Many business owners suffer, unnecessarily. Their businesses get lost in a sea of sameness. Indistinguishable from their competitors, potential customers don’t see any difference, benefit or value in choosing them, so the cheapest or most convenient offering wins. You can forget about loyalty too. Those customers will be off as soon as a cheaper alternative is on the table.
Pick up the phone and blame your designer and your copywriter. After all, it was he or she who designed and shaped your brand. It was he or she who copied your favourite competitor’s website, (possibly following your direction…) and presented it back to you for your approval. A quick, easy, cheap, and mindless way to get the job done.
You may not have realised it at the time but the decisions and choices you made back then imprisoned you.
The irony is, we’re all different. So why do we behave like sheep? I suspect that this herd mentality makes many people feel safe. The truth is, it makes them vulnerable. Certainly, over the last twenty years or so I’ve tried passionately to convince a multitude of business owners of the dangers of copycat behaviour. I’ve argued, vociferously, for standing out and being true, authentic, and different.
Some see the power in adopting a unique positioning strategy.
Some don’t…
Those that don’t, stuck in their sheepish mindsets, confidently say, ‘If it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for us.’ I’ve heard that pseudo-intellectual phrase more times than I care to remember…
As for the designer and copywriter, they probably don’t know what damage they’ve done. But this is your brand! It’s your business! It’s the foundation on which you will grow and prosper or fail and wither…
How you present yourself to the world determines the sorts of people that will be attracted to you.
Would you choose to wear the same cheap suit as other people at an important networking event? I suspect that as soon as you became aware that others were wearing the same attire, you’d become horrified. Maybe even a little embarrassed…
The indisputable truth is that successful businesses are great because they do something differently. They look at the world through a different lens. They see things differently. And because of this difference, because of this unique approach, they attract more than their fair share of their ideal customers. They stand out and by doing so they attract the attention of likeminded people.
A miserable future at worst, and an OK future at best, awaits the owner of a business that is indistinguishable from the herd.
Become horrified at your brand and your website and the meaningless, heartless, soulless drivel that that was thrown together at the last minute to represent your business. Despair at the fakeness of it all and the copycat, sheepish mindset that brought this to life. Then, consider that maybe, just maybe, this is one of the reasons why 90% of businesses fail. And those business owners that embrace being authentic, true, and real, are the ones that are certainly more likely to become great.
