familiar with the Fascination Advantage, it’s a personality assessment based on the science of fascination. While most assessments look at how you see the world, this shares with you how the world sees you.
I jokingly refer to the Fascination Advantage as my secret weapon. This is because when I took it three years ago, it was a game changer.
The assessment identifies your primary and your secondary advantage and then you get an archetype. My archetype is the Provocateur, which is innovation and mystique.
No wonder I wasn’t willing to go with an idea that someone else was doing! Innovation is the language of ideas, and I’m not one to just recycle the same old, same old.
Understanding how the world sees you is great, but how do you actually apply this information on an ongoing basis? (Please know that both Brittany and I have been trained on the system, so we’re not just pulling this out of the air, we’re Certified Fascinate Advisors.)
Check out these 6 clever ideas for using the Fascination Advantage to grow your business:
#1. Designing Your Products & Services
It’s one thing to start a business, but it’s entirely another to design your products or services. This is one area where I see a lot of clients (and business owners in general) find themselves really stuck.
There are countless reasons that figuring out exactly what you’re selling can be such a challenge. The biggest one, hands down, is that you’re selling something that doesn’t tap into your unique advantages.
It’s easy to look at someone else in your industry and think because they’ve done well with a certain package or an ecourse, you can do something similar. That approach fails to take into account your differences and how prospective customers may view each of you.
Brittany and I both have mystique as one of our primary advantages. Mystique is the language of listening. We want our clients to feel heard and supported in everything we do, and before we create something, we do a lot of work in advance to make sure it’s really needed. (FYI – a great balance to innovation for me because I’m all ideas, all the time!)
Look carefully at your advantages and see if your offerings really let them shine. If you’re alert (which is all about the details), bring that to the table with an onboarding process that’s off the charts. If you’re passion, lead with relationships as that’s what you excel at. When you go with your advantages, what you offer is going to be way more enticing AND feel much easier for you to actually deliver.
#2. Watch for Your Trouble Zone
Every advantage brings with it a trouble zone, called Double Trouble. This is when you get out of balance and your one advantage ends up running the show.
Since learning this, I know exactly when it’s happening. When my innovation takes over, it’s called the Anarchy. The name is fitting because it’s all new ideas and BIG magical things which seriously get out of hand. Without the balance of mystique and stopping to listen, I’d be pumping out new offerings into the world like nobody’s business.
Double Trouble is something that most of us fall into at one point or another, but when you’re aware of it, you can quickly get yourself back on track. Check out the Double Trouble zones below:
#3. Infuse Your Advantage Into Your Content
If creating content is challenging for you, or you feel like you’ve got no logical thread to your ideas, use your archetype to give you clues.
Every archetype comes with a list of qualities that can help you shape your voice in your writing, and act as a great way to filter what you do want to focus on.
For example, if you’re the Talent (Passion + Prestige) you’re expressive, stylish and emotionally intelligent. In your content from video to blog posts, you’re going to want to make your communication feel personal and special, but it’s also going to have a certain je ne sais quoi with an insight you don’t see from other people.
I often use my adjectives to help me stay on track. As the Provocateur, mine are that I’m clever, adept and contemporary. (And notice I used the word clever in the headline?) If my own content doesn’t vibe with those, I can go back and makes sure it does, because that’s how I’m at my best.
#4. Get into Your Client’s Head
Have you ever wished you knew what your client is thinking? The Fascination Advantage makes that possible.
Totally not kidding. For the last year and a half, I’ve been using the Fascination Advantage Assessment as part of my Story Distillery sessions.
For this type of foundational story and messaging work, I’m able to get into their head and know where they may be struggling or holding themselves back. Plus, I know exactly how to best frame their story so they’re at their best.
This type of insight isn’t just valuable to me, but to my clients too as they know that when I’m preparing their Story Distillery Handbook, I’m basing this on science and not a fantastical whim I’ve had.
If you’ve ever wondered how to get into your client’s head to serve them better, the cost of the test is a small price to pay.
#5. To Make Selling Easier
Once you start to learn the different advantages, you’ll start to be able to spot them. I’m at the point now where I often can guess people’s advantages, or at least when I find out their archetype I fully see it.
This knowledge has simplified selling in many many ways. I’ve started tracking the primary and secondary advantages of clients and they usually have innovation, passion, prestige or mystique or some combination thereof. In sales copy, I literally use the words they would use to describe themselves from discerning (prestige) to astute (mystique).
And with a little homework before a consult call, I’m able to adjust my approach based on what I find out. If someone’s hiding out and there’s only one picture of them on their website, I can guess they’re mystique and expect they’ll do a lot of listening. Where if they’re passion, I know they want to focus on our relationship, and alerts – they always like to talk numbers and results with me.
Sneaky? Maybe. I like to think of it as being very prepared so I can be of the greatest possible service and not spend time trying to figure out the right approach.
#6. To Create a Dream Team
Last year I was at an in-person Mastermind session and as a group we spent a lot of time talking about the assessment. One thing of particular interest was using it to help create a well-rounded team.
If you look at our team page, you’ll see we’ve included our archetypes, and paying attention to this makes us so much better as a team.
First, it gives us insight into what everyone is best at so we’re not asking someone who’s innovation + passion to be in charge of details. Plus, I find it helps understand where someone is coming from or why they do things they’d do.
Then there’s the amazing perk of being able to balance out our dormant advantages, or how we’re least likely to Fascinate. The best example of this with our team is likely when it comes to my dormant, alert, which is all about the details. (I’ve learned to handle them as a necessity, but dealing with them feels like quicksand to me.)
For one of our clients, we write fairly technical content and I’m great at writing the first drafts of posts, but I’m not that interested in crossing the Ts and crossing the Is. Which is where Jessica M comes in. For this work she’s the perfect complement to me as she’s The Scholar (Prestige + Alert). She’s all about excellence AND the details, which saves my comma usage regularly.
Getting to know your team’s advantages can help you build a true dream team, along with a culture that best serves everyone’s needs. (Now, if only you could ask new applicants to take the test! I’m not sure that’s legal, but it would be AWESOME.)
The Recap: Use the Science of Fascination to Grow Your Biz
Knowing how the world sees you, (and how the world sees your clients), is a game changer. You can be more strategic and thoughtful in your relationships, branding and sales efforts when you’re managing to everyone’s strengths.
P.S. We are Fascination Advisors so we do receive commissions for products we share with our audience. That said, the FREE test is 100% free and our gift to you!
