by Tom Ruwitch
I got a great email a few weeks ago from world-class marketer Dave Dee.Dave told me about a conversation he had with a lawyer who thought creative, personalized marketing was below him.
“I didn’t go to law school to be seen as a celebrity,” the lawyer told Dave.
I hear the same from some coaches, consultants and professional service providers who push back when I encourage them to create content that’s informative AND entertaining.
“No, no, no,” they sniff. “I’m a professional, not an entertainer.”
I get it. I see some of those lawyers on television. Some come off as grandstanding clowns, rather than serious professionals.
You don’t have to be a grandstanding clown to stand out, though.
I like how Dave puts it in his email:
“…if you are not recognized as the authority, the expert, and the celebrity of your niche, you will struggle to stand out no matter how good you are at delivering your service. So, it’s not about ego-marketing…it’s about proper positioning.”
I’m not asking you to put on a red nose and dance on the web. I’m not suggesting you post videos of cats chasing laser lights.
You don’t have to act like a Kardashian or air your dirty laundry like Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.
That stuff doesn’t reflect your expertise and establish your credibility.
You do have to share content that’s informative—that demonstrates your professional expertise.
But information is not enough.
You do have to stand out.
You do have to be the celebrity—the famous one, the one people choose to connect with, the one people choose to do business with.
We’re asking you to consider the difference between being just another voice in the crowd vs. being the one who stands out above the others.
When you dish out the same old “blah, blah, blah” information (that anyone can find 100 times over with a simple google search), you’re just another voice.
Your audience has heard it before, and they don’t care. They tune out and move on.
You may be a brilliant expert, a top-notch professional. You may have advanced degrees and lots of initials after your name. You’ve earned that, and I congratulate you (really).
But here’s the hard truth…
Most experts are a dime-a-dozen. I know. You’re special. However, it doesn’t seem that way to all those people you’re trying to reach with the same old information dished out in the same old way.
If you want to be just another piece of loose change in an overcrowded bucket, keep doing what you’re doing. Keep it 100% serious. Dish out the same old information. Don’t lower your professional mask. Don’t let people in.
But if you’d like to stand out, you must deliver informative AND entertaining content with a personal touch.
That’s how you get prospects to know, like and trust you. That’s how you position yourself as an expert worth knowing and doing business with.
That’s what Dave and I are talking about.
Tom Ruwitch is founder of Story Power Marketing. Coaches, consultants and other experts hire him to power up their stories because most dish out the same boring content, put prospects to sleep, and then feel fed up and stuck. So he helps transform content from boring to brilliant, marketing from frustrating to fun, and results from pitiful to profitable. Sign up for Tom’s info-taining, daily(ish) emails at storypowermarketing.com/email.
Submitted 2 years 57 days ago