“You gotta be original. If you’re not, what do they need you for?” – actress Bernadette Peters.
Do you think everything’s been said and done?
Do you think there’s nothing new under the sun?
Au contraire.
There ARE original ideas, first-of-their-kind brands and businesses, and individuals who stand out from their crowd.
In fact, your success depends on your ability to say, do and offer something people haven’t heard or seen before, something that motivates them to say “Tell me more.”
Are you thinking, “Easier said than done?”
Agreed. That’s why I introduce step-by-step processes in my POP! and Got Your Attention? books that show you EXACTLY HOW to create new ideas, original approaches, and innovative messages that give you a competitive edge.
Think about it. Whatever you do, you’re probably one-of-many. One of many consultants. One of many companies. One of many job-seekers.
You don’t want to be one-of-a-many. You want to be one-of-a-kind.
When you’re one-of-a-kind, you have no competition.
Are you thinking, “Okay Sam, I agree with this, but how can I create an original approach or innovative brand name?”
Here’s just one of the replicable POP! processes you can use to create something that’s new, something that helps you break out instead of blend in. It’s called the Half and Half Technique.
Here’s an example of someone who coined a Half and Half Brand Name and then I’ll show how you can do it too.
Dr. Francine Kaufman was concerned about the numbers of children coming into L.A.’s Children’s Hospital with Type 2 Diabetes.
She said, “A decade ago, this would have been so rare, it would have been written up in a medical journal. Now, such children fill my medical clinic.”
She wanted to do something about this, yet there were many doctors and nutritionists addressing this issue. She would have blended in.
And when you care about something and want other people to care about it too; you don’t want to blend in, you want to break out.
So, what did Dr. Francine Kaufman do? She coined a Half-and-Half word by combining the words diabetes and obesity into … DIABESITY.
Boom. Not only did her original word get attention for this important issue – it helped her become the go-to-media resource, author and expert on this topic. She scaled her influence and income by coming up with an innovative name.
A fast food restaurant that specializes in hot dogs and beer came up with a fantastic Half and Half Name… Frank ‘n Stein. An Italian-Chinese restaurant calls itself Ciao Mein. An Indian-Hawaiian café’ named itself Taj Mahalo.
My son Tom loved a class at Virginia Tech where Professor Cole introduced students to the joys of Wagner, Verdi and Puccini. He called it Operatunity.
You may be thinking, “Okay, those are clever names. Big whoop. But I don’t want to be ‘cutesy.’ How can this help grow my business bottom line?”
Good question. Here’s the backstory of how an entire industry was transformed because a shop owner came up with a new, original way to “do business.”
About a decade ago, the scuba industry had a serious problem. Fewer and fewer people were going scuba diving. Many dive shop operators were on the verge of bankruptcy. So, how did they solve this problem?
Well, let’s use the 6 P’s of Disruption (featured in Got Your Attention?) to show how to attract new customers and generate new revenue with a fresh approach and positioning that gives you a competitive edge, all at the same time.
P – Purpose: What was the Purpose of these scuba operators? They wanted to get new customers and more customers so they wouldn’t go bankrupt.
P – Person: Who is the person who has the power to buy or try what you’re offering? Here’s where it gets interesting. 20 years ago, who made the decision about how families spent their time in Hawaii? Probably Mom or Dad. Ten years ago, it changed.
Guess who now makes the decision about how families spend their time in Hawaii? THE KIDS. Uh-oh. Kids can’t go scuba diving. No wonder the industry was struggling. The person who had the power to try and buy what they were selling … couldn’t.
P – Problem: Okay, put yourself in the mental shoes of the person who has the power to buy what you’ve got. Let’s call this person Andy. Ask Andy, “What Problems do you have with my product or service?” Andy would answer, “Well, I can’t go scuba diving because I can’t afford it. And I can’t get certified. And I’m scared to go down 100 feet. What if I drown? What if I can’t equalize my ears? And I can’t carry those heavy oxygen tanks on my back.”
All those problems are barriers to entry. And the more barriers to entry your business has, the more likely it is to go bankrupt.
P – Premise: Your Premise is, “Why does it have to be that way? What if there was a better way, safer way, less expensive way, more appealing way, easier, less risky way? What if I could make those problems go away?”
P – Process/Approach: In answering those questions, you often come up with an original Process/Approach (or program/product) that eliminates the problems that were keeping people from trying and buying what you’re offering.
For example, Andy might say, “What if I didn’t have to carry those heavy oxygen tanks on my back? What if I could just leave them on the boat? Then, you could just run a long air hose from the oxygen tank to my snorkel mask. And then I wouldn’t have to go down 100 feet. I wouldn’t have to worry about drowning or equalizing my ears. I could go down ten feet and have fun swimming with the humuhumunukunukuapaaa’. Plus, I wouldn’t have to get certified. So I could afford it. And my whole family could go. This would be a whole NEW way to enjoy the ocean without all the problems of scuba. I would happily do it then.”
P – Pop: If you want your new entity to break out vs. blend in out, you’ll want to give it a new name. Use my Half and Half Technique to create an intriguing word that will drive media attention, buzz and new customers.
Let’s see, it’s half scuba, half snorkel. Take the first syllable of the first word and blend it with the second syllable of the second word and you get … SNUBA.
Tah dah. An original word and a new multi-million dollar industry that saved many mom and pop operators from bankruptcy and revitalized their business.
Want more examples of how to create new brand names, first-of-its-kind products, programs and services, and a unique positioning/messaging that help you break out instead of blend in?
Check out these posts that feature additional ways to EARN your decision-makers’ favorable attention.
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