Welcome to Issue 21 of A Good Reputation, a newsletter about a good brand move that helped grow a small business. (Did someone send you? Subscribe here.)

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Hello Reader,

Remember me? I haven’t sent a newsletter in a while. While I have an excuse, it’s not a good one.

The simple truth is that I took on too much last month. Too much travel, too many events, too much speaking, and too many clients. (Actually, the right amount of clients. But it was hard to keep up when everything was happening all at once.)

I had to prioritize. And executing on the retreat I co-hosted in Costa Rica last week (next year's waitlist is open!) topped my list, while this newsletter fell to the bottom. (I’m sorry.)

I don’t know about you, but focusing on one thing at a time and not getting distracted by all the things I "need" to do or could do to grow my business is my biggest problem. It's one that leads to issues like dropping the ball on things I've started to pursue other things.

In fact, it’s one of the main reasons I started this newsletter—to learn from (and be inspired by) the people who’ve successfully built sustainable businesses by focusing on one thing—one industry, one target market, one niche.

But what I’m finding is that the ones who’ve built the strongest reputations don’t focus on an industry or target market or niche—they focus on one problem.

And that, my friends, is why I wanted to feature Michelle Swaney in this week’s issue.

Michelle is many things: A mom, a foster parent, a volunteer, a book author, a speaker, a consultant, and a community builder.

She’s also the foremost expert on potty training. (Didn’t expect that one, did ya?)

After meeting Michelle at a marketing conference, I was curious to learn how one builds a six-figure business around teaching kids how to use the loo.

The answer was simpler than I thought: Solve a messy problem and the right people will find you.

A Good Story

When Michelle was fresh out of college, she took a mission trip to Nicaragua, where she found herself shadowing a local mom with five kids who somehow managed to survive with just two cloth diapers and very little mess.

This mom was essentially practicing “elimination communication”—a diaper-free approach that’s commonplace around the world but (like many parenting practices) remains a mystery in the U.S.

That experience planted a seed.

Years later, when Michelle was parenting her own kids and hosting toddlers through a volunteer program, she realized just how transferable those skills were. Michelle put her Nicaraguan experience to the test and figured out a seamless approach for training these kids to do their business in the potty.

Her approach worked so well that friends and neighbors started asking for help with their kids.

At that point, friends started suggesting Michelle start charging people to teach potty training, but she laughed it off. Who would pay for potty training advice? Turns out, lots of people.

Why? Because getting kids out of diapers isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a life-changing milestone that saves parents time, money, and sanity.

It started small, helping friends-of-friends, until Michelle realized she’d stumbled on a huge need.

One family referred her to the next, and eventually, she started widening her impact by teaching group classes at local support centers for parents.

She threw up a website, started a Facebook community, and put a little ad spend behind some keyword search terms on Google and Facebook. With that, she was officially in business.

A Good Approach

Michelle’s big break came when she discovered a legitimate-looking publishing offer lurking in her email spam folder.

The publisher wanted her to write a book on potty training—but not just any book. A book that could give parents all the answers they were looking for.

They’d done their research to find out what parents were desperately Googling at midnight. And they found Michelle answering a lot of those questions.

Even though she didn’t have a writing background, she was the expert they’d been looking for. So, she took the plunge. (Sorry, I had to.)

The book was an instant hit and came with an appendix full of “quick relief” answers to common potty-training problems, which naturally led to even more questions from parents.

The book landed Michelle media coverage, including a local TV spot that took her little business from a super niche corner of the internet to the mainstream.

Her book started getting handed out at parenting conferences, school districts bought it, and teachers shared it with desperate families.

In only a couple of years (with littles in tow), Michelle went from “that lady who knows potty training” to “the woman who wrote the book on it.”

Her business has grown from local house visits to a full range of services, including:

Consultations for one-on-one problem-solving,
​Online courses for parents who prefer a DIY approach, and
​Membership programs for ongoing support.

A buffet of options, if you will, that not only diversified her income but also allowed her to solve the same problem from multiple angles.

Not only that, each platform serves as a feedback loop that keeps her tapped into parents' concerns and questions.

A Good Lesson

Like many entrepreneurs who start with a big heart and a small team, Michelle fell into the classic trap: overwork.

She was burning the candle at both ends, answering every email, doing every consultation, and running herself into the ground. It took a health scare for Michelle to learn that she couldn’t do everything herself (even if she wanted to).

Her realization?

Trying to save the world one diaper at a time was a noble pursuit, but not at the expense of her health and sanity.

Now, she focuses on keeping a sustainable pace, prioritizing her best opportunities, and delegating the rest.

A Good Takeaway

If you’re a solopreneur trying to niche down by picking an audience or industry, you might be missing the point.

I get it. I’m guilty of doing the same. I spent my first two years in business worrying about the title or identity of the types of clients I wanted to work with instead of focusing on the solutions I deliver.

When I niched down on crafting brand narratives and creating sustainable content engines, attracting clients became easier. (Though it’s still a work in progress.)

The point is that most buyers don’t care if you specialize in “small businesses” or “tech startups.” They care about whether you can solve their problem—better, faster, or more effectively than anyone else.

Michelle didn’t build her business by saying, “I help moms in their 30s.” She said, “I help parents potty train their kids.” And then she got really good at solving that problem in every way possible.

That's not to say that narrowing in on a target market or industry isn't valuable—it certainly is. And it can help people quickly determine exactly who you’re for.

But starting with the problem is *arguably* the most important piece.

To take a page from Michelle’s book (the metaphorical one—not the potty training one):

• Identify a specific, painful problem.
  ​What’s keeping your ideal customer up at night? For Michelle’s audience, it was getting their kids out of diapers.
• Solve it from every angle.
  ​One you get good at solving the problem, don’t stop at one service or product. Create multiple ways to address the problem: Workshops, ebooks, coaching calls, online courses—you name it. Meet your audience where they are.
• Position yourself as the ultimate problem solver.
  ​Lead with the problem, not the service. Show your audience you understand their pain, then offer your solution as the natural answer.

I love how my buddy Nick Bennett put it the other day on LinkedIn: The problem is the solution.

By zeroing in on a specific problem, can simplify your marketing and sales while building a reputation as the go-to person for that issue.

Like Michelle, it just starts with making sure you know your sh*t. (Get it?) Okay, torture over.

A Few Good Resources

1. If you need help honing in on that problem (or anything), "The One Thing" is a great place to start.
2. I just had a little business strategy and ops pep talk with Madi Waggoner, who helped me think through how I can focus my efforts on serving three pretty different target audiences: startups, founders, and service-based business owners. Highly recommend.
3. Speaking of pep talks, Kari Huske always keeps me grounded on what's real growth vs. just keeping busy.

Hope you have a good one,
Renee