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March 31, 2009
"Be interesting"
It's a common piece of advice among word-of-mouth circles: Be "interesting."
But that's like telling a horse: be more like a zebra.
It's more practical to create an authentic zebra from scratch than paint black and white stripes on a horse. Everyone will know they're fake, and they'll just wash off anyway. Stripes aren't part of the DNA of a horse.
So, if you're a horse, I think better advice is to "Revisit your purpose. Ensure it's well-defined and strong. Then demonstrate it daily."
Other blogs that reference "Be interesting":
I think you'll find the authors of Made To Stick and Presentation Zen will back you up on this. I am currently designing a presentation and I keep coming back to identifying my central purpose, explaining why it's important, and trying to use a story to create interest.
Regards,
Glenn
In working with my clients, I call it "The One Thing". What is the One Thing that you do better than anybody else, that truly differentiates you from the crowd? In a Long Tail world, you have to define your niche and own it.
"Interesting" is never a permanent state. If you don't listen to your customers and continually improve whatever it is that makes you stand out, you'll be back in the pack pretty quickly.
Cheers,
Paul
Great point. We decide whether we like something, whether we will keep listening or not in the first 10 seconds. This is a proven fact. And in working with more than 300 national brands each year, the one question that I have found that must address within these first 10 seconds to be ‘of interest’ is this:
‘What is the self serving benefit that they will receive if they keep listening, reading, watching’…I must answer in the first 10 seconds, ‘whats in it for them’
Brian Martin
And, of course, you can't actually be interestING without being interestED. All the questions about customer targeting/ROI/Social Media/Success on the internet/in the new economy can be addresssed by taking a genuine interest in your customers.
Excellent comments so far. Thanks!
Jeremy -- Bravo. Be interested is far, far better than be interesting as an advice meme.
Great post and Jeremy's comment "be InterestED" is spot on.
I'm also struck by how many folks are emphasizing the packaging of one's personal brand via social media. Goodness there are a lot of Personal Brand Gurus out there. Yet, I wonder how many people really dig in to see what their brand stands for first (do they even check in with their own constituents or customers?) As Ted notes above, what is the one thing that distinguishes you? So if you don't do this homework first - you can't be as effective whether you are using social media or a megaphone. You can become someone that is more InterestED and perhaps even interesting if you know what your the core strengths and attributes are that make you desirable to others and needed by others.
Thanks for adding some practicality to this. Too often this is lacking in marketing advice.
Remembering your purpose is especially important to ensure your business is growing in the right direction.
For some reason, I found the horse/zebra analogy very amusing. Maybe it was visualizing it.
You're quite right. As with most things in life, having a purpose gets you to where you want to go and allows you to deliver. Also, by having a purpose you're able to re-evaluate where you are and how you're doing. In the personal context, it's like having your own personal strategy - who am I, what can I offer, what makes me unique, how can i fulfill it.
Going back to the zebra and horse analogy, don’t you thing that a horse with a perfect set of stripes would cause much more impact in a crowd than the “normal” zebra that everyone already knows?
