Are you dramatically different?

One of the best books you will ever discover to help you
grow your business is Doug Hall's "Jump Start Your Business
Brain".  It is an underground classic that is absolutely
wonderful advice - it is the book that helped me break free
of mediocrity into a life I absolutely love.

One of his biggest points in the book is how you can create
a company that is dramatically different than any, and
every, competitor in your marketplace.

It doesn't sound easy at first.

Honestly, how many hairdressers or dry cleaners or grocery
stores are there in your city that are DRAMATICALLY
different?

Few and far between.

In fact, it appears to me that most business owners lose all
sense of creativity when they start their business.

The typical process they go through?

Look at what all their competitors do, where they advertise,
the types of advertisements they run, the marketing
materials they use, the web sites they have... and then they
COPY everyone else.

Open your yellow pages for proof... in house painting or
carpet cleaning... what is DRAMATICALLY different?  Or any
section for that matter.

How do you create a dramatic difference in your business?
And why should this be considered important?

First, having a dramatic difference gives you a 353% better
chance of succeeding (based on thousands of business success
stories being ran through a computer model Doug Hall
invented). That alone should be enough.

So - tripling your odds of making your business the leader
in your industry is all you need to know at this point.

NOTE: 80% of copycats end up failing in their business - so
this is very important.

Now, let's get into how to create your own dramatic
difference.

1) list out all your biggest benefits you provide right now.
If you struggle with this - list out all your features on
the left side of the page then the benefit of that on the
right.

2) list out your competitors biggest benefits as well - same
method.

3) cross out the benefits on your list that are the same as
your competitors.

(great service is not a benefit - everyone says that -
unless you do something different with your service
offerings)

4) is there anything left over? If so, you have the start of
a dramatic difference. If no, you need to get real serious
about this.  If your customers can't tell the difference
between you and your competitors you are in trouble (and
they judge this by this same process - who appears to be
different or better?)

5) Can you create a dramatic difference from this so far?

Can you answer - "<your company name> is the first to offer
_________ in this industry" or "What makes <your company>
different is that we are the only company out there that
offers _________"?

Write out 5 answers to each of those.

Does it SHINE?
Or does it suck?

If your statement doesn't leap off the page as a big
breakthrough - keep working on it.  What could make your
difference 10 TIMES greater than all your competitors?

With so many daily distractions in front of your potential
customers - you have to create a MASSIVE difference in their
eyes.

What would make them stop everything they are doing to visit
your store, read your ad, or answer your letter to them?

Find a way to become dramatically different and you will
succeed.

Probably the best way to find your own dramatic
difference is to look at what your competitors are doing -
and do the opposite! And the easiest way to do the opposite
is to look at OTHER industries to see what they do
differently than you do - THEN find a way to use their
difference in your own business.

If you paint houses - copy the service ideas behind cleaning
companies, window cleaners, tree trimmers.

If you run an accounting firm - copy the service ideas
behind printing companies, marketing consultants, house
painters, car detailers.

If you run an information product business - copy the
service ideas behind luxury property rentals, artists,
paving companies, fence builders, moving companies or pizza
delivery companies.

YES - these are completely off-the-wall, unbelievably
abstract ideas.  That's the point!

Find out what works best in other industries (stands out as
the most bizarre way to do business in your own industry) -
and copy that idea.  Try it out for a few months and see how
people respond.

You will be pleasantly surprised.

Comments

[Dave Rachford]

Troy - Great post. Dramatically Different - it's tough to do, to break out of the myopia of our professions and do stuff way different.

I do struggle with the idea of "systems" - which of course are favored by the franchise owners. A Big Mac is pretty much a Big Mac almost any McD's on earth. As business owners we have long held the "sameness of the system" in high regard.

I reconcile the thought with this: McD's is extrordinary because they offer a 30 second hamburger at the drive through. It's consistant from store to store. Any if you've never had a shamrock shake (extrordinary green, pleasantly minty) better get it before it leaves on St. Patricks Day.

I'm going to take your advice and do some analysis as prescribed. Thanks! Dave - CPA Marketer