Let’s take this back to the basic premise that any market is going to be pyramidal, meaning the higher up the pyramid you go, the fewer competitors you’re going to have.

I mean, there are dozens of manufacturers making cars like the VW Golf (the Rabbit, I think it’s called in the US), but only one Rolls Royce. Sure, there are other super-expensive luxury cars, but each tends to have its own niche, whether it’s comfort, performance or whatever.

And by the same token, at the top of your industry there is going to be only a handful of people providing top-end services to affluent clients. 

Just look around if you don’t believe me — from copywriters (compare the likes of me with the $100-sales-letter peddlers on Elance.com), to style consultants (Gok Wan versus the fed-up looking gal at your local department store).

The list is endless and you can take it as a given someone is top dog.

So the question is... 

Who’s at the Top in Your Industry?

And the second question is... why aren’t you?

Because someone is going to be the Big Fish in the small pond of your town or city or niche, and if it’s not you, then it’ll simply be someone else.

And if there’s already someone there?

Then change what you do sufficiently to make you different enough to warrant a pyramid of your own. 

For example, there are loads of copywriters out there, even high-end ones. 

But I’ve positioned myself to be unique.

I don’t even acknowledge competitors let alone compete with them, not because I’m the necessarily best copywriter out there, but because I’m the only one who does things quite the way I do them, and so I must needs be the best in the world at that.

But there’s nothing unique about my industry or abilities  meaning I can do it and you can’t. There is nothing, I repeat nothing to stop you doing the same.

How?

First, you simply appoint yourself as an expert. You can immediately begin referring to yourself as the “leading Widget maker in Wigan” or whatever. And if that feels too uncomfortable or you find it hard to cope with the moaning and carping you might bring upon yourself, then just give your process or product a proprietary name, and then call yourself the world expert in that -— and it will be absolutely true and no one can gainsay it.

You might be tempted to laugh at this, but it’s a legitimate and effective way of differentiating yourself from any competition and instantly becoming the No. 1 player in the niche you just invented (even such a luminary as Anthony Robbins did this with his CANI  system, which is substantially the same as every other self-development “technology” out there).

The second thing you can do is raise your prices (see The quickest and easiest way to boost your profits). If you charge high prices, you immediately make a statement about yourself.

The third thing you can do is become less accessible and more aloof. Most business owners are  bound to their mobiles and smartphones as if they were a biologically evolved appendage.

It seems no time is too inconvenient to call them to have a “chat” about your problem.

This is a huge mistake, because you get hordes of people who are happy to suck all the knowledge out of your head and disappear into the ether without ever  paying you a penny.

I strongly urge you to change this immediately and value your time.

Don’t talk to anyone without an appointment and not even then unless they've paid you for the privilege. The conversation ought not to be about “what can you do for me?” but about “when can you start?”