They say how you do one thing is how you do everything, and for me, that includes how I watch reality TV. I was recently binge-watching The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives (which I consider absolute trash TV that I’m obsessed with), and I saw an incredible branding tip in a tiny, overlooked moment. It perfectly illustrated why so many business owners are struggling to get noticed right now. We are all so afraid of getting it wrong that we end up becoming something much worse: invisible.
In a world of AI and watered-down content where everyone is copying everything, business owners think they are playing it safe by imitating their competition. But in reality, they are just becoming background noise. Today, I am breaking down the branding lesson I stole from Whitney Leavitt and why your business desperately needs her “updo strategy” if you want to stop being ignored.
By the way, if you are new around here, I am Ellie Brown and I help business owners with branding and web design. I would love to connect with you about your project. But let’s look at what happened in Season 3, Episode 6.
Prefer to listen? Check out Season 1, Episode 2 of the Where You Water It podcast.
The Whitney Way: Standing Out is Better Than Blending In
Whitney was sitting in a hotel room getting glammed up for a Hulu party. She sat there with her makeup artist and said, “So we’ve decided we’re going to leave it up, right? Because I know everyone’s going to have their hair down and curled”. On that show, most of the women look identical… The only thing that differentiates them is their level of cattiness. They all have long extensions and they all always curl it. Whitney intentionally chose to wear her hair up to break that visual pattern because she knew she would stand out.
In business, people often look to industry leaders and try to copy what they’re doing because they think if they’ve seen success, they will too. But when you just imitate the “uniform” of your industry, you make yourself invisible. Whether it’s photographers using whitewashed neutrals or therapists always choosing sage green, trying to look like everyone else is the fastest way to be ignored.
Stop Making Yourself Replaceable
The biggest lie we tell ourselves in business is that doing what everyone else is doing is “playing it safe”. We think that using the same colors or the same professional tone as our competitors minimizes the risk of rejection. In reality, blending in is the greatest risk of all.
When you look like every other person in your industry, you aren’t just playing it safe—you look replaceable. You give your potential clients no reason to choose you other than potentially something like price. I had a past client who was a therapist and chose to be a disruptor by being her authentic, bold self. She used bright colors, flipped off the camera in her brand photos, and said, “F*ck Judgement” in her website copy. This pre-qualified her leads because they knew exactly who she was before they even got in the room with her.
How to Audit Your Competition
You need to know the “rules” of your niche before you can go to break them or put your spin on them. Whether you are a business that is location-specific or work online with anybody anywhere, you have to identify the patterns happening within your industry. My advice is to pick your top 3 competitors and take note of the following:
- Identify common colors used: Take note of what most people in your space are using.
- Look at the messaging: How is everybody talking in their marketing? Professional? Casual? Funny?
- Analyze their service packages: If everyone else offers a six-week process, could you do something different by offering a one-day intensive?
My challenge for you is to do a deep dive into your own brand and ask yourself those questions. Are you following these industry “rules” because you think you should, or because it’s a good representation of your business. If you are struggling to standout in your market, I would love to help through strategic branding and website design.
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