The Play Your Card Technique: How to Stand Out From the Crowd

There are tons of people who are doing the EXACT thing you want to do. That's a fact. How do you stand out?

You want to be a thought leader on leadership? "So what? Tons of people do that."

You want to speak about healthy relationships? "So what? Tons of people speak on that."

You want to create an online course on weight loss. "So what? Tons of people have courses like that."

What makes you and what you have to say so special?

This is a pain that invades the minds of so many incredible people who want to help people. They get caught with the thought "But I'm not special".

I remember speaking to an aspiring health coach who wanted to start an online coaching business that couldn't get out of her own way. She felt there were so many other people doing exactly what she wanted to do so there wasn't a chance for her to be successful. She would point to all the people who spoke about this method or that strategy and would point out all of the ways these other people were smarter than her, better writers than her, and had a bigger following than her. Then she said this "Why would anyone work with me when they could work with them?"

Does this way of thinking ring a bell for you by chance?

I bet it does. It's an internal dialogue that happens for so many people, and this kind of thinking keeps you small, it keeps you safe.

There is a part of our mind that's sole purpose is to keep us safe. You ever go on top of a really high building or cliff and look down? And you immediately get that weird sensation in your body, right? That's the part of your mind that's sole job is to keep you safe. So when you have the desire to go after something new, that same part of your brain says "there's risk involved, something bad may (or may not happen) let's find every reason this can't work so we can stay the same."

What I've discovered throughout life, is that our mind is hard-wired to keep us safe. Yet the only way we can be successful is to take calculated risks. This is a paradox!

Which brings me to the strategy I'd love to share with you today. It's called "Playing your card".

It's a way to take the exact thing your mind might be telling you is the reason you CAN'T do something and turn it into the reason you can. This one technique has been worth my entire career because, without it, I wouldn't have started.

So here's what I used to tell myself when I started my career:

"No one would want to listen to me, I'm just some 22-year-old kid from the projects in Brooklyn, NY. I haven't accomplished anything. I haven't climbed

Mt. Everest, I haven't made a zillion dollars in my business yet, I haven't accomplished anything. The only thing I can definitely say I've done is graduate college but so many people have done that, that's not impressive. I suck at life."

This was how I felt about myself. This was the exact reason why I felt like I couldn't go after my dream of speaking.

Then I decided to Play My Card. I made the thing I felt was holding me back the EXACT reason why people should listen to me.

"I'm just a kid from the projects in Brooklyn, NY but I made it to college and graduated and started a business while attending school. I was also the president of four student organizations so I have leadership experience. I'm 22 years old which means I'm young and can relate better to young people! I'm new so that means I can bring fresh ideas!"

This became the credibility I needed to start my speaking career and flourish.

Now here's what I did. I simply played my card. I played the hand I was dealt instead of running from it, I ran toward it. This is the secret. If you simply play your card, meaning lean into what your life experience has been and who you are, you will become attractive to your potential clients for that reason.

Let's give more examples.

There's a guy who teaches parents via online courses, how to make sure their children avoid doing drugs and drinking alcohol. Now here's the thing, he has never done drugs or alcohol, ever. Usually, when you think of someone who teaches people how to avoid these vices, they normally have a story of how they became an addict, spiraled out of control and experienced great loss. They usually present their information from the perspective of "don't be like me, don't let this happen to you." And though this is very effective, there is another angle...

"Why I chose to never drink or do drugs in the first place!"

And that's his card so he plays it and plays it very well.

What's amazing about the internet is that it allows you to connect with so many different kinds of people. Let's say you made an online course and if you could make $10,000 from it, you would be over the moon excited. Let's say you charged $2k for it. You would only need to find 5 people who resonate with your story, who have an interest in solving the problem you can solve for them, and have the means to do so. (In the next post I'll show you how to go about finding these people, I got your back!)

But I want you to lean into your story. Play your card. No matter what it is, play your card.

Let's take a generic example that most anyone could relate to.

Let's say you are brand new to an industry and people didn't know you yet. You could play your card this way:

"If you are tired of hearing the same old stuff and want a new perspective that works, my program is for you. Everyone else is using the same old, recycled information and it just doesn't work anymore. It was effective years ago, but so was sending a fax to communicate with people...If you want a fresh start, you need a fresh perspective and that's what I'd like to provide for you."

Now let's say you are dealing with the same situation above, but you are someone who has 20 years' experience. You could play your card this way:

"Improving your situation is important to you and you can't just trust anyone, especially someone who doesn't have any real-world experience and could only give you ideas based on theory. You are seasoned and don't want to trust your luck to a rookie. You want a veteran who knows the ins and outs of the game, backward and forward, and who can really help you. With my over 20 years of experience, I've seen a lot and helped a lot and can support you with real-world practical solutions that work no matter what situation you are in. That's what I'd like to provide to you."

Do you see that?

Whatever your card is, play that card! And you will attract the people who like who you are and repel the people who don't.

If you want to teach people and help them, there is a good chance there is a whole group of people who will work with you, just because you are you.

When I started my first online course, The True Speaking Success System, I was concerned about how to separate myself from everyone else who taught speaking. But then I realized, how many people teaching speaking are young(er) and a person of color who can relate to various audiences. I realized just based on who I am, my age, my ethnicity, I would attract a certain group of people who feel they could relate to me because of who I am. I never had to outright say "Hey everyone, I'm a young Jewish guy who is a person of color who can teach you about professional speaking through my online course, buy mine, not theirs!" I never had to say that. Just by presenting myself in a field that doesn't have a lot of people who look like me helped me separate myself. Then once people started consuming more of my content, they were able to decide whether or not I was the right fit for them.

But ultimately, just being a woman or young or older or a man or a certain ethnicity may initially attract people to you but you have to solve problems for people. No one is going to give you money simply because of who you are. They care about what you can do for them but who you are may be your entry point to opening a relationship. How cool is that?

And for clarity, I have students of my online program from every walk of life. So it's not just a certain kind of person who will buy from you, but who you are can be enough to get your foot in the door, my friend!

I'll give you one more case study, I once had someone tell me, "Man, I wish I was born in the projects so I could have a story like you!"

I was like "Bruh, no you don't!" Lol

He felt he was just a regular guy from the midwest, normal family, mom and dad in the picture, no real major life challenges he overcame, but he wanted to create content to motivate people. However, he felt stuck because he felt like he didn't have a good enough hook. And guess what he should do? PLAY HIS CARD! Do you have any idea how many Americans are just like you? TONS! So he could position himself this way:

"Listen, I wasn't born in the wilderness and raised by a pack of wolves, I didn't climb Mt. Everest blindfolded hopping on just one leg. I'm just a normal guy born to a good family in a nice neighborhood. The funny thing is that people think people like me still don't have problems and issues. They think people like us are just supposed to be cheery 24/7 but that's not reality. If you are looking for someone who gets you, gets that though everything on the outside may seem perfect to others, there are still challenges on the inside you need to deal with but haven't known where to turn to yet, I want to be that place for you."

See what I mean?

PLAY YOUR CARD!

Think about how much time you could save trying to figure out your Unique Selling Proposition when your USP could be you!

The biggest reason why people won't play their card is simply that they can't see the forest for the trees . They are too close to their own situation to be able to see what their card even is. But you can, and I love helping people see how to play their card. I hope this gets you started to think about how you can play your card so you can impact people with your message.

If you are interested in creating an online course or online coaching program, separating yourself from everyone else is incredibly important. And if you play your cards right, you will be able to attract a lot of people to want to work with you right now because you can solve a problem for them and they buy into WHO you are. This is powerful.

In the next post, I'm going to talk about how to find the people who want to play cards with you because they like the cards you hold (or some version of a metaphor that works with the idea of playing your card, you get it though. Basically, I'm going to show you how to find the people who will best resonate with you and who can buy from you, cool eh?)

If this stuff is interesting to you, make sure to click here so you don't miss a thing.

Wishing You Authentic Success,

-Arel