What Makes You Stand Out in Your Industry? If You Don’t Know… You Won’t!

What Makes You Stand Out in Your Industry? If You Don’t Know… You Won’t! Stand Out That Is

 

When it comes to online business it can sometimes feel like you’re drowning in a sea of sameness. It can feel like it’s impossible for you to compete or stand out in your industry.

The Illusion

Now first let’s address one side of the equation. And that’s the fact that, regardless of the fact it may feel like there are a bazillion people out there offering what you do, the truth is there are billions of people in the world and if you really break it down, it really isn’t unreasonable to expect that you can find enough of those people in your lifetime to support your entrepreneurial dreams.

The other part of this side of the equation is that it FEELS like there are so many people out there doing what you do because you happen to be surrounding yourself with them. You are following their social media accounts. You’re in the same Facebook groups. You’re learning from the same teachers. Etc. etc. etc.

This gives the illusion that your ideal humans are tripping over business owners offering services or products like yours, when the truth is, from a consumer standpoint, they’re not. They’re existing in a completely different online space than you are as the entrepreneur.

You may have noticed, for instance, that once you start buying… and selling… a low ticket self liquidating offer via Facebook ads that suddenly you are being served what feels like hundreds of ads a day for other offers like that. But that’s because you’ve been click happy seeing what other business owners are up to with their ads. Your ideal client likely isn’t seeing the same thing happening in their newsfeed at all. They are happily scrolling their feed checking out the latest gossip worthy things their old high school classmates are up to or discovering what Netflix series to binge next. They won’t be seeing offers like yours until someone like you has the prowess to target them in a way that has them seeing and falling in love with your offer.

So that’s the one side of the equation. The side that’s encouraging you to know that it’s not as impossible as it may feel to be noticed by your ideal humans.

Reality Check

Now what’s the other side of this equation? Well it’s the ugly truth that there really ARE a lot of people out there in your industry offering something very similar to what you do. And some of your ideal humans ARE going to be aware of that and they ARE going to be “shopping around” for lack of better words.

So why should they choose you?

No seriously! I want you to answer that question. Because if you don’t know the answer, you might be in trouble.

One of the first things I do when consulting online business owners wanting to scale their online business is get really clear on what makes them stand out. Because if you don’t know what makes you stand out… you’re NOT going to stand out.

Perhaps you’ve heard the term Unique Selling Proposition or Unique Selling Point. Known as USP for short. Having a unique selling proposition for everything you sell in your business is important but it’s even more critical to know what your USP is for your business as a whole. For your brand.

This is what’s going to help you stand out. It’s what’s going to help clients know that you are the obvious choice to help them with their problem or need. It’s the thing that will tip them over the edge from interested and intrigued to “OMG this is exactly what/who I’ve been looking for”.

Knowing your USP helps you know how to speak about what you offer and who you’re speaking to. It’s that secret sauce that immediately identifies you to your ideal client as the person/brand/business they know they want to choose to work with or purchase from.

Because of all of that, having a clear USP is crucial to developing solid messaging for your brand. It supports you in developing a recognizable brand that resonates with the right people.

So you may already be getting nervous. Won’t developing your USP require you to niche down? I know so many people (including myself) have resisted the idea of niching down. You know it’s important. On a practical level you understand that you can’t resonate with your ideal audience and be clearly speaking to them if you’re speaking to everyone. But still…that resistance is there.

Resistance is Futile

That resistance could simply be not being able to decide what direction you want to niche into. Or it could be fear of “missing out” out potential other streams of income or desirable paths because you’ve chosen to focus on another. We can tear ourselves apart with all the “what ifs”. 

But here’s the thing. Niching down actually doesn’t exclude everyone but your vision of the ideal client in your chosen niche. Having the clarity niching down gives you when it comes to speaking to your audience and potential clients with your words, content, offers, messaging, and branding allows you to more effectively communicate what makes you stand out from the rest and it will still attract those not necessarily “boxed into” only that niche. You will still get the “how is she in my head?!” effect with more than just those in your niche.

So despite how strong that resistance feels and how valid you may feel it is… resistance is futile. The sooner you embrace getting clarity on the perfect human out there that you want to serve the better. Because then you can start speaking to them and standing for them.

Another way you can look at this is that YOU are your niche. They very act of being 100% you attracts and calls in a very unique (niche 😉) audience.

There is something about what you do, how you do it, or even who you are, that sets you apart from everyone else. Something that differentiates you. Be loud and proud about it and let it shine like a beacon to call your people to you. Being the Queen of Vagueville has never served anybody. 

So…

Are you the only one that offers X with Y?

Are you the only one that offers X without the z?

Are you the only one that combines x,y, and z in their A?

What makes you stand out from your competitors?

What makes what you do stand out from the common wisdom in your industry?

What do you do differently? Exceptionally? Uniquely? Surprisingly?

So here are 5 important questions to ask yourself so you can start embracing what makes you stand out SO. YOU. CAN.

1. Who is your ideal human? Who is that dream prospect out there you know you’re meant to support?
2. What is the outcome that your ideal human truly wants?
3. How do you help customers overcome problems and achieve that outcome?
4. Why should your ideal human choose you to be the person that helps them achieve that outcome above anyone else?
5. How do you want your ideal humans to perceive you?

Get clear on these answers. Get behind your answers. Feel confident sharing these answers when you speak, talk with potential clients, or create content.

Embrace what makes you stand out so others can as well.