I apologize for the radio silence. I don’t have an excuse. I just got lazy.

There wouldn’t be an excuse sufficient for my radio silence anyway, seeing how this is a blog, not a radio show. But never mind that.

Today we’re going to talk about what it takes to stand out in a sea of “meh.”

First, the Sea of “Meh”

The Sea of “Meh” is a body of water located somewhere between the Realm of Good Intentions and the Champion’s Republic of Proven Strategies. It is fed by various rivers flowing down from the Mountains of Inspiration, where heavy brainstorms dump pure rainwater onto their frigid peaks. That rainwater eventually gets soiled on its winding way down by all manner of dirt and debris, after which it torrents down in massive waterfalls, no longer the same clear water that it was when it first fell.

Okay, that was a bit dramatic, but it sort of holds water. Get it? Water? Because it’s a… you know what? Never mind.

Essentially, the Sea of “Meh” is the whole collection of people trying to do their best to stand out by doing what everyone else is doing. We went through it in high school. Hipsters do it still. We want to be noticed (even if it’s just by a select few), so we try doing what people we notice do. And as everyone does what the popular, well-known folks do, we all end up being the same and fading into a bland background while the people we tried emulating continue getting all of our attention.

Implications for Branding

This happens in marketing. Businesses find out that the internet is the future, so they all get websites. There are so many websites that it’s impossible for people to sift through them all, so search engines came about to help with that. As that happens, websites start vying for the search engine’s “attention,” trying to rank as high as they can. They all end up doing the same stuff to get the same results, but when everyone is doing the same thing, the problem continues—none of them are noticed except the well-established brands with high authority and a strong following.

Think for a moment. If you want pizza, are you as likely to search up “pizza places near me” on your phone, or are you just going to go to places you’ve already heard about? Sure, if you’re looking for something new, you might try searching around the internet for something, but odds are, you’re going to google something like “Dominoes” or “Pizza Hut” or “Ye Olde Ma and Pa’s Pizza Place on Main Street” if you want any kind of information on them.

That, or you’ll just go. I mean, it’s not like you didn’t see those places on the street at some point as you went around town, right?

The point is that merely doing what everyone else is doing isn’t going to get you any attention, and you especially won’t be able to steal that attention from the brands who already have nearly all of it. You just come off looking like a pretender.

How to Stand Out

Granted, it is important to follow basic principles of SEO and branding and what not. A site with poor site authority that comes across as useless to everyone is not going to get much attention, and search engines will actually penalize it for that. Plus, and I feel the need to add this as a PSA:

DO NOT FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS BEAUTIFUL IN THIS GOOD GREEN EARTH USE THOSE STUPID OPT-IN POPUPS. THEY ARE OFFENSIVE AND IMPEDE THE USEFULNESS OF YOUR SITE TO VIEWERS.

Seriously, don’t go selling yourself on readers before they decide whether or not the content they’re reading is useful. If you absolutely must use them, they shouldn’t come up the minute your site finishes loading. Let people digest your site a little while first.

Rant aside, following good principles does not equate standing out.

So how do you stand out? It’s quite simple, actually.

You be you. Boldly, genuinely, and unapologetically you.

Embrace Yourself

We live in a society that increasingly celebrates genuineness. In order to gain any attention from audiences who want to see your humanity as it truly is, you need to be yourself. Embrace who you are, whether that’s as a company or as an individual. Let your humanity drip through your fingers as you type, let it soak into the realms of cyberspace, and people will notice you and love you.

Of course, there is a caveat to this. Be yourself, but make sure you strive to be your best self. Just as our society embraces genuineness, it also embraces genuine goodness. Be polite and professional as well as full of character.

The kicker with this is there’s no set formula for what that really means. You can’t distill personality from scientific principles or trends of data. You can make the brand equivalent of costumes that way, but there is no set way to calculate a character for yourself. It’s one of those things that’s more felt than thought.

To summarize, then:

To stand out in a sea of “meh,” find out who you are and be that person.

Simple enough, right?

So, what are your thought? Do you agree? Do you think I’m full of carp? Let me know in the comments! Also, be sure to share this around. All proceeds go toward funding expeditions up into the Mountains of Inspiration for misguided businessmen trying to find themselves. Really.