Strategy vs. “Just winging it”

When I look at the likes of Seth Godin and Jeff Bullas, they are both in the small group of “marketing gurus”, but they are very very different.

Seth Godin may blog once a week and his posts are short — but very concise and consistent in driving his messages home to his readers.

Jeff Bullas on the other hand is very mainstream, but practical and makes us think of things that maybe we hadn’t thought of before.

Jeff probably blogs 3-4 times a week and as result we are always aware of him, while Seth may blog once a week but, his inspirational blog posts resonate with us for a long time.

HOW TO STAND OUT

So how do they stand out? Strategy. They both decided that they were going to be different by defining themselves in the large “marketing blogger” pool.

In an effort to be different, you have to set your value position, and that is in everything you do – service or product, what are you bringing to the table that may be different than someone else?

Set your standards high and be sure to hone in on the exceptional ability of your product or service. Once you know that you have your strategy- the “key ingredient” that will set you apart from your competitors.

HOW I DID IT

Many people ask me how do I set myself apart from the rest? Well for me it is very easy- I am able to create a niche in the market, because I have several skills that make me stand out.

In my years in Advertising, I established myself as an exceptional designer and creative consultant. I have art directed, photographed and designed my own campaigns- with little or no budget, for well-established businesses. In the height of the last Olympics, I can recall assisting in the design and project management of many projects, surrounding Usain Bolt as their spokesperson, which included a 14 parish island-wide billboard campaign. At around that same time, I started my online t-shirt business in 2006, where I was able to use low cost methods to reach a large audience.

As a result, these achievements tied in with my strategic communication skills, have brought me to point where I am now able to navigate my clients’ businesses through many economic downturns, adjusting their expenditures to accommodate every state they are in- and still produce measurable results.

BE PREPARED TO FAIL WITHOUT A STRATEGY

If you ever consider working without a strategy and just decide to “wing” it, be prepared to fail. If you can’t measure your results- through website clicks, engagement and ultimately ROI then your strategy has failed, and you need to go back to square one.

Advertisement