The One Thing None Of Us Ever Want To Become

When we all set out on our journeys to build a business there was one thing that none of ever wanted to become, and that ‘thing’ is being irrelevant.

My participation in the world of networking events is pretty sporadic to say the least, but was invited to a breakfast club earlier this week to present to the audience.

A Real World Example Of Being Irrelevant

Each person in the room had a minute to talk about what’s going on in their own businesses and share with the rest of the group. What was noticeable about everyone (bar one person) was that they all took to the stage with the same mantra of ‘for anything relating to (name of industry) you really need to talk to me.’ Everyone merely blended in with everyone else and the whole floor became a cattle market to make a sale rather than plant a seed to connect and look to build a dialogue or explain why they are different and why people should care.

The one person who stood out talked about a car accident last week and the fact that with the pace of lives we all lead the wish to sometimes take a step back, take a breath and to put our lives into a workable order. If I’m writing about it now, it must have connected with me.

What We Need To Do

It made me think that no one in this world ever wants to look back on their lives and realise that they were irrelevant. If you want to be worthy of the attention of an audience, you must have an opinion. There is nothing wrong with other people disagreeing what you state, as long as you can back up your facts and study the industry that you are part of. If someone disagrees with what you believe in then this only solidifies your own beliefs.

Picking Your Side Of The Road

If you want to be regarded as relevant and a voice that is credible and authentic you need to pick a side of the road, and stick to it. If you decide to take the safe route, you’ll keep to the middle and hope that nothing challenges your place, until inevitably something is going to meet you head on and you’re finished. If you’ve chosen your side of the road, at least you’ve made a clear choice and able to back up why you’ve chosen that particular place.

A lot of people won’t want to come over to your side, but who really cares, we should never set out to become everyone’s friend. Businesses should stop trying to be like the rest. A defined brand personality helps attract the right audience who want to hear what you have to say and send the ones who aren’t interested in another direction.

To Round Up

Having an opinion is one of the best ways to make your brand human and achieve clarity for others to understand what you represent. With an ever-increasing number of businesses entering your marketplace, you can either sit with the crowd or you can stand up and make yourself heard.

 

Image credit: timfotography.com