Read time: 4 minutes

Hey there - it's Brian 👋

It takes a second for customers to get an impression.

So when your business feels similar to others it’s easy for customers to buy from someone else.

So in today's issue, we’re talking about how you stand out:
• Tips: 6 tactics to make your business stand out
• Story: How a $1B services firm stood out (& how a small business won)
• Free Giveaway: Free database showing how outlier companies stand out

Stay until the end to receive the free database and choose the topic 13,000+ business owners will learn next week.

Let’s make your business an stand out (in the next 4 min): 👇

How a $1B services firm stood out to make $300M

In 2020, a $1B services firm was short $300M in revenue.

A team of 5 of us worked to make up their revenue by figuring out which new market to go into.

But here’s the kicker:
They wouldn’t go into a market unless they knew they could stand out.

When companies don’t have a way to stand out, they try to stand out by lowering prices.

Unless you’re Walmart, that’s a race to the bottom.

So we had to find a solution that made up the $300M in revenue AND a way to stand out in that market.

Now, with $300M at risk we took extra steps to solidify the decision-framework on how this business stands out.

We built the framework on the mistakes and learnings from 100s of similar projects. And called 40+ experts to vet the methodology.

A few weeks later and the decision-framework was a success.

We found a market where the firm could use its current advantages to stand out and make up the $300M.

David stood out and beat Goliath

So how can small businesses compete when other businesses are spending $200,000+ on experts to figure out how to win?

Small businesses can’t afford that.

But small businesses can stand out (and win).

For that same $1B client, we ran into a few outlier small businesses. These outliers stood out so well, we decided not to compete and moved out of their market!

They focused on serving one niche so well that a more general services firm couldn’t compete.

Talk about David beating Goliath.

Steal the framework, remove the fluff

So how do you make your business an outlier?

Here’s the secret: these big businesses invest so much into these decision frameworks (but you don’t have to). Small businesses don’t need the same level of complexity as a $1B services firm.

So take their framework and remove the fluff.

Focus only on the parts of the process that are:
1) Customer-facing
2) Best for small business

I did the work for you and pulled it into 6 tactics to help you stand out.

In a later issue I’ll talk through how you decide which ones to go with and how to execute.

Vote in the poll at the bottom if you want to hear about it sooner!

Here’s the 6 tactics (with examples of each):

1) Branding

Make customers feel a certain way when they see your branding.

Ways to stand out:
• Create a certain emotion
• Stand for a mission or purpose
• Be seen a lot that customers recognize and trust your brand
• Be known as an expert or thought leader

Examples:
• JUST Water: Their Purpose is to rid the planet of plastic bottles in the ocean
• BrewDog Beer: Buy their beer and you support their fight against the establishment
• Hubspot: Their blog shares marketing ideas and is seen as a thought leader

2) Pricing

Make it easy for customers to pay you.

Ways to stand out:
• Offer lending so more can afford it
• Create pricing terms that are favorable to customers
• Offer a cheaper price (not recommended)
• Pricing structure (e.g., one-time payment vs pay-as-you-go)

Examples:
• Walmart: Low prices (not recommended)
• Starbucks: Charges high price for quality and experience
• Amazon Web Services: Has a few pricing structures to align with customer goals (e.g., Pay-As-You-Go)

3) Customer Experience

Make customers love every interaction with you.

Ways to stand out:
• Exceptional onboarding experience
• Create a user experience that customers love to use
• Use customer service as a chance to build relationships & brand

Examples:
• Zappos: Exceptional customer service
• To’ak Chocolate: Unboxing chocolate from To’ak include an elaborate origin story
• Airtable: Adapts the software to your goals and guides you through learning to use the service

4) Networking

Build relationships that no one else can and help the customer in a unique way.

Ways to stand out:
• Ecosystem: create a few solutions that all work together
• Distribution: make it easy to get your solution and have it shown everywhere
• Partnerships: integrate with exclusive partners so customers get all their problems solved
• Inbound lead generator: create content to build relationships with customers so they call you

Examples:
• Apple: A range of products creates an ecosystem
• Justin Welsh: His content creates inbound leads
• Slack: Integrates with other products that founders & small business owners use

5) Solution

Create a product or service that serves an unmet customer need or is 10x better in some way.

Ways to stand out:
• Make it likely that you’ll get results
• Make the solution last long
• Solve the problem quickly
• Get big results

Examples:
• Stripe: Allowed developers to customize internet payments
• Gym Launch: Gym owners increase revenue by $200k in 30 days
• Death Wish Coffee: Coffee beans with 200% more caffeine than typical coffee

6) Niche

Narrow who you serve so they feel you take care of their needs better than anyone.

Ways to stand out:
• Market to a niche
• Make features better solve the niche’s problem

Examples:
• ConvertKit: Built for creators
• BrewDog Beer: Marketing to punks
• Death Wish Coffee: Marketing to rebels

Outliers stand out

If you focus being 10x better at 1 or 2 of these tactics you’ll stand out and get customers.

In a future issue we’ll discuss how you can build these tactics into your business. Vote below if you want to learn how.

Grab your free case studies

I mentioned a bunch of examples of outlier businesses and I want to make sure you’re clear on how they stand out.

So I made you this database that analyzes how they stand out.

Bookmark it since I’ll be updating the file over the next few weeks with more examples!

Click the button below to get it for free: 👇

Now it’s your turn:

Reply to this email and let me know how you’ll use this tip to make your business stand out.

I read every email. I’ll guide you to resources to help.

If you found this helpful, please forward this email to 1 friend or colleague. They'll appreciate you and you'll help grow the community.

See you next Thursday 👋

Brian
Twitter
LinkedIn

If you liked this post, and want more like it, sign up for free:

Work with Brian

Whenever you’re ready there’s 2 ways I can help you:

1. Grab time with me to help you make your business stand out.

2. Promote your business to 13,000 business owners by sponsoring this newsletter.

🛠️ Outlier Resources

Free giveaway:
Here’s a live database explaining how outlier businesses successfully stand out. I’m giving this for free exclusively to members of our newsletter.

Book:
Seth Godin on why you need to stand out to win.

Personal:
I’m sending you this issue from Ninh Binh, Vietnam. Food is incredible and scenery is beautiful. I definitely recommend the visit if you can make it!

📚 Next Week’s Topic

Phew! You made it to the end!

People like you make this community amazing. So I want to give you the opportunity to pick the topic that will help you grow your business the most (vote to choose next week’s topic below):