Central to much of what I’ve been doing in the last few weeks has involved ‘blowing your own trumpet’ or in other words how to stand out and get noticed.
A few weeks ago it was Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year where the shofar sounds, an ancient musical instrument made of ram’s horn, to coronate God as King of the world. Its piercing wail serves to awaken slumbering souls that have grown complacent.
I gave an online presentation to a religious community who wanted to learn how to stand out and get noticed in social media.
Then coaching a client, a new author, determined to get her book to stand out and get noticed on Amazon.
Another, an amazing woman, leader of an organization, whose work mainly goes unnoticed, how to make her contribution stand out and get noticed the way it should.
To an online writer, desperate to make himself stand out and get noticed from the crowd and obviously get more business in.
To other bloggers, who recognize the success of my main site healthylifestylesliving.com, who themselves want to share their passions with the world, and stand out and get noticed in the crowded blogosphere.
It’s been a busy time.
Do you want to have a voice; be heard; understood; make an impact; be remembered and of course stand out and get noticed?
“Life isn’t about waiting for permission to be great. Seize the moment, bask in the rays of sunshine and simply shine.”
The first thing you need to learn is that passion and persistence are the keys to success!
And the second, shy one’s get nothing, so start blowing your own trumpet, let the world hear you if you truly want to stand out and get noticed.
There are more than a million books published each year, over 150 million blogs and more than 500 million tweets sent each day, so how do you make yours stand out?
No matter how brilliant your book, blog, information or idea is, it’s no good if no one knows about it.
The ability to influence others is quite possibly the most powerful quality one can possess in their attempt to stand out and get noticed.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines influence as “the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something.” In short, to have influence is to have the ability to impact, and possibly sway, others.
Robert Cialdini in his book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, a New York Times bestseller identified 6 principles to influence others:
1. Reciprocity.
In social psychology, reciprocity is a social rule that says people want to repay, in kind, what another person has provided for them; that is, people give back (reciprocate) the kind of treatment they have received from another. Simply put, people are obliged to give back to others the form of a behavior, gift, or service that they have received first. That is why as a blogger my role is to provide unique valuable information helping others, and to continue giving what I believe they need. Most of my coaching clients started as people who were reading my blogs for some time.
2. Scarcity.
Simply, things are more attractive when their availability is limited, or the opportunity to get something at a good price is brief. This influence ploy is seen a lot in advertising. Often, we hear, “for a limited time only,” “only xx left” or ‘’limited to the next 20 customers!” Scarcity boils down to this for most people — if I can’t have it, then I want it! If something is scarce that means it’s not plentiful and usually difficult to come by. It’s amazing how people respond differently when they suddenly know something they want is in short supply or may not be around for long.
3. Authority.
This is the idea that people follow the lead of credible, knowledgeable experts. People with authority, special knowledge, impressive credentials, or even experiences to share can influence and demonstrate invaluable support to others. I believe authority is earned through showing your expertise. Having relevant knowledge is the key to expertise. What special education do you have? What kind of experience? Have you demonstrated unusual competence in a relevant area? What are your big successes? What about awards or public recognition? People look for clues about what you know and what you’ve done.
4. Consistency.
Another deep and powerful human trait is wanting to be consistent to commitments we’ve made. We have a desire to be, or appear to be, consistent with what we have already done. Consistency is a powerful principle in guiding human action. Once a person makes a decision, takes a stand, or performs an action, he or she strives to make all future behavior match this past behavior. An example of this is where Dieters stick with diet programs they’ve paid for, even long after it’s clear they don’t work. Commitment is the key to triggering consistency. Simply put, if you can get someone to make a commitment, even a seemingly inconsequential one, you automatically trigger the Rule of Consistency, which can then help trigger the “yes” response for later, and much larger, requests. It works two ways. Deliver what you promised and fulfill your word. Become someone who can be counted on.
5. Liking.
People want to do business with people they like and know. We are more influenced by those people we like. For that matter, almost anything we do in life we prefer doing with people we like and enjoy being around. When we enjoy the presence or personality of an individual, we feel good about complying with their requests. “People buy from People they like!”
6. Consensus.
The Principle of Consensus tells us, when people are unsure how to act in certain situations, they tend to look to others to see how they should respond. We are generally uncertain when it comes to making decisions. Seeing that others have supported or purchased helps give us more certainty.
So, there you have it. Six Principles of Influence essential if you want to stand out and get noticed. Now you need to begin using these for yourself.
Before you do any of that you need to be clear about what you stand for and what your message is to the world. More on this another day.
Remember it’s okay for you to blow your own trumpet too – after all, if you don’t, who will?
This is your time to shine!
What I would like to know now is what will you be doing to blow your trumpet? And most importantly, what is your message for the world that’s going to get you to stand out and get noticed?
Need support! Don’t think you can do this alone? Let me coach you! Let me help you make progress! Let’s connect and find out whether I can help you through a FREE introductory life coaching session.
photo credit: paride de carlo carnevale ballaròck via photopin (license)
