But PRETTY isn’t what makes marketing effective. Visually, I imagine The Pretty Problem as a RED ROSE. All over the internet and in hundreds of thousands of unread brochures, you’ll find RED ROSES. You’ll find pretty graphics and big words and talk of taking things to the NEXT LEVEL with EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERIVICE and HIGH INTERITY. You’ll find people talking about organizational dynamics, cultural initiatives and integrated blah, blah, blah. It’s a LOT of RED ROSES.

As people focus on sounding smart/looking pretty, they tend toward the safest, least offensive, most used, most common, most general descriptions and language. They lean toward the clichés and jargon. They think they sound smart and many of the sites do look pretty. You end up with another RED ROSE in a sea of RED ROSES. The problem is, aside from being disgustingly boring, it’s a ridiculously ineffective way to attract new customers. Your clients work with YOU presumably because they LIKE something about you and how you do business. If you look like a RED ROSE in a sea of other RED ROSES, how will new clients ever find you?

New marketing is all about knowing which qualities and characteristics your clients like/love about you and AMPLIFYING those qualities and characteristics. It’s about making yourself EASY TO RECOGNIZE. If you’re a BLUE FISH, it’s about being a BLUE FISH. If you’re funny…be funny. Uptight? Traditional? Downright Anal? Your materials and communication style need to reflect that so the clients who love it about you can tell that YOU are the one they’ve been looking for. When you put YOU on loudspeaker, you make yourself easier to find. You separate yourself from the pack…not based on vague (and absurd) promises of better customer service, but based on differences that are both REAL & DESIRABLE to YOUR CLIENTS. When YOU be YOU, you’ll stand out to new clients like a BLUE FISH in a sea of RED ROSES. And THAT is the kind of connection that takes the potential out of potential client and puts money in your bank account.

If you’re looking for help figuring out what your BLUE FISH characteristics are, and how to put them on loudspeaker, contact us today. We currently have 3 OPENINGS for one-to-one projects and will have another small group session starting in early August. We’re rebuilding the website to, God help us, make it both prettier AND more Blue Fish compliant so time and space in our programs is limited. If you’re interested please send an email with “BLUE FISH” in the title and we’ll send you a quick questionnaire to help you figure out if our programs might be for you. Please send requests to info@maverickandcompany.com

These are what I call your Blue Fish people.  There is something about them, something about you, that just goes together.  When you find these people they tend to stand out in your memory…almost like a Blue Fish in a sea of Red Roses.

If you want to stand out, be remembered and get referred, I recommend you start by seeking out the people who you have that click with…your Blue Fish people.  It’ll be easy to connect with them.  It’ll be easier for them to remember you.  And because you do have that friendly connection, they’re more likely to refer you.  AND because their connections are probably a lot like them, their connections are likely to be more Blue Fish people, people you will naturally connect with as well. Don’t try to impress everyone.

Don’t try to be remembered by everyone.  And CERTAINLY do not seek referrals from everyone.  Find your Blue Fish people, the places where you fit in.  It is there you are most able to Stand Out and reap the rewards of doing so.