Posted by There is no trick or luck in being successful. In fact, success can be created and summed up in two words: be remarkable.
Easier said than done, right? Whether it’s being a musician, selling helicopters or developing the next online sensation, the ones that rise to the top are the ones that are remarkable. They are the great ones, the ones that people talk about, and the ones we all wind up cheering for. Seth Godin wrote the perfect business book about this, Purple Cow, and it’s an idea that is not lost on best-selling business book author, Tom Peters, either. Peters has a new book out next week titled, The Little Big Things, and in promoting the launch of his latest business book, he has also been publishing some interesting video clips about what it takes to be an amazing brand in our decade.
What this video clip: YouTube – Tom Peters – Strategy: Be Extraordinary:
It’s a great question to constantly ask about every element of your business isn’t it? Are you excellent and remarkable or simply "ho-hum"?
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Holy cow does this hit close to home. Almost nothing scarier for those of us the restaurant business than ho-hum. And it’s funny, because at first you would actually think that hi-hum is better than awful, but someone likely loves your awful, someones talking about your awful, someone has to actually see if you really are that awful.
Whereas, if you’re ho-hum in the restaurant business the passalong review is; Meh, I wouldn’t bother going if I were you, you’re not missing anything.
Seth has taught us all well, be remarkable! We try to live our restaurant lives with the idea in mind that if we can’t create the best (insert your specialty here) in the world, why would I even put it out there at all.
I believe that there is an opportunity to use the latest social media tools to be, to help you achieve this kind of remarkable, by the way. But you better be damn sure that you’ve brought your A game each and every game when that Social Media spotlight get’s turned on your business.
Boy is Tom Peters great at making a point, especially in person like this.
Thanks Mitch.
Just got finished reading this and watching the Tom Peters video. This really puts things in perspective. “Ho Hum” is definitely dangerous to any business in my opinion. I hope our management team never gets to this point. We have good satisfaction scores but I wonder how we could “drill down” to see if any of our patients feel that their clinic is just “Ho Hum”.
I am in the middle of reading your book. That is why I also subscribed to your blog. I have thought of so many projects now while reading it. I am an entrepreneur and have my fingers in a lot of things. Healthcare, IT, Marketing….. I know a little bit about a lot of things but not a lot about one thing. I am trying to figure out how this personal branding could work for me. I think my first step is probably going to be a personal website about Rich Earnest. Then, I need to have a strategy for each thing in which I am involved.
Thanks for the blog. It provides great information and is very easy to read.
Rich
It’s nice to see marketers talking about making better offerings. It’s very refreshing to see people move beyond the communications side of marketing and begin to tackle the rest of the business.
Great post Mitch.
Ho-hum is like maintaining statu quo… When you don’t progress, you loose ground and fall behind those who progress.
I like Tom Peters remark about being ho-hum is worst than being awful… He’s right. Those who are awful know about their condition while the ho-hum don’t realize it yet. Recognizing their is a lack or a problem is the first step to the solution.
Thank you for sharing!