Unless you are very fortunate, what you offer is not unique. As an artist, you may think your paintings are unique (they are), but other artists are offering their paintings. As a consultant, for example, it is rare to have a unique offering.

So chances are, your potential customers have choices.

Do you have competitors with inferior products or services that sell successfully?

Ponder on that for a moment while I introduce Seth Godin and his purple cows…

Seth Godin is a very successful marketing consultant and tells a story of how you travel to work every day, the same route, the same things to see.

You pass a field of cows. Every day. The same cows.

And then one day, one of the cows is purple. Bright purple! So what do you do?

You take a picture. You share it. You take a selfie. You tell your friends and family.

Because the purple cow stands out. And this is the power of your brand, and what you have to do with your brand. You must stand out from the competition.

Your brand is not your logo. It is not your color palette. It is not what font you use.

Your brand is that, and everything from the very first moment, to the very last moment that someone interacts with you. Or your company (if a company brand).

It is what they think of you. What they tell others. How you make them feel.

If someone was talking about you, in a room that you are not in, what would you want them to say about you?

This is your brand.

You are on duty 24/7. Because every conversation you have, every support call, every social media post, every advert — everything you do, is your brand.

So what should your brand be?

If you offer a personal service (consultant, etc) then you can choose between making a brand, or being yourself. Both have pro’s and con’s.

If you are simply yourself, is it enough to stand out? Perhaps you can amplify parts of your “brand” to stand out? Can you do something, to make yourself different?

If you create a brand, you can make yourself stand out.

But you have to be consistent, offering that brand all the time, sticking to the script. This is hard work, and prone to be forgotten, or change.

So my advice is be yourself, but pick parts of you, and your brand, that you can pick up on and make remarkable. Remember, remarkable literally means something that will be remarked upon.

For company brands, look around you. Look at how your competitors stand out.
Remember your competitor with an inferior product or service that we mentioned earlier? Don’t get mad, learn. How do they position themselves away from the crowd.

Market position is the consumer’s perception of a brand or product in relation to competition.

Positioning. Your brand positions yourself away from the crowd. So that people will remember you, when they are ready to buy.

And when you know your brand – be consistent.

Everything you do must represent your brand, so that you stick not only in the minds of prospects, but in front of your competition.

What do you want your potential and current customers to think about you?

• Humorous? Silly?
• Professional? Serious?
• Daft?
• Swears? Never swears?
• A suit? Funky T-Shirt?
• Smart hair cut? Crazy hair?
• Always ready to share? Never shares unless paid?
• Do respond quickly? Or make them wait?
• Are you all over social media, or a man of mystery?
• Do you talk about religion or stay away?
• What about politics or the environment?

These are hard questions, and probably depends on your target audience. A politician obviously talks about politics.

Personally, I stay away from religion and politics, because I am not targeting these niches, and would do more damage than good.

But ask me about funnels….. I’ll have an opinion!

Is your website plain, or something like Ling’s Cars (www.lingscars.com)? If you’ve never visited it, please do. It is the definition of an online brand (and Ling in particular).

Whether you like it or not, you will see how she has chosen to stand out. And boy, does she stand out!

She is “remarkable” – worth remarking on.

The list is endless.

I’m not saying make your website like Ling’s Cars – but consider how you can stand out from your competition.