…at least as far as authority site building goes.
Being the best pays really, really well in many markets. Take your pick from among the places you’ve listed in your bookmarks. I’ll wager there are some millionaires, and billionaires, behind some of the sites you’ve marked as favorites and visit often.
I can also tell you that whatever those sites are about and whatever markets they are in, there are thousands if not tens of thousands of people who want to be where they are and haven’t come close.
Success is all around you every time you logon…
There are millionaire bloggers. There are millionaire service and special interest site owners from dating to gossip to untold numbers of entertainment sites. There are millionaire consultants, coaches, wine connoisseurs, travel experts, information sales people, writers, authors, speakers, and show offs.
There are millionaire jokesters. Millionaire marketers. Millionaire self-help gurus. Million and billionaire software programmers.
There are artists, poets, musicians, and shopping cart owners of every kind selling things you’d never dream would produce millions in sales.
The one thing - the only thing - that sets the thousands upon thousands of success stories on the web apart from everyone else is that they are all considered the best source of whatever they provide. They might not even BE the best. It’s kind of subjective, you know. But enough people think that they are, and that means that they do very, very well with their web businesses.
What It Takes To Be Among The Best
- You absolutely must have a unique “voice” on the web. It can be through your unique products or services or your actual voice, whether written or audio/video.
- You HAVE to stand out in your niche as much as the people you follow stood out to make you bookmark their sites.
- Seth Godin said it best. The word “remarkable” took on new meaning when he wrote “Purple Cow.” You absolutely have to find a way to bring remarkable service, content and products to your niche that just blows everything else away, or at least blows away enough of the competition that you are right up there with the best of the best in your niche and making the money you want to make with your business.
- Sometimes you don’t have to be the best. Just better than the vast majority of your competition. If you find yourself running from a bear in the wild, you don’t have to outrun the bear. You just have to outrun the person running next to you!
- Pull heart strings, tell great stories, engage people, be real, be honest, go the extra mile, do things no one else will do to win visitors and business. You’d be surprised how easy it is to stand out and be remarkable by simply keeping your word, supporting your customers, and providing superior customer experience!
- Be ultra creative and open your mind beyond the status quo of whatever is hot in your market at the moment. Lead, do not follow. Set trends, don’t wait to capitalize on them after someone else sets them.
- Be the first. Do something no one has ever done. Give away what people sell and sell what people are giving away.
- Find out what everyone else is doing in your market and then run to meet the needs of everyone in the market that your competitors have not satisfied. You’ll be surprised how many people are still waiting for something remarkable to happen!
- Learn to give and give freely. Let go of everything you think is supposed to be done only a certain way and change the whole game that’s being played in your market. Break rules and break the bank.
- If everyone is selling something in your market, learn how to give it away and make twice as much money with the following you attract. (This is being done with great success in a lot of places!)
- Work harder and longer than everyone else is willing to work. Picture what your ultimate goal is and then picture what you wouldn’t do to achieve it. And then stop complaining about how much work it is and get to work!
By now you know, especially if you’ve seen Highlander, that there can be only one “best.” But reading between the lines you also know that you are not required to be the actual best to win big.
I would nominate countless other bloggers as “the best” before me. But my blog and what it’s brought me thus far suits me just fine while I continue to work toward becoming the best in my market. And I know that long before I ever become the best I will be able to retire without a care in the world.
Here’s to never having to be the best to have one hell of a life!
Don't
Miss Out On Free Traffic!
Subscribe to the FTR RSS feed
or our
email list so you don't miss out on real, traffic driving tips from Jack
Humphrey! Thanks for visiting!
{ 1 trackback }
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Julie 08.07.08 at 10:12 pm
Thanks for the reminder that being unique does not only involve giving good information but heartfelt, engaging, real story information that touch people’s lives. I think all people when first blogging suffer a little from stage fright. When there is little traffic at first, it can also feel like a soliloquy to an empty theatre. Thanks for all the fantastic information you give so generously, in this sense you truly walk the talk . I have learned a lot from you and wanted you to know that silent, or hidden, or shy - I am certain that many other people feel as I do - grateful for insightful comments, useful information but also an acceptance that we are all unique and blogging is a performance art.
Julie’s last blog post..Picking a Niche Market for Your Blogging Business
The Adventurist 08.07.08 at 10:28 pm
Very well put, Jack!
A positive attitude and work ethic is 90% of the battle. I put in long hours, but I don’t complain and am being rewarded with being one of the top sites in my niche. The mindset definitely plays a big role in development. People are attracted to positives. Be a positive force and you will be found.
Cheers-
Jason A. Hendricks
Recruiting Director
Skinny Moose Media
The Adventurist’s last blog post..Tragedy On K2: K2 Survivor Wilco van Rooijens Speaks With National Geographic: Adventure
David Venters 08.08.08 at 4:58 am
I agree its perception Jack but it works the other way
if you say your the best and then do everything to show that you aren’t your just seen as someone whose trying to be someone their not
Ie if you say you have beaten 1 million other people to rank with one keyword phrase but that keyword phrase isn’t searched for
the proof of the pudding comes in the eating, for example if you say you have climbed Everest twice, and been found not to have even climbed it once then that can turn against you
David Venters’s last blog post..the social community site model
Jack Humphrey 08.08.08 at 6:12 am
Julie,
“blogging is a performance art” I really wish I had thought of that!
Jack Humphrey 08.08.08 at 6:14 am
David,
Yep - everything about this is about “being” the thing. Not pretending to be anything.
Heart gets you points where you might lack in other areas. Heart gets you to the top of Everest where you can then proudly proclaim the accomplishment.
Jack Humphrey 08.08.08 at 6:17 am
Jason,
You and David are bringing the mountain theme here! Love it! What are the odds, lol.
Keep up the great, hard, rewarding work man!
Tribute Band Reviews 08.08.08 at 7:19 am
I like the point you made about not having to actually be THE BEST in order to be successful, you can just be better than your competition to make it BIG! - I don’t know about you but I’m so bored by companies who’s daily mantra seems to be that they’ve got the best service, the best products…blah, blah, blah, it’s a major turn off to me when they say this because EVERYBODY says this and no one ever actually delivers the goods when it comes down to it. I hate it when you walk into a shop and go to pay for your stuff and the staff almost ignore you, they’ll serve you whilst continuing to talk the their colleagues about what they did last night and what they’re going to do over the weekend etc, etc - How rude is that? It’s like you’re an invisible customer!
Every now and then you do actually receive outstanding service and when you do, you jump up and down punching the air with your fist because you can’t actually believe that someone actually lived up to all the hype. Companies like this deserve to succeed beyond their wildest dreams because they stand out in a major way and treat people with respect.
I’ll get off my soapbox now…sorry for rambling on and on and on.
Thank you Jack for continuing to be ‘Remarkable’.
John O’Hara
United Kingdom
Tribute Band Reviews’s last blog post..Nat King Cole Tribute Acts: Colin Roy
Jack Humphrey 08.08.08 at 9:56 am
John,
So right, but there is a platinum lining to this: ALL you have to do is provide the service, content, support, and products in the way people want products delivered and they want to be treated and you are pretty much out-performing all your competition right there.
It is the BIG SECRET to success online. As long as everyone continues to ignore it, those of us who “get it” will prosper by only having to do what all businesses should be doing.
Surprising service, content, products, etc. is a major selling point for future purchases.
I think that’s pretty cool. And so do customers!
Tom At The Home Business Archive 08.09.08 at 1:38 am
Excellent post. To become the best you need to think big and have good work ethic.Provide the best content, the best service and the best customer support.
Tom At The Home Business Archive’s last blog post..By: Tom
David Venters 08.09.08 at 6:17 am
I know Jacks a big South park fan and so am I
so respect our authorata (my cartman impression)
David Venters’s last blog post..Jack Humphrey talks to Nathan Anderson
Jon 08.09.08 at 1:29 pm
It is all about striving to be the best that you can be. Sounds a bit like a commercial slogan but it is the truth. You might not be the best but why leave anything on n the table. What are you waiting for?
Being willing to work long and hard is great but the real goal should be to work smarter.
Jon’s last blog post..Isotropin HGH Pro 6X Oral Spray An Hgh Review
Greg 08.10.08 at 3:56 pm
I like that remark. “Here’s to never having to be the best to have one hell of a life!” I think I’m going to forward this to a couple of people I know.
And what’s “the best” anyway? We test drove an Acura, a BMW, and a Lexus. We found the Aura to be “the best,” but the car mags like the beemer, and the lexus is “the best” for the “must be pampered” crowd.
Thanks.
Greg’s last blog post..Wrath of the Lich King on Amazon
Brisbane Internet Consultant 08.10.08 at 9:16 pm
The other aspect that do don’t cover is time. Even if you are the best in a particular field, it takes time to build a following and reputation. Many online entrepreneurs chop and change every few months not realising that what they started with may be the answer if only they had persisted.
Thanks for an interesting post.