Remember Where’s Wally?
It was one of my favourite picture books as a kid…
I’d scour the page looking at all the funny people doing peculiar things trying to find Wally amongst the crowd…
The sea of people made him almost impossible to find.
Every so often… I’d think I’d found Wally… only to realise it was a lookalike.
Close, but no Cigar.
At some point either my head would get sore from squinting, or I’d find Wally.
… and wowee I’d be over the moon when I did.
Got him. Karl 1. Wally 0.
While finding Wally was a simple pleasure I enjoyed as a kid, it now reminds me of an important lesson in business…
It’s not fun when you’re lost in a sea of competition.
The only thing worse than someone hating your brand, is someone not noticing it you at all.
But for the vast majority of health and fitness businesses out there… that’s exactly how it plays out.
This evening, a friend of mine and fellow gym owner (launched a few months back) said in an email to me:
“Our main focus the last few weeks has really been to try and get our name out there more. I feel our product is solid we just need to get people to know we exist. “
Sound familiar?
You’ve got a great product. You’re a great person… but no one knows about you.
So rather than only serving my friend and giving him the advice, I’m going to give it to everyone.
Here are three ways to stand out from the crowd like you’re a giant, inflatable, 40-foot tall Wally.
1. When in doubt, specialise.
Ah ah ah wait wait wait. Take a seat. I know you’re stirring in your boots reading this. Hear me out. It will make sense in a minute.
The reason small businesses stay small is because they take anyone and everyone off the street who’s willing to give them some money.
It makes sense in the short term because it keeps you afloat, but is a terrible strategy in the long-term.
Brands become known because they specialise, not because they generalise.
Apple first sold to creatives, before it was a tech company for everyone.
Amazon was a book delivery service for regional American’s, before it was the “everything store”
Google was a search engine before it owned the whole internet.
You get my drift…
And I know it hurts… but it’s the truth.
Here’s an example.
Who commands more respect, more money and more attention?
A Neurosurgeon, or a General Practitioner?
Now I’m not trying to diss on GP’s — it is a selfless job, but it’s the truth… Brain surgeons command more respect and credibility than GP’s.
I don’t know about you, but I’d be going to a brain surgeon if I needed a tumour cut out of my skull, not the guy down the road. You would too.
The point remains, find a way to specialise in something.
Because it pays.
Try this out for me.
What’s the first brand that comes to your head?
Tissues.
Plastic bandage.
Chocolate cereal.
Video sharing platform.
Electric car.
Food delivery service.
Let me guess.
Kleenex, Band-aid, Coco Pops, YouTube, Tesla and UberEats.
Did I read your mind?
Nope, well kinda…
But I definitely proved my point. Specialising helps with positioning…
and positioning right pays you big bucks.
2. Charge more.
Weird one for standing out, but it works.
Consumers pay attention to two types of products. Cheap ones.
… and expensive ones.
The fastest hack I have for someone who has a kick-ass product to get noticed quicker is to charge more.
Because there are people who get turned off by cheap… and those people are generally better customers than the ones trying to bargain for the best deal.
In the very least, you’ll get more enquiries and get noticed. How you anchor your price from there and close the deal is for another email.
3. Tell people what you’re NOT
This one doesn’t always apply, but when it does, it works like gangbusters. If you want to stand out like a sore thumb tell everyone what you’re not.
Because it gets right into peoples heads and psychology in a way that always makes me cheeky-grin.
Take our Cert III/IV in Fitness. Our whole angle is that we’re going to kill the whole online PT course. Check out our latest post to see what I mean.
We’re spending more time telling who we aren’t, and what we don’t stand for then who we are, and what we do.
Sometimes, the best way to think is to think in opposites.
It’s whacky but it works.
Hope that helps,
Karl Goodman
