Posted by ‘Pregnant Roller Skates.”
That’s what people called the first Volkswagen Beetles.
While other car manufactures were naming their cars Mustang and Cougar, Volkswagen named theirs after an insect.
Volkswagen ads proclaimed the Beetle to be a ‘lemon’ and asked the question, ‘Do you earn too much to afford one?’
Other car dealers called the Beetles a ‘joke,’ ‘junk’ and worse.
And Volkswagen used these bad comments as huge selling points by being decidedly different.
They went against the grain, using weirdness to build their own tribe of loyal followers.
Imagine if they’d tried to compete head-to-head with the car manufactures of the time: “We’re more luxurious! We’re faster! We’re sleeker! We’re quieter! People will admire your good taste!” The company would have failed within a year if they took this approach.
Instead, they embraced their quirkiness and difference and sales skyrocketed.
Remember Andy Warhol? People called his work, ‘trivial and flashy.’
Andy’s reply? “Thanks. I adore the trivial and flashy.”
The key is to occupy the ground first and take ownership of your faults and weaknesses.
Then any criticism you get will only make your point more powerful.
If you’re in the online marketing niche and you’re posting pictures of mansions, swimming pools, models and Ferraris, then you’re competing with every other marketer who is doing the exact same thing – and there are an awfully lot of those, too.
But if you don’t pretend to be something you’re not and instead take ownership of who you are, then you have no competition.
Be truthful. Be proud. Be you.
And then regardless of what others think or say, when they do criticize you, they will simply be reinforcing your own authentic brand…
…and which point you can smile and say, “Thank you!”