[1:56]: Change follows awareness. When you have a blindspot, you cannot move forward or create positive change in your business. What is this one thing? It is copying your peers.
[3:00]: We all know that copying is not good - learnt from an early age. But often copying is unintentional. You may not realise it’s even occurred. I will share examples on how it manifests, and effects it has on your business and peers.
[3:49]: We unpack the effects of copying or taking creative cues from others in your industry on your business.
[4:41]: If you truly want to build a business that is yours, looking at other people in your industry is not going to help with that.
[4:49]: You can’t be a leader if you’re always a step behind everyone else. Being a leader is trailblazing and showing up as your authentic self.
[5:51]: Reverse engineering what you think is someone else’s strategy is not a strategy. There are so many nuances to building a successful brand.
[6:43]: You don’t know who in your audience has seen, heard or experienced the original work. This can then impact how they experience your brand, comporose it and corrode trust.
[7:13]: It also can show that you don’t trust yourself.
[7:43]: When you are looking at someone else for cues, you are not designing your business from your vision. Your vision, mission and values can only come from within.
[8:22]: I don’t think anyone intentionally copies anyone else. I share with you some of the ways you may copy, without even realising it.
[9:50]: You may also be copying via websites. It’s very easy to get caught up in wanting your website to look similar to others in your industry.
[11:22]: The next one is content. Content comes in so many forms. Of course, no idea is original, but if you consume too much content from someone in your industry, you will inadvertently start to sound like them. If you want to own your own thought leadership, the best way to do that is to put your blinders on.
[12:53]: Look, feel, brand aesthetic - if you are trying to replicate the look of someone else’s brand it can look disingenuous.
[13:45]: How do you become really intentional about not absorbing other people’s ideas and concepts? Lean inward.
[14:16]: Get really good at ideating and designing.
[14:43]: Know your business bedrock - where are you headed? What is your mission, the purpose of your business? What values do you have? If those are the foundation of your business then you will not need to go elsewhere to get your ideas.
[15:14]: Set goals and have a plan. When you’re setting the goals, and you have a roadmap for how you’re going to get there that will help you achieve what you want to achieve without looking outward.
[15:56]: Inspiration can easily turn into influence and that can result in inadvertent copies. Lean into your strengths.
[16:32]: Hire a coach, get support to help you achieve what you need to achieve what you need to achieve in your business. A good coach will help amplify what’s within you. Our job is to provide tools and strategies.
[17:34]: Competitors aren’t bad and copying can happen accidentally. You get to build a business on your terms, you get to design a business the way you want it, you get to build a business that aligns and attaches to your vision. Design offers around your strengths. You do not need to look outside. The answer is not over there, it’s in here.
[18:30]: The impact on those who have been copied - it’s a really icky feeling.
[19:46]: It’s important to consider the full impact that copying can have.
[20:09]: I hope this message can resonate - even if it’s the prompt to look in, not out.