So many businesses believe this lie…
“If only more people knew about our business, we would be in better shape.”
Businesses want to believe they have an awareness problem.
After all, awareness is an easy fix. You can buy awareness.
But, what you can’t buy is loyalty.
Loyalty comes from truly believing in a brand so deeply that you want to buy the t-shirt, tell all of your friends and post photos about it on Instagram.
That kind of loyalty doesn’t come from a marketing campaign. It comes from building a business that’s remarkably different.
It’s not enough to shout louder to get your message heard.
You must be so unique, interesting, entertaining and inherently useful that people can’t help but sit up and take notice.
Creating that kind of business is hard. And it’s rare. But, that’s what it takes to truly succeed in business today.
What it Takes to Succeed in Business Today
Want to know why we hinge our brand on a kite?
Kites fly highest against the wind.
To fly a kite, you have to go against conventional wisdom. You have to run into the wind to get it off the ground. And the harder the wind, the higher the kite flies.
The same holds true in business.
It takes unconventional thinking to disrupt an industry. To change perception. To win hearts and minds.
It all starts with an audacious idea and a vision to change the way things have always been done.
It takes challenging the status quo and exploring to see if there is a better way.
It starts by wondering and asking “what if?”
If you think of the great businesses of today — Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Uber, Zappos — each of them upended their respective industries because they believed in finding a better way. They took an industry fraught with problems and they found better solutions.
Apple believed in elegance.
Amazon, Netflix and Uber believed in convenience.
Zappos made their mark with exceptional service.
If you want to become an extraordinary business, you can’t settle for the ordinary. The same old way of doing things is no longer enough.
The only way to stand out in today’s noisy world is to dare to be dramatically different.
Creating a Business Worth Talking About
Am I knocking marketing completely?
No.
Strategic marketing and branding can help you create a more powerful story and get it in front of the right audience.
Marketing matters.
But, it doesn’t mean a darn thing if your business doesn’t have a story worth talking about.
Marketing only works marginally well if you have a “me too” business. If you are doing the same thing as your competitors, it becomes that much harder to market your business and attract attention.
It starts by asking this question:
How can we make our customer’s lives better?
In other words, how can you serve customers dramatically better than they are being served today? What need do they have that is not being filled?
Answering those questions can help you think about how to make the product or service you provide…
Better.
Faster.
Simpler.
More personal.
More entertaining.
More effective.
More efficient.
More enjoyable.
More profitable.
More useful.
Companies that figure out how to fix a broken system, fill a gap in the market or create a need will win.
Why?
Because they’ve got an incredible story that people can’t wait to tell. And stories — especially the good ones — sell.
That’s better than any marketing that money can buy.
So, if you want to win in business today, quit following competitors and start running into the wind. Your kite — and business — will fly a whole lot higher that way.
PS – We believe that ideas can change the world. And we work with businesses that believe the same thing. Does that sound like your business? Give us a ring. We’d love to talk to you.
