17 Apr Same Old (Business) Story? How to Stand Out In a Sea of Sameness

Whatever you say (or do) in your business – your sales or marketing – needs to follow the ARM Principle to cut through the wild online noise: being authentic, relevant and memorable.

Written by Daniela Cavalletti

4 min read

It’s that time again – you have to write your next blog post, brochure, email campaign or other marketing collateral. Maybe that sales pitch, tender or presentation are lurking on your to-do-list. Your motivation is low; inspiration simply does not strike. It’s not that you don’t have anything to say: it’s just … well, it feels like there’s so much stuff out there already, right? And who am I, you ask yourself, that anyone would want to read – let alone would need – my additional musings?

And you can be forgiven for thinking so once you look at the stats of how much info gets added daily to the net (and then some more for print!). In 1994, there were fewer than 3,000 websites online. By 2014, there were more than 1 billion. That’s a 33-million percent increase in 20 years. That’s nuts by anyone’s standard!

But Nobody’s Like You

Here’s the good news: not all is lost. Because while there is a lot of content out there, what you will bring to this mix is unique. You just have to be brave enough to allow yourself to be so; be different, be yourself.

There’s nobody else in the world with exactly your life or work experience, your upbringing, your skills, your knowledge, your passions. Your foibles and your dislikes. All these things combine into something that is unmistakably you – and make what you can add to the world of writing invaluable and one of its kind.

Be Curious, Get Inspired ­– Share Generously

We generally don’t live or thrive in isolation. And we, and the world around us, keep changing. So one important part of writing interesting, valuable marketing (or any other) content is to remain curious. To read, read, read. To experience. To learn.

Just don’t go the safe route – so easily done with social media these days – and only read or listen to that which you already know or agree with. Getting out of your comfort zone and allowing opposite viewpoints to really sink in rather than offhandedly dismissing them, will make your thinking, your world and your writing so much richer.

You will know new things, become open to seeing valuable ideas in places you never thought you’d find them (or thought to look) – and you’ll form richer, deeper and wider opinions.

These are yours. Now go and share your world-view with your readers.

Wrestling with the ARM Principle?

You’ve got a unique viewpoint on a topic – now it’s time to ensure you’ll engage your reader enough for them to find out about it.

All marketing (and business) content we create for our clients has to follow my ARM Principle of being Authentic, Relevant and Memorable. Sounds difficult? It can be: if you’re stuck on writing to sound ‘corporate’ – rather than someone I’d like to get to know and do business with.

Here’s how it’s done:

1. Authentic – Write from the heart, and write how you talk. Don’t edit yourself as you write your first draft. Let it flow. Be yourself, don’t pretend to be something or somebody you are not. You’ll only get found out later. And pretending makes writing that much harder.
2. Relevant – Know whom you write for, and keep that in mind at all times. Don’t try to be everything to everyone. Some people will not like your style. But if you’re authentic in your writing, these people would never have done business with the flesh-and-blood you anyway. See it as a self-sorting process into clients/non-clients that saves you valuable time (perhaps to draft that next blog post or eDM?).
3. Memorable – Safe content is boring content. Ok, boring may have its value in places (the factual clarity of a user manual, for example), but for your marketing efforts to stand out and be heard amongst the noise of competing information you want to be engaging, interesting, different and at times even controversial (just remember to do it respectfully and tastefully). Don’t be afraid to go against the conventional tide. Go deep, go wide, with your information and style. Explore and take us along on the ride.

So there you have it: the world does indeed need another blog, brochure and business book. Because nobody out there can give us exactly what you can share and inspire your readers with.

Will you be bold enough to use the ARM Principle – and to let us see and read the real you? Let us get smitten with your authentic, relevant and memorable writing?

I do hope so.