You are not Wal-mart (and that’s why we love you)

I was working with a Recipe client who asked:

“How am I supposed to compete with Wal-mart? They have low prices, lots of different colors, and a huge advertising budget.”

I answered them simply.

You are not competing with Wal-mart.

And not just because you can't (really, you can't!) but because your Right People don't want you to be Wal-mart.

They want originality.
Personality.
Specificity.
Personal connection.

Wal-mart provides cheap, mass-produced goods, cheaply.
You make hand-crafted, high quality, one-of-a-kind goodness to people who are willing to pay for it.

As long as you think of Wal-mart as the competition, you'll spend your time explaining how you're better than them.
But that's a waste of time.

Remember how your English teacher used to say “Show, don't Tell”?

Show your personality. Show your originality. Show your Youness.
And you'll never have to mention “low prices” or “great deals.”

Here's a short list of general benefits (the things that make you awesomest):

• You are a real person. The buyer gets to interact with a real person. And not just ANY person, a person who MADE the thing they're buying.
• Your can provide awesome, agile customer support.
• You are an artist. People adore supporting artists and the artist community.
• Your thing is one of a kind. The buyer will have something that no one else has.

Of course, you probably know this.

But do your customers know it?
Do you make it ultra-freaking clear that what you make is valuable?

If you're not sure how to do that (or what the benefits of your specific goodness is), join Catherine and I for a class all about finding and communicating the benefits of what you make.

The class is today, at 5p ET (that's 7am tomorrow for Australian Catherine!) and registration closes when the class starts. Grab your spot here.