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Are You the Chicken? or the Pig?

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Are You the Chicken? or the Pig?

If you consider a bacon-and-egg breakfast, what is the difference between the chicken and the pig?It’s a question that determines commitment. While the chicken can produce many eggs over a lifetime, the pig can produce bacon only once. The chicken may be involved in the breakfast, but the pig is totally committed.So what does that have to do with independent advocacy?Over the years, I’ve heard from dozens (maybe hundreds) of people who tell me they want to call themselves advocates, and be profiled in the AdvoConnection Directory, but aren’t entirely committed to the profession yet. They don’t meet our listing criteria, but they push us to let them be listed anyway.*“I just want to be listed in the directory to see if anyone calls me.”“I’m just trying to figure out if I can make a living doing advocacy.”“I’m just testing the waters.”Maybe you’ve had the same idea?  You just aren’t sure, but if you could just be listed in the directory…. and that’s the sum total of your commitment. You don’t purchase liability insurance. You don’t do any other marketing. You haven’t built a website.You haven’t truly committed.Why? Because you’re just testing the waters. And you think that if you are listed in the directory, that will help you decide.Let’s examine that.One reason folks are reluctant to jump all-in is because of what commitment means to their current lives. For example, they may be working full time jobs, supporting their families. Going all-in on a new business threatens what does work in their lives, even though they may not be happy with that circumstance.Another reason is because it can get expensive to set up a new business. No one successfully hangs out a shingle, states they are in business, then succeeds. It requires an investment (capitalization) to be able to afford and pay for things like liability insurance, building a website, joining professional organizations, and more. Someone who has little capital to invest wants some sort of reassurance they aren’t wasting what they’ve got.OK – I get that reluctance to commit. You can see that I understand it.Despite the fact…


 

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