Written by: Ana In Style, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
I stumbled upon this a lot. What to do if everybody else is selling the same thing as you? Why bother? I had the same thoughts myself. But one answer changed everything for me. Read on to discover some mind-shifting ideas on how to overcome this impostor syndrome element.
1. Lisa Johnson said it beautifully: “If someone was to open a restaurant or a hairdressing salon, they wouldn’t say ‘Uh, everybody is doing this already!’” What do they do instead? They differentiate themselves from the crowd. They are looking for ways that would make them stand out and present themselves differently.
2. There are many sales items for pasta in a shop and new ones are constantly being added. There is a market for them. Let’s face it. It is pasta! A kitchen staple that is made of 4 ingredients or less. How many variations there could possibly be? But I’m sure you agree, there is a ridiculous amount of variety when it comes to pasta products. The secret sauce? Their packaging! They distinguish themselves from others by their unique, flashy, or modest packaging.
Can you see the answer to the service-based and product-based examples above?
It is differentiation.
It is YOUR Style.
It is YOUR Brand.
What makes you unique.
You may think you are just an average person but that is a style to master as well. Everything you do and how you do it defines your style. Being aware of it, however, creates magic and gives you the power to control it and work with it to achieve better and faster results.
So how can you then differentiate?
Here are 5 points you can choose from. Or, if you are anything like me, you will implement them all.
Your unique voice.
Your signature brand look.
Your one-of-a-kind methodology.
Your unmatched perspective.
Your specialized niche.
Let me give you my example:
The unique voice.
With my brand voice, I like to use my experience from the deep and vast source of my more than a 15-year long career in translation specializing in fashion, interior design, and advertising. I create magic through wordplay, metaphors, an unusual pairing of adjectives and substantives, parody, and all the other literary figures.
The signature brand look.
I use consistent visual material in all my online appearances. I wear signature pieces and elements that I like to be recognized by. The goal is to create a look so strong and rich in the message, that a caricaturist wouldn’t have any problem working with. Think Picasso and his mustache or Marilyn Monroe and her iconic hair.
The one-of-a-kind methodology.
I created a fusion of all my experiences, past hobbies, and knowledge diligently accumulated over the years. Including my spiritual, ancestral, and both past and present professional areas of profound teachings. I named it the Feng Shui Apparel System™.
The unmatched perspective.
As you might have guessed by now, I’m a differentiation nerd. This is why I added another element of differentiation to the ensemble. It is the perspective to rebel against the current common mainstream belief system in my industry of personal style. In other words, I swim against the stream. The important thing to note is that this is not forced, it comes naturally to me because I have a disruptive personality. I have always been like this and acted accordingly. The fashion world is my secondary concern and although I do use trends to my client’s advantage, I don’t care much about them when it comes to guidelines.
The specialized niche.
I do not focus my work around young fashion-forward celebrities in the entertainment industry with their Instagram-perfect bodies. I love working with 45+ high-achieving women entrepreneurs, empaths, and mavericks who are ready to evolve their success in business and/or in love. With their menopause bellies, plus sizes, size fluctuations, and all that good stuff that makes them super unique but also a bit uncomfortable because they have been taught many false myths about their body and personal characteristics. My most precious, cherished passion program is geared at elite 50+ business women who want to achieve the highest level of spiritual mastery in a way that hasn’t been done before and they want to speed up that process to make it a reality still in this lifetime.
There is a sixth one, a bonus if you like.
Your story.
If nothing else, your story is unique to you. Only you have the experience that you have. When you look at high luxury brands like Jaguar, and Cartier, they all have a unique but compelling story.
My story is about me being an introverted linguist, a miserable gray mouse having gone through several unfulfilling relationships turned desirable woman after I had discovered the immense power of non-verbal communication.
Stories are powerful, they speak beyond words, and they address your imagination, emotions, your primordial triggers. Your clients will relate to you and they will buy from you because of how you make them feel. Many things happen on the subconscious level. And that is a whole new story.
Ana In Style, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Ana Malovrh, also known as Ana in Style, is the founder of Choose Your Signature Style™. She is a Certified Virtual Personal Stylist and Visual Brand Consultant. As a talented but introverted linguist, she had discovered the power of nonverbal communication that transformed her life. She now works with high achievers and empaths who would like to level up their success by feeling confident and aligned with their inner essence through their signature style. With her keen eye for supposedly unrelatable connections, she created a fusion named The Feng Shui Apparel System™ to help her maverick clients feel confident and secure even in the most unfavorable or highly competitive environments. Outside the public eye, she is a patient and loving special needs mom.
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