Stop Being An Online Clone
When you see someone killing it online it’s natural to want to copy them. You want to use the theme they use. You want to use all the tools they use. You think that if you do what they do you’ll see success like them.
My first website theme was a cover of my book with tabs for the different pages. While the cover is amazing people 
told me the layout of the site was ugly. Naturally I turned to those who are successful and bought a theme like theirs.
The theme was nice and it functioned well but it wasn’t me. It wasn’t unique to what my goals and mission are. I have a friend who’s a designer and he designed this website completely from scratch.
It fits my unique personality and functions well. I love that it’s different from everything else out there. When someone comes to this website I want them to learn something about me just from looking at it.
When someone comes to your website or sees your social media profiles, they should see you, not a clone of someone else. People buy from someone they know, like and trust. They can’t get there if you’re a replica of an A-Lister.
Use frameworks but don’t copy
When you’re starting out or building your online presence it’s natural to want to see what the successful marketers are doing. You can spend time researching and see what their audience is responding to, especially if they have the same target audience as you.
Research the framework they’re using and the systems they have in place. If it’s a solid framework see how you can make it unique to your online presence. What you don’t want is to see what they’re doing and create something exactly similar to theirs.
If I come to your website will I see you or someone else? Let me give you an example. Derek Halpern talks about having a tiered pricing system. You have four different prices for people to choose from the highest priced being significantly higher than the other three.
This is a framework/system that I’ve used here and it’s brought amazing results. Use systems that work and customize them to what you’re doing. The goal is not to be a clone as Laura Roeder says in an amazing interview.
We want to get to know you
As I said, people buy from someone they know, like and trust. It’s not all about the money so if you’re just spreading a message people still want to know who’s talking to them.
They want to hear your voice and hear why you do what you do. They want to know how this message has affected your life. They don’t want to read some generic message copy and pasted from someone else’s website.
That copy you read somewhere else appealed to you because it was written in that person’s voice or they shared a video with you. That’s the kind of connection you want someone to make when they visit your website.
If may be easier but it’s not a good way to build a solid foundation online. Be original, be you, be different. Steve Jobs said “our goal isn’t to be better than our competition, it’s to be different.”
How are you making your online presence unique to you?
