A Fun Creative Excercise

So how do you start in positioning your business for success. The most common mistake a small business makes is how they choose to tell you how good they are. “In business for over 20 years” or serving the alley with quality and pride “don’t really tell me anything about your unique position. Being in business a long time may mean your great. But it may also just mean you’ve been in business for a long time. Tell me something astounding, or tell me something mundane, at least do it in a creative, entertaining way.
Here’s a fun exercise to start the day.

Make a list of words or phrases you think of related to you business or service. Not just the cheesy ones…reliable, integrity, best service. I mean everything. For example, if you’re business has a green roof, write that down. If you have a dog in your store, write that down. Did it burn down and get rebuilt? Is it in a building that is haunted? Did your craft get handed down from generations in your family? Is your service better because you’re from another planet? Are you a descendant of Galileo? Is your product going to actually improve someone’s life? EVERYTHING.

You’ve probably heard that in a creative brainstorming session, there are no bad ideas. Trust me, there are bad ideas, lots of them. But write them all down anyway. A ludicrous idea on paper will ofter spark a brilliant idea when viewed from a different perspective.

 Now look at your creative brainstorming results over an adult beverage, think of it during a bike ride, banter over the fence with a neighbor about it, or put it under your pillow and sleep on it. Then decide who you are, what you offer that’s so damn special, and find a fun, fresh way to communicate that.
While everyone else stands like a deer in the headlights, you need to be the one shining the light in their eyes while you move forward with the confidence that you’ll weather this storm and come out on top of the marketplace.

However, an ad that says serving all of your __________needs since 1975, just says you’ve been slogging along for almost 40 years. An ad that offers 10 percent off your purchase just makes me do enough math to realize it’s not worth the extra drive. Remember that enthusiasm you had when you started your business? Find a message that carries the same enthusiasm you had, and translate that to enthusiasm for your product, and you’re on your way to flashing that light in your competitors eyes while you’re busy finding new business.