5 Ways to Make Your Mark

Friday, October 20, 2006 at 11:08am by Angela Gilltrap in Marketing

How do you set yourself apart from the competition? It�s the eternal question. Why is it that google won out over their competitors? Why is Youtube now worth more money than we could ever dream off? Why is myspace the porthole of, apparently the world?

You don�t have to be the first to create market domination. In fact sometimes it pays to be the second or third learning and expanding on the mistakes made by your competitors in their infancy.

The key to making your mark is to:

Acquire powerful allies � people in high places that believe in you and your product. This is a lot easier than it may seem. Every one is six degrees away from Kevin Bacon � meaning you are only six people away from meeting that person you think is unattainable, (not that Kevin Bacon is unattainable it�s just a saying.)

Create an angle � whether it�s a David and Goliath story or a �first�. Create an angle for your business that will set it apart. Are you all about quality? Mass Market? Niche?

Know your customers � it�s no good opening a gluten-free bakery in Harlem even though you can rent the space cheaply. Celiac disease requires gluten-free products but it is genetically a European disease so few Celiacs, (apart from me), live in Harlem. If you are still set on the idea there is no reason you can�t turn it into a gluten-free catering business. Nothing is impossible but you should always know all the facts before you embark on your journey.

Have a plan � have goals set out, long and short term, where you can gauge your success. It also gives you something tangible to reach for, a way to keep the dream alive so to speak.

Always talk about it � the power of visualizing your dream and talking about it positively makes it come into life almost on its own. In every conversation at every chance talk about your business and your goals. It should be something you are so into that it is impossible not to talk about it. A project of mine has always been my little babe and it inevitably ends up in every conversation because I love it. Most of the deals that I have brokered through it have come because people have felt my enthusiasm and wanted to help in any way they could.