Stop Copying The A-Listers
When I started to build my online business, I studied every piece of material out there about online business. As you know, there’s no shortage of it. It’s a blessing and a curse. We can learn what it takes but there’s the danger of information overload.
For two years I tried every idea that I read that would work. I even looked at the A-listers in our industry and tried to copy what they were doing. To be completely honest all of this only yielded me a small amount of success.
I know exactly what someone thinks when they start off building this kind of business. You want to see success and results. Since others are already seeing that success it’s natural to want to do what they do.
The problem
The problem with trying to do exactly what they’re doing is that they’re already established. They’ve already built their platform and probably built it in a time with less competition or they were the first to market.
Let me give you an example: Entrepreneur On Fire. EO Fire is a seven-day-a-week podcast by my friend John Lee Dumas. When he started the podcast he had two big advantages: no one was doing a seven-day-a-week podcast and he had connections because he hired Jamie Tardy as his coach.
He was first to the market with that kind of podcast and his coach knows everyone in the industry. He was able to land some amazing interviews right away. It was fresh, it was original, and it took off.
There are many now that are using the same formula but unless they make one big tweak, they won’t get the same results. They can’t copy him exactly and expect to get the same results.
For us who are building platforms now things have to be different. We can’t look at where they’re at now. We have to look at where they were back then when they were in building mode. Research all aspects of their platform, then and now, and make this tweak.
The Tweak
You can look at what the A-listers are doing and learn but there has to be a twist: you have to infuse you in what you’re building. If you want to start a seven-day-a-week podcast that’s cool but how will you make it different and uniquely you?
John’s podcast is popular because he was first to the market but also because he has an amazing personality. People really like him and his message. People follow you because they like you. They want more of what you’re doing and the way you do it. Give it to them.
Use strategies that work but make them your own. Steve Jobs said he didn’t want to be better, he wanted to be different. That should be your goal online too.
There are over 900 million websites, 250 millions blogs, and 175,000 blogs being added every day. There are many websites that talk about your topic. If you’re going to make it in this world and build something that supports your family, you have to stand out.
You can do that by picking a specific target audience, figuring out what some of the pains are that they’re struggling with, and create content that helps them. Infuse your personality and what makes you uniquely you.
There are too many carbon copies of the A-Listers, websites that look exactly like the popular ones. It’s a terrible strategy to making it online. Make that tweak, be real and be you. The results will follow as you serve.
How are you making your online presence different?
P.S. If you’ve read my book Are You Living or Existing? can you head to Amazon and leave review? Thank you SO much!
