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An interesting challenge we often face in marketing is 'how do we differentiate our business in a positive way from our competitors?'
One possible answer to this challenge is to choose to do something that will make you well known or even famous.
Now there are many ways to get famous.
One way is to do something that no one has ever done before that involves a tremendous amount of physical effort and dedication.
A great example is Brando Yelavich the son of one of my real estate clients.
In early 2013 Brando decided he was going to walk around the entire coastline of New Zealand and raise money for Ronald McDonald House at the same time.
He figured that while around 5,000 people had climbed Mount Everest no one in the entire world had ever walked the coastline of New Zealand.
So he could become famous for being the first person to do this.
Brando decided to live off the land as he went and thought it would take him around six months to complete his adventure.
He soon discovered he had seriously miscalculated how long this would take and how difficult it would be.
Over 500 days later he has nearly completed his epic journey.
He has now enjoyed a certain amount of fame and has been on TV, radio and in a large number of newspapers. (Including the NZ Herald.)
Now most of us will never do anything as physically challenging as Brando is doing to get famous.
However it's possible to get 'famous' in much easier ways in many businesses.
The starting point is to ask two simple questions...
1: What could you become famous for in your business?
2: How can you get your message on 'being famous' out to potential customers for your business?
Here's a simple example of how to do this...
I recently interviewed an Auckland accountant called Kanu Patel the owner of Patel Pike Associates.
I asked Kanu about the various ways that he had helped his clients to enjoy better results in their business. And I discovered that Kanu is brilliant at helping many of his clients to buy a commercial property that their business can then operate from.
Kanu then shows these clients how to pay off this commercial property so it is now a valuable asset that produces an excellent income for them.
Being an accountant Kanu is big on minimising risk and making sure that his clients understand fully the reasons why they are buying a commercial property.
Kanu has helped dozens of his client to become financially independent by advising them well around commercial property.
So let's take a look at the two questions applied to Kanu and his business.
1: What could Kanu become famous for in his accounting business?
Kanu could become famous for helping business owners become financially independent by buying and paying off their own commercial premises.
2: How can Kanu get his message on being famous in this area out to potential customers for his accounting practice?
There are many ways that Kanu could do this.
For instance Kanu could present a short workshop that teaches business owners how they can buy and pay off commercial premises for their business.
He could limit this to a small number of business owners in each workshop and explain carefully all the things they need to consider.
How do they decide if becoming their own commercial property landlord is the right decision to make?
What are the potential problems they could face?
How can they minimise the potential risks involved?
What are the key steps they need to follow?
Etc.
Kanu could offer this workshop to his existing clients and key contacts first of all.
And he could also offer the workshop to business owners who are not currently clients of his accounting practice.
By presenting a workshop like this Kanu could become famous as the accountant who helps business owners create financial success through owning their own commercial premises.
(This is something that no one else in his accounting field is currently doing.)
Kanu now has his first workshop booked for mid-July and I'm sure it will work well for him. Feel free to contact Kanu for details www.patelpike.co.nz if that is of interest
The good news is that there is always something that you can become famous for in your own business if you look carefully.
"Being famous is just a job."
Britney Spears
Action Exercise:
What could you become famous for in your business?
The Government has committed funding to the sector in an effort to support future plans.