uniquehenry-blog

[uniquehenry-blog]

How To Stand Out In a Crowded Social Media

by Henry Kaminski, Jr

Want to stand out on social media so that you’re seen as a respected, recognized subject matter expert in your crowed industry?

I have some stories for you that I want to share but first let me dump some “one-liners” on you to get you dialed in.

Remember these nuggets:

“Obsess over making it easy to do business with you.”

“Provide substantial solutions.”

“No one NEEDS to be a commodity.”

“Businesses don’t get better, personal brands do.”

Ok now that we go those bad boys out of the way, let’s dive in.

If you want to carve out a nice corner of the marketplace for yourself, where people see you as what my client “Dom Faussette” refers to as the “OBVIOUS CHOICE,” then we need to understand the 4 Cornerstones of Distinction.

I learned this concept from a dude name Scott Mckain. The guy is brilliant when it comes to customer service and connecting your brand to your audience.

The first cornerstone of distinction is CLARITY.

We can’t differentiate what we can’t define.

Define who you are and who you’re serving.

Otherwise, you’re going was a sh*t ton of time, money and energy.

Understand that “mindshare precedes market share.”

Staying top of mind at all time is the key to dominating market share.

Be precise about what you are and what you are NOT.

Create a clarity statement.

My clarity statement goes a little something like this.

·         My product / service is for people who believe that they were put on this planet to make the word a better place

·         I will focus on people who want level up their standards and scale their expertise as consultants and entrepreneurs

·         I promise that engaging in what I make, will help you get more clarity and focus on who your ideal client is, design a premium personal brand + the strategies you’ll need to scale your exposure online.

The second cornerstone of distinction is CREATIVITY.

It’s not about being “different” just to be different.

We need to be creative with how we interact with our audience.

Understanding that any one person may come in contact with our brand 13 TIMES before taking action and it’s our responsibility to make each point of contact a memorable one. 

Yes, it’s hard work.

Only the strong will survive!

I don’t want to overwhelm you so for now, just pick ONE point of contact and create a really creative user experience there first. Once you master that, move on to the next.

The third cornerstone of distinction is COMMUNICATION.

This one might be the most important cornerstone of all.

Without being able to communicate your brand’s message and how you that message makes your audience feel, you might be up sh*ts creek!

Here’s one way to communicate that will work with ANY generation.

TELL STORIES!

It’s that simple.

Our brains are wired for stories.

Here’s one.

There was a research study that once asked, “What would you give up to get your Iphone back?”

Ready for this??

70% said they would give up drinking.

63% would cut chocolate out of their diet

33% would stop having sex (WHAT!?!?! Lol)

See there you go!

There’s a story you’re probably not going to forget!

Stories are powerful.

Great personal brands communicate their messaging through stories.

Here’s another one.

There were 2 dental practices running ads on social media.

One just used an image of a whole bunch of images of teeth showcasing before and after images.

The other dental practice ran an add that talked about a wife who had horrible teeth.

Her husband was serving in the military she hadn’t seen him in months.

She suffered from horrible teeth her whole life and wanted to surprise him this time when he came home with a full set of new teeth.

The dental practice used a before/after image of the woman.

The woman looked TOTALLY different!

Which story are you going to remember?

There’s my point!

Make the customer the hero, NOT you!

The fourth and last cornerstone of distinction is CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

The purpose of any business is to profitably create experiences so compelling to the client that the loyalty becomes assured.

Too many of focus on SELLING and not SERVING.

What if everything went right when onboarding a new client?

What specific steps do you need to do to make that happen?

What might prevent us from creating an amazing user experience?

Am I providing the right tools to teach how it’s done?

Last but not least, if you want to create an ULTIMATE customer experience, Scott McKain says we need to make sure we to rinse and repeat the same experience for every customer, every prospect, EVERY TIME!

Hope you got as much value out of this as I did when I first heard about these cornerstones!

Now get out there and make it happen!

– The Doc

[uniquehenry-blog]

A Trip Through Memory Lane

by Henry Kaminski, Jr

I’m in the gym this morning listening to one of my favorite records of all time, “Memory Lane” from Nas and it brought me back to the winter of 1993.

I was 13 years old, in 9th grade at Middletown High School North in Middletown, NJ.

I would hear through kids in my class how scary the nearby town Long Branch was.

Kids getting beat up on the way to school.

People getting shot.

Drugs…

Gangs…

I began to become mortified of this town hearing all those horrible stories from fellow classmates.

I remember sitting in my TV room playing and my father walking in the room and making me sit next to him.

My father told me that we had to move out of our current home because the divorce judge ruled that our house needed to be sold and we had 30 days to find a place to live.

My father worked for UPS as a Shop Steward / Mechanic in Tinton Falls NJ, a town that butted, guess where??

Long Branch New Jersey…

My father said, “Were moving to Long Branch. You’ll be going to Long Branch High School after the Christmas break.”

I was f*%cking terrified.

All I thought about was getting beat up on my way to school.

Drug fiends chasing me.

Gang members mistaking me for someone else and beating me up or shooting me.

I was scared shit but I had no choice.

I did what I had to do.

I faced my fear, laced my caterpillar boots lol (we couldn’t afford Timbs) and off to school I went.

My dad literally rented this 2 family shack on 112 Seaview Ave right down the street from housing projects, Seaview Manor, Grant Court and Garfield Court.

It was about a 2-mile walk to school every day and I had to walk through those Projects every day on my way to school.

I was and still am a huge 90’s / 00’s Hip Hop fan so what got me through my fear was listening to Nas’ album Illmatic.

It gave me the confidence I needed to get to school.

I remember the half year of freshmen year and sophomore year like it was yesterday.

I had no friends. I barely talked to anyone and just kept to myself.

It wasn’t until my Junior year of high school I began to come out of my shell.

My high school was extremely ethnic.

“White Boys” were the minority.

A funny thing happened one day in homeroom my junior year.

I met a kid by the name of Thomas Stovall.

He started calling me “The cool ass White Bread”

He took the time to get to know me.

He knew I loved hip hop and I knew more about it than the average “White Boy.” Lol

Some would probably take offense to that.

I didn’t.

I felt accepted.

I think the reason Thomas liked me so much is that I didn’t try to be “black.”

Yes I liked hip hop…

Yes I bought my clothes on Canal Street…

But I respected their culture and never tried to “be” someone I wasn’t. (This changed later on in life but that’s a story for another day)

He took me under his wing and started introducing me to whole bunch of his friends.

He lived around the corner from me and found I was walking to school every day and offered to drive me every morning.

We used to play basketball in his backyard every night.

He taught me how to navigate the neighborhood.

He taught me the streets.

He taught me how to have an “edge.”

He taught me how to be fierce and competitive.

All of a sudden Long Branch wasn’t that scary anymore.

By senior year I was social butterfly lol.

I knew almost everyone in my class.

Thomas and I had our “ups and downs” but we always made amends.

I will forever represent Long Branch New Jersey.

It gave me 2 educations.

One from the classroom.

One from the streets.

The moral of this story is this.

Don’t be afraid of what’s behind the wall.

What’s behind that wall could unveil one of the most beautiful blessings of your life and may teach the most valuable lessons of your life.

I dedicate this trip down “Memory Lane” to Thomas Stovall.

I love you and miss you and I’m proud to call you my “brother.”

May you continue to Rest In Peace, my brother…

– The Doc

[uniquehenry-blog]

Why Being A “Generalist” Entrepreneur Doesn’t Work

by Henry Kaminski, Jr

You know what the really amazing thing about the Internet is for entrepreneurs?

It’s that, no matter what you’re selling, there’s a good chance you’ll find a large enough pool of buyers to sustain your business.

That’s just something you won’t always find locally.

But here’s the problem:

The Internet presents so many freakin’ choices… it’s hard to stay focused on what YOU want to do and who YOU want to serve!

You know what I mean?

I’ve got a friend who went through that for years. She’d be sailing smoothly toward her goals, and then she’d read about some opportunity one of her competitors was going after…

…and then suddenly, she’s abandoning the “blueprint” that was already working to go chase this crazy “opportunity.” And then she’d have to come back and revive her core business because she’d neglected what she was supposed to be doing!

Any of that sound familiar?

I’ll bet it does.

You don’t have to admit it to me, but I bet there’s been at least one time when you’ve stumbled on to some audience or product that you thought you could capitalize on, and then ended up wasting months or even years before getting yourself back on track.

Let me say this loud and clear:

You do NOT need to chase every “opportunity” that wanders into your niche!

You’re not going to get anywhere chasing “shiny objects.” Believe me, I’ve tried. That ends up making you look like a “generalist”… and you know the saying, “Jack of all trades, master of none.”

Instead, you’re going to build your long-term plan by staying the course. Becoming a specialist instead of trying to capitalize on every opportunity. Focusing on being better than else at ONE thing, and then delivering consistent results to your clients and customers.

No need to let the “noise” drag you away from what you know you “should” be doing.

So here’s what I want you to do today:

Set your goals for what you want to accomplish by the end of the day.

Then make a mental note of every time an “opportunity” – a new piece of “must have” software, an audience you haven’t tapped into before, a great product idea to rush to the front of the line – threatens to de-rail you.

Don’t get all butthurt about it, just make a mental note and “reset” yourself back to what’s really going to make you successful.

That exercise might take days. It might take years.

But once you’ve got that down, you can start applying it to longer-term goals.

Figure out where you want to be in a year. Five years. Twenty. And then make a mental note whenever an “opportunity” pilfers away your attention.

That’s what it takes to become a true expert – eliminating noise outside of your specialty and digging deeper into that specialty than any of your competitors.

Still feeling a little fuzzy on what (and who) you should be focusing on?

No worries – Just schedule a call with me, and I’ll help you pare away all the “noise” your brand has been attracting. And if you’re ready, we can fine-tune your brand to attract ONLY the people and opportunities that support you becoming THE expert in your niche!