I’m perched in my favourite marina-side cafe having wolfed down the best smashed avocado, poached eggs, and bacon lunch in the history of food and I’m here to write to you about getting noticed in a noisy world. Because it’s really effing noisy, isn’t it?
Studies estimate that we see, on average, 5000 ads a day. 5000! A DAY! But the real problem isn’t the noise itself, it’s what that noise does to us. Distraction is lying in wait around every corner or behind every click, ready to pounce on our eyeballs and brains and steal our attention without remorse.
Even as I write this, I’m only 72% focused because there’s a bloke in the corner paying his bill, there are crashing sounds coming from the galley kitchen, one of the waiters is tidying the counter, there’s another bloke painting a boat outside the window, and I Just Can’t Get Enough is playing through the sound system.
It’s all noise, and it’s all vying for my attention (which I already put in the wrong places far too easily).
The online world is just the same. There are websites, Instagram posts, FB lives, YouTube videos, and emails like this one, all reaching out from the screen whispering pick me, pick me!
The problem is, over time, those compelling whispers have turned into deafening screams.
Instead of spreading new messages and ideas that are worth paying attention to, the same messages and ideas are being regurgitated at an ever-increasing decibel level. Hence a pile-up of “same-same” brands…
Here’s the thing I want you to know.
When you say something worth listening to, volume is irrelevant.
So instead of questioning how on earth it’s possible for you to be noticed unless you shout from the rooftops and consider taking your top off while you’re up there, ask yourself:
-
What special thing do you bring to the table?
-
Even if other people bring similar things to the table (which is inevitable) how can you communicate yours in a way that feels fresh, original, and sticky? Hint: Focus more on who you are than what you do.
-
What do your best-fit humans really need to hear right now that isn’t already being said?
When you start spreading messages and ideas that your people are craving (without even realising it), you won’t have to worry about their attention being stolen by distractions.
You’ll become the distraction.
And you won’t have to strain to be heard above the noise because you’ll be playing a tune nobody’s heard before.
0 Comments