Too Afraid To Be Different
Is Keeping You Stuck
Welcome to this edition of Success Looks Different Here. Each week, I create 2 posts (one free, one paid), that help you build a thriving business around a life you love, without gimmicks, trends or going viral. If you’d like more of my support on your journey as a solopreneur, consider joining my inner Substack community. You’ll have access to a weekly VIP post, live chat, upcoming live Q&A and strategy sessions, and opportunity to message me directly, and receive a reply from me.
When you visit any social platform in the online space, and you spend a little time scrolling, searching, researching.
What you’ll undoubtedly see is an awful lot of the same old noise.
This often happens because business owners look to others to note their successes, and then start ‘modelling’ those businesses, believing it will be a shortcut to growth and success.
In one sense, there’s nothing inherently wrong with modelling successful businesses.
In another sense, there’s plenty wrong with doing so too.
When I spend time in social media platforms, what I see is a slew of sameness.
I’ve spent a moment over in Instagram explore today, and of the top 15 posts in explore, there were numerous pieces of content by different creators, all with some version of “X Visual Hooks To Stop The Scroll”, or “X Viral Hooks To Stop The Scroll”. There were also multiple pieces of content around “New Trend Alert”, or “Top Ten Trending Audios This Week”.
When I scroll through Instagram’s feed, I’m met with a sea of posts around:-
“I Just Made 10k This Month With Ease.”
“Steal The Exact System I Used To Reach $1 million'“
“How I Generated Five Figures In 30 Days”
“How Our Product Generated Over $1m In Sales”
“Copy Our $635,000 A Month Framework”.
And more..
After a while, the same-ness becomes white noise.
Whilst there’s nothing inherently wrong with these content examples, the online space is so saturated with messages like this, that it makes it much harder to stand out if your own content and messages are similar.
I am the anti-viral, anti-gimmick, anti-trend coach.
I don’t wish to become part of an ocean of ‘beige’ narrative that saturates our social platforms.
What’s unique about my approach to business strategy is that it’s always wrapped around ignoring the noise and gimmicks, instead focusing on finding your own unique way to do business.
When I stepped away from the masses myself, when I stopped trying to be a carbon copy of other business owners (many who, I admit, were more successful than me), I found my voice, my style, my unique approach to business, and the right audience came to me, engaged with me, bought from me.
I love Substack because it is a space where I can share my voice without feeling that I have to fit into some tight algorithmic pigeon hole, that other social platforms force on us.
No matter who you are, and what you do as a business.
Try to avoid becoming yet another one of ‘those’ people churning out a slightly different version of what is the same old, same old overdone content.
Find a way to bring your own unique approach to what it is you do. Be fearless in standing apart from everyone else.
Success Looks Different Here because I never promote trying to go viral, you’ll never see me pushing a client to chase gimmicks or trends.
I offer an alternative business growth strategy that’s not deeply reliant on being in social spaces that slowly turn you into someone you’re not.
Many business owners fear being different. They believe they’ll be judged (they may well be), and/or that stepping out of the noise, and doing something more authentic and unique might slow business growth (it may well).
In my own experience, the business owners who have come to me for coaching who have become wildly successful for years and years, are the business owners who’ve found their own way, rather than becoming yet another carbon copy of so many other copies online.
It can take time to find our feet, to find our unique way to build our business, to share more authentic and engaging messaging, products, and services. And therein lies a danger point.
Because the journey to our own authenticity can take time, we can easily be pulled in to the noise, believing that’s the best route to faster success and quicker money in the bank. This is rarely the case.
For all of the chasing followers, for all of the trying to create viral content, for all of the gimmicks and trends people jump into looking for overnight success, many of those businesses may appear insanely successful on the surface, but are crumbling and broke behind the scenes.
Those businesses have often chased so called secret strategies to quick successes, only to find that those strategies have hollow legs.
Slow down. Take a breath. Give yourself opportunity to be authentically you. Find your own unique approach to what it is you do. Be wary of being sucked into the vortex of noise promising quick wins that’s oh so tempting to follow in the promise of faster success.
As Dan Kennedy says, the real secret to your long term success is “To run as fast as you can in the opposite direction of what everyone else is doing”.
Those are wise words from one of the world’s best marketers. Heeding that advice will stand you in good stead as you work to build a business that allows you to live a life you love.
Thoughts on this? Share your comments. I’d love to know how you feel about this topic.
If you’d love more of my support on your journey as a solopreneur, consider joining my inner Substack community. You’ll have access to a live chat, upcoming live Q&A and strategy sessions, and opportunity to message me directly, and receive a reply from me.
"I am the anti-viral, anti-gimmick, anti-trend coach." - this explains exactly why I like you. Now it makes sense!
I'm pretty new to Substack and have specifically not launched on Instagram because I don't want to hustle with the gimmicks. I started writing because in this tough economy I know many small businesses and non-profits can't afford a marketing team but need marketing help. I'm still not quiet sure how things work on this platform but I look forward to learning from others who are putting out genuine content.