Seth Godin has spoken for years about the concept of Being Remarkable. Simply put, being remarkable means you're worth making a remark about. If you're not remarkable, then by default you are simply average. Being average is not a bad thing. When you think about most companies, products, or services, they are simply average. The ones that really stand out are the ones that are remarkable.

Zappos, and online clothing store, is often cited as a company that has some of the most remarkable customer service. I'm a Zappos customer, and I can attest that there service is remarkable. Often, I have ordered an item the night before, only to have it delivered a few hours later by 10:00 A.M. the next day at no extra charge. That is worth making a remark about.

In my newest Vlog post, I talk a little more about this topic and you can see it here: Being Remarkable

In any case, what makes you, your product, or your service remarkable? If your goal is to be remarkable, I believe it first starts by making a conscious effort on what you want your customers to make a remark about. Once you've set an objective or goal, then you can start the process of getting people to that place. It's food for thought.

Respectfully,

Lou Serrano

I think being remarkable is also about your back story. As a motivational speaker and an entertainment with an "empowerment" theme, I want to be remarkable specifically in a way that lends to my credibility. I want people to say "hey, I've heard about that guy" and "wasn't he the guy that..." and so on. Building this credibility includes being remarkable enough that the news media want to talk about me. I suppose this is the test: am I remarkable enough that the general public is interested?

I've been having some great success with this over the last year including

- most recently being put on a list of the "Most Fascinating" people in my province (#64) http://metronews.ca/features/100-most-fa......or-2013/
- I did a 24 hour run in my neighborhood for charity that got the attention of 4 TV stations, 3 newspapers, 1 popular morning radio show, a large corporation to sponsor me via a contest, and official recognition of my efforts by the provincial government http://www.amazingcompanyevents.com/24-hour-marathon/
- I made it on the CBC National (Canadian) news with a winter ultra run challenge http://www.amazingcompanyevents.com/media/

I continuing to work on my passion of running, work it into my talks and performances, and really develop the interest factor around what I do. So far it's working and it's nice to see that a majority of the people in my audiences had heard of me and love talking about what I've been doing.

Obviously, doing a good job at the service job you do is extremely important. I also wanted to add that I think there is value in creating a remarkable story and personality. People like to talk to interesting/remarkable people.

I continue to work on my challenges. Don't get me wrong - it's my passion so it isn't "work" and this is a natural extension of my personality. I'm currently working on a 72 hour run effort and I share with my audiences the ups, downs, and lessons I personally learn along the way.

A thoughtful and thought provoking post, Scott. Yes, having a remarkable back story can be incredibly beneficial, and you make some great points. Thank you for sharing your insight.

Lou

Another great video Lou. Well done.

Like they say, the difference in ordinary and extraordinary is that little word 'extra.' It doesn't really take much for the average person to step away from the pack. Going that extra mile is never as hard as it seems. Truth is, with that extra, people begin noticing after the first few steps, and that motivates you to press on. Then every step gets easier.

Even with my little part time ebay business, I went from being an average ebay seller to a top rated power seller in a very short time by simply doing a little extra for the customers. I made a conscious effort to do a little more than the competition, paying close attention to all the little things. In businesses, The Little Things Matter.

Good customer service is normal, great customer service is remembered and talked about.

Tom

Great viedo!!

Thanks Logan!

Tom, excellent point. By the way, I just read the Secret to Success story on your website. It's a great story. It's something I have to remind myself of everyday. Thanks for sharing.

Lou

Great post Lou. And I like Scotts addition of the "Back Story" into that equation

It reminded me of a quote from speaker coach Patricia Fripp, she remarked - "People want to do business with interesting people"

Patricia Fripp is a smart lady.

I think there are two things that can make a person "remarkable:"

1) Differentiation - How are you different from everybody else out there? What is the source of your uniqueness? And,

2) Relevance - Why should anyone care?

Answer those two questions and you will give someone a starting point for remarks.

Jim

Jim

Jim,

I love the second point in particular "Why should anyone care?" The answer to that question can literally make a career.

Thanks for sharing.

Lou

Excellent thoughts Jim.

Being super, super, super great means nothing if others don't care.

Why should or why do they care? Number one reason off the top of my head; because they can relate to what you saying/doing. We often forget that people care about themselves and we fail to include them in our story.

Tom

"The job of the actor (entertainer) is to hold a mirror up to the audience, so that they can see they are not alone."

Cate Blanchard ( sort of paraphrasing Shakespeare )