You wish to develop your enterprise, however you’re caught doing what everybody else does, just a bit bit higher. That’s the issue.
And it’s killing your probabilities of getting observed.
It’s potential, and customary, so that you can get caught within the “higher” entice. I guess you tirelessly work to enhance your product, your service, and your advertising, making it quicker, cheaper, prettier, or extra environment friendly than the competitors.
Whereas bettering your advertising is nice, attempting to be “higher” than your competitor means you’re nonetheless enjoying their sport, on their phrases. You’re nonetheless a variation of what already exists. And in right this moment’s deafening market, being a barely improved model of “the identical” means you’re successfully invisible.
You’re grey go well with #497 in a sea of grey fits.
This isn’t solely about advertising, proper? It’s about your very survival and development. Whenever you mix in, you turn into a commodity. Whenever you’re a commodity, you compete on value, and that’s a race to the underside the place nobody really wins.
Your best shoppers can’t discover you since you don’t stand out. Your message will get misplaced within the noise. Your distinctive worth, your ardour, your brilliance – all of it fades into the background.
The repair? Completely different is best than higher.
It is a basic legislation of consideration, and I really like to make use of in in my advertising. Because the sensible Sally Hogshead says, “Completely different is best than higher.” Your mind is wired to note novelty. When one thing is sudden, uncommon, or just totally different, it cuts by way of the muddle. It makes individuals cease, lean in, and listen. Your objective isn’t to be the very best model of your competitor; it’s to be the solely model of you.
Final yr, I lastly dipped my toes into the TikTok ocean. For a man who often prefers a whiteboard and a Sharpie, it was a wild journey. I attempted all the pieces – brief bursts of recommendation, longer rants, even some questionable dance strikes (don’t ask). And what turned crystal clear, by way of all of the experiments, was that the content material that really resonated, the stuff that truly received seen and shared, was the totally different stuff. It wasn’t about being completely polished or having the best manufacturing worth; it was about being genuine and, sure, a little bit unconventional (you understand me, that was simple). It proved, but once more, that totally different wins.
Tips on how to get totally different within the wild:
So, how do you implement this brilliant concept? How do you inject “totally different” into your enterprise and cease being invisible? It begins by wanting exterior your trade for inspiration, after which having the braveness to adapt these concepts to your individual distinctive context.
Right here’s how one can make “totally different” your superpower:
- Observe unrelated industries for gold: Cease taking a look at what your direct opponents are doing. As an alternative, take note of what’s working in utterly unrelated fields.
- Instance: A canine groomer observed the booming pattern of “boudoir images” for people. As an alternative of simply providing normal cuts and washes, they launched “Pooch Pinups” – skilled, creative boudoir photograph shoots for pets. They used comfortable lighting, elegant backdrops, and playful props. It’s sudden, it’s memorable, and it faucets into the deep love pet house owners have for his or her animals. They went from being “a canine groomer” to “the canine groomer who does that.”
- Your motion: What’s a well-liked pattern in vogue, gaming, meals, or leisure that appears utterly irrelevant to your enterprise? How might you twist it, adapt it, or apply its core precept to your choices? May a monetary advisor create a “gamified” budgeting app? May a B2B software program firm launch a “actuality present” documenting their shopper success tales?
- Use that character of yours: Your trade may be critical, however you don’t must be boring. Individuals join with individuals, not simply services or products.
- Instance: An accountant, bored with the dry, formal picture of their career, began creating brief, humorous TikTok movies. They used trending sounds and relatable skits to elucidate complicated tax deductions, funding methods, or frequent monetary pitfalls. They didn’t dumb down the knowledge, however they made it accessible and entertaining. They turned “the humorous tax guru” as a substitute of “simply an accountant.”
- Your motion: The place are you able to inject your genuine character in an sudden means? May you utilize humor in your gross sales calls? Inform private tales in your advertising emails? Host a “fireplace chat” podcast with shoppers the place you talk about their largest challenges (and the way you solved them) in a uncooked, unscripted means? Take into consideration how one can break the mould of communication in your trade.
- DEFY expectations: What’s the usual working process in your trade? What do shoppers anticipate? Now, do the other, or one thing completely totally different.
- Instance: In lots of service industries, shoppers anticipate hourly billing or challenge charges. What when you provided a “Netflix-style” subscription service for ongoing help, the place shoppers pay a flat month-to-month charge for limitless entry to a particular vary of companies? Or what when you assured a particular consequence somewhat than simply effort?
- Your motion: Problem the assumptions. If everybody gives a free session, provide a paid “discovery session” that delivers rapid worth. If everybody focuses on options, concentrate on the emotional transformation your product offers. If everybody makes use of inventory images, use uncooked, behind-the-scenes footage.
Dig deeper:
This idea isn’t nearly intelligent advertising; it’s about constructing a really resilient and noteworthy enterprise. To dive deeper into the strategic crucial of being totally different, take a look at these sections in my books:
- Get Completely different: Chapter 1, pages 1–13. That is the place I lay out absolutely the urgency and obligation it’s important to be totally different. It’s not a nice-to-have; it’s a must have for survival and development.
- The Pumpkin Plan: Chapter 4, pages 57–61. This part helps you pinpoint what really makes your enterprise uniquely invaluable. It’s about figuring out that core providing that solely you can ship with such distinction.
- Repair This Subsequent: Chapter 2, pages 30–36. Right here, you’ll discover ways to find your enterprise’s true development leverage level. Usually, the largest breakthroughs come from amplifying what makes you essentially totally different, somewhat than simply patching up weaknesses.
Go AI for unconventional concepts:
For those who’re nonetheless brainstorming, use AI as your inventive sparring companion. Don’t ask it to present you “higher” concepts in your trade. Ask it to be daring. Copy and paste this immediate:
“Generate one daring, unconventional advertising technique that nobody in my trade is doing. Pull inspiration from profitable techniques in unrelated industries and clarify how I can apply them step-by-step.”
Then, problem it: “Give me one other, even crazier concept.” Use it to push your individual pondering past the standard.
Last thought:
Let me remind you what Sally says: “Completely different isn’t dangerous. Invisible is dangerous.” The largest threat you’ll be able to soak up enterprise right this moment is to be indistinguishable.
Be you.
-Mike
