Do You Have the Marketing Cajones To Pull This Off?

My mom sent me these pictures from a store in New York City that only sells rice pudding…

Would you dare be this bold in marketing your business?

While most companies play it safe and won’t take the risk to be different, this company (Rice To Riches) is boldly going where most companies won’t.

And, judging by the 1500+ reviews they have on Yelp, people are responding!

Rice to Riches is actually doing two things that totally differentiate themselves…

First, all they sell is rice pudding. There are plenty of dessert places to choose from in New York City, but how many specialize in rice pudding?

Second is their snarky, attention-grabbing messaging. Besides the signs above, their flavors have memorable names including Sex Drugs and Rocky Road, Fluent in French Toast, It Takes Two To Peach Mango, and Chocolate Cherry Crime Scene.

That snarky signage made such an impression on my mom that she took photos and sent them to my sisters and me (and she was ready to go in and try some pudding, despite being stuffed from breakfast, but the store wasn’t open yet). It made such an impression on me that I’m writing about it.

A big part of marketing is getting noticed. Separating yourself from the competition. Being memorable.

Whether you think Rice to Riches crosses the line of appropriateness and good taste here by using some profanities in their signage, you can’t deny they’re achieving all those things.

And while I don’t encourage you to resort to profanities in your marketing, I would challenge you to stand out more.

Think really hard about what makes your company more unique, more desirable and more memorable than your competitors. It could be specializing in serving a very specific segment of your market, it could be bold messaging in your advertising, it could be your prices or pricing options, it could be your story/personality, it could be your selection.

Whatever it is, that uniqueness should become the main focus of your marketing. Your website, elevator speech, AdWords ads, business cards, etc. should all reflect that.

So spend some time figuring out how your business is unique, get some consulting help doing that if you need it and figure out how stand out from the competition.

I truly believe finding your unique selling proposition (USP) is one of the most important exercises a business owner can go through. And if you nail your USP, your business will be ideally positioned for success and you’ll never have to worry about working at a “dead-end job” for a “ball-busting asshole” for the rest of your life!