Daring To Be Creative
Tuesday, December 18th, 2007I wrote a short blog post last week, called “Daring To be Different” and would like to share some additional thoughts on this matter, just from a different perspective.
In many ways, people don’t want to be “different”. We are social herd animals. We like to fit in. We like to conform to the norms of society. Those of us that do not conform are often alienated.
Most people like to play it safe by not attracting too much attention to themselves. They love the comfort of the herd. They try to avoid change. They dislike taking risks. They would much rather stick to “proven” recipes and techniques. People are often too lazy to think for themselves or are too afraid of asking the “wrong” questions.
Consider “being different” for a moment from another perspective… Replace the word “different” with “creative” or “innovative”.
In my post “Daring To Be Different” I spoke about people like Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump, Rick Jerk, Patrick Pretty and Richard Branson. People that do things differently in order to stand out from the crowd.
What I have noticed a lot in internet marketing is that people like to be told what to do. They want a proven recipe and they want it handed to them on a silver platter. Now there is nothing wrong with this, if you use it as a base on which to build your own business.
There is no need to reinvent the wheel in the information age. Learn from the mistakes of others. Learn from the victories of others. BUT, whatever you do, make it your own! Take ownership, experiment, improve, and expand on successful strategies. Become an expert in your own right but strive towards continuous improvement. You never stop learning in internet marketing!
Most so-called gurus spend thousands of dollars every month buying new ebooks, videos, etc. from unknown marketers just in case they may pick up a small little gold nugget someone else has discovered that they can apply in their own business.
They don’t buy a step-by-step book of “10 Steps to whatever…” and then start at Step 1 and finish at Step 10. No, chances are they already know the steps from A to Z and Z to A but something small (and seemingly insignificant) may just give them a great idea.
I am not saying you have to spend thousands of dollars every month if you want to succeed. No, what I am saying is you should apply what you already know and only work on improving it.
Let’s look at an example…
We all know that many marketers love, adore and cherish article marketing. Yes, I am exaggerating a bit (just having fun). Let’s assume you are an expert in article marketing. Nobody can teach you a thing. Great! Does that mean you have reached the end of the road, passed the finish line and are ready to collect the trophy? No, sorry… Actually it is only just the beginning.
What a really successful marketer will do is say “Ok, I am really good at article marketing. How can I improve?” He may experiment and conclude that links to and from his articles and Squidoo lens can help his rankings. He may discover that linking from certain sites to his articles are actually more valuable than the backlinks he is currently receiving from his articles, etc.
This is what I mean by continuous improvement and being creative.
Information overload only becomes a problem when you are trying to do everything at the same time with the result that nothing actually gets done. You will view the same information in a completely different light if you only use it to strengthen your existing business.
The idea is not to copy marketers but to learn from other marketers, and to apply that knowledge in your own business.
By referring to people like Rich Jerk and Patrick Pretty I am not saying you should copy them. What I am saying is that they are obviously doing something right.
I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be the next Rich Jerk. Many have tried to copy him and have ended up with egg all over them – I always have a good laugh when I get one of his emails starting with “Dear Loser” but if you send me such an email I shall very quickly unsubscribe from your mailing list!
There are many ways to be creative…
Storytelling – Some of the best books I have read (and remembered) were all about storytelling, for example:
“The Goal” by Eliyahu M. Goldratt,
“Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki,
“Maverick!” and “The Seven-Day Weekend” by Ricardo Semler
Inventing new words or new meanings for existing words, for example:
“Pluck” by Patrick Pretty,
“Attention Age” by Rich Schefren
In his new book, “The Attention Age Doctrine Volume Two: Web Marketing 2.0” Rich Schefren mentions there are 27,000 pages in Google with the exact phrase “attention age” and that 95% of those pages refer to him or his company. (I actually get 52,000 results when I search for “attention age” in Google!)
There is no need to go overboard in trying to be different. Rich Schefren has made millions of dollars doing things a bit differently. He knows how to differentiate himself from other marketers and how to stand out in a crowd.
“In my own marketing, I always strive to do things a little bit differently than others – and my more unique approach can make quite a difference”
Source: Rich Schefren’s “The Attention Age Doctrine Volume Two: Web Marketing 2.0” (Page 76).
One last thing, by being different I am not suggesting you should aim to win the first prize for Mr. or Ms. Popularity. Internet marketing is not a popularity contest. Many top marketers like John Reese, Rich Schefren, and Mike Filsaime get severely criticized for just about everything they do.
What is important is to use your creativity to carve your own identity in internet marketing. And, in the words of Donald Trump there is “No Such Thing As Over-Exposure”.
To YOUR Online Marketing Success!
Francois du Toit
Your Host Francois du Toit
