Several years ago, I went whale watching in Bar Harbor,
Maine, while on vacation. I remained in the large, central
cabin with my poor seasick infant son when a whale was
finally spotted.

The Captain announced, "Whale to the starboard", and a
mini-stampede of about 70 tourists scampered over just in
time for the briefest of glimpses as it quickly submerged
again. Everyone jostled and jockied for position to get the
perfect camara shot for when that darn whale resurfaced.

But of course, it wasn't going to work out this way. "Whale
to the port side", announced the Captain, and the stampede
to the other side literally tipped the boat. Naturally, the
whale had disappeared by then as well.

This went on like this -- back and forth -- for about twenty
minutes. The whale seemed to be toying with human
nature -- the tendency for people to do what everyone else
was doing.

And EVERYONE was zigging when they should have been zagging.
There were no 'individuals'. They moved as a group in their
futile quest to snap off a clear and revealing shot.

Are you moving with the crowd on the internet, or are you
striking out on your own unique path, one more likely to get
noticed?

If you observe your own specific internet marketplace, it's
very likely you'll find that the vast majority of the
'crowd' are doing the sames things in the same ways -- and
they're also getting the same poor results.

This presents a golden opportunity to be noticed by doing
things differently.

Successful entrepreneurs, both online and off, are
innovators and risk takers. They *experiment*, *evaluate*
and *evolve* until they successfully convey that both who
they are and what they offer is unique in the marketplace,
despite all the competition.

To seperate yourself from the pack, you need to look at
every aspect of your internet marketing effort and ask
yourself, "What's unique about this?" And, "How does this
contribute to my own unique web presence?"

Here's some important areas to look at to get you started.

* Are you playing it safe and trying to please and sell
everyone, and consequently selling to almost no one?

* Why should your prospects believe YOU when they are
skeptical of so many others?

* How about your ezine? Is it similar to countless others
or is there a unique theme or tone running through it?

* While your ads may be well written, is the overall
message very much the same as the pack?

* How is your sales page unique? And have you given it a
measured dose of your own personality?

This process of developing a distinct 'uniqueness' is
subjective, involves risks, takes work to implement, and
time to evaluate and change again if necessary. But in
doing so, you will develop the factors crucial to
successfully setting yourself apart in a very competitive
marketplace.

Back onboard, my wife took a chance and went to the OTHER
SIDE of the boat, alone. Sure enough, the whale popped up
for a few seconds, she got the shot, and that was the last
that was seen of that whale, or any other, for the rest of
the trip. There were alot of unhappy tourists grumbling on
the way back.

Stand out from the crowd. Move to the empty side of the
boat -- and you'll stand a much better chance of getting
your picture of the whale.


About the Author
Joshua Rose is the Editor of The Internet Profit Wizards
Newsletter, where he writes about the three most important
skills needed to attain internet success. To subscribe,
visit: http://www.internetprofitwizards.com.