The Secret To Success Comes in Purple

Stand Out From the CrowdOne of my favorite books of all time is Purple Cow, by Seth Godin.

In it, Seth describes that the key to success is to find a way to stand out – to be the purple cow in a field of monochrome Holsteins. (A Holstein is a breed of cow. I looked it up.)

Seth’s description really resonates with me because looking back at my entrepreneurial journey, that’s exactly what I’ve always done – I have always purposely tried to stand out from the crowd.

In fact, you may be reading this post today because there was something I did, or something on my blog that one day made you think that it was different from the hundreds of thousands of other blogs talking about entrepreneurship and making money online.

Here are some examples of how I purposely try to stand out from the crowd:

  • I write detailed income reports every month, revealing exactly how much money I make online (down to the penny), as well as where it all came from.
  • I customized the design of my blog.
  • I send follow-up emails to my newsletter that are pure content – no hype or selling.
  • I try to respond to every comment made on the blog, as much as I can.
  • I blog about my failures and struggles as much as I do about my wins and successes.
  • I admit I’m not crazy rich, or even rich at all.
  • I not afraid to tell my story.

Based on some the above, you might be thinking to yourself, “Pat, you’re not the only one to do that.” or “Pat, that’s not original.”

My response to that is that the whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts. In other words, your business or blog is a total package, and your total package, your brand, must be unique.

The One Thing We All Have To Help Us Stand Out From The Crowd

There’s one thing that you have, one thing that you possess right now that is so unique, no one else in the world has it. If you can harness this and utilize it for your own blog or business, nothing can stop you.

What is it?

It’s you.

Nobody in this world is just like you. No one has shared the exact same experiences, has the exact same tastes and understands the world just like you, so don’t be afraid to be yourself sometimes. This is why your story is important too.

What Are 3 Things You Are Doing to Stand Out From the Crowd? (And a Free Book!)

In the comment section below, I’d like for you to describe 3 things that you’re doing that helps your business or blog stand out from the crowd.

Hopefully this mind exercise will be thought provoking and help you remind yourself why you’re business or blog is unique, or help you realize that you need to do something to stop blending in.

I will send two copies Purple Cow (audio book) to two random commenters. Winners will be contacted via email and announced on my Facebook page on Sunday.

So again, what are 3 things that you’re doing to stand out from the crowd?

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Hector Cuevas September 3, 2010 at 1:17 am

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OK Pat.. here’s what I got

1. I publish a monthly “Magazine” titled the Entrepreneurs Report where I feature 4-6 of the best articles from top bloggers (with their permission) for a given month and give it away for free..

2. I tried my best to have a UNIQUE design at my blog – because I noticed everyone was using WooThemes FreshNews (LOL) so I customized it to the MAX..

3. I give away not 1 but THREE (3) special reports when someone subscribes to my newsletter – no pitch, no fluff, just pure content that, if applied, can get them results..

I got a few more but you said to mention 3.. so, there you go

Thanks,
Hector

p.s. ..haven’t read the book yet, but I’ll add it to my ‘gotta-read’ list

Pat September 3, 2010 at 1:34 am

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Hey Hector! Thanks for stopping by, and thanks again for letting me share a bit with your readers the other day. They rock!

Well done on the theme by the way. I can usually tell when I see a blog with a WooThemes theme, but with yours I couldn’t ;)

Cheers!

Hector Cuevas September 3, 2010 at 10:06 pm

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Pat.. you’re welcome man, don’t mention it.. I’m sure they got a lot out of your answers…

Thanks.. WooThemes makes it pretty easy to customize and – I’m sort of a design freak to be honest, but I guess that’s a good thing b’cuz differentiation is key ;)

Laters..

Megumi September 3, 2010 at 1:19 am

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Thanxs for another great post, Pat – and a nice headline, learned sth again ;-)

I think like you; unique design is important, for me there is a “feng shui” of the blog. The look and feel. I am not a pro, but I try stuff out, and amend details.

I am the pink cow: I love this colour and as I see my blog many times a day, I have to really like seeing it too ;-) …its part of my passion. It also goes with the “uniqueness” or main message of the blog: making a boring alternative theme like raw food in Spain more juicy and fun.

Choosing a unique theme to blog about. Unlike in the English blogs, there are not that many contemporary raw food blogs in Spanish.

The last one is to make recipe videos under 1min, spiced up with some music so people have fun watching them.

Basically its not even a strategy, its just being what I am and thats impossible to fake. I would rather say its hard not to be unique. Everybody is a purple cow in essence. :-)

Pat September 3, 2010 at 1:37 am

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I definitely agree with you – there is a feng shui with blog design. Coming from a design background, I can’t stress that enough. Also, I think having your title on the right hand side, although it’s not recommended, really works for your blog. Yes – it’s not that hard to be unique, since we are all purple cows like you said, but at the same time we often deviate from who we are and try to just copy other people’s systems and successes, and forget about ourselves sometimes.

Curso de Marketing September 3, 2010 at 2:11 am

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Hey Pat! This is one of my favorites too! Seth Godin Roks! 3 things that I try to do to be different:

Answering every comment and email received through my blog.

Giving away cool ebooks for free with my blog

Having a newsletter an email list (This is like a totally new thing in the spanish Blogosphere)

;)

Pat September 3, 2010 at 10:15 pm

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Awesome! I didn’t realize that the spanish blogosphere hasn’t picked up on some of these kinds of things yet. Good stuff!

Onibalusi Bamidele September 3, 2010 at 2:34 am

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Wow! Really great excercise Pat!

Below are what I do to stand out of the crowd:

1. I reply to every single mail I get with answers (even if I am supposed to charge for it, I do give answers for free)
2. I reply to every single comment I get
3. I make sure I inject my personality in ever single post of mine

Thanks a lot for the great post,
-Onibalusi

Patrick | Lalala Music September 3, 2010 at 3:09 am

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Hola Señor Flynn!

I must say your branding strategy is working, I see people mentioning you and your brand quite a lot. It’s easy to recognize, especially because all the things you do somehow contact with the brand you’re trying to build.

On to my list:

1. First of all, I have a blog about music business. I try to help musicians create, promote, distribute and perform their music. In the process I try to show that even though I’m a business graduate with entrepreneurial aspirations, I am still a humble musician at heart, doing everything possible to rock out and crush it!
2. I try to keep my hair at a medium size. Not too short, not too long. Enough to cover my eyes, so that people don’t know what I’m looking at. Creepy. I know. I find that helps creating my persona for my blog and inspires me to write in my own special way.
3. I created a theme of my own, kind of bluish and happy. I feel it associates well Lalala Music and creates a great atmosphere for musicians.

Very well, now I’m back to catching up with The Challenge by Ed Dale.

Big hug,

Patrick

Howie September 3, 2010 at 3:53 am

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Pat,

I have to ask you, honestly….what do you think when you see elements of Smart Passive Income showing up on other people’s blogs? Do you feel that they just can’t get ahead themselves (so they copy off of you), or do you find it to be a bit of a complement? The reason I ask is because, it’s no surprise that I borrowed a few elements of inspiration from your blog, and other blogs, when creating Tactical Cashflow…..once you began doing your monthly income reports, it seemed like a ton of bloggers notice the effectiveness of transparency (as an element of an effective business mode), and I literally saw 10-20-30+ blogs all follow suit with their own income reports.

What do you think?

Eric | My 4-Hour Workweek September 3, 2010 at 6:11 am

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I’ve noticed it too, and while it feels like there are copycats (and that tends to have a negative connotation), I think it’s a great thing. Pat’s a top notch blogger, so if others can mimic some of his qualities, they’re just helping bring more value to the internet.

With all the crap content out there, I think we would be lucky to have more bloggers similar to Pat out there. I know a lot of what I do as a blogger is inspired by him.

Hopefully it’s true what they say – imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Patrick | Lalala Music September 3, 2010 at 1:29 pm

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The thing about Pat is that whenever I read his stuff or listen to his podcast, I feel so good about myself. It’s like I’m at home here :) there’s just an air of genuine honesty about Flynnstone.

Solomon September 3, 2010 at 11:37 pm

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There’s two ways to think of it, there’s wow i had a great idea and people are copying me darn and then there’s the simply fact that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. So i think for the most part the second one is the one that really applies here.

Pat September 4, 2010 at 12:08 am

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Hey Howie – I don’t mind when people copy off of me in that way – I find it as a huge compliment. If it were done in such a way that impacted my business, how much money I was making or my goals as an entrepreneur, then I would probably get upset, but otherwise I’m happy to spread my thoughts on what works and what doesn’t in hopes that people will find the same success.

I did notice the trend with income reports too. If it inspires them and their followers to take more action and work towards life changing goals, I’m all for it.

Thanks Howie, Eric and Patrick for your support, as always.

jason September 3, 2010 at 4:07 am

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Short and to the point…
1. I enable people to speak up and tell their story.
2. I give them reason to act.

Thanks for the great blog.

Howie September 3, 2010 at 4:26 am

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…..and, as for the 3 things I’m doing to ‘stand-out’ from the crowd:

1) I’m attempting to be seen everywhere. With 2,000+ posts on both Warrior Forum, as well as the Info Barrel forum, I’m really trying hard to help people and ‘give back’ with the things I’ve learned.

2) You know all about what I’ve been doing with Info Barrel. No matter what anyone says, I believe 110% that they have a superior business model….so, while everyone and their brother seems to have a love affair with using more established Web 2.0 sites, I’m jumping aboard at basement level, writing and outsourcing like crazy. eHow gets 20,000+ organic searches for the search term ‘eHow’ every day. Right now, Info Barrel is beginning to do the same for the keywords “Info Barrel” and “Info Barrel”. Right now, I have at least 2 properties of mine on the first page of Google.

3) I’ve integrated an acronym into my blog, that I hope to govern the principles and approach that I hope to take with it. Cheesy? I don’t know….the Army has a plethora of acronyms, so, I figured, it’s worked there for decades, why not a blog? lol…. :)

TrafficColeman September 3, 2010 at 4:39 am

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SuperMan Pat,

Here’s my 3 things I do to help me stay stand out in a crowd of sexy blogs..
“no particular order”

1. I write my own content..from my point of view.

2. I say what I want..no hold bars for me…people love people who just be themselves, not just another blogger trying to watch what you says.

3. I listen to my readers story..people always want someone to listen to thier struggles, so when you choose to listen someone else mishaps…then you can give them that advice that could shape the rest of thiere lives.

Remember to listen people..smart people listen to problems and come up with solution and develop a product…and make millions…these are the facts of life that will help you not only stand out..but also grow wealthy.

“TrafficColeman “Signing Off”

Tyler Wells, CPA September 3, 2010 at 4:54 am

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1. I take a subject that many new entrepreneurs consider the less sexy side of business, accounting and financial management, and I make it sizzle.
2. I avoid the somber tone of most web sites with the same theme to keep it as fun and light as possible.
3. I mix quotations from great historical figures with entrepreneurs and even cartoon characters to give it pep.

Michael September 3, 2010 at 5:02 am

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This is great Pat.

3 ways I stand out out

1. Unique writing style/voice
2. Not afraid to take risks and be a bit quirky
3. I have a “Sleep Talking Cat” on my blog right next to my selection of published poems!

Cheers

Michael

Karl Hadwen September 3, 2010 at 5:47 am

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Hey Pat, great post and great book; ordered this book like a few months ago from Amazon, great read.

Also I believe one of the things that makes me stand out the most is probably how much I help people, I get people emailing me to help them with their blog and/or something that they’ve got a problem with. Just like yesterday, somebody emailed me saying they didn’t know how to transfer their blog over to a new host, so I went ahead and emailed the person back and told them how to do it (step by step) then went ahead and transfered the blog for them; for free.

I believe helping people is something that goes along way and I like to help all my readers.

Karl

Ian September 3, 2010 at 5:54 am

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Nice headline, Pat. ;)

I’ll be launching a new blog soon and I have some very interesting ways to stand out. I need to get this book in audio too – great read.

David Turnbull September 3, 2010 at 6:03 am

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Never actually read any of Godin’s books (although I love his blog), so maybe I should pick up Purple Cow sooner rather than later.

Anyways, I’m doing three things unique with my latest project that are working, but the most effective 3 are:

1) Create 5+ videos per week. This was a big fear of mine previously, but after a few months I actually feel pretty great in front of the camera and it drives 100+ people per day. Not a huge amount of traffic, but the average time on site is around 5 minutes. So it’s worthwhile.

2) Launch a newsletter. This doesn’t sound like anything fancy, but it’s not common for sites in the videos games niche to use services like Aweber. I think a fairly personal, weekly newsletter with just the best bits of news, opinion etc will go a long way.

3) Be an incubator for creation. That’s just a fancy way of saying I essentially encourage people to compete with me. Already I’ve given people that little motivation boost to work on their own projects instead of just consuming what I put out into the world. I really want everyone in the community to build there own little communities to feel the joy I feel.

…all of that’s just the beginning though. Things are going great but I have much bigger plans that are to be executed over the next 1-2 months. Should be a fun time. :)

David September 3, 2010 at 2:13 pm

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cool site, I’m not into the DS, but my nieces love it. You really are being a purple cow as Seth puts it by focusing as the source for all things on this product. Not too mention creating content your audience actually cares about and leveraging Facebook, and making videos. Video game site are notoriously challenging to monetize, I am curious as to what your business strategy is.

Eric | My 4-Hour Workweek September 3, 2010 at 6:16 am

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Here are the three ways I try to stand out:

1) Constantly deliver detailed content with concrete examples. Little fluff.

2) I’m trying to introduce a little humor on my blog, with videos (well, there’s only one so far) that poke fun at the affiliate marketing game (even though I am very much a part of that game).

3) I may myself available to help out people who just starting out and trying to create their “muse.” Be it through e-mail or comments, I really enjoy helping people get started on the right foot (and no, it’s not a service I charge for).

Dustin Aaron Sanchez September 3, 2010 at 6:24 am

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Pat I’m trying to stand out from the crowd by
1) Niche marketing to the legal profession
2) I post videos of my workouts on my blog
3) Studying your blog and trying to copy everything u do

Brian Landi September 3, 2010 at 6:32 am

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Hi Pat,
Your blog is always an inspiration to me, thank you! 3 Ways that I try to stand out are:
1. Add my own personal voice and personality to each blog post.
2. Relate business ideas to all aspects of life in a holistic sense.
3. Cover a wide array of topics while still remaining in my niche of personal and professional development.

Thanks for all you do! And I hope you are enjoying the Security Guard niche challenge! I have enjoyed following it.

Sincerely,
Brian

Mark Marshall September 3, 2010 at 6:53 am

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I am the reliable one in town. My town is known as a slacker town, with most people here primarily to recreate or retire. Amazingly many contractors, consultants and service people don’t return calls, show up for appointments or respond to problems. To stand out from the crowd, sometime you just have to show up. I think of it as using my natural midwest work ethic to get ahead.

mark

Moon Hussain September 3, 2010 at 7:22 am

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Ah damnit east coasters! I’m up at 7:00a.m. and still 21 replies to your new post already :O

Three things:
1. customize blog-check
2. need to inject more personality into my posts (maybe a couple of vids wouldn’t hurt :)
3. ?? need to think more on the third one..maybe not be afraid to voice my opinions so much.

Juan September 3, 2010 at 9:26 am

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I couldn’t win a copy of “Instant Article Factory”
I hope I’ll have better luck this time.

By the way, I think it is not:
the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
It is:
the whole is different than the sum of it’s parts.

~~Juan~~

Jonny Gibaud September 3, 2010 at 12:03 pm

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Great article. I love posts that get me thinking.

1. I don’t just blog about business, lifestlye design and sexy money. I put up post that show I am ACTUALLY doing it.

2. I don’t blogging too seriously which means I can bring as much humour and quirkiness as I like.

3. I write all my posts naked.

Kurtis September 3, 2010 at 2:26 pm

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Pat, you are correct a Holstein is a breed of cow. I should know I grew up on a small dairy farm in Minnesota milking them, unfortunately we didn’t have purple cows. I think the purple ones are the ones that make the chocolate milk.

Thanks for the great article smartpassiveincome.com is my favorite source of information about effectively running a business online.

Dustin Stevens-Baier September 3, 2010 at 3:36 pm

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I try to focus on creating a business while working full-time ( I thought this was semi-unique until I listened to your podcast with Mark Mason)

I talk about how I work on this business with my wife and her food blog

My wife and i are creating a free eBook cookbook for her to give out to people who sign-up for her newsletter. We have yet to see this anywhere so hopefully it will be really eye catching.

Thanks Pat!

Kristina September 3, 2010 at 4:19 pm

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HI Pat! I love reading your information!

Here I go….three? Oh boy!

1. I always get on the phone with people. Meaning If a client is interested in my services, I always suggest that we speak by phone (even though I am a VA and work “virtually”). I do a lot of customer service and I think it is important that people know what I sound like.

2. I admit when I do not have the expertise to do something. I won’t pull the wool over your eyes ;)

3. I dive into muddy waters (talking with pissed off customers) and come out clean at the end of the day (find a way to make them happy)….and I like doing it. Most people don’t actually like tackling a problem in the form or a very upset, sometime screaming dissatisfied customer. Let me at em!!!

Great article as usual….not if I could only print out every single post you have written and somehow bind it…mmmmmm

Devin September 3, 2010 at 6:12 pm

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Hey Pat,

Once again, well done. Probably TMI, but I have a copy of “Purple Cow” in the lavatory at the moment. Seth is absolutely my favorite marketing author, and I know I’m not alone there.

What am I doing to stand out from the crowd?

?Uno – I will not promote products on my IM related site
?Dos – Although I own many websites, I’m going ‘anti-design’ on my personal blog
?Tres – I will not actively pursue SEO on my blog

Despite months of diligent IM work, I just started my blog today. I’ll be tracking my progress building 10 authority niche sites over the next 12 months, and it’s very refreshing for me to have a blog that’s just a pure outlet and networking engine – without having to worry about stats/converstions/SEO at all.

Thanks again for a killer post!

-Devin

Lye Kuek Hin September 3, 2010 at 7:01 pm

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Hi Pat,

Your posts really make me ponder what do i have to stand out from so many blogs out there. Probably can sum up to these.

1) I am just me, be myself and do not be afraid to show my personality.
2) I respect every visitors and make sure they felt at home.
3) Make my blog design unique.

Jeff rose September 3, 2010 at 8:07 pm

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Standing out:

1. When I first started my blog in ’08 I was one of only a handful of financial advisors that were blogging (that I could at least find- and I looked). I know I was the only one that was focusing on keyword marketing.

2. I continue to update on a frequent basis, averaging 4-5 posts per week consistently.

3. The next phase of standing out is incorporating video in my current blog and my new blog that I’m launching that will be centered around the book I’m writing.

Brent Mair September 3, 2010 at 8:30 pm

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Three things that make my business stand out
1. I create an experience, not just a product
2. I pride myself in creating twists in mysteries
3. My products are family friendly

Sammy | Best Home Business September 3, 2010 at 11:06 pm

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Hi Pat,

You are so right. We need to differentiate ourselves or be lost in the crowd.

Here are some ways in which I try to differentiate myself.

1. Obviously theme customization. Though I am not much of a designer, I still managed to tweak a little here and there to make it sufficiently unique.

2. Friendly banter in my newsletter. I try to inject some amount of humor or at least light banter which makes of a light and personal reading instead of being bogged down by the heavy stuff.

3. Responding to every mail. I encourage visitors to contact me with their problems. And when they do, I give them a detailed reply as much as possible to solve their problem.

Erik September 4, 2010 at 4:17 am

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Hey Pat another great article and certainly something we should all actively think about. Three things I am doing to be the one and only purple cow in my niche:

(1) Don’t blog, my niche and therefore my site is for people who need information and in my view blogs are notoriously unstructured.

(2) Before I picked my field to start grazing in I made sure that all the top rankers in google are indeed all Holsteiners, so much so that it seems a B&W picture so I don’t need to be too purple to stand out. The trick will be to maintain that difference…

(3) Apart from giving (and later selling in an e-book) the information to my customers which tells them what to do and how to do it (beating iron deficiency) I will give them tons of easy recipes which if they simply use these they can almost be on autopilot… add to that some easy tracking tools and we should be onto a winner…

Unfortunately I only kicked this niche off about 2 weeks ago so I still have a long way to go….

Jeff Young September 4, 2010 at 8:51 am

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Hey Pat! Three things that make me stand out?

1. I’ve mashed food with faith. Now that’s something you don’t find everywhere.
2. I blog in addition to podcasting. My blog posts are not just show notes for the podcast. I offer more content (including recipes) as blog posts.
3. I stay in constant contact with readers and listeners (who become quick friends) via Twitter, Facebook, email, comments on the blog, and voice feedback on the podcast.

Great work you are doing here, Pat. Thanks!

GoofyDad Michael September 4, 2010 at 9:36 am

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Hey Pat1 I got turned on to your site by Cliff Ravenscraft, and I’m really enjoying it! I recently started a blog called http://www.goofydadspeaks.com and I am definitely going to learn all I can from you and hopefully register for your course. I am positive that i have all the skills needed to do well earning online, and I’m looking forward to learning from you.

Mike Roberts September 4, 2010 at 1:15 pm

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Great post, and as the guys mentioned earlier, there are a lot of Pat Flynn admirers out there. I am proud to say that I’ve learned and implemented many things from Pat. one is the name of my blog: Big Goal Hunting with Mike Roberts.

I like that it ties me into the work and forces me to be front and center. Every thing I write about on my blog is backed up with my name.

anyway, my 3 things are:

1. I try to teach from experience. I don’t tell, I do. Within recounts of my personal experiences (that I try to write in a way to entertain and educate), I will mix in the lessons that I learned in the hopes that others can benefit

2. I post rarely. Right now, it’s only once per month and I only have 10 articles up. I only want to share excellent work. Anything less, gets deleted (I trashed over 150 articles when I was re-designing my site).

3. I don’t have ad’s and I’m not an affiliate of any products or services: NOthing against these things, well I’m not a fan of excessive ads (but nobody is), but I just don’t feel like messing will the affiliate marketing stuff. I just don’t understand it very well, so I leave in alone.

Thanks for all the advice and incredibly valuable info Pat, I am truly grateful

~Mike

Jennifer September 4, 2010 at 3:34 pm

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Hi Pat, this is a story to tell. I read your posts each week and I just read your whole post. I just published a post including you as a good example of making passive income. The post included how you inspired me and your success on here. Within my post, I had included how you inspired me “how to stand out from the crowd”. It also said how you detail each income report and how you try to respond to each and every reader. All this was included in my post without even reading your new post,yet. This is very strange in a good way..

Jared September 4, 2010 at 11:39 pm

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As mention by Johnny, great article if it get’s me to thinking!

Three things to standing out:
1. You have to give it away to keep it.
I’m attempting to purchase/acquire 2 extra copies of products or books (mostly) I get something of value from and utilize the social proof example you gave (just like this post) to encourage people to comment on a topic. Then give away copies.
2. Transparency.
Think of what kind of a world we would live in if EVERYONE found they could conquer their greatest optical then dedicated their lives to helping others do the same. I’m a believer in “I’m as sick as my secrets” and enjoy complete transparency in mistakes I’ve made in my life and how I’ve turned it around.
3. Authenticity.
No matter what you’re selling, people can read through BS. I really, really, try hard to connect with people on a personal level. As hard as it can be online, it takes a certain gift or skill to come across as genuine, honest, and sincere in ones motives. It can be frustrating sometimes because I just want to go and meet everyone who emails me or comments on something I’ve written. I take their comments seriously and try to connect to each persons experience personally. I try to be understanding rather than understood!

I know I can help others succeed because I’ve seen it work! It just takes getting someone to believe in themselves first and the rest is gravy!

Stephen September 5, 2010 at 12:34 am

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Hi Pat great question thanks!
Okay here’s what I do:
1) I write about a topic which is not in the mainstream – the meaning of life.
2) My style of writing and approach is not typical of the blogosphere.
3) My post topic and titles are unusual.

The above being said, synchronisticaly I was watching a Google talk by Seth Godin last night and I am giving a lot of thought to, is what I’m doing remarkable or not.
Cheers,
Stephen.

Stephan - PassivelyEarned.com September 5, 2010 at 10:49 am

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Thanks for the mind excercise Pat. I think it’s a good thing to something force yourself to view things from a different perspective.

Here’s my three:
[1] I try to be as open as possible about my failures.
[2] I’ve been in very different industries, giving me a broad range of perspectives.
[3] I have an opinion and I know how to use it.

Landon September 5, 2010 at 11:37 am

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1. I am a personal finance nerd.
2. I am extremely passionate both in business and in the bedroom.
3. I possess a rapist wit.

John Tuggle September 5, 2010 at 12:32 pm

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This is a good exercise.

1. I only teach blues and slide guitar.
2. If you don’t like the lessons on DVD, I will refund your return shipping.
3. I don’t have an affiliate program. This may change though. I have lots of offers, but I am on a different mission and want to control what people say about my lessons through their ads. I don’t want people advertising, “Learn the blues in 24 hours guaranted!” So completely false and it looks so spammy.

Peter J September 6, 2010 at 2:45 am

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OK here’s my three :D
1) I use blogger, no one serious ever uses that.
2) I have tried to develop a serious and professional template on the platform.
3) I comment and engage in as many blogs as i can to get myself out :P

Hope i win :D

Derek Jensen September 7, 2010 at 9:50 am

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Sounds like I need to get a copy of Purple Cow! I truly do believe that the reason a majority of people aren’t standing out is because they are not being them.

I believe I’m standing out by:

1) Treating all the people I engage with as a much more personal relationship
2) Going out into physical communities and creating events to physically get people engaged with me, my mission, and my voice
3) Always thinking of new ideas to match my overall idea (or big picture) so I’m always striving for improvement, originality, and creativity.

Best,
Derek

Camille September 7, 2010 at 12:53 pm

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I’m a fiction writer, and so I suppose I’m in a business where everyone is trying to be true to themselves and stand out from the crowd. (And I’ve been a fan of Seth Godin for years.) Here are a few things I do:

1. Everybody in the arts wants to push the envelope, be “edgy,” so I like to mess with things by twisting them in the middle instead of at the edges. For instance, I cross-genres, but try to be true to them.

2. I don’t “kill my darlings” (that is, cut the stuff I like best because they are probably self-indulgent). If I love it, I celebrate it, and figure someone else will love it too. Eventually. IMHO the advice “kill your darlings” is just another way of saying “Hide your light under a barrel.”

3. I’m not afraid to talk about my work. In order to keep myself honest and engaged, I run my blog as an ongoing “novel dare” – where I report progress and frustrations.

Camille

Boomer54 Mark September 8, 2010 at 12:01 pm

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1. I send daily inspirational quotes to my subscriber list. Can be read in less than 30 seconds.

2. I polarize my audience. I am male, a baby boomer, Christian, conservative in my politics. And my content shows it!

3. I send a separate email to all my commenters and ask for a guest from them.

Terrific post…I, too, LOVE Seth Godin books!

Mark

Ben September 9, 2010 at 9:01 am

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Hey Pat, quick question for you, how much content did you have on this site before investing in a customized design?

I have a new blog with some content but I think it would look sparse at this point.

Lisa Ashby September 10, 2010 at 11:51 am

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Here are my three:

1. Being completely transparent with my audience about my financial mistakes in the past (foreclosure being one of them) and my struggles and successes moving forward.
2. Developing a unique newsletter geared towards the needs of my podcast listeners.
3. I am working on responding to emails quickly – same day when possible.

Andy Fling October 9, 2010 at 3:29 am

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Hi Pat! Here’s my top three “stand out from the crowd” ideas. Too late for the give away, but hopefully a good addition here:

1) Begin by finding a niche that you can that you can stand out in.

I own an elementary music education website that includes free sheet music. I create arrangements of popular classical pieces, folk songs, Christmas songs and original songs for kids. I’ll probably never be a great composer, but I’m good at simplifying things. My focus with this part of my website has been to be aware of the sheet music that is available on the web and in the stores, and do my very best to do them one better.

2) Build a website that looks like a place people would like to be.

I have played many concerts dressed up in a tuxedo. I know the value of looking the part. If you want people to think that you have something good to offer, they have to have that impression the very moment that they enter your website.

3) If you want to stand out from the crowd, don’t be lost in the crowd.

Market your content every time you add something new. Every marketing effort creates a new point of entry to your website, and another boost to your search engine rankings.

Funny Note:
I just added a free beginner piano book to my website that includes a song I wrote about a pink cow. It makes me laugh. Hopefully it will give you a laugh too!

Miss O’Leary’s cow was brown,
When she took it in to town.
She came back and it was pink,
And gave you strawberry milk to drink.

Andy

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