In marketing, we often hear that we need to be better than our competition and if we can’t be better, be different. One expert says being different is actually better than being better.
Tsufit (that’s her full name) was an attorney who started a second career as an entertainer. Today, she helps professionals develop their personal brand. She says, “It’s better to be different than it is to be better. If you focus on creating differences and distinctions between you and everyone else, you don’t have to focus on boasting or showing that you’re better.â€
Tsufit says that in building your brand, you don’t want to come across as too perfect. “Drop the excessive professionalism and simply be yourself,” she says. Showing your vulnerabilities makes you more credible, she says.
Tsufit also says that the biggest mistake in personal branding is “not standing for anything, not having a slice of the market that is yours and yours alone.” “If you say you’re for anybody, you’re really for nobody because there’s no way to find you among the sea of other people who do what you do.”
Wise words from someone who has obviously followed her own advice. You can read more about her in this profile.
If you want to know how to be different, get The Attorney Marketing Formula
Sometimes being better IS different. I’m a serial entrepreneur. I used to own a bathroom contracting business before my current business, which is printing for legal firms. But as a contractor, one of the things that amazed me was how thrilled (and surprised) my clients were just because I showed up on time. We could set an appointment three weeks earlier to do the work at 8am on a Monday. I’d show up at 8am on that Monday after confirming 1-2 days earlier. They couldn’t believe it. So in that case, being better at “keeping promises” made me better AND different. So, today, as a printer for mid-sized law firms, it’s hard to be a “better” printer. The equipment available today has removed the quality issue. So I try to give my client (the person at the firm ordering the printing) a better experience in the ordering process. They also know we handle “legal printing” all day long. This also makes us different and, hopefully, a little BETTER at what we do.