Examples of Escaping The Sea Of Sameness

You escape the Sea of Sameness into the River of Relevant Differentiation by branding yourself or your business. I have been branding my clients and their businesses for years and indeed have become such a leader in the field that I was asked to write Branding Small Business For Dummies.

Most entrepreneurs kill any hope of being branded simply by the way they introduce themselves. “Hello, I’m a Realtor.” “Hello, I’m a Plumber.” The death word in those sentences is the indefinite article “a.” When you proclaim that you are “a” provider of your services, you are admitting that you are the same as everyone else. To brand yourself, you must switch to the definite article “the.” This article will provide some examples.

There’s some rules and there’s some techniques – but mostly there’s some artistry and breakthrough thinking needed. Let me give you some examples in different industries.

One of my clients is a Dentist. He is exactly the same as every other dentist in his city, yet he still needs to compete. I branded him as The Smiling Dentist. The truth is that he smiles no more nor no less than any other dentist – but think about it. If you had a chance to go to just “a” dentist or The Smiling Dentist, can you feel that tug to go to the smiling one? You may object and indignantly proclaim that you select your providers on more scientific grounds. But, you know that that is not true. Did your dentist graduate top of his class? Do his fillings last longer than the average filling? Are his diagnostic abilities strong or weak? You see, you don’t even know. No one else does either. You simply cannot judge a dentist’s professional or technical skills – so you select your dentist on other matters, like his branding. Notice he no longer says he is “a” dentist; he proudly says he is “The” Smiling Dentist.

I branded Mary as the Realtor who gets you into a home larger than you thought you could afford.

Michelle is now the Broker who helps you sell your business for more than its worth.

Dexter is now the sales professional who’s always on. He proudly ends all conversations with the line … “Why would you want to use a sales professional who wasn’t always on?”

Al is the only fitness instructor in the world who offers to get you “Cheeseburger Abs” and his book of business has dramatically increases, and so have his prices.

Those are just some examples. I know you are getting the point. When you are “the” and not “a”, you start to become branded and hence escape the dreaded Sea of Sameness.

If you wish to learn about branding from me and indeed actually be branded by me, simply attend one of my powerful branding experiences: