MBA1066 How to Create Something Different Enough

Hey O. Welcome to the $100 MBA show where business is pleasure with our daily 10 minute business lessons for the real world. I'm your host, your coach, your teacher, Omar Zenholm. I'm also the co founder of the Hundred Dollar mba, a complete business training and community online. In today's episode, you will learn how to create something different enough. How to create a product or service that differentiates you from the marketplace so you stand out. There's a reason why I say different enough. You don't have to be radically different. You don't have to invent something completely new that no one has ever seen before. But you do have to offer unique value. And in today's episode, I'm going to show you how to do that. And I'll also give you a lot of examples in today's modern business world how you actually don't have to be that different to have unique value to attract a particular customer and be a profitable business. Many of us, we get bogged down on the idea that hey, I have to be super unique. Well, in today's episode I'm going to show you that being too unique, too different is actually a bad thing and how it could hurt your chances of success. You want to strike the right balance where you're different enough. Let's learn how, let's get into it, let's get down to business. Today's episode of the $100 MBA show is supported by Podia. Podia helps thousands of creators earn money from their passion. It's an all in one digital storefront that you can sell courses, memberships and digital downloads in one place. It's the most creator friendly platform on the market with zero transaction fees and a super friendly 24, 7 life support team. No matter what plane you're on, so they're gonna take care of you even if you're just getting started. What's great about Podia is that it eliminates all the technical headaches. It takes care of every aspect of selling your course or membership or digital download. If you've got video courses, they do the video hosting for you. If you want an easy way to charge your members on a reoccurring basis for a membership, Podia takes care of it. You want a secure way for people to download your products. When they pay for them, they take care of that too. They also offer free migrations on their shaker plan. Best of all, Podia puts their money where their mouth is. They have a 30 day free trial with no credit card required. So if you don't love it. You don't pay a penny. If you're looking to start a online course, sell any kind of digital product, or start a membership site, check them out and support the show by going to podia.commba that's P O D I-a.commba did you know there are 30 different automobile manufacturers out there? 30 different car brands. Did you also know that all 30 of them make make over a billion dollars in revenue? Actually, the top 10 make over 100 billion revenue. 30 different kinds of car brands. How could 30 different types of companies in the same marketplace be so successful? Because they're different enough. Essentially they're all the same product. It's a motor vehicle, it's a car, It's a way to get from A to B. But some companies do it in one way, like Toyota, where their hallmark is reliability and good value. But then you have Bentley, the ultimate luxury, where they spare no expense to make you feel special. And then you have a company like Tesla that is really geared for people that are interested in the future technology and is conscious of the earth's environment. So all these companies are profitable. All these companies are doing well. All these companies are billion dollar companies and they're all selling essentially the same product, but in different ways. They have a different angle. Car companies are brilliant at being different enough and there's plenty we can learn from them and apply to our own businesses and products. So in today's lesson, I want to show you how you don't have to be radically different. And in fact, being radically different can really affect you in a negative way. So let's get that one out of the way. When you create a new product or service and it's too different, the learning curve might be too high for your potential customer to grasp. For example, and this is just a wild example, but it paints the picture. Let's say you sell something completely different and new. Let's say like edible board games. You play the board game and at the end of the game you just eat the pieces. I know that sounds crazy, but let's say it is a different product like that. But then not only that, but the way you buy the product is different. You purchase it online and then it gets delivered with a drone to your house. Sometimes when you try to be too different, it's too much of a hurdle for the customer. They're like, okay, I'm buying this edible type of board game, I'm willing to try it, but then I gotta wait for this drone flying over my house. And it's gonna drop it in my lawn. It's just too much of a struggle. Yes, maybe in 20 years this is gonna be commonplace, where people get things delivered with drones. And maybe in 20 years, edible board games are gonna be the hottest thing. But take one step at a time. It's great to be an innovator, but you still have to be in business. You still have to sell this product. You have to get it out the door. If you notice, in cars and car manufacturing, they introduce new features and new improvements incrementally. For example, automated driving or autonomous driving has become something quite normal in cars. Now, at the very least, cars are offering features like lane keep assist that ensures that you stay in your lane. But that didn't happen overnight. Before all of that, cars started to come with something called cruise control, right, where you just set the speed of your car. You still have to steer, you still have to keep your eye on the road, and you still have to brake if there's an emergency. Why do you think car manufacturers have done that? Yes, the technology has evolved and they're able to do that. But if you do some research, you'll find out this technology has been around for some time. They understand that people need time to get used to technology. If you skip steps often, it's jarring for somebody and they just can't accept that. And that distances you from the customer. So how do you make sure you're different enough? Well, number one, you got to find a unique selling proposition for your business, for your product, for your service. Why is somebody going to buy from you and not anybody else? This doesn't have to be something incredibly different or remarkable, but it has to be unique. It has to be unique to you. Here's an example. Zappos. Zappos sells shoes online. Right. They got bought by Amazon a few years ago, but it's not revolutionary, right? Zappos is not a revolutionary company. They're just selling products. E commerce via online shopping. It was around before them. But their unique selling proposition was amazing. Customer service. People love their customer service. They were happy to shop from them. Mind you, buying shoes online is not super convenient. You know, we often like to try on shoes, see how they feel. So. So they overcame that hurdle with incredible customer service. In fact, there was rumors that they'll even order a pizza for you if you call their customer service. They're that helpful, they'll do. They'll order you a dinner. So that was the unique selling proposition they choose. Can you be the Zappos in your market? Or niche. Maybe you could be the high end model of the product or service that you offer, appealing to people that want that personal touch, want that personal care or that fine quality. There are companies out there that specialize in iPhone cases, for example. They sell iPhone cases, cases for your iPhone. Pretty simple. But there's companies that are high end iPhone case companies where they sell like Italian alligator leather or something like that. I'm just reading this online. The alligators are not from Italy, but the leather was conditioned and tanned in Italy. I know it sounds crazy, but there are people out there that want something special. They don't want any kind of iPhone cover. They want a Italian cured and tanned alligator leather cover. Right? That's their thing. So if you want to specialize, that's a good way to differentiate and be different enough. How did Amazon become such a giant? Why is their website so popular? They're just selling other products or like ebay really. But their founder, Jeff Bezos is so successful, he's recently been called the richest man in modern history. Right. He's, he's reached emperor status. Right. He's super rich now. But how did he become so successful? Well, he perfected the experience of online shopping. It's so easy, it's so seamless to buy something on Amazon with that one click button technique they have. It's actually patented. So the actual products he's selling are not unique. But the experience you're having to shop online is unique, is easy, is special. These are just some ideas for you to stimulate your creativity on how you can differentiate in your business. Guys, I got more on today's episode. But before that, let me give love to today's sponsor. As an entrepreneur, I know firsthand how important sleep is. Sleep, or lack of sleep, affects so much of your day to day life. From your health and physical appearance to your attentiveness and patience Matches. 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Having other players in your marketplace is not a bad thing. It means that there is a need for your product or service. People want what you're selling, but if you want to compete with them, you got to be different. You got to be different in some way. You got to be unique and add value in a different way. And there's so many ways to do that. You have so many choices. The key message here is that you don't have to be radically different. The key is actually whatever you're different in, you're just really good at. So if you're a high end type of product, you're just really good at delivering great quality. If your customer service is better than everybody else's, then you bring it home. Everybody loves your customer service agents. They enjoy talking to you and they feel like they're taken care of. It's not just about being different just to get noticed. Because you'll get noticed. People might even try you out and get disappointed if it's not something that's valuable. So think of a unique value when you think of different. Alright, that wraps up today's lesson. Thank you so much for listening. Don't forget tomorrow's free ride. Friday we will give away a lifetime membership to one of our courses. All you gotta do is leave us an itunes rating and review to enter our weekly random draw. This month we're giving away easy course, our 30 day course on how to launch an online course yourself. It's retailed at $500, but somebody's going to win it for free tomorrow and we do this every Friday. So just leave us an itunes rating and review to enter the weekly random draw and listen in on Friday to see if you won. All right, before I go, I want to leave you with this. If you're looking for ways to be different, think about who you are as a founder, as a person. What are some of the things you're good at? What are some of the things that you enjoy doing? For example, I like to be a communicator. I like to communicate with other people. So with our company, Webinar Ninja, our software company, I try to be a communicator. I try to communicate with our users as much as possible via email, via in app messages, or even live on a webinar for our members only webinars. I like to just to be transparent, be honest and tell them this is our company, this is what we're working on, this is our future, and thank them for their support. It goes a long way and it's just something I'm comfortable doing for you. It could be something else, but I found that's an easy way to choose how to be different enough. All right, I'll check you in. Tomorrow's episode Freeride Friday. I'll see you then. Take care.