The Power of Being Ridiculous

By Christian Russell

Education & Training with R World Properties, Inc

December 23, 2009 02:23 AM

How far do you think your business will go if you don’t stand out? What are you doing to stand out? What are you doing to be ridiculous?

If you live in my town, you know a guy named Bob Rohrman. He sells cars. Lots of them. Lots, and lots of them. And he makes completely ridiculous commercials that everyone hates. And everyone criticizes him. And everyone talks about how much they hate his commercials, and then when anyone wants to buy a car, guess who they think of first? Bob, that’s who. And is it really any surprise? It pays to be ridiculous!

And anyone who’s actually MET Bob Rohrman knows he is as sweet and genuine and nice a guy as you’ll ever meet. But when it comes to marketing, he does what he needs to do to stand out. He is ridiculous, and he’s proud of it. He understands the importance of NOT being mediocre. He understands that mediocrity is death for any small business.

But so many of us do things half-assed. I don’t recommend it. Go all out. Are you going all out? What do you offer your customers that NO ONE ELSE can offer them? What are you doing to stand out? What claims are you making that your competition can claim to offer as well? If the majority of your value is something anyone else can offer as well, how do you expect to monetize that?

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Maria Marriott

Executive Properties - Roseville, CA

Realtor - DBRealEstateTeam.com

A challenge but very important if you want to business to grow. Thanks (again) Christian.

Dec 23, 2009 02:28 AM

Neal Pender

IMPACT Carolinas Realty LLC - Concord, NC

Once again, great post Christian. As a Realtor ever since college and therefore having to overcome the "you're too young to sell my house" issue back in the beginning, I took myself way to seriously back then. I realize now that it is our human element that sets us apart from every other agent in the market. I think being slightly cheesy or in your words "ridiculous" is important to stand out. As long as our systems and appearance are well kept and professional, it can really work to our advantage to be crazy.

Dec 23, 2009 02:30 AM

Christian Russell

R World Properties, Inc - West Lafayette, IN

Crazy is a good thing! There are different WAYS to stand out...it doesn't always mean being a clown, but the fact remains that if you don't stand out as the obvious choice to your customers, it's not likely they will get out of their comfort zone to take a chance on you.

Dec 23, 2009 02:42 AM

Susan Brown

Keller Williams NE, Kingwood Texas (Humble & Atascocita too) - Kingwood, TX

Christian, We have a similar businessman in our town, Jim McInvale AKA Mattress Mac. Ads that he shouts in "Will Save You Money" but is a great community supporter, big bidder at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, etc. People remember him because he goes all out.

Dec 23, 2009 03:17 AM

Ha. Yes every town has one of these clowns. It's the oldest, most proven way of standing out, and it still works. I don't typically take the clown route and am a big advocate of standing out in other ways, but it's still an essential point to address in your business :) Good to hear from you Susan

Dec 23, 2009 05:16 AM

BJ McKellar

Real Property Management Metro MD/DC - Washington, DC

Christian- Great info here, and yes every town seems to have someone like this. Where I am from its a computer guy. I hate his commercials, but I can't get his picture out of my head.

Thanks, I'm going to re-post this...

Thanks

Jan 09, 2010 05:34 AM

Betty Knowles

Southwest Missouri Realty - Springfield, MO

Ready to sell? Call Betty!

Christian, I agree you need to do something to stand out. I've considered getting a full car wrap ad but I'm too chicken!

Jan 09, 2010 05:41 AM

Ha ;) I feel I should clarify my position and say there is more to standing out than just being a clown. This is certainly the most obvious example, and it works, but standing out is what's important. There are a million ways to do it.

For what it's worth though, car signage when well done has paid off for many brokers I know.

Jan 09, 2010 08:12 AM

Marcus Barber

Exit IH-10 Realty www.RealtyPromo.com - San Antonio, TX

We have a guy here in Texas that advertises for mattresses with the most annoying and crazy commercials on TV. Want to guess where my mattress came from? Correct, his store. And he too is a very nice, businessman, Zany commercials though that stand out from the crowd.

Jan 09, 2010 03:23 PM

Tom Hall

Coral Shores Realty, 1119 E. Sunrise Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304 954-610-4186 - Fort Lauderdale, FL

Thanks for the post, I have come up with an idea by accident and think it is something that will set me apart.

I also just subscribed to your e-Book and loook forward to checking it out.

Jan 12, 2010 12:43 PM

Anonymous

Christian

Fantastic Tom...I'm glad to hear it! Let me know if you have any questions.

Jan 12, 2010 01:26 PM

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The Power of Being Ridiculous

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