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I have never seen the need for focus more clearly than when trying to market people. It is next to impossible to market someone who does not have his or her focus clearly defined. I need to know how they fit and how I'm going to promote them. If I do not have a clear, distinct idea of what they do and who they serve, I can't effectively market them.

In a recent CreateAWOW podcast, branding and naming expert, Phil Davis, commented on this. The remainder of this article is a conversation we had on the subject. Or if you'd prefer, you may listen to the conversation.

Phillip Davis: When people come to me for naming and branding assistance, they fill out a getting started form on my site that asks them, "What makes you unique, different, or better?"

Frequently, I know I'm in trouble when they say, "I do all those things. We're the cheapest, but we're still the best. And we have the best service."

When I call them I ask, "Is that really true?"

They respond, "Oh yeah, we undercut everybody's price and we're really good, and we're good at all these things. And our products -- we sell high end products, and low end products."

Then I say, "If I've got this right you are the equivalent of a discount, overnight, Rolex store."

"What?" they ask.

And I say, "It's like you sell Rolexes cheaper than anybody and you can deliver them the same day."

"Why would you want to do that?" they ask.

And I respond, "Exactly, why would you want to do that?"

You've got to pick a focus. You can't be all things to all people because you'll be weak in so many areas. If someone has not done their homework, if they haven't sat down and figured out the who -- who they are and what they want to be, they're going to have problems. And trying to get people to go back there, I swear, is some of the hardest work.

I'll ask, "What is it you really want to do for people? What is the product?" Or "What thing are you really trying to do here?"

And, this is where it comes out, if it is really a self-serving thing, they are just trying to make money. "I don't care, whatever it is I just want to make money."

You know what? That is not going to resonate with people, because people want to be served. They want to feel like what you're doing for them is for their good. If they sense that what you're doing for them is just because you want to make a buck, and you're just trying to figure out a way to do it, that comes through. Whether you articulate it or not that is going to come through. But if you are genuine and they sense that you have a value proposition that helps them, then they are going to respond to that.

So that's probably why you hear or see those people circling because they are just looking for an angle. It really is an indicator that they need to go back and say, "Why am I doing what I'm doing?" Is it just truly that you hate your job and you'd do anything to get out of it? Is that your real motivation? You hate your boss? That's not going to work. Could you imagine your husband (the personal chef) saying "I sell this great fudge because I hated my old boss?" No, people do what they do because there is love in what they do.

Marnie Pehrson: Have you ever watched Everybody Love's Raymond? The mother-in-law (Marie Barone) when she speaks of her food and why it's so good, it's always, "the love." It's the love in the food that makes it so delicious.

Phillip Davis: Right, It's the love. It's its own ingredient. It's the invisible ingredient.

What about you? Have you found the love? Do you know what you love to do and who you love to serve? Your success hinges on your knowing the answers to these critical questions.