What Makes You Different? – Finding Your Angle
Here’s a picture of me in front of an ice-cream shop on our last vacation. Now there must have been at least 5 different ice cream shops on the block and we stopped in this one. Why – because the sign said “homemade” on it. I’m a sucker for homemade ice cream.
Then when I went inside (just for a taste) each little sticker said “we make our own” above every flavor. Now I know logically that many of the ice cream stores on the block sold homemade ice cream. But they didn’t say it with total clarity. This one did. And for that reason it got our business.
Here’s another 
example. There are literally 5 different frozen yogurt shops on some New York City Streets. It’s to the point now where in any given five block radius, you are likely to find at least two.
So how do you tell which one to go into? Well, this sign clearly tells you the difference – there’s a point-by-point comparison. I was thrilled to find out that it didn’t contain corn syrup. Again, this store got my business, even though I was craving another brand.
What makes you different? Does it shine in your web copy, in your newsletters, in your videos, and when you talk to people?
So many of us struggle to figure out what this point of difference is. Here are some places that you can look to find your point of difference.
1. The first place is always you – your personality, your tone, your way of explaining things. The more you get comfortable with showing the real you, the more you’ll stand out to your followers. For example, one of my clients is particularly goofy and she doesn’t hide it. In her writing style, she uses a casual and funny tone. When she does videos, she’ll wear wigs or do funny dances. Her crowd loves her. And the most important thing is that she isn’t afraid to be herself.
2. The second place to be different is through creating your signature system. Your signature system is like your table of contents or curriculum for what you teach your clients. The beauty of a signature system is that each of your steps can be blown out to be its own mini signature system. So you can go deep into each step of your system.
What this allows is for you to be known in specific areas, for specific concepts. You aren’t trying to cover all things and be a jack-of-all-trades. And you’ll get to be known for being an expert on the particular topics in you system.
You don’t need to showcase your signature system on your website or in your materials. Your followers will just begin to understand what it is once you’ve been using it to write your articles and create your content.
For example, if you’ve been following me for a while, you probably know that money concepts, marketing strategy, and business systems are all in the signature system that I teach my clients, namely because these are the topics that I write about.
3. The third place to stand out is with your background. I find that most service professionals tend to hide their most valuable achievements in this area.
For example, one of my clients was brilliant at alleviating mindset blocks for business owners. It was buried deep in her biography that before she became a coach, she had a thriving practice as a psychotherapist. We moved that information to the front page and made it part of her angle. It wasn’t long before she was being asked to speak on stage and in people’s telesummits as a mindset expert.
Because her potential clients were comforted by her background as a therapist, it became easier for her to convert clients.
Another client had published three books before becoming a health coach and was currently writing one on health issues. Again, this was buried in her biography. We moved it up to the front page to show her level of expertise as a researcher and writer.
By framing herself as a health coach with writing experience, she’s now positioning herself to get columns for women’s health magazines.
A third example is of a new platinum client whose background is as an artist. She’s growing a business as a personal chef and nutritionist. We took her background as an artist and used it highlight her ability to create art with the food in her client’s kitchens. She’s used her background to make her stand out in a crowded market place.
What makes you different? Your followers deserve to know. Not only will it attract more clients to you, but it will also make it easier for your current clients to speak about you to their friends.
Don’t be shy. Look at your style, your signature system and your history. Step into your competitive advantage.
Leave me a comment and let me know what makes you different.
