Look, I get it. You open LinkedIn, scroll through a few posts, and it’s the same recycled bollocks everywhere. “Excited to announce…” “Thrilled to share…” “Game-changing solutions…” It’s enough to make you want to chuck your laptop out the window. And when you sit down to market your own business? The pressure to sound “professional” kicks in, and suddenly you’re writing the same vanilla corporate drivel you just spent twenty minutes rolling your eyes at. Here’s the thing: learning how to market your business without sounding like everyone else isn’t about being louder or more “innovative” (whatever the f^&k that means). It’s about being honest, specific, and actually human.
So let’s talk about five ways you can stand out without resorting to corporate buzzword bingo.
1. Call Out the Thing Everyone’s Thinking But Not Saying
Every industry has its dirty little secrets. The practices everyone knows are shit, but continue anyway because “that’s how it’s done.”
Your clients? They’re tired of it too.
So say it out loud. Be the person who acknowledges that the emperor has no clothes.
For example, in recruitment, trying to get feedback after an interview if you weren’t successful is damn near impossible. But it gets ignored because it’s “industry standard.”
When you’re the one willing to call out these problems, people pay attention. Not because you’re being controversial for the sake of it, but because you’re finally saying what they’ve been thinking.
What’s the accepted practice in your industry that’s actually BS? Talk about it. Your ideal clients will respect you for it.
2. Use Your Actual Voice (Yes, Even the Sweary Bits)
Here’s a test I call the “pub test”: Read your marketing copy out loud. Would you actually say this to someone over a glass of vino? Or does it sound like you’ve swallowed a corporate press release?
If it’s the latter, bin it and start again.
People don’t connect with “leveraging synergistic solutions to optimise your workflow.” They connect with “Stop wasting three hours a day on admin that could be automated.”
This doesn’t mean you need to swear in every sentence (though if that’s your natural style, own it). It means writing like you talk. Using contractions. Starting sentences with “And” or “But” if that’s how you’d say it. Admitting when something’s frustrating instead of calling it a “challenge” or an “opportunity for growth.”
3. Get Stupidly Specific
Generic marketing is safe. It’s also invisible.
“We help businesses grow” – cool story, so does literally everyone else.
“We help business coaches stop haemorrhaging money on paid ads that don’t work” – now we’re talking.
The more specific you are about who you help and what problem you solve, the more the right people will think, “Holy shit, that’s exactly what I need.”
Yes, you’ll put off people who aren’t your ideal client. That’s the point.
When you try to appeal to everyone, you end up connecting with no one. But when you speak directly to the person you’re meant to serve – using their language, their frustrations, their midnight panics – they’ll feel like you’re reading their mind.
Stop being vague to stay safe. Get specific and watch your ideal clients come running.
4. Share What Actually Happened (Warts and All)
People are bored with success stories that sound like fairy tales. “We implemented our revolutionary system and everything was perfect immediately!”
Bollocks.
Real stories include the bit where you almost gave up. The strategy that flopped spectacularly. The time you had no idea what you were doing and figured it out anyway.
That’s the stuff people remember.
When I started my business, I had no plan, no savings, and no idea how to run a business (I’m still not sure I know now lol). Did I mention that in my marketing? Absolutely. Because that’s the reality for most people who start businesses, and pretending otherwise just makes you look disconnected.
Your prospects don’t need you to be perfect. They need to know you understand what they’re going through because you’ve been there.
Share the messy middle, not just the highlight reel.
You can read more about how case studies can transform your marketing here.
5. Have an Actual Opinion
“There are pros and cons to every approach, and different strategies work for different businesses, so it really depends…”
Jesus wept, pick a lane.
Fence-sitting is boring. Worse, you’re left with splinters in your arse and completely forgettable.
You don’t need to be a dick about it, but you do need to have a point of view. What do you believe about your industry that others might disagree with? What hill are you willing to die on?
Maybe you think cold emailing is dead (it’s actually alive and kicking, by the way, and I’ll show you how to get results in my upcoming masterclass). Maybe you believe certain pricing models are exploitative. Maybe you reckon the whole “hustle culture” thing is dangerous nonsense.
Whatever it is, say it.
The people who agree will love you for it. The people who don’t? They weren’t your clients anyway.
Standing for something means some people won’t like you. But trying to be liked by everyone means nobody gives a shit about you.
Stop Trying to Sound Professional. Start Trying to Sound Human.
At the end of the day, figuring out how to market your business without sounding like everyone else comes down to one thing: actually being different, not just claiming to be.
That means:
- Calling out the industry BS nobody else will mention
- Writing like you actually talk to people
- Getting specific about who you serve and how
- Sharing real stories, not polished fairy tales
- Having opinions and standing by them
Will this approach appeal to everyone? Nope. But it’ll resonate deeply with the right people – the ones who are sick of corporate-speak and desperate to work with someone who actually gets it.
And those are the only people who matter anyway.