Are you standing out?  Are you marketing just like everyone else or are you taking the extra steps to stand out against the competition?  Good companies market themselves like everyone else and most of the time, that’s ok.  The problem, however, is that in a democratized market online where the barriers to competition are neutralized, it’s not enough.  It’s too easy for potential customers to view your competition and make their own decision about working with you.  All of your competitors have a web site just like yours.

Example: searching for a dentist

Take for example, searching for a dentist online.  You arrive in a new city, and you need a dentist. Assuming you search online first – and studies show 60% of consumers today search for vendors online first – you can very quickly come up with a short list of 10 or 20 dental clinics you might want to become a patient at.  So how do you decide which one to call?  Maybe a list of testimonials? dental certification?  reviews by patients?  a well designed list of services? pictures of staff?  But wait, does that sound familiar?  That’s because it is. You see, your competition is doing the same thing and providing everything I just listed.  In fact, they probably all are.  So what do you do then?

The Purple Cow

The key in getting that extra edge on your competition is standing out, being different, and doing something memorable.  Seth Godin calls it “The Purple Cow” in his book by the same name.  Seth says that being different is what works – just like if you were to see a purple cow in a field of brown cows – and being different is what you should be working at doing. 

Take the dental clinic example. What if the clinic owner takes that extra step to stand out?  Maybe with weekly videos on dental health management or with a “best smile” rating application on their web site.  Or maybe with giving new patients a personal makeover kit, or holding a monthly running and health improvement clinic. How about creating a web site called 1000smiles.com and inviting users from all over the web to add their smiles and featuring smiles from your clinic’s patients.  Being different, going that extra mile is all about standing out.  Whatever business you are in, come up with a list of 10 or 20 ideas that help you stand out, that help you become the “Purple Cow”. 

I’m not special right?

Now, you are probably thinking to yourself

• I don’t do anything special
• I don’t have a business that’s different than everyone else
• It’s too risky.  I don’t want to be different
• My customers want me to be like everyone else
• Why bother?  I have enough customers
• Being different is dangerous and I could alienate some customers
• My customers are reserved and don’t take risks
• It’s a waste of time and money and a gamble

Well, that’s might be true.  Yes, you don’t HAVE to be different, and you don’t HAVE to be special.  But online, that’s the only way to stand out.  You see when someone searches online, they have certain expectations on what they want to see online and you need to provide at least that much information on your web site.  But what if you go the extra mile, and have something memorable like the ideas I mentioned above?  Is it possible that your customers will remember your uniqueness?  Is it possible your idea was so juicy your customers tell others about it?  Is it possible the blogosphere gets wind of your idea and your idea goes viral?

Checklist: Just ask your customers

If you are still unconvinced that standing out is essential to your marketing efforts, try on this checklist with some of your customers.  Go ahead, print out this list and see what your customers say.

1. What do I/we do differently than my competitors that you noticed?
2. Why did you choose our/my business?
3. What was the one thing I/we had different than anyone else?
4. Would you recommend me/us, and if so, what would be one thing you would mention?
5. What was one product or service we/i had, that nobody else had?
6. Did you view our/my website before deciding to call?

The answers to these questions will very quickly give you something to sink your teeth (pardon the pun) into.  Continuing with the dental clinic idea, let’s say a customer mentioned your extended business hours, and that you had a laser whitening system.  These are two big advantages you had compared to your competitors and these were big factors in deciding to visit your dental clinic. Now that you know, leverage this uniqueness and ways you were able to stand out in your online marketing and branding.  Mention your extended business hours and laser whitening system in your marketing copy and on your web site.

Now, here is where the real ideas start

So you have already taken the time and made the effort to be different.  You know how you are different and you market this in your marketing copy.  Great.  But what about going the extra mile to be different.  What about doing something extra-ordinary.  Something way outside the norm?

10 ideas for making you stand out online

It’s not that hard to stand out, truth be told.  Very few of your competitors are reading articles like this one, and even fewer are implementing outstanding marketing ideas. Here are 10 cheap, free, and easy ideas you could launch right away, with minimal effort

1. Give away ebooks (start with a checklist style book and make a bunch of them)
2. Show a video on your home page (use tubemogul to distribute it).  Look at 136words.com for a great example of online video
3. Do a weekly podcast and distribute it through the Apple.com store.
4. Give away an iPod each week to online subscribers
5. Write a monthly newsletter (use campaignmonitor for awesome e-newsletters)
6. Implement a ratings web site for pictures/sounds/ideas related to your product (for example 1000smiles.com if you are a dental clinic)
7. Interview celebrities, dignitaries, or notable authors in your industry and post the results on your web site
8. Show your real photograph (professionally done of course).  Yes, you would be truly shocked how few of your competitors are doing this!
9. Record a 2 minute audio clip for each page of your web site (easily done with a good publishing system like Wordpress – it’s what I use for all my clients).
10. Interview your past customers on video and feature them in case studies on your web site.  Even though potential customers know it’s a marketing ploy, it still works!

Hopefully you get some indication about why standing out is essential and how you can go about discovering your own uniqueness.  If you still need help, feel free to give me a call.  I’m always ready to consult and coach businesses on business marketing.

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