How To Make Your Business Stand Out So You Get More Sales (Simple Tips)

In a lot of my videos I say that you should copy existing working business models. Especially in the beginning when you are starting out, the more original you are, the more likely you are to have part of that originality fail because you are trying to invent something new and it is always more risky.

This however, is not the full story. The compliment to this is what actually makes you stand out in your business – even if you are copying existing business models or looking at competitor’s logos to make a similar one in order to appear as part of the industry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwzbNAX95ZQ

To stand out, let us look at an interesting study done by Hannah Summerfield & Co. about humor. They did a very simple study which was telling knock-knock jokes to a large group of participants and part of the participants were not told the pun. Those people did not remember the joke as well as the people who did hear the pun. The people who heard the actual joke, that was funny, were able to remember it much better than people who did not hear the full joke.

This concludes from the study that people are better able to recollect what you are talking about and your story if you use some humor.

If you look at a lot of companies they do not use humor and their stuff is bland, black and white, and they say they are interested in quality and delivering the best service to their clients. It is always kind of the same. If you look at most agencies and lawyers for example, they are all the same because they read the same marketing books, tell the same exact stories, and have the same degrees often from the same schools in some cases.

What can you do to stand out in any industry?

First, instead of making a bland and boring thing, let us look at what the Dollar Shave Club is doing. The Dollar Shave Club is in a dull and boring industry with Gillette and other competitors, but they created a fun and viral YouTube video that is very humorous. After all these years, people still remember it!

Why does it work? The answer is humor. Humor sticks much better in our brains with the way our brain works.

Why does it happen? Because it is different and counter-intuitive. Humor is more complicated than this, but for this example we can keep it simplified.

Another example of how this little quirk in our brain can be used in business is when you look at a lot of successful YouTube channels, they tend to implement a level of humor and entertainment. If you implement a level of humor and make it somewhat funny, you will be able to attract people’s attention. All the YouTube channels with millions of views have some sort of humor in them.

In marketing the most important thing is to get and keep people’s attention. How do you do that? You stay on top of their mind. With humor, people remember it better so you tend to stay on top of mind. This is generally the formula and you can read more about it in books about virality and such.

If you look at those videos they implement humor, but also, a lot of very successful companies also use some kind of counter-intuitive marketing. For example, instead of saying, “Oh we are so good at quality and we are so well educated and so on…”. I saw someone the other day say, “I just started this company. I am brand new in this business and my competitors have more experience, intelligence, and graduated from better schools, but I am more willing to work harder and dig in the trenches to make this work for you. I am not going to tell you how awesome I am and how expensive my office is because I am not spending my money on my office or on appearing fancy and wealthy. I am spending my time to create value for you as a customer.”

I heard this from a lawyer, which is very rare because it is the opposite of what every other lawyer is saying, and I can guarantee you this guy’s schedule is completely booked. It is completely counter-intuitive when he is admitting his weaknesses – lawyers do not like doing that – and it works much better and people remember it much better. When considering who to hire as a lawyer people will want to work with him because he seems like a human being whereas other lawyers all sound the same.

That is what I learned from this study and my own personal experience and doing some research. This should help you with standing out in business, appearing more unique, being more unique, and having a better message and a better story.