How to Ride a Purple Cow and Stand Out from the Competition
It’s natural to learn from others in your niche and get marketing ideas from what others are doing. The challenge is to find a way to be different enough from others to stand out.
With all of the content that is shared and syndicated through Social Media, it can be easy for your blog posts, articles, video, etc. to blend in with all of the other pieces of content that are talking about a similar subject. The result is that it becomes invisible and has little impact.
This is something I have been working with myself and I found a strange answer to this dilemma.
Enter the Purple Cow…
Purple Cow
I recently finished the great Seth Godin book Purple Cow that addresses this exact issue.
In it he talks about how business and marketing are changing. The way big businesses do their marketing is starting to not work anymore. Boring products aimed at “everyone” that are given commercial air time are failing to produce results to justify the massive cost.
The solution that Seth points out in the book is to NEVER aim for the bulk of the market. Instead he recommends focusing on reaching a really specific target market and to be remarkable enough that they will spread the message for you. He borrows the Japanese term Otaku to refer to a group of people who are passionate about something and actively share the idea with others. Seth refers to this as “Sneezing”, and spreading the ideavirus to others.
Here is an image that shows how new ideas spread…and no, I didn’t insert the word Visionaries in it 
Idea Diffusion Curve
Seth actually wrote this book a year before Facebook launched and in it he talks about the future of marketing being niche marketing that is spread through social sharing. The key to the social sharing as Seth mentions is being remarkable. This is different than having something uninteresting that is just aggressively promoted. This fits perfectly with those who use content based approach to marketing using social media to spread the word.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Zg4rYf9RiU[/youtube]
Another example of this is the auto industry. They usually design cars to appeal to a really targeted demographic. They will aim for 1/3 of the market to love it, 1/3 to hate it and the remaining 1/3 to not even notice it. This might sound unusual, but look at the curve above and think about how this would work. If one third is passionate about a car they will likely purchase it and spread the idea through driving it and talking to others about it. Those who hate it will talk about it too, some of the time these complaints will reach the ears of one of the people who the car was designed for who will likely check it out for themselves.
Even being hated is better than being invisible when it comes to marketing!
In doing research for this post I came across an interesting principle called the Rule of Thirds. It helps painters and photographers have composition in their work. The rule states that the best composition comes from dividing the frame in thirds both horizontally and vertically and to place the key focal points where the lines intersect.
Example:
Rule of Thirds
Note how the horizon follows the upper line almost exactly and the focal point of the boat is in the lower left intersection and the island is in the upper right intersection (which mirrors the boat, the left most part being on an intersection).
When I saw this I immediately was struck by how this relates to the Idea Diffusion Curve we talked about earlier.
Good composition aims for the edges and intersections, NOT THE MIDDLE which is what boring pictures with poor composition do.
Good marketing aims for the left side of the Idea Diffusion Curve NOT THE MIDDLE which is what bad marketing usually does.
Stand Out From the Competition
OK, so how do we apply this to our marketing, and spreading the idea about our Network Marketing Opportunity
In short, Be Remarkable.
Create fresh content that is unusual and informative. If it works to add some humor into your content, do it.
Network Marketing Application
Social Proof -What results can you produce that are remarkable? What are some significant results that you can help you team to meet.
Story Marketing – Come up with a way to share your story in Network Marketing that is compelling and memorable. The old saying is, “Information tells and stories sell”
Internet Marketing
Social Media – Be unique, informative and if possible, funny. Produce content that is remarkable and others will want to share it.
SEO - Focus on Niche keywords with acceptable levels of competition. Aiming for the big traffic keywords in your niche with massive amounts of competition is Google’s version of invisibility – low ranking!
To Your Remarkable Success!
Paul Reimers
P.S. If you got some value from this post, I would love it if you could “sneeze” it through Facebook, Twitter and Social Bookmarking sites such as Digg.
P.S.S – If you want to find a free tool to communicate in a higher impact and remarkable way Click Here.
Tagged with: competition • Internet Marketing • purple cow • Social Media Marketing • stand out from the competition
Filed under: Marketing
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Great article Paul! I’ve been a fan of Seth for a long time and while I know EVERYONE knows who he is, I don’t think he get’s nearly enough credit for his innovative thinking – he makes it just seem so darn easy! I really like your topic here. My blog is less than a year old, but I’ve continued to refine, refine, refine my story and my target audience. It’s as important to me to provide valuable content to my audience as it is to stay true to my values, so it’s quite a balance act, but very rewarding.
Thanks Marty!
The thing I like best about Seth is that everything he has put out fits so well with Social Media even though a lot of it was put out before it got big. Things like uniqueness, transparency and permission marketing vs. interruption marketing fits so well with everything that is going on now.
Hello Paul, just like Marty says, this is a really great story although I had to read it a second time, particularly the short paragraph about the image and the way it is constructed.
I am unlike Marty in that my site is very niche specific (at least the url is) and I am trying to widen the scope somewhat to keep my readers interested.
Keep the Smiles,
Stevie
Paul,
wonderful information and guidance. Yes, I have Seth information on various topics. These are his point of views and not everyone’s.
I how ever found feeling from you, the writer on what your ideas on the subject is. I love your insight and action to be taken for all your readers and I.
There are unlimited ways to target people who would be interested in what you have and what your message is. This is the best way to get information to the masses. Give it to the few that love what you have to say. You remain giving quality content that can be used by anyone who is serious in business. That is good enough.
No one has to over-thinking anything in our industry. When they loose focus on others and greed kicks in. That is when all the money is wasted on futile attempts to capture massive people to jump all over a book and other products they created. It just will not work. You must build up a serious hunger to get what you have. That only will be done by helping people with content and real usable products.
Thanks Paul for caring and sharing with all your readers and I. Looking forward in reading your next amazing post.
Thanks William,
I agree, the best way to make an impact is through content and products that people have a real use for.
Hi Paul,
This is a really interesting article. I have a lot of respect for Seth and it shows how visionary he is because of the fact he shared the idea diffusion curve before Facebook came along! Your example of using the auto industry makes perfect sense and the concept is easy to understand. The three most important points made here, in my opinion is:
Even being hated is better than being invisible when it comes to marketing!
And explaining the rule of thirds:
Good composition aims for the edges and intersections, NOT THE MIDDLE which is what boring pictures with poor composition do.
Good marketing aims for the left side of the Idea Diffusion Curve NOT THE MIDDLE which is what bad marketing usually does.
Above all in order to stand out in marketing is being remarkable. It is best to focus on a narrow niche and become remarkable!
This is a remarkable article!
Thanks Paul,
Raena Lynn
Thanks so much Raena!
I’m glad that you liked the post. I was a little hesitant to cover these different areas in one post but decided to anyway because they are so interrelated.
Hi Paul, This has been a really interesting article to read. Being “remarkable” is definitely key to social media marketing, attraction marketing and much more preferable to aggressive promotion. Social sharing has always been an optimum way to do business… just like “sneezing” to spread information and “the idea virus…” Good stuff! Great idea, too, to head for the left side of the idea diffusion curve and not the boring middle like so many people do… to really stand out from the competition and be remarkable so people remember us!
Hey Paul! Great article! I think you are right, you need a specific niche and then to stand out. I am a big fan of Seth Godin but have not read this book. I am going to have to add it to my reading list. Thanks for sharing this great information.
Hi Paul- Excellent post!! I love everything Seth does. This might be his best book for me. It’s easy to fall in the everyone is my target audience because you don’t want to leave anything out but I’ve found it can create more challenges because your message lacks focus.
Great stuff from you!
Janette
Wonderful post Paul. Thanks for standing out by adding a video to your written post. Not a great deal of people do that, including myself…new habit I’m forming.
Your video helps tie in all the great points. Yes, even though Seth wrote Purple Cow before Facebook, the principles still apply. This is one of the cool things about principles, they are timeless.
I too am in the network marketing world and feel you need to apply a niche to your company products, pick one you can really relate too. This is how I came up with my target market. Not just from the product side, but from the business side too. The focus is still the same market.
Hey Paul
Funny post. I thought you sere so clever with your title it really caught my eye. I have heard about Seth and now will read his book. You right about being targeted in Network Marketing. I really amazes me that most people are still trying with anything that has a pulse to get into their business opportunity. Marketing has changed and people have to be ready and willing to make the change if they really want to make any money in this or any type of business.
Excellent post Paul! Title definitely caught our eyes! We agree wholeheartedly that it’s important to stand out, but most importantly to be your true unique self. Others will see right through the facade if you’re trying to be something you’re not. Thanks for sharing this most helpful info! Keep Rockin’!
Hi Paul,
Recently the name Seth Godin has come up in my readings.
I must confess that I had not even heard of him until recently.
Sound like someone I need to read…so much forsight.
Your take on marketing is right on and makes so much sense.
Thanks for sharing this info.
Cheers
Bryan
Hey there Paul, I’ll have to admit that your post and illustrations need some more chewing on. The idea of standing out like a purple cow is very valid, but developing the stand out niche is another whole ball of wax. For some it comes very easy, for others more challenging.
I have heard great things about Seth, but have not read any of his great stuff.
You have a great day now.
Lynn
Paul,
This is an outstanding post. I have also read Purple Cow and thought Seth is way ahead of the curve on all this stuff.
As you say, the key is to be remarkable. But how? For me, the answer was twofold.
First, attract others who are like me. I am a working professional, baby boomer who started an online business as an exit strategy for my job and as an alternative should I be laid off.
Have any idea how many others there are out there like me? As it turns out, thousands!
Before, when someone asked me who my target market was, I said anyone interested in Network Marketing.
Now I can say, Working professional baby boomers who are seeking an exit strategy or safety net from their current job.
Huge difference, right? By the way, I didn’t come up with this by myself, I have a skilled coach who worked with me to tease this out and put it together. Cannot overemphasize the cost effectiveness of coaching!
I haven’t read the purple cow but it is surely interesting. This reminds me of the quote, “Bad publicity is still a publicity”. I think the niche marketing idea is really great and effective. Targeting to specific market is like selling your products directly to your potential customers and not wasting on others who are not likely to buy it.
I really like your topic here. My blog is less than a year old, but I’ve continued to refine, refine, refine my story and my target audience. It’s as important to me to provide valuable content to my audience as it is to stay true to my values, so it’s quite a balance act, but very rewarding.
Hi Paul, I first came across Seth Godin when he created the Squidoo lens community back in 2005 I think it was. He certainly started something remarkable with that community, and there’s really no other like it now.
And, the way you’ve told this story in your post here Paul, is remarkable also! I look forward to reading more of your posts.
Regards from Julieanne
Hi Paul,
Great article.Thanks for sharing your information on marketing here.I havenot read this book of Seth but I think it is worth to read it.
Readers like to read fresh, informative and humorous articles and therefore we should have to create fresh quality content and it adds value to our websites.
Paul,
very nice to see others utilizing there own methods and words to get their message to the masses. Being unique has always worked. We usually do not give it a thought once we have experience that amazing play or movie. We go out and without thinking. Tell everyone around who get so excited. Some have even went to the movie prior and went back based on your viewing. You made it so exciting they thought they missed something. It was all that energy and you being your amazing self in releasing all that energy. Just makes others repeat your excitement to others and it goes viral. That is the beauty of being original in getting your message out. Just do it.
Paul, love your site and I will return shortly. Great advise with being unique with out messages. You are truly a visionary in our industry. Love the photo and would love to know the lens utilized?
Hey, Paul thanks for sharing usable information. You got me excited to continue getting my message out to the masses. Staying unique and fresh.
Excellent post Paul! niche marketing is very good idea and its very effective, thanks for sharing…
I am not a network marketer, but the concept of this topic spiked my intrest. The reason way is what you were explaining works in the same way that pop culture is formed. It does not start out aimed at the masses, it is for a target audience and because it is new, differant, and unique the group that it was for cannot wait to spread it. They cannot wait to post it, share it, blog about it, and pass it on to somebody else. You also did state that there will be some who disagree or dislike, even this has a positive impact over all. This is because it may start debate and conflict, but this is still conversion, which is still the best form of word of mouth advertisement.
In social mathematics we can see these dominating factors in play even if they are not planned actions. Yet they still have to be present for this chain of events to occur. Going back to what you were sharing, this is the best method for lower level business people, because as you pointed out “the boys” have mass revernue for advertising. So it is hard to compete with them, so if anyone who is starting out really need to read this post.
Hi Paul,
It’s great to see this post. You might also enjoy Seth’s book on Tribes…it started quite a spark throughout marketing. It’s really hard sometimes to take the 1/3 who don’t like you but you are right that you can’t be “vanilla” and be remarkable at the same time. Thanks so much for this post.
Hello Paul, I have read Seth Godin’s book “Tribes” but not “Purple Cow”. After reading your post, I’m putting it on my list for a trip to the bookstore this weekend. This is an excellent breakdown of a very important principle – aiming for a market niche and not trying to please too broad of a target market.
My mom is a fan of Seth Godin. Never really knew why. Thanks to you now I do. I am definitely going to tell her about your post.
Hello Paul! Great article! I think you are right, you need a specific niche and then to stand out. I am a big fan of Seth God in but have not read this book. I am going to have to add it to my reading list. Thanks for sharing this great information..
Excellent post here Paul!
I’m currently reading Tribes by Seth Godin. It is awesome!
Your tips are so very true and a must to think about and implement in the new creation economy as I like to call it.
I think many suffer from information over load here in cyber world so the more you stand out from the crowd the better as you suggested!
Be Remarkable!
-Ro
Sounds great, This is the best way to get information to the masses. Give it to the few that love what you have to say. You remain giving quality content that can be used by anyone who is serious in business. That is good enough, Thank you for this information..
Thanks for the wonderful read Paul
Well no one can be like Seth and yeah, he is a genius and I know he still keep some secrets lol! The good thing is he is opening same gates for us to discover the best way marketing is by offering high quality content and information for our target market. It maybe hard and will definitely take longer but I bet the effect will be permanent.
Paul,
Once again, great post and great video. I miss Golden Gate Park and the San Francisco Bay area and those Bison!
So the key is to “be remarkable” and to NOT market to the masses. Don’t market to everyone. Market to the early adopters.
I have tried to do that with my blog. I market only to people building blogs with WordPress. But I specifically target people who build their blog using the Thesis Theme for WordPress by sharing my video tutorials on that subject!
Paul, Please tell me what plugin allows commentators to reply to other commentators in this post!
Thank you so much!
Jupiter Jim
I must say that I knew about the photo 1/3′s. I have a photographer friend who taught me that long time ago, and it has come in very handy! So with that in mind the other info that you share makes a lot of sense!! This article was a big light bulb for me!! I do what to stand out in my field of expertise, being different than others, but I am not going to attract everyone, so 1/3 won’t care and the other 1/3 won’t like and then I can attract the group that wants what I offer!! I really enjoyed this article!!
Paul,
Even the title “Purple Cow” makes me stand up and take notice. All sorts of images flash through my mind before even reading your words or watching the video. That is good marketing. If it had been titled “Brown Cow” I probably would not have reacted. Reminds me of the car I am going to look at tomorrow with BMW M3 with red sports seats.
Thanks for the reminder to be remarkable, different, to not be afraid to stand out from the crowd.
Erica
Seth Godin is awesome! Thanks for sharing him with us, Paul. Standing out from our competition is the only way we are going to be noticed.
I do find it interesting, though… Seth Godin does not have commenting enabled on his blog. How can that be??? The man from whom I first heard of blog tribes, does not have comments on his blog!
It’s that way by choice. He chose NOT to have comments, just as he chose NOT to use video blogging. But he does find other ways of being noticed and recognized by Google… and bringing his numerous loyal readers back to his blog again and again and again. Things like posting every day.
Things like that make me go “Hmmmmm…”
Willena Flewelling
Hello Paul
Your use of the Rule of Third is remarkable. Using this really does show how easy it is to get in the middle. Another thing that makes you post remarkable is using the word passionate. When you aim to the people who are passionate about your idea is really a great principle to follow.
Thanks
Perry A Davis Jr
Music City
This is a great post. There is so much competition out there, we really need to do something to be noticed. Good writing and having content that is really helpful is an important start.
Hi Paul
I wondered where the purple cow came from. Now I know. Thanks It is so important to stand out. there is so much noise out there. In marketing its key to develop a brand that gives you instant recognition and to develop a target market which is narrow enough to focus your message in a way that’s heard.
I like that rule of thirds idea. I have been struggling with my images and I think the rule could help me find a better focus.
Hello Paul
Sadie here in France, smashing post. I have enjoyed Seth’s book and I love the way you have explained the principles here so swiftly. I have also just learned the trick with taking photos in the way you describe, by dividing the shot into 9 and using the a third placing. I’m getting better with picture taking now!
Hi Paul,
Nice post.I have not read Seth’s book but I found that there are many followers of Seth and that is why I am willing to read it.I really like your suggestion of making unique content which is filled with humour, fun and information.Thanks for taking time to write this post.
Hi Paul,
I really enjoyed your post. I haven’t gotten to Seth Godin’s book “Purple Cow” just yet since I learned about it back in 2009. Thanks for sharing some golden nuggets that you got out of the book.
The example you gave with the photographer’s Rule of Thirds is neat! I can relate to it with our marketing efforts in that we must shoot for the unique flavors not just plain ‘ol chocolate and vanilla…but more of rootbeer vanilla bean – hmmm, that sounds remarkable coming from a rootbeer lover
.
Very interesting topic! Nowadays you have be more innovative to create a competition in the business world, in order to attract prospective clients. Thank you for sharing your insights.Bankruptcy Lawyers Phoenix Az
Paul,
You have got me thinking again. My crazy life ahs taken me on many paths.
I am going to do some thinking and work out where I am really different. Then watch for some interesting posts!!
Thanks for this great idea.
I concur. The thing is we should be practical in running our business. Referring into a group of people is necessary but learning how to create the secret to success is better for you to stand out from the competition. This is a great post indeed and helps a lot in managing my business.
Hi Paul,
Excellent post.People like to read interesting and knowledgeable topics.You have shared a very informative post on niche marketing and it is very good idea and also it is very effective.
I agree with you the facts about internet marketing trough social media,it’s true that it is very important to create a unique and great content and funny if possible because it actually helps to to get lots of traffic.
Internet marketing is really great this is what all the businesses have now. I love your concept of riding a purple cow and stand out from the competition. It is great!
Marketing is definitely changing for business online and offline, big and small. People are not so keen about being sold products they have no interest in, and even television commercials today irk people rather than draw in people.
Internet marketing in particular has always worked best in targeting a specific audience, rather than a broad range.
Great article, Paul! I had to read it just because of the title- but now I’ve got a new book on my “to read” list!
I’m actually speaking on the topic of finding your Niche this weekend to a group of entrepreneurs, and I am focusing with them on having a highly targeted niche so they can become a big fish in a small pond at first.
Now I’ve got some great examples to share with them at the event to illustrate the point!