Wednesday, August 09, 2006
The Problem With Following the Crowd
One of the big problems with jumping at opportunities instead of plotting your own strategy for success is that everyone else is doing the same thing.
Jump on the bandwagon for the latest, can't-miss way of raising your search engine ranking and everybody else who buys that product is doing the exact same thing. At the same time. In the same way.
When you follow the crowd, it's like trying to run a race by staying at exactly the same speed as everybody else. You need something that gives you an advantage, not something that keeps you the same as everybody else!
Yet we often try to find reassurance smack dab in the middle of the pack. It's safe there. We don't have to worry that we're making the wrong decision, because everyone else is making the same one. If we're wrong, at least we have lots of company!
But that stinks. Do you really want to watch your business fail and be able to say, "At least a lot of other people failed, too"?
Following the crowd guarantees you'll always be near the bottom of the heap when it comes to success. It guarantees that you'll never make a right decision. And even if you did, it wouldn't do any good, because the crowd will make the same one. Only the first guy that made it will get ahead.
Successful businesses don't try to do everything the same as everybody else. They try to stand out from the crowd, not blend in. They seek to find a better way to do things. They seek to be unique.
I'll make you a guarantee. You will make mistakes. Accept that fact, don't try to hide from it. But even when you make a mistake, there's still something positive you can get out of it.
You can learn from those mistakes and use them to make your business more unique and better than the businesses that are stuck in the crowd.
Your biggest competitive advantage is something that most new business owners would never believe. Your biggest competitive advantage is YOU.
That's right, it's YOU. Your unique experience, your unique insights on your niche. There is no one who can duplicate what you bring to your niche. Use it as a strength. Don't try to hide it as a weakness.
That's not to say you should never try to learn more about marketing, more about sales, more about your customers' needs. But your learning should always factor in the YOU factor. Use what you learn to improve what you already are instead of trying to replace the uniqueness you bring to your business.
Jeff
One of the big problems with jumping at opportunities instead of plotting your own strategy for success is that everyone else is doing the same thing.
Jump on the bandwagon for the latest, can't-miss way of raising your search engine ranking and everybody else who buys that product is doing the exact same thing. At the same time. In the same way.
When you follow the crowd, it's like trying to run a race by staying at exactly the same speed as everybody else. You need something that gives you an advantage, not something that keeps you the same as everybody else!
Yet we often try to find reassurance smack dab in the middle of the pack. It's safe there. We don't have to worry that we're making the wrong decision, because everyone else is making the same one. If we're wrong, at least we have lots of company!
But that stinks. Do you really want to watch your business fail and be able to say, "At least a lot of other people failed, too"?
Following the crowd guarantees you'll always be near the bottom of the heap when it comes to success. It guarantees that you'll never make a right decision. And even if you did, it wouldn't do any good, because the crowd will make the same one. Only the first guy that made it will get ahead.
Successful businesses don't try to do everything the same as everybody else. They try to stand out from the crowd, not blend in. They seek to find a better way to do things. They seek to be unique.
I'll make you a guarantee. You will make mistakes. Accept that fact, don't try to hide from it. But even when you make a mistake, there's still something positive you can get out of it.
You can learn from those mistakes and use them to make your business more unique and better than the businesses that are stuck in the crowd.
Your biggest competitive advantage is something that most new business owners would never believe. Your biggest competitive advantage is YOU.
That's right, it's YOU. Your unique experience, your unique insights on your niche. There is no one who can duplicate what you bring to your niche. Use it as a strength. Don't try to hide it as a weakness.
That's not to say you should never try to learn more about marketing, more about sales, more about your customers' needs. But your learning should always factor in the YOU factor. Use what you learn to improve what you already are instead of trying to replace the uniqueness you bring to your business.
Jeff
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