Most of us struggle with the uniqueness of our products or services. And the reason we struggle is because we look for something exciting to showcase in our products and services. And all we seem to come up with, is the mundane and uninteresting.
You've probably heard of the ‘Twelve Apostles' in Australia
Australia has close to six million tourists every year. About 1.7 million of these visit the site of the ‘Twelve Apostles'. Now before you get all reverential here, recognise the fact that there's nothing very holy about this place. The Twelve Apostles are just a collection of limestone stacks off the shore, as you drive down the Great Ocean road.
And it wasn't even known as the Twelve Apostles to begin with. The site was known as ‘the Sow and Piglets' until 1922— after which it was renamed to The Apostles for tourism purposes. This formation eventually became known as the Twelve Apostles.
What's ironical is that there aren't twelve limestone stacks
There are just nine. And one of those nine is eroding, so there will soon be eight. But do those 1.7 million visitors care? No, they don't. Because to them, that venue is unique. Someone decided that in a continent full of wonders, they could isolate one attraction and draw millions of tourists to see these rocks. Yup, just rocks.
In effect, Australia took the mundane and made it extremely exciting.
The Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris, is no less mundane
There are over 35,000 pieces of art at the Louvre. While the Mona Lisa is certainly not mundane by itself, it's just one of the many splendid art pieces in the Louvre. And in that respect, it's pretty mundane. So why does everyone rush to see the Mona Lisa? You know the answer already, don't you?
At some point, someone decided to highlight the Mona Lisa. And to play down 34,999 other works of art. That's akin to having a product with 35,000 features and playing down all but one feature. And that's what gets the attention.
Your product or service has the same problem
For instance if you look at a membership site—any membership site, there are a ton of reasons why you should join and continue to be a member. Let's list a few, shall we?
1. Reliable answers to business problems
2. Timely responses, 24/7
3. Access to the owner
4. Accountability
5. Access to practical “how to” resources
6. Access to a community of like minded business people
7. Access to helpful members
8. A safe environment
9. A getting things done environment
10. Privileged access to courses and products
So what's so interesting about that list?
There may well be some interesting aspects to that list, but equally there may be something really mundane. For example: Access to practical “how to” resources. Now surely that is very mundane. Every membership site on the planet promises the very same thing. You sign up and you get access to all of these wonderful tutorials and goodies.
That's kinda interesting, yet boring, eh? And yet it could very easily be made the uniqueness factor by describing why these ‘how to' resources are better than anything that you may possibly find elsewhere.
So let's take a crack at it, shall we?
“How To” Resources at XYZ Memberships Site: If you join a membership site, you're sure to run into hundreds of articles and tutorials. The difference between what you see in XYZ Membership site and elsewhere, is that the articles don't just tell you ‘how' to do something, but ‘why' that something works.
Once you understand ‘why' something works, you're able to replicate that concept successfully across all your products or services—and know why it's failing and how to fix it and make it work for to your benefit.
Let's take another example
Let's say you own a tea company. And there are half a dozen, probably two dozen reasons why someone should buy your tea. Well, what are you going to choose? You're more than likely to go for something that seems dramatic. But for the purposes of this exercise, let's just choose the mundane.
1. Tea must be pesticide and chemical-free.
2. Tea must be this year's crop.
3. Dry leaf should look fresh and shiny.
4. Aroma must be fragrant and lively.
5. Liquor must never be cloudy.
6. Mouth feel must have the right umami.
7. Teas must be priced appropriately.
Now there are some exceptionally interesting and some terribly mundane points as well. But they”re only mundane because of a lack of explanation. If we were to choose the concept of ‘cloudiness' of tea, for instance, we could go on an don about how the tea liquor needs to be clear. How a pure leaf will create a translucent, almost shimmering cup of tea. Why a cloudy liquor is often a sign of low quality—and hence, not so tasty teas.
You see what's happening here?
The key factor isn't the feature. You could take a mundane feature, give it oomph and it forces your audience to take notice. And the beauty is that you can do it with any feature. Yes, you're more likely to be tempted to use the best possible feature, but in reality there is no ‘best' feature.
Any feature, no matter how mundane, can be given the spotlight. What makes the feature stand out is the story behind the feature; the reason why that feature is so very important.
When choosing or creating the uniqueness factor for your products or services, you may work long and hard to find something amazing.
Well, stop the search.
Look for the mundane instead.
And elevate that ‘so-called' boring feature to one of great prominence by describing why that feature is so very important.
And that will get you one step closer to uniqueness.
Yeah, just like that!
P.S. What is your uniqueness? And how have you made it prominent? Share you story here.
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Great article Sean!
It’s amazing how the focus on one thing makes such a difference.
This would be a good lesson for politicians :0)
keep up the uniqueness articles Sean, these are the best and most practical I have found anywhere and have helped the most in my business re-creation
Will be looking for a comprehensive ebook on this from you!
Gracias 😉