What makes you special?
It’s a question you’ve probably pondered more than once.
Maybe you’ve created a unique logo and website – but doesn’t everyone say that?
Maybe you make a bold promise about your results – like all your competitors do.
You might pride yourself on your passion and commitment to your clients – which sounds awfully familiar in your industry.
If “being different” is the same thing everyone is trying to do, how do you actually be different? Let’s explore five principles to get you standing out from the rest.
You can only be different in the mind of an individual.
You can’t be different in the crowded market, it’s just too noisy; but you can be special in the mind of an individual.
Inside the mind of an individual, you could be seen as special, innovative or great value compared to anything else they’ve seen.
In your mind, your best-friend is different to everyone else’s best-friend. If I ask you why, you might not be able to give me a meaty answer. Your best-friend sounds the same as my best-friend.
Being different isn’t about how you show up in your market, it’s about how you show the mind of an individual.
It takes 7 hours of exposure for a person to bond with you.
Very few businesses or people seem special or different at first glance. Research says it takes 7 hours of attention for a person to really see you as special or unique and to form a bond.
They could read your book, your articles, or watch your videos online. They could attend a live event or listen to a podcast you’ve created. If it adds up to 7 hours of exposure, a person will start seeing you as “special” and they will begin to bond with you.
If you don’t have enough digital content you get stuck trying to build a bond through face to face meetings.
Get this right – Attend the world’s leading brand accelerator day »
If you don’t have 7 hours of content available … you’re not even in the game.
Imagine that I block out a full day to learn about you and your business. I start by Googling you then I absorb your blogs, videos, reports, slides, reviews, products and information. If I can find it, I will consume it.
Right now today, do you have a total of 7 hours of content available for me to find? If the answer is “no” then you have no ability to be seen as special other than for those people you can meet personally. This will keep your business small – very small.
If your message changes, the clock resets.
If people get a conflicting message about who you are or what you do, the clock resets and the person needs another 7 hours of consistent and coherent information before they will bond with you.
For example, if a person is watching hours of videos on YouTube where you are talking about your career as a dentist and then they start reading a blog about your opinions on fashion (without any explanation) they will get confused and it will “reset the clock”.
This doesn’t mean you can’t change what you do, it means you have to share the story with people about why you changed and what you took from your old profession into your new one. You need the narrative to make sense or people will struggle to connect with you.
The key to this working is to start by perfecting your “pitch” – find out how »
A consistent message, leveraged across 7 hours of content helps you scale and make more money
If you get it right, your business grows and becomes more profitable. If your message is laser sharp, if your content is valuable, if you are seen as credible, and you are crystal clear then you’re in the game.
You’ll be seen as special by more people. You will bond with more people. You’ll be trusted by more people. You will get more customers, make more money, and struggle less for business.
Your content will support your sales process so sales meetings will seem effortless. Your content will attract a higher-quality client who’s better educated about your offering, so looking after clients will be easier. Your business will rely less on you, and it will require less energy from you.
