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Your Business, Your Way is the Only Way

Lesson 1 from: FAST CLASS: Build A Stand-Out Business - Identify and Discover

Tara McMullin

Your Business, Your Way is the Only Way

Lesson 1 from: FAST CLASS: Build A Stand-Out Business - Identify and Discover

Tara McMullin

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Lesson Info

1. Your Business, Your Way is the Only Way

Lesson Info

Your Business, Your Way is the Only Way

Hey, guys. Welcome. Welcome to you out there. I am ridiculously excited to talk to you about this particular topic. So what is the big problem here? Your business feels invisible, right? How many of you guys feel like your business feels pretty invisible out there? Yeah, okay. It is crowded, that market, you know? Yeah, just the whole. The whole Internet, the whole world. It's a crowded place to be doing business in. And that means you end up searching and searching for the right formula. The right set of tactics, that excellent plan that's going to get your business noticed instead of somebody else's. But here's the thing. The key to standing out in the market. It's not someone else's for formula. It's not on the outside of your business. It's inside your business. The key to standing out has to come from the inside out. If you don't know what it is that makes your business uniquely compelling. That makes what you do different and more effective. You can't stand out. Nothing you do on...

the outside is gonna work nearly as well as it could. The biggest threat to your business today isn't external. It's internal I think we all feel some some sense of threat, some sense of competition from from the other people, the other businesses that are out there offering similar products, offering similar services. You know what? It's not them that we need to be that we need to be worried about. It's not the rest of the market that is, That should be top of our mind. It's us. We need to fix or understand what's inside of our businesses. And then all of that stuff just drops away. It's a really beautiful alright, so every successful business has a unique standout style, a unique standout style. And that's really what we're going to be discovering what your unique standout style is. And so what we've done is actually put together a template that you can download when you purchase this course. That allows you to stack up everything that you've learned throughout the boot camp and put it together into your unique standout style guide. So you can have sort of this little book that you can print out or a little slide show you can put on your computer so that every time you're thinking about you know are you going to do this marketing tactic or that marketing tactic? Are you gonna follow this formula or that formula? You're gonna make it up yourself or you're gonna follow someone else's lead. You've got the answer in that stand out style guide. All right, Now, let's look at another big myth or our first big myth really, of this boot camp. And that myth is this. The more saturated the market, the harder it is to stand out. The more saturated the market, the harder it is to stand out. I've been doing this for years, and probably the number one question I get is my markets really saturated. What can you tell me about, you know, standing out or it's really hard to stand out because my market is so saturated. I'll tell you who the number one culprit is, too. It's jewelry designers and life coaches, jewelry designers and life coaches love you guys. Um but this is a myth. This is a myth. Every market has its challenges. Every market is a difficult market to stand out in. That's why you need ah plan. So, first of all, I want you to be able to identify why certain marketing falls flat and I want you to discover the seven key components of standout businesses. And finally, starting today, I want you to take action. I want you to take action on at least one aspect of your quiet power to make your business stand out. All right, so you're gonna have lots of options for homework. And I want you. I want everyone here to take action on at least one thing. And if you take action on all seven options, I have a special prize for you. But let's get started with this first lesson. Your business your way is the only way. Your business your way is the only way. This is not a choice. This is how you have to stand out in the market. So let's start with Tina Fey, shall we? Way? I love Tina Fey. I listened to her all last night while I couldn't sleep. No. So from her book Bossy Pants, she says, When people say you really, really must do something, it means you really don't have thio. No one ever says you really, really must deliver the baby during labor. When it's true, it doesn't need to be said. How many of you feel like all marketing advice? Is people just saying you really, really must be on Twitter? You really, really must be on Instagram. You really, really must pin 10 images a day. Oh, my word, it is all noise. It's noise and it takes our attention off of what's truly important, those things that make us uniquely compelling, those things that make us uniquely effective. You know, every marketing tactic out there doesn't work for everybody else. There are things that you know, great awesome people dio that if I tried it, it would fall flat. It's not based on what's going on inside my business. It's based on someone else's idea of what works for them. Yet we follow these formulas, we execute them flawlessly, and then we wonder why they fall flat. That's why that's why marketing falls flat because it doesn't align with what's going on internally in our businesses. It doesn't align with our quiet power, so this is another kind of confusing thing, and that's the gap between promotion and visibility. You can promote, promote, promote, promote, promote your business and still feel invisible. You can feel like no one is listening like no one is paying attention. We want to find the place where promotion and visibility meat and the place where promotion and visibility meat is when the story that you're telling from the inside out in your business meets up with how people perceive you the way that you're naturally compelling. So that's what we're gonna be getting at. Each piece of this boot camp is designed to help your promotion actually achieve business visibility in the market. Sound good? Great. Now let's look at your favorite online learning platform and mine creativelive Can you spot all the ways Creativelive stands out just from this tiny snippet of their home page? I'm gonna put you guys on the spot. What do you see here on just this little square? The hints at how this company stands out in a very crowded market. Melissa Well, they're showing the ah, the live video class format. Absolutely. Yeah. So right here just this very format. You guys in the room, This production, this stage me. This is one of the big ways creativelive stands out. Who else does online learning this way? Hello. It is awesome. Okay. What else? Yes. Yeah, They watch a free class like there's such a low barrier to entry and such an invitation for people. Yes, exactly. So watch now free. That is a huge piece of how they stand out. You don't You don't need toe wonder. Is this gonna be worth buying or not? Hello. You can listen and watch and decide for free. Very cool. What else? Yes, I actually think it's the simplicity of the home page design combined with the different subject matters that are being offered. It's not too cluttered, but you can see how robust offerings are beautiful. So this kind of play between minimalism and simplicity and the diversity of content Brilliant. Actually, she's still my answer. One more, one more And then I'll show you all the ones that I found. Yes, I find the terminology that they use for the different sections really interesting money in life. For example, instead of a business channel, music and audio craft and maker, uh, those were very distinct turns of phrases that speak directly Thio in audience segment, I think absolutely, I totally agree. Alright, so let's see. All right, we mentioned watch now free. It's creative. No one mentioned this. This is a online learning, uh, platform specifically for creative people. What's next? Oh, the production quality here. Oh, my gosh. These people are all professionals. It is such a treat to come here and work with them. And I think it stands out every time you watch top experts, uh, on air hosts like Chris, Uh, in studio audience. You guys make this experience. You create such a beautiful relationship with the instructors that the online audience can identify with all the different channels. That's it. Okay, so should watch where I'm going. So yeah, so that's a big picture. Look at how this business stands out. But it also works on a micro level to what makes this Facebook post that I put up a couple months ago really stand out. And look, not only did it get, not only was it super popular when I first put it up, um, I got a lot of traction out of paying to put this up as well. Or paying to promote. This is well, so it says, What did you do in 2014 that you shouldn't? I chose five unconventional things that help my business more than double revenue last year. You can find out what they were on my brand new block post. What makes this stand out? What do you know about me that makes this work really well, Tiffany, I think the point that you put shouldn't in there really makes you want to go and see. Because even if you don't know you, you would still be curious. But if you did know you, you would know that I shouldn't have done them. But I did them anyway. And they worked for me, right? Exactly. Thank you, Tip. You said that more beautifully than I could have. That's exactly right. I've got a reputation for doing things a little differently. And so if I say I did things I shouldn't have done, you know what that means? What else? Rochelle, you more than doubled you revenue. Which is very interesting to me. Yes, absolutely. So also known for having really big goals and for working really hard at achieving them. And so saying that I'm more than doubled my revenue is immediately not only just like Tiffany said, is it interesting if you don't know me, But if you do know me. It makes a ton of sense, and you want to click that link. So absolutely. This this idea of standout marketing of standout presence works on a micro level and on a macro level. It's something that when you understand it at its core, when you understand what's going on inside your business to make it stand out, you can. You can plant those details all sorts of places to reap the benefits and, boy, baby thes air, some benefits. Okay, how many of you would like 20 shares on a post on? Really, that's just the visible shares. There were way more than that. All right, so here the seven key components of a standout business, first of all, using your strengths, you know, we get coached, that we should work on our weaknesses and awful lot. Or we hear that in traditional jobs, I say bull hockey, use your strength, leverage your passion and not just this idea of, you know, follow your passion or use your passion to make money. No, use the verb passion. You know, I have a passion for or you know, this feeling that I'm clearly talking with right now. I'm leveraging my passion right now. I'm super passionate about helping you understand how to stand out. Find your unfair advantage, know how you do what you do differently and why that benefits your customers have a clear focus. Focus looks good on you. One of the key reasons I see businesses fail at standing out because their messaging and their brand is all over the place. When you have a clear focus, people pay attention. Build your business on your guiding principles, know what's important to you and make decisions that are in line with that. Share your vision not just for yourself or for your business. Share your vision for your customers. Do you know where you want your customers to be in five years? Do you know where you want your customers to be? In 10 years, I dio I want them to have thriving businesses that stand out naturally that are full of ease that make them feel powerful that make them feel influential. That's what I want my for my customers. What do you want for your customers? And then finally speak with a unique voice. Don't say the same things as everyone else and please don't say them in the same fonts. Speak with a unique voice. Thes things all inform your decisions, your brand building, your marketing, your product development, your sales. All of those key components get woven through the threads of your entire business, whether it's how you work with your team toe, how you build systems toe all the pieces that happen on the outside, the customers can actually see over the next 25 lessons will unpack and decide on each one of those things. Now let's talk a little bit about this idea of quiet power. Quiet power is that power that doesn't come from the noise. In fact, noise can't give you power. It can give you influence. It can give you attention for a small amount of time, but it's not long lasting. Quiet power is the kind of power that comes from how you do what you do differently from that unique voice from that intense focus from that keen perception that you bring to your business. That's where your quiet power comes from, not quiet. Power doesn't change, and so it lasts. It might take you a little bit longer to build a quiet power business. It might take you, Ah, little bit mawr work at the at the onset Thio start the engine in motion to gain that attention. But once you start it, once you get that engine rolling, it comes naturally so that all you have to do is kind of flick one piece of your business, and the results come pouring out the other end. Does that sound good? Yeah, that's what quiet power is all about. It's about understanding what you really want to create, how you really want to connect with others and how you do things differently. That's your quiet power strategy. All right, so let's look at seven ways to find and use your quiet power to stand out. Look to those you admire, who do you admire who does their thing? It doesn't even have to be the same thing is your thing. I'm not looking for your mentor. I'm not looking for the people in your industry that you're like, Yeah, I wish I could have a business like there's I'm looking for people anywhere. It could be your mom. It could be a celebrity. It could be an artist. Who do you admire I started. Well, I got maybe in the 1st 10 minutes I started this lesson off with Tina Fey. I admire Tina Fey. Tina Fey is my spirit animal. Okay, Um, I love how she could be quirky and wacky and intellectual at the same time. I love how she's ambitious. I love that she really doesn't care what other people think. I love that she is always doing her own thing and not influenced by what's going to make a hit TV show. I mean, have you seen Unbreakable? Kimmy Schmidt? That is bizarre, and I loved it. I look to Tina Fey as one of the people that I admire. All right, let's look at number to identify how you do what you dio differently than others. Identify how you do what you dio is different than others. How do you do what you do differently? Uh, Sally Hogshead says. Better isn't better. Different is better. Different is how you stand out. Different is how you make a connection with someone. When you identify how you do what you do differently than other people providing similar solutions, you make a connection with exactly the right people. So how do I do what I do differently? I like to go deep. I am not interested in telling you the 123 step formula to awesome Facebook marketing. I love reading those articles. I like listening those podcasts. I like watching those videos. I want to know that stuff. But for my work, for what I spend all my time doing it doesn't thrill me. I'm very happy to send people to those those kind of tutorials, those kind of lessons to get that kind of help. Once you've identified that, that's what you need. I'm interested in helping you figure out what you need and to do that we have to go really deep. That's how I do what I do differently, and it helps me stand out in my market very, very well. Consider what makes it easy for you to connect with new people. Consider what makes it easy for you to connect with new people. Now I'm an introvert, and connecting with new people is scary. But I know how I connect with new people best. It's right here. I connect best when I'm teaching on a stage in front of a group in front of you guys. That's how I connect best with new people. So in my business, I look for every opportunity I can get to get on a stage so that I can connect with lots of new people at once. That makes me really happy, and it feels really easy. E's full for me. So that's one of my conditions for connection, being on stage, being seen as a leader. And then when I get off stage, I love talking to people. I love answering those questions, but I like to preface it with this. Okay, I hate walking into a networking event. In fact, I really just don't do it anymore. Because why, if I hate it? If it doesn't work for me, why should I do it? And so another benefit off this boot camp is gonna be editing out all of that stuff that you hate doing in your business, finding another way around. All right, this is my way around. Let's look at number four. Highlight. What color's your world highlight? What color is your world by this? I mean, what is it that you are really passionate about again? Not that kind of Follow your individual, certain singular passion. But those things that get you really worked up. In other words, what really bugs you? What really bugs you is a good way, Thio kind of quantify, or to identify what it is that you're super passionate about. So one example is that it really bugs me when people think that the answer to every business problem is new marketing tactics. New marketing tactics is not the answer to every business problem. There's pricing problems. There's business model problems, their sales process problems. There's email, marketing problems. There's so many problems internal organizational, systemic problems. Marketing doesn't fix. Everything, in fact, pretty much fixes nothing. But it seems to be the thing that everyone wants to learn all the time. So I do a lot of work kind of putting out there. Other solutions, other ideas. You have this problem. You may think marketing is the solution. Have you considered this? That's one thing that really colors my world. It's one thing I'm really passionate about. All right, Number five. Think of a time when you were especially persuasive. Think of a time when you were especially persuasive. We like Thio, say about ourselves about our business is. Well, I don't wanna be sales e. I don't wanna I don't want people to think that I'm just selling them something. Here's the thing. You're in business. You're selling things. In fact, all of your daily activities are about persuading someone to something, whether it's to click a link, sign up for your welcome gift by something from you tweet something for you. Whatever it might be. 95% of your day is spent persuading people to do something for you. Yes. And of course, 95% of their day is spent doing the same thing. We're persuasive people, and each one of you has a way that you're naturally more persuasive. What works for me isn't gonna work necessarily work for you. What works for you isn't gonna necessarily work for me. I'm pretty. I feel like I'm pretty persuasive and I cant use every technique that's out there. I can use the techniques that work for me. Six. Leverage your story. Leverage your story. Now, when we were talking on Saturday night, before we all got started with this crazy experience thing here, I heard a story from one of our studio audience members that I would really like for her to share. So, Tiffany, could you tell us about how you started making feather earrings so back? Um, back in 2000 and 10, feather earrings started, get very popular. And I saw them, and I realized that, Hey, I tie flies and a lot of that stuff is the same materials out of my fly fishing kids. So I did some of the long, loose feather earrings. I did a lot of feathered hair extensions at the time, and then I utilized these goose buyouts to make my spiky feather hooped earring, which takes takes a lot of very intricate little tying to Dio and so that really tied into my fly experience really tied into the whole feather earring trend. And that's actually how I started my business. Brilliant. Is that story not fascinating Now not everyone has a fly fishing story to tell, but we all have stories that relate to how we do what we do differently, relate to what we're passionate about, relate to how our business started, that allow us to create that connection with people that really helps our businesses stand out. You know my story is that my formal training, my education is not in business. My formal education is in religious studies. I studied theology in college, but I'm up here talking to you about business. Would you like to know the story of that? My story is that I have always been deeply interested in how other people see the world, and from the time I was 10 until now, that's taken the form of better understanding the world's religions, people's individual sets of beliefs and codes of behaving. And now I use that to my benefit and to your benefit, to teach people about business. Because business and marketing, especially, is all about understanding how other people see the world so that you can reflect that back to them so that you can make a connection, whether it's through your words or your products or your branding, whatever aspect of your business. So that's how my experience my story, ties directly to what I'm doing today. Why and how it benefits You embody your favorite flavor of ice cream. Embody your favorite flavor off ice cream. So today I'm going to say my favorite flavor of ice cream is coffee really. I like whatever flavor of ice cream is in front of me, except for peppermint, which is my boyfriend's favorite flavor, that he could have all to himself. I think it's disgusting.

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Business Style Guide - PDF Version
Student Intros
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