Ravi’s Rants

Not sure if you have skills that will actually make you money?

I was watching this show the other day, on the History channel with my 7-yr old daughter, where they showed one of the first Titanic expeditions ever - right from planning to execution. It was simply mind-blowing.

They had brought in this expert diver who specialized only in “ship-wreck diving”. How much more specialized can a niche get?

Note that he wasn’t just a “diver”, not a “deep sea” diver, not a “scuba” diver, not a “explorer” diver, not a “researcher” diver - he was a “ship-wreck” diver! And he dived only to explore ship-wrecks! Now it’s entirely possible that he did other kinds of diving too for a living, but notice how he had “positioned” himself - as an expert “ship-wreck diver”.

And when the owner of the expedition wanted an expert diver who was also an expert at ship-wrecks, they simply had to get this guy on board - and they did get him, paying him whatever fees he may have demanded.

Now don’t go crazy and move to Bermuda and start looking for sunken ships and planes . But do be assured that whatever “crazy”, “weird”, “interesting”, “worthless” (or whatever it is that the “others” have used to describe the) skill or talent you may have, it is definitely marketable.

It is not a question of “whether” your skills can be monetized - it is a question of “if” you “get it” that it can indeed be monetized - and most importantly “when” you will do something about it.

So when?