You’re Boring (But Not Hopeless)

by Brian Clark

Seth Godin pulled no punches with this pithy Saturday-morning post – You’re Boring. Seth argues that unlike the old days when boring brands could simply buy attention, now the only option for anyone is to “become interesting, noteworthy and yes, remarkable.”

Along those lines, we thought it a good idea to send you back to How to be Interesting by Jon Morrow. Because it’s never too late to stop being boring.

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{ 3 trackbacks }

Facing Reality, Making A Change and One Single Ounce
June 6, 2009 at 11:30 am
How To Be Interesting And Increase Your Online Income By Doing It - Web Traffic Academy
June 7, 2009 at 1:12 am
Why Most Companies Are Boring : Idea Seeds
June 10, 2009 at 12:39 am

{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }

1 The Bad Blogger June 6, 2009 at 9:28 am

Ya… “Interesting” but I think there’s one and that is “Desire”

2 Write a Writing June 6, 2009 at 12:50 pm

There can be exceptions when the there is need for something in a remarkably new niche but in case of competing in an already established, it could be the best wayward to follow.

Amy Dyslex

3 BizDharma.com June 6, 2009 at 4:03 pm

The point Seth made is crystal clear. To be innovative enough to find a niche is tough. And to provide a service similar like others is like digging your grave !

Humans try to relate every thing they see. And this becomes our biggest challenge to attract eyeballs. We need to be remarkable to be seen and to be remembered. Right ?

4 Paul Hassing June 6, 2009 at 6:47 pm

I like the synergy we get when you and Seth reference each other. It provides double the fun. Thanks, Brian. :)

5 Chris Hinkle (Wapello Warbler) June 6, 2009 at 10:49 pm

Thanks for the example of how to recycle older material.

6 MJ June 6, 2009 at 11:00 pm

Ha…there must have not been much to write about. But I do have to agree with him on that one. Everyone wants to be remarkable these days. Blame the economy!!

7 Harrison Schmidt June 6, 2009 at 11:56 pm

Passion + Comedy + Great Info + Great Headlines = Not Boring

I think it helps to not be boring but its not THE key to success. I think the real key is Quality Content + Marketing. As long as your content is quality and solves a real problem, and you market it well to the right audience, you’ll attain some level of success.

Bill Gates is kind of boring and he is one of the richest people in the world (I think #1).

Aaron Wall of SEO Book is kind of boring(atleast his voice is in his videos ;) , but he probably makes more money than anyone in the seo training niche. He banks off his professionalism, his great business model, his massive amount of high quality content, his passion about his topic, and his marketing efforts.

8 Thomas June 7, 2009 at 2:35 am

If you write with passion and love the topic you write about, chances are you’re not boring.

9 Patrizia Broghammer June 7, 2009 at 3:20 am

Well, I disagree.
It is always a kind of surprise when I find out that people are still interested in certain subjects or products commercialized in the same old way.
Boring or interesting is just a matter of point of view.
I find the Internet quite a democratic environment.
Much more than our societies.
Here not only you can say whatever you like, boring or interesting, you always find somebody who reads it.
The secret?
Having a decent PR.
If you are visible you can bet you can ALWAYS find somebody who likes what you write.
You need just to be boring in your own, peculiar, honest way.

10 Charles June 7, 2009 at 5:15 am

I was just thinking about this topic and Seth nailed it.

Info-marketing is heading toward Edu-tainment, where Education meets Entertainment, i.e.

EDUCATION + ENTERTAINMENT = EDU-TAINMENT

Information itself is boring, but when we add a mix of interesting entertainment value into it, suddenly it becomes attractive to people.

Anthony Robbins is a master at this. The personal-development industry is very competitive, but people flock to him in droves because they get “super-charged” (read: entertained) in his programs, with all the fire-walking and stuff. If he delivers his seminars in lecture style, nobody would come.

Bringing this closer to home, bloggers like John Chow and Shoemoney are using Edu-tainment to their advantage. If they deliver their content in boring lecture-like style, I doubt they won’t have as many followers. But they let their personality shine through, even calling each other “rivals”, attracting a massive following in the process.

11 whoever June 8, 2009 at 6:52 am

well, boring or not, the sole important thing is to be useful. if you’re useless, nobody cares, no matter how boring or not boring you might be.

12 Sachin June 10, 2009 at 6:51 am

very nice “How to be interesting article” and it is not even 1% boring…..I quite sort of like it… thanks.

13 Kanu June 16, 2009 at 4:11 am

The short answer is- most ideas you can think of are good enough to start a business around – in short you can probably make some money doing almost anything.

The real question is whether or not your business idea is worth the risk, and will provide adequate reward if it works out. For sake of argument let’s say adequate return is enough money for you to live on, at least replacing your current income. Thanks in advance for your time and consideration.

Simply put your unique selling proposition (USP) is the reason I’d buy from you and not a competitor.

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