With all the noise, how can you stand out online? It may seem hard, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are 6 ways you can differentiate yourself to stand out online by simply sharing important factors about your brand and business.
Your personal brand is how you connect with others online
If you want to stand out online, start by creating a personal brand. A personal brand is what your audience thinks, says, and feels about you. In other words, the perception others have of you.
Your story, everything about your journey, the experiences you’ve had, and the education, formal and informal, have led you right where you are today. Each one of these things helps to differentiate you from everyone else in your area of expertise.
This list of experiences includes the good, bad, and ugly. The successes alongside the mistakes and failures. In fact, it is often the mistakes and failures that taught you the most and can help you stand out online and truly resonate with your audience.
Your personal brand must be compelling to stand out online
Be compelling. The more compelling you are, the better chance you have to stand out online.
How can you be compelling when there are so many others in your niche? Especially if you are a coach or a photographer. When scrolling on Instagram it seems as though there are way too many of each to be able to be noticed as an expert. But this is where your unique differences and experiences come into play.
Compelling means: to evoke interest, attention, or admiration in a powerfully irresistible way. The more compelling you are through your personal branding efforts, the more you will differentiate yourself in your area of expertise. The more you differentiate yourself, the more you will stand out online.
If you are sitting there thinking that there is nothing compelling about you, think again!
An Example of Differentiating
We all have a compelling story or at least compelling parts in our journeys. Our stories of who we are, what we do, why we do it, and how we got here differentiate us and compel others to connect with us, like us and trust us.
Every unique thing about you is part of your compelling personal brand story. If you are a business coach, you might focus on mindset. That’s fantastic, everyone needs help with mindset. But why do YOU focus on mindset?
What things in your journey led you to focus on the importance of mindset?
The answer to that question is the thing that will compel someone to connect with you and eventually purchase from you.
Differentiation is Zigging When Everyone Else is Zagging
Differentiating also goes beyond being different within your niche. It’s about disrupting your industry by zigging when everyone else is zagging. As a reference, Marty Neumeier wrote a book called Zag, which demonstrates this concept.
Thinking outside of the box becomes critical. If 10 people are mindset coaches and you are one of them, how can you differentiate yourself in that space? It’s a must-do exercise if you want to stand out online from others in the professional space you are in.
Here’s a simple exercise for you. Make a list of ways that your work is different or unique. Sticking with the mindset coach as an example, perhaps you’ve created a reverse thinking model.
Or maybe you’ve developed a strategy for transforming negative thoughts into positive actions.
You might focus on mindset but also focus on business strategic action.
Could it be that your approach is so unique that your clients are experiencing more positive results than you’ve ever seen or read about before? If yes, then you are doing something unique that differentiates you in the area of mindset coaching.
But that isn’t quite enough when we talk about personal branding and differentiating yourself to stand out online. Let’s dive a little deeper.
What is personal branding and how can it help you stand out online?
Personal branding is your efforts to show your audience how you are unique and what differentiates you from everyone else. What parts of your story, your journey, and your experiences make you unique? How can you share those details to help you stand out as an online business from everyone else in your area of expertise?
You created your business for a reason. Maybe you felt a calling. Or, maybe you were told that you were good at something and decided to start a business because you want to help people by sharing the skills you have. No matter which it is, it is important to tell the world what makes you so great at what you do.
Every part of your journey differentiates you. Even if someone else had the same experience as you, their perception of the experience and the impact the experience had on them is different than what you perceived and experienced. Your perception and the impact the experience had on you is how you have garnered the knowledge that you now use to help others, those people who are on a similar journey a little bit behind you.
Below is a list of items that you can use as a baseline for differentiating your personal brand and business to help you stand out online. Keep in mind that you have several options for sharing the information that differentiates you. Start with your website. Your copy should include details that outline your journey and how you’ve garnered your expertise. Write blog posts that include details about your journey. Repurpose this content for social media, email marketing campaigns, and Pinterest posts. Tell the world about what makes you unique so that they can understand why they should trust you and purchase from you.
6 ways you can and should differentiate yourself to stand out online
Services
The reason you provide the service(s) that you provide is because of the experiences that have led you to this part of your journey. Even if you offer the same or similar services as someone else, how you offer your service(s) is unique to you. Likewise, the delivery of your service(s) is unique to you. Perhaps the length of time you provide your service is unique to you. Everything about the way you provide your service was designed by you based on your life experiences and what you have learned and can now share with your clients. Think about the mindset coach who also combines strategy.
Customers
Your soulmate clients are unique to you. Define the people you want to work with. You have gifts that are meant to serve a certain group of people. These people are probably you, a few short years ago. Likewise, you only want to work with certain people, people that are aligned with your values and you know that working with them will fulfill you. Who are they? Create your content for those people specifically and this will differentiate you as the person who works for/with those select people.
If you are struggling with defining your soulmate clients, think about who asks if they can pick your brain. Similarly, look around to see who thinks you’re great and is already consuming your content and hanging on to every word you say. These questions will give you some insight, at least a starting point, as to who your soulmate clients are.
My 5 Ws of personal branding is an integral part of identifying your soulmate clients and the details you can focus on to differentiate your brand and business.
Location
Do you work only in your geographical area or do you work with clients across the continental United States or even internationally? If you only work locally, is there direct competition? If yes, are there opportunities for collaboration or a referral program? Or, maybe branch out with your location to reach a larger local audience and limit direct competition.
Note, I don’t like to think of it as competition because there is always enough work for everyone. However, whether someone chooses to work with you or someone else will depend on the job you do to differentiate yourself to stand out online where people are searching and consuming.
Speed and Ease
Is it easy to work with you? How fast can people schedule a discovery call with you? Or, how fast will your clients see the result they are looking for? Can people get on your calendar or do you have a waitlist? There is no right or wrong answer. Both can be right depending on who your ideal client is. In fact, sometimes when people have to wait to work with you, it means you have created demand and you are attracting your soulmate clients.
Likewise, is your onboarding process simple? Is it automated so that you can quickly onboard clients and get paid? Do you offer a payment plan? These are questions you can answer upfront or when on a discovery call to help differentiate your brand. Your reasons for your onboarding process are specific to your experiences and how you have perceived them and in turn, want to influence the experience your clients have with you.
Pricing
Higher prices – if your prices are higher, you won’t be for everyone. You can differentiate yourself as the best in a class by having higher prices and great testimonials and references.
Lower prices – warning! Don’t be undersold. If you have lower prices you will attract a different clientele than if your prices are the highest in the industry. Don’t undercut your prices so much that you start hating your work and become resentful of people who are only willing to pay the low price you set but expect the same level of service as someone paying much more. You have to know your value and stick to it, but if you believe your prices should be the lowest in the category, be sure you are still providing quality so that the perception of you is great value for the price, not only the lowest price.
Quality
This refers back to results and the overall experience your clients have when working with you. How impactful are the results you are achieving for your clients? The mindset and strategy coach has clients that are achieving $10K months within the first month of working together, while the coach who only works on mindset has clients who are achieving $2K months within the first month of working together. Your brand prestige is related to both price and quality and the two should be aligned with each other, but most importantly with your values as a personal brand.
You can differentiate yourself by the results you are achieving for yourself and your clients.
But, remember that your clients will become your greatest marketing tool. If they receive quality service and great results from you, they will boast about you to their friends, colleagues, and family. This is fabulous, but if you are attracting people who only want to pay low dollars and yet you are providing high-quality service you will burn out quickly because those are the type of clients your happy clients will be sending your way.
As you map out your plan for differentiating yourself to stand out online, be mindful of all of the above as they are ultimately interwoven.
Disrupt Your Niche
Here’s something I learned in my brand specialist certification training. The more you make assumptions about your industry and disrupt them, the more you will differentiate yourself.
Keep in mind that your goal is to differentiate yourself in a way that provides a positive perception for those who are in your ideal audience. You want to differentiate yourself in a way that converts your ideal audience to raving fans, clients, and referral sources. You have the power to control the perception others have of you and differentiation is the key to driving the focus onto your brand and business.
Building a strong foundation for long-term success starts with creating a personal brand to stand out online
Building a solid foundation for long-term brand and business success begins with creating a personal brand and differentiating yourself. Download my free eBook on my Purpose to Results™ Method and learn more about building a strong foundation for long-term success.
And, if you’ve already downloaded the eBook and are ready to dive into mindset work, need help to navigate challenges with tech, tools, systems, and processes, help with creating a brand marketing strategy, and/or accountability to take intentional effective action, I invite you to schedule a discovery call with me by clicking here.
