Dill Pickle Ice Cream Won't Lead to Success.
OK, hear me out here.
Today I want to discuss the idea of having to be "different" in order to be successful in your niche. There is a BIG trap out there in the business world. This trap is the notion that you have to be "different" to succeed. Untrue.
The reality is, you simply have to be "better".
Having a clear focus is essential when starting a new business venture. A common misconception among new entrepreneurs, however, is the understanding of what this focus should be. Is it enough just to be different? No. It's crucial to identify an area of expertise where your business can genuinely excel, and that's usually associated with being better, not just different.
Being different can catch people's attention, sure. It creates an initial intrigue, prompts discussion, and potentially draws a crowd. Yet, it's not always the most effective strategy for building a loyal, sustainable customer base. There's a danger in setting yourself too far apart. Distinction alone might restrict your venture and limit your reach.
Instead, focusing on superior quality could yield more in the long run. Quality is what maintains consumer interest and loyalty. It's what they come back for, time and time again.
Win the Hearts (& Wallets) of Your Audience.
When it comes to conducting business, the way to win hearts (and wallets) is by offering products or services that are superior in quality. You can do this as an affiliate, you can do this as the owner of the own product, but importantly, your CONTENT can be viewed as your product.
Rather than focusing solely on what makes you different, steer your attention towards what can make you better.
That leads to the creation of your 'reputation'....
Establishing a strong reputation requires time and patience, but at the basis of it is offering consistent quality. Sometimes it is easy to cheap out on quality, if you are trying to become more efficient with your time (or your money), but it doesn't take much to hurt your reputation.
If you are building out your website, or your social entities, or a Youtube channel, keep the consistency of your quality high. Your reputation and authority in your industry will thanks you.
Believe it or not, word-of-mouth is still one of the most powerful marketing tools even in the age of the internet. Satisfied customers/readers/consumers are likely to spread the word about your exceptional offerings. This, in turn, can attract a broader consumer base, and this has always remained our focus with Wealthy Affiliate.
With this in mind, the next section will jump into finding the "sweet spot" between being unique, and offering quality.
Uniqueness Sure....But Quality Needs to Be the FOCUS.
Uniqueness alone may not cut it, and that is why I tend to lean against your goal of trying to be unique.
Imagine walking into an ice cream shop that offers eccentric flavors like bacon or pickle or egg (ewww, gross lol) — yes it's diverse, but do these offerings drive you to become a regular customer? Chances are, you'd prefer an ice cream shop that has perfected the classics. Neapolitan, but with a better mixture of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla you have every tasted.
Likewise, in business, striving for better, not necessarily different is your winning ticket. You see content ranked in Google under a keyword you want to tackle, why not just be a little bit better. You can be. Where does this content lack? (hint: chatGPT can help you with this). Then let your quality flow...and excel you above others and the competition.
Blending your innovative ideas with quality service can lead to a business that attracts a broad audience, caters to their needs, and regularly exceeds their expectations.
And Excellence Over Exceptionality...
Strive to be your best, but remember it's not always about being different. In fact, quite the contrary.
You can enter into ANY niche within the online world and become successful. Just be a little bit better.
You can build a Youtube channel, and thrive. It's just about being a little better.
You can create content that absolutely outranks some of the best SEO'ers in the world, just be a little bit better.
Produce consistent, reliable, top-notch value for your audience—be it a product, a service, support, or content. Standing out is only great when you’re outstanding in a way that matters to them.
Carve out your niche by being better. Always question, can you deliver more? Can you deliver better? Because in truth, customers aren’t seeking different. They are seeking better.
Recent Comments
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Hi Kyle, hope you and your family are all well. I look at a lot of websites and read a lot of content. When I go to click out of that website, I am hit in the face with, "Purchase now for 50% off" That irritates the s**t out of me. Sell, sell, sell, is all I see. You`re scrolling down the page reading their content, and you`re hit in the face with, "Purchase now for 50% off" and you`re thinking, well hang on, let me finish the post first. It then dawns on me, how is this product going to help me? (It`s not).
I then thought about my website and realised that I was doing the same. So I have removed some of the CTAs from my website and solely focus on content that is purely there to help with their problem so I can gain trust and a better following. Time to change things up. Have a great day and a great weekend, all the best.
Hey Brian...exactly...sell, sell, sell...i think that's the reason why so many fail in the online/affiliate marketing space. Sell, sell, sell is putting the cart before the horse...lead with value...and lots of it...yes you can have ads and affiliate links on your site but recognize that everyone dislikes door-to-door salesmen and telemarketers...and for very good reason...
Yeah, I think naturally we feel as though we need to "sell" in or to make a sale. The reality is that every person on your website is a click away, and if they feel as though they are not being helped (rather sold), they will move onto another website where they feel they are being helped.
So if your competition around you is hard selling your audience, this certainly aligns an opportunity to be "better". Sometimes it just takes us to re-read our content within a little bit of a new perspective. ;)
Good morning Kyle,
It's interesting that some people think we have to be different to be successful! I would actually say the opposite, we should just be ourselves and share our knowledge. Sometimes I believe that people are trying to be something that they are not!
Can I be better than the other person? I'm not sure. However, I can try and learn and gain knowledge through reading and training on the platform etc and to work hard. We have all seen this through successful members on the platform.
I'm really sorry, Kyle, but I want to be honest. These AI blog posts are not easy to follow; personally, to me, it lacks your personal touch! I know that AI is new and will probably be massive, but it just lacks something massive!
Have a great day.
Roy
You don't really need to be better to be success, you have to be better to be more successful than those that are successful. And this is the case when you of course are entering into spaces with a bit stiffer competition.
For example with our business here at WA, we have always strived to be the best in our industry, and that requires creating training, tools, support, and a community that is better than what exists....and that is our ongoing and constant mission. Here we are 18 years later.
As for this content, it is 100% human generated, with some AI assistance. It's all my ideas, concepts and editing. Where do you find it so confusing?
Good morning Kyle,
Thank you for your reply, it's appreciated.
One of the many things that I admire you for, Kyle, is the way that you strive to make Wealthy Affiliate even better. And the fact that I see you regularly helping people in live chat! I often have live chat open on another monitor. I do chip in sometimes, but not that much.
I really believe you and the team are the best in the industry, Kyle, and I know that has comes from working hard and thinking ahead! Fantastic!
Regarding your post, I just didn't think it flowed like your posts normally do! It could just be me having a bad day!! At the end of the day, I thank you for creating such an amazing platform!
All the best.
Roy
Accepting this truth of being the best of yourself while delivering stuff online, be it the content, video, or FB post.
High quality with complete information as needed from your customers to help them may look easy, but it comes with diligence and dedication.
I appreciated your mention of ChatGPT to improve your deliverables if one needs to be better or improve to rank higher.
There is no cutting of corners in this job.
Thank you so much, Kyle, for giving me this education.
No cutting corners, but ways to speed up processes. Take something that you think is good, and be a little better than that. That is all it takes.
In my sports analogy, take the player you want to be, find out what they are doing in terms of practice, and then just do a little better.
In the content world, take content that you think is high quality about a particular topic, and work to create content that is a bit better and a bit more polished.
Thanks so much for your encouragement and support sir Kyle. So helpful information and truly that's what we need for success in Affiliate marketing business. Kyle I tried your messages sent to my inbox privately but couldn't open and I don't know if it's because of the fact that I haven't upgraded to Premium membership.
Yeah, private messages are premium only . So that is why you wouldn't have access to those, so when you do upgrade you will get access to that level of private mentorship.
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Hello Kyle! Thanks for sharing with us this precious life and business lesson! I love the example of the ice cream shop with unusual flavours...indeed, as a customer, I will give it maybe a one time shot, because of its uniqueness and my curiosity, but most likely I won't become a recurring customer 😅And we need customers that trust us and come back. I've also learned the lesson that if no one did it before, if you don't have competition on the market it's either because your product it's indeed very unique (very rarely the case) or because it's not a viable business idea (very often the case). All humanity progress is born from doing better, improving on the existing, not doing different.
That is exactly it, a one time shot because of the novel nature of the ice creams, but the ice cream, or the cone, or the experience that was a little bit better than the other ice cream shops is what would keep you coming back.
We have an ice cream shop here in Victoria called Chocolat Favoris...it is the most popular as they dip their cones in the choice of 12 or so different chocolates, and then load toppings onto your cone. They are delicious...but if they were attempting to serve new flavours, then likely the customer base would be one and done.
Mmmm...I can picture the amazing culinary and visual experience! Wow! I remember the same experience I had in Athens, Greece with a frozen yogurt place. You could choose the size and the toppings you wanted from a choice of dozens of goodies 😅But all of them commonly "accepted" for this purpose😊You could feel like in Ali Baba's cave...and was always full😁