Why creativity is essential to your business.

In this world of online business and social media noise it can feel over-crowded and like you’re repeating what’s already been said or done, so how do you make yourself stand out and reach your potential clients? 

It is possible to do things differently – not necessarily radically different – because no one else is like you. If your business is an extension of who you are and your values and principles, with a big sprinkling of your personality, your business is unique! 

The issue comes when businesses spend their time mimicking others, particularly surface level stuff, instead of looking at what they can do in their own way to make themselves stand out. 

So in the cacophony of online entrepreneurs, why is creativity essential for your business to grow? I’ve been thinking about the importance of being innovative and how I’ve built two successful businesses by making the most of my strengths and bringing my personality to them.

Be more you

As I mentioned before, no one is like you and I can’t stress enough that people buy from people, so your business needs to be authentically you to be successful.

If you want to stand out from your competitors, be visible. Let your uniqueness shine through into your business. Try and show your quirks and your fun side in your branding and social media, or if you’re really spiritual and that’s your industry, add a dash of your personal experience to your content.

When you’re more you, it feels natural and you’re at ease with what you’re selling, so you call in your tribe and therefore sales don’t feel like one long exhausting challenge – because you’re not pretending or putting on a front.

Be a magpie

One of my friends is a primary teacher and when she was talking to me about strategies for learning to write, she mentioned a tactic they teach children called “magpie-ing”. I can’t imagine it’s a word thrown around outside the world of education, but it’s one I think we should all take away!

Magpies like shiny things, and they take whatever they like the look of. Teachers encourage children to “magpie” from authors they read, or from peers, to use those techniques in their own writing to improve it. And I think that, done in the right way, this is advice I’d give business owners too.

Nowadays it’s pretty hard to come across a 100% original business that hasn’t taken someone else’s idea and tweaked it, or innovated it in some way.

… always steal from the best. Look at things, take them apart and explore how one could create them differently.

Alan Moore

I’m not talking about replicating an entire brand – that’d be lazy, pointless and altogether daft (as well as potentially breaking copyright) – I mean doing what all the best big businesses do. Which is – essentially – magpie-ing!

Henry Ford got his idea for the assembly line manufacturing that revolutionised car making after seeing a meat-packing line at a local slaughterhouse. Mark Zuckerberg has been innovating Facebook (and now Instagram) – pinching ideas from other social media – since the idea was conceived. The key is to take the shiny bit, and do it your way – to innovate.

My businesses are not the first of their kind, but I saw a gap in the market locally, and I knew that with my passion for getting kids active I could bring something brilliant to Edinburgh – and so Step It Up Dance was born. And my career history in marketing meant – and on seeing so many business women struggling with attracting enough customers – it made complete sense to launch The Simplicity Concept! They might not be the first, but they are certainly unique! And they’re so ME!

With creativity and a little more you, your business will call in the clients with whom you resonate, who’ll remain loyal to your brand and who’ll tell all their friends about the awesomeness that you bring to the world.

I’d love to hear from you about how you get creative in your business! Get in touch, follow us on Instagram or join my free Facebook group.

And if you’re looking for somewhere to find like-minded women to support you on your journey (and maybe even collaborate with – it’s already happening!) or you’d like the chance to work with me, but don’t quite have the budget for a marketing strategist to take the reins, a great solution for you would be to join my membership, We Are Brilliant Business Builders.

Niki x