How To Stand Out In A Crowded World
You only need to do this one thing
As a full-stack developer by day and an entrepreneur by night, I have built a fair share of projects and businesses over the last 5 years (most of them failed). I also read enough books about business and entrepreneurship that I can start writing my own books now.
I tried almost everything to make a living online. I worked as a developer, I started my own YouTube channel, I started a blog, I became a writer on Medium, I worked on affiliate marketing, dropshipping, I even tried teaching people how to become millionaires while I was broke 😅.
After all these years, I learned that a good product is not enough to get people’s attention. The world today is crowded and it’s challenging to raise your head up where people can see you. One of the most common reasons why creators and entrepreneurs fail is because they think a good product will just get noticed automatically. Or in other words: “Build it and they will come”.
Well, I wish it would be that easy, but it isn’t.
The one thing that’s more difficult than building a good product is letting people know about your product. You shouldn’t fall into the waiting loop.
What’s the waiting loop?
You publish an article and wait for readers. You upload a video and wait for people to see it. You build an app and wait for downloads.
Well, that won’t work. Guess why?
Because the world is crowded. You’re just one drop in the sea. No one will notice you unless you do something different. You need to move, make yourself bigger, just do anything to let people notice your work.
Because you’re not a copy of someone else. You’re different. You’re unique.
And the secret to standing out in a crowded world … is to tell your story.
“Tell my story?”, you may say.
Yes, tell your story. You have a lot of stories to tell people about, stories that will inspire someone else in the other part of the world. You’re unique but you don’t know it. Your boring stories are inspiring to someone else.
Tell the world about that mentor who taught you a lesson that changed your life. Tell the world how you decided to become a writer, a designer, or a developer, and share your journey along the way.
“Well, I’m a failure”.
Tell the story of your failures. What did you learn from these failures? What mistakes will you try to avoid in the future? People with less experience can learn from your mistakes.
“But I’m boring!”.
Not more boring than me. And here you are, reading my story between all the other articles written by writers who are more talented than me, writers who speak English natively, while for me, English is my 3rd language.
It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to build a business, start a career on YouTube, or find clients who need a logo design, telling your story is the best way to get people to trust you. If you’re running a business, don’t talk to them as a brand, talk to them as a person. Let them know you.
Embrace your uniqueness. Because if you don’t, people won’t either.
Tell People About Your Product Without Telling Them About Your Product
I wish I learned this lesson 5 years ago. If you just keep pushing content about your product, people will just look at you as another salesman who’s trying to make them buy things.
The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.
When I built my app, Systemize, I was trying to get my app in front of as many eyes as possible. I did that by sharing my links to Reddit, Quora, Facebook, and everywhere else. I was wondering why no one cares about my app! But I learned this lesson the hard way.
People don’t want to hear about your product or service until they trust you. Let’s take Youtubers as an example. What’s the first thing Youtubers do when they reach 1 Million subscribers? Launch a merch line. And most of them are making more money from selling shirts than ads.
Why?
Because they built a community of people who trust them. In other words, they stood out from the crowd. If they tried selling shirts and bags from day one, no one will buy from them. Because no one trusts them yet.
Here’s the most important lesson I want you to take from this article: Content creation is a long-term game. It’s an infinite game. It’s a game everyone needs to play in order to stand out, but most people are not willing to play it.
Don’t be like most people.
If you have a product in the health category, tell people stories about health. If you’re a designer, tell people about your designs or design in general. If you’re an entrepreneur, tell your stories of success and failure. You can mention your product inside the story (and you should when you can), but don’t make it all about the product.
Make it easier for people to find you than your competitor. Make people fall in love with who you are as a creative human been, and then to hire you for the service you want to sell them.
That’s how marketing works.
Yes, it takes time. Yes, it’s slower than paid advertising. Yes, it’s not an overnight success.
But it doesn’t matter.
Content creation is like planting a lot of seed, some will bear fruits, some will die, and some will wither away. But we have to plant those seeds. And when you want to collect the fruits of your labor, it will be months or years from now. But the work needs to be done today if you wanted to bear fruit.
If you’re interested in achieving more goals in life, I encourage you to try Systemize. It’s a FREE goal & habit tracker that uses systems to help you track your progress along the way.
This post is part of a series of stories that explore business growth strategies that actually work.1. We Need To Redefine ‘Hard Work’ To Include ‘Hard Thinking’
The mind-shifting strategy to work smart not hard.2. How To Stand Out In A Crowded World
The power of story-telling.3. The Best Marketing Doesn’t Feel Like Marketing
How to market your products like a pro.4. The One Piece Of Advice That Changed My Life
A must read before starting any project.5. How I Went From 0 To 541 Email Subscribers In One Day
Give before you get.6. 10 Things Successful Creators Do That You (Probably) Don’t
Lessons from successful creators.7. 5 Side Hustles You Can Start This Weekend
Making money online is easier than you think.8. Here’s Why You Should Go Niche Your First Year Of Business
If you want to go big, go small first.9. 4 Actionable Tips To Find A Profitable Business Idea In 2022
A practical approach to come up with a profitable business idea.10. The Unfair Advantage Of Business Success
Here's why business is more than hard .
