Optimizing Your Impact with Jeff SchomayThis month I'm trying something different. For almost a year I have been sharing insights on making an impact on your market and with the Holidays coming up I wanted to try an interactive experiment for some real results in the real world.
As I've said in the past, taking something neutral, mundane, or even boring, and finding a clever way to turn it into something fun, unique and interesting is at the core of making a strong impact. Some of the tips I've shared include: "Give 'em what they want, but not in the way they expect it," and "Facts tell, stories sell," and "Connect with something that resonates."
For this experiment we're going to combine two clichéd situations, but give it a twist to end up with something that makes a new kind of impact. Consider the following:
If you're a man, do you wear a tie often? Do you wear your tie when doing business? Has anyone ever said "Nice tie" to you? If you're like many businessmen you already see the cliché. If you are a woman who doesn't wear ties, have you even bought a tie as a gift for... your husband? Your son? Your dad? Your friend? Again, ties have become the biggest cliché gift out there. Guys have way to many ties and new ties don't bring any new reactions besides empty "Nice tie" comments.
Now it's time for the challenge: Can you take the boring old neck tie and change it into something that that is unique, fun, and interesting? Could you use this new tie to get different results and make a stronger impact? Could such a tie be an ice-breaker at a networking event that actually lead to a meaningful relationship? Could such a tie make you more memorable in the minds of people making a decision with who to go with? Could such a tie capture people to pay more attention to you? What do you think?
Here's the interactive part. Part one: I challenge you, the reader, to answer these questions in your mind. Predict the response you could get with such a tie. Part two: Imagine what would turn a tie into something that would turn heads and catch people's attention while still being tasteful. Part three (the most important part): Try it in real life and see what results you get! To help you out with this step, I have used the free online service called Zazzle to quickly upload unique designs for very unique neckties. Check them out at http://www.zazzle.com/jschomay to see theses examples, and note your own response to these designs. I'll bet you will respond stronger to these tie designs than you have to all the ones you have hanging in your closet. You can build from these examples and create your own personalized designs, or you can just order a design you like directly from the site and you'll get a good quality tie with the unique design sent to you in a week (for yourself or as a gift). Remember the challenge now - wear one of these ties to your normal interactions in life and business and see what reaction you get and if you do indeed make a stronger impact, and how that affects your goals. And the final part of the interactive experiment is to report your experience in the comments section below! I'll include a tally and analysis of the results in next month's column.
Good luck, happy holidays, and have fun with this experiment!
For more information, please visit Jeff's TNNW Bio.
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