Mediocrity is for losers.
The online arena attracts thousands of new, HUNGRY digital creators, and guess what?
They ALL want a piece of the digital pie.
If you don’t offer something remarkable, something people share and talk about, you’re toast.
All is not lost, though.
If you make a conscious effort to push your comfort zone, and deliver talk-worthy, ass-kicking work, you can stand out from the crowd.
Just follow these 3 key principles:
#1. Go to the edge
This is vital, and it’s inspired by the one-and-only Seth Godin.
Going to the edge means you do something extreme, something people are afraid to do.
It can be anything—the way you offer your service, your content, or the products you sell.
Let me share an example.
As you may know, when you buy products online, most people offer a guarantee like 30 days or your money back.
DIYthemes does it, as do countless others. It’s a risk reversal tactic that helps close the sale.
If you’re going to the edge, you can take this one step further and you’ll instantly stand out from everyone else.
One blogger, Tyler Tervooren, strengthened his guarantee by saying “1,000 subscribers in your first 6 months, or your money back.” Yes, it’s a bold claim, but it’s also remarkable that he’d offer such a strong, edgy guarantee.
Another blogger, Adam Baker, also went to the edge with this satisfaction guarantee. He chose a “As long as I have a pulse” guarantee, meaning that you get your money back until the end of his life. It’s funny and worth talking about, right?
Right.
So, remember, go beyond the beaten path and bring your product/content/service closer to the edge.
It can be something as small as a satisfaction guarantee and it can still make a huge difference.
Action Step
Can you write in a style that no one dares to deliver? Can you create a product that delivers an experience unlike any other (making it more interactive, insanely good design etc.)?
Or can you offer a crazy guarantee like in the examples? You can, and you must!
Bonus tip: If what you are about to publish/offer scares you, then you know you’re onto something HOT. Instead of backing down and hiding in your comfort zone, PUSH THE BUTTON. Unleash your edgy work.
#2. Go beyond the niche
Everyone is obsessed with choosing a specific niche. It’s ridiculous, and it’s not really that important. Niches are overcrowded. If you want to stand out, you need something that draws people’s attention—and that’s you and your beliefs.
Let’s take the ĂĽber-famous blogger Chris Guillebeau as a prime example. What’s his niche?
Sha-baam. He doesn’t have one. Chris goes beyond the niche. Instead, he uses his belief (living an unconventional life) and makes it the cornerstone of his brand “The Art of Non-Conformity.” His writings and products are super diverse: You’ll find anything between marketing, traveling, business, social media and personal development.
It’s diverse, but it works brilliantly because he infuses his belief of living unconventionally into EVERYTHING he does. Every article and product carries that Chris Guillebeau flavor—live and work on your own terms. That’s why he can create and produce pretty much anything he wants, AS LONG AS he makes that part of his belief.
Action step
Figure out your belief—your “mission”—and infuse it into your whole creation process. Anything you will ever produce will work out as long as your mission is DISCERNIBLE within your work!
#3. GO 3 x “YOU”
A friend of mine shared a valuable lesson with me, and I will never forget it. Here goes:
If you want to succeed (both in life and business), take your personality and make it 3 times more extreme.
That was a personal revelation for me, and it changed the way I did business. This is what it means in particular:
Take your main character traits, stretch them and infuse ’em into your online presence. If you are in mad love with pink, why not “pink up” your whole presence? Let your blog design, Facebook fan page and Twitter profile DROWN in pink.
Or are you the shy person? Why don’t you take THAT to the next level? Become super-shy, and DON’T use a profile pic for your blog or social media presence. Use a funny or mysterious avatar instead, and make that ultra-shyness a part of your brand.
Action step
Look at your character traits and foibles. What about them is truly “you?” And how can you stretch them (make ’em MORE extreme) and infuse that into everything you do?
I promise that you get more attention and find your “right” audience if you follow this path.
CONCLUSION
If you do things that everyone else is doing, you will end up like everyone else—drowning in the river of oblivion. Use these 3 principles or invent your own to do stuff that no one else is doing, making your online presence stand out like a diamond in the sky.
What do you do to make your online presence more remarkable? What can you do today to take it closer to the edge?
