Get Different

Get Different Plot Summary

Introduction

Marketing has fundamentally changed, yet most businesses haven't caught up. In the age of constant distractions and information overload, you have mere milliseconds to capture your prospect's attention. The traditional marketing approaches taught in business schools and practiced by most companies are increasingly ineffective because they fail to recognize this critical reality. When everyone markets the same way, nobody gets noticed. What if the secret to breakthrough marketing isn't doing what everyone else does, just better? What if the answer is to be genuinely different in ways that make you impossible to ignore? This isn't about gimmicks or being weird for weird's sake. It's about authentically standing out in ways that align with your values while capturing attention in those crucial marketing milliseconds. The pages ahead will guide you through a practical framework for developing marketing that cuts through the noise, resonates with your ideal customers, and drives real business results — without requiring massive budgets or compromising who you really are.

Chapter 1: Define Your Marketing Mission and Responsibility

Marketing isn't just about getting your name out there. It's about taking responsibility for ensuring the right people know about your solution to their problems. If you truly have something valuable to offer — something that will genuinely help your ideal customers — then marketing becomes a moral imperative, not just a business function. Yanik Silver, often considered the godfather of internet marketing, taught this lesson to author Mike Michalowicz in a profound way. After launching his first book, Michalowicz believed the "great book will sell itself" myth and invested in 20,000 copies that sat gathering dust in a fulfillment center. Sales on launch day? Zero. Not even his mother bought a copy. Devastated, he sought advice from Yanik during a billiards game. As they looked out over the Maryland hills, Yanik asked him a simple question: "Is your book better than the stuff everyone else offers?" When Michalowicz confirmed it was, Yanik delivered the wake-up call that would change everything: "Then you have a goddamn responsibility to outmarket them." This realization hit Michalowicz like a thunderbolt. If his solution was truly better, it wasn't just a business opportunity — it was his responsibility to ensure it reached the people who needed it. Customers will buy something; they can only choose from options they know exist. If your competitor's inferior solution wins because you failed to make yours visible, that's not just their win — it's your failure. The core truth is this: marketing happens in milliseconds, not months. According to research, the average website holds visitors' attention for a mere fifteen seconds. Instagram reports people spend less than ten seconds on a post. The Interactive Advertising Bureau found that an ad must capture viewer attention for at least one second to have any chance of success. To win, you must capture attention instantly by being different. This isn't about being outrageous for shock value. It's about authentic differentiation that makes you unignorable. The fundamental principle that will transform your marketing approach is simple but powerful: Better is not better. Different is better. Being merely "better" keeps you invisible. Being genuinely different makes you impossible to ignore. Your mission now is to outmarket the competition, not because you want to crush them, but because the people you're meant to serve deserve to know about your solution. This is your call to arms — to serve by being seen.

Chapter 2: Master the DAD Framework: Differentiate, Attract, Direct

The DAD Marketing Framework provides a simple yet powerful approach to winning in the marketing milliseconds. The framework consists of three essential steps that must be followed in sequence, like a dance: Differentiate, Attract, and Direct. This order is critical — skipping steps or changing their sequence dramatically reduces effectiveness. Gabriel Piña, founder of Piña Business Services, discovered the power of this framework firsthand. After relocating to Wyoming from San Diego in 2014, his accounting business struggled with the triple threat of being unknown in a new area, relying solely on word-of-mouth referrals, and facing looming bankruptcy. Despite being an excellent accountant, he couldn't get enough clients to make ends meet. Gabriel needed to stand out, but how? During a retreat, he decided to niche down and focus on serving cigar shops, combining his passion with his expertise. Using the DAD framework, he developed a unique approach to reach his target market. The science behind the DAD framework is rooted in how our brains process information. Our caveman brain is hardwired to filter out the ordinary and notice the different. This reticular formation in our brain is extremely efficient at ignoring repetitive, meaningless triggers (habituation) while immediately focusing on anything unusual or unexpected. When something is different, our brain's first priority is threat analysis. Once deemed safe, it evaluates opportunity potential. If neither threat nor opportunity is detected, the brain categorizes the stimulus as inconsequential and ignores it thereafter. This is why the first step, Differentiate, is crucial. You must break through the noise by being noticed. Most marketing fails because it blends in with what everyone else is doing. The second step, Attract, ensures that once you have attention, you maintain it by demonstrating value and safety. Finally, Direct gives clear, specific instructions on what action to take next. Gabriel implemented this framework by sending books to potential cigar shop clients with sticky notes on key pages and a final note saying, "This will make your business achieve your goals. Text me and I will walk you through this, gratis." This approach was different (a book in the mail), attractive (sticky notes saved prospects time and built anticipation), and had a clear directive (text Gabriel for free help). Within two weeks of testing, he landed a new client. Within six months, he added six figures in additional annual revenue. The DAD framework is effective because it works with human psychology rather than against it. It recognizes that marketing happens in milliseconds and provides a structure for winning those crucial moments of attention. By implementing DAD, you gain control over your lead generation, allowing you to throttle business growth up or down as needed, rather than relying on unpredictable word-of-mouth marketing. To implement DAD effectively, start evaluating all marketing you encounter through this lens. Does it differentiate? Does it attract? Does it direct? This simple analysis will dramatically improve your marketing instincts and help you create more effective campaigns.

Chapter 3: Identify Your Target One Hundred Prospects

Successful marketing isn't built on hunches but on science. To implement effective Get Different marketing strategies, you need an adequate sample size for testing. According to data scientist Dr. Piroska Bisits-Bullen, the minimum sample size to get reliable results is one hundred — hence the Target One Hundred approach. Linda Weathers, an accountant and tax planner, illustrates the importance of identifying the right prospects. She had spent nine months and thousands of dollars on marketing efforts that yielded no results. "I've spent the last nine months trying to figure that out," she explained. "I gave up and hired someone and nothing happened. I've spent thousands trying to get marketing going." Despite her ability to save clients up to $30,000 annually in taxes, she couldn't attract new business. Linda was trapped in the common marketing lie: if your marketing isn't working, you simply haven't done enough yet. The Target One Hundred approach begins with identifying who your ideal prospects are. These aren't just vague demographics but specific individuals you want to work with. To find them, start with your existing customer base and perform a Crush/Cringe Analysis. Sort your customers by revenue and identify which ones you love working with (crushes) and which ones make you cringe when they call. The goal is to clone the high-revenue customers you enjoy serving. Once you've identified what makes your ideal customers unique, search for groups, platforms, meetups, conferences, and podcasts where they gather. Look for "congregation points" — places where your ideal prospects naturally come together. This could include industry events, online forums, or social media groups focused on their specific challenges or interests. After identifying who you want to target (the "Who"), clarify what specific offer best serves them (the "What"). This isn't about listing all your products or services but identifying which specific offering will most compellingly address their core needs. Then, determine your ultimate marketing outcome (the "Win") — what specific action do you want them to take? Understanding the lifetime value (LTV) of your ideal customer is crucial for determining appropriate marketing investments. If an ideal customer generates $10,000 in revenue over their lifetime and you have a one-in-five chance of converting a prospect, investing $400-500 per prospect might make perfect sense. This calculation helps you break free from ineffective, low-cost marketing approaches that never generate results. When Linda implemented the Target One Hundred approach with guidance, she created a focused email campaign targeting specific prospects. Within three weeks, she landed two new clients and one prospect. Compare this to her previous nine months of expensive marketing efforts that yielded zero clients. The difference wasn't spending more — it was targeting the right people with different marketing. By clearly defining your Target One Hundred, you create a foundation for all your marketing experiments. This clarity enables you to develop marketing that speaks directly to the specific needs of people most likely to become your best customers, rather than wasting resources on generic approaches that appeal to no one in particular.

Chapter 4: Create Marketing That Gets Noticed

In a world of increasing sameness, getting noticed requires breaking patterns. Jesse Cole discovered this truth when he took over a failing baseball team in Savannah. Upon first visiting Grayson Stadium, he found only 200 people in attendance despite perfect weather for a game. "I'd never seen a ballpark so empty," Jesse recalled. After acquiring the team, he faced a major challenge — locals were skeptical about baseball, and three months in, they'd sold just one season ticket. Jesse realized that conventional marketing wouldn't work. "What we needed was attention," he explained. "And to get attention, we needed to do something really different." When holding a contest to name the team, they received many respectable entries like the Sailors, the Captains, and the Specters. Then one outlier appeared: the Bananas. Though Savannah had no connection to bananas, the name was undeniably different. They went with it, and immediately became the talk of the town. Before playing a single game, they sold out their entire season and merchandise began selling worldwide. To generate marketing ideas that get noticed, consider trying a different medium than what your industry typically uses. When everyone else is sending text emails, try video emails. If competitors don't use direct mail, you should. Kasey Anton, who co-owned a restaurant in Boston, implemented this approach by sending birthday candles in the mail to previous customers along with a coupon for a free entrée. While her business partners thought this was "low class," the campaign generated over $18,000 in new business in just one month for an investment of less than $200. Another powerful technique is the Idea Mine, a group brainstorming method where you gather at least five people from different backgrounds. Turn your chair away from the group so you can hear but they can't see your face, then have each person share ideas about how you could market your offer. The golden rule: no one comments about the ideas — just move on to the next one. The only bad idea is no idea. Ernestina Perez, a therapist who started Latinx Talk Therapy, used this technique to grow her practice. She needed fifteen new clients to hit her revenue goal but didn't know how to find them. During an Idea Mine session, she collected forty potential marketing strategies. One stood out: creating a "Therapist Reacts" video reviewing scenes from the TV show "90 Day Fiancé." Though initially hesitant — "Therapists are supposed to be professional, subdued listeners" — she created the video and posted it on Instagram. The results were remarkable. Her review received nearly 2,500 views in one week, compared to less than 600 views for her standard commercial video over an entire year. Within one week, her practice received thirty-one inquiries and booked twenty-three new clients — eight more than her original goal. Among 552,000 mental health professionals in the US, Ernestina distinguished herself by doing something different. To find your own different approach, try identifying the "est" in your marketing — the superlative quality that makes you stand out. Are you the craziest, weirdest, funniest, sincerest, or deepest in your category? Extremes get noticed and remembered. You can also try the Opposites and Loopholes technique — list the standard aspects of your industry, then consider doing the opposite or finding creative loopholes in the "rules." Remember, you don't need a revolutionary idea. Simple tweaks to standard practices can be enough to win the marketing milliseconds. The key is to try something that makes prospects think, "I haven't seen that before."

Chapter 5: Design Your Attraction Strategy

After gaining attention through differentiation, you must maintain engagement through attraction. Robert Stephens founded Geek Squad in 1994 with just $200. While I started my computer service company Olmec Systems around the same time, wearing a suit to appear professional, Stephens took a radically different approach. His technicians showed up to appointments with dark-rimmed glasses taped in the middle, white short-sleeved shirts, black pants, black ties, and black shoes with the company logo stamped on the soles to leave "Geek Squad" footprints in the snow. Initially, I thought their branding was a gimmick. I laughed at Geek Squad, confident that my superior service would win. I was wrong. Geek Squad dominated the attention game and destroyed the competition. While they were no more capable than we were, their different approach drew customers' attention and kept them engaged. Their Dragnet/Men in Black vibe instilled confidence and made being a geek cool. Eight years after founding the company, Stephens sold Geek Squad to Best Buy for $3 million plus a share of future profits, helping grow it to over a billion dollars in annual revenue. To maintain engagement after capturing attention, consider which Attraction Influencers will resonate with your ideal prospects. These include authority (heightened trust for an individual or brand seen as a leader), trusted source (confidence based on past experiences), repetition (recurring messages that become familiar), social significance (elevation of standing in a community), alignment (validation of existing beliefs), safety (protection from harm or discomfort), comfort (maintaining what we already enjoy), expansion (enhancing things we value), belonging (connection to community), health (improvement of well-being), relief (freedom from pain), beauty (pleasing to the senses), and esteem (feeling valued and recognized). It's crucial that your marketing matches your offer. When differentiating, ensure that your approach aligns with what you're selling. A bedraggled person in a cheap Statue of Liberty costume advertising tax services sends the wrong message about professionalism. Conversely, the Savannah Bananas' name perfectly matched their focus on family entertainment rather than traditional baseball, attracting thousands of people looking for fun. Your marketing should also speak to your prospect's identity. People are attracted to images and messages that affirm who they are. The "Don't Mess with Texas" anti-littering campaign succeeded because it aligned littering with "messing" with Texans' home state and identity. Between 1987 and 1990, litter on Texas highways reduced by 72% because the campaign resonated with state pride. Timing is another critical factor. During sensitive periods, like the racial reckoning following George Floyd's murder, inappropriate marketing can appear tone-deaf. As Dr. Venus Opal Reese wrote, "If you don't care about me in the midst of all we are dealing with in this real-life/real-time moment, I don't want you in my inbox." Finally, ensure your attraction strategy supports your long-term goals. Author Ryan Holiday once critiqued a discount book marketing strategy by saying, "You are thinking way too small. You are wowing people who don't see enough value in your book to get a new one." This insight led to developing strategies that would move hundreds of books rather than "onesie-twosies," resulting in significantly larger advances for subsequent books. By thoughtfully designing your attraction strategy to maintain engagement after capturing attention, you create marketing that resonates deeply with your ideal prospects and keeps them engaged long enough to take action.

Chapter 6: Craft Clear Directives That Drive Action

Street performers understand the power of clear directives. When you walk past a breakdancing troupe or a sidewalk musician, you immediately know what they want: put money in the bucket. They don't give you a sequence of complicated steps or multiple options that create friction. Their instructions are clear, specific, and obvious. Anthony Sicari, owner of New York State Solar Farm, learned the importance of clear directives when revamping his radio advertising. Despite spending $70,000 annually on radio ads for five years, he couldn't track whether they worked. Working together with the author, Anthony developed a different approach following the DAD framework: Differentiate by recording an ad that sounded like he was leaving a voicemail about what frustrated him in the solar industry; Attract by being natural and sincere rather than using a polished announcer voice; and Direct listeners to a specific landing page created just for this ad. When Anthony submitted the ad to the radio station, they urged him to make changes. "They called me up and said, 'Can we please fix this for you for free?'" Anthony recalled. "They wanted it to sound more like a normal ad." Despite their pushback, Anthony insisted on running the ad as planned. Within one day of the ad playing, he received two new leads. More continued to come in, prompting him to text the author, "It's working!" This experience transformed Anthony's approach to marketing. "I've always felt confident on the marketing side of business, but I've never put this much effort into thinking it through before," he explained. "To ask, 'Is this different?' and, 'Will this attract my ideal customer?' and, 'How can I get people to take this one specific action?'" The most effective directives are simple and specific. When Ted and Dorothy Hustead were struggling to save their drugstore in Wall, South Dakota during the Great Depression, Dorothy had an insight about travelers passing by on Route 16A. She realized they would want cold water after a long drive across the prairie. Their directive was simple: "Come to Wall Drug for free ice water." They placed signs along the highway, and by the time they returned to the store, customers had already shown up. By the next summer, they needed eight sales clerks to handle the volume. Today, Wall Drug attracts millions of visitors annually. When crafting your directive, ask yourself, "What exactly do I want my ideal prospects to do at this stage?" Start with your ultimate outcome and work backward to determine the fewest, most digestible steps to reach that goal. Each action must be both reasonable (not too much too soon) and safe (where the potential reward outweighs the perceived risk). To enhance the power of your directive, consider using scarcity or exclusivity. The Classified restaurant at Newark Airport's Terminal C is accessible only by invitation to elite United Airlines customers. This exclusivity creates extreme loyalty and makes customers feel special. Similarly, when Ford released its new Bronco, the limited First Edition model sold out within minutes despite costing twice as much as the basic model. Cornell University's Center for Hospitality Research found that showing customers how much people normally tip resulted in the highest increases in tip amounts. This is like setting out a tip bucket and seeding it with larger bills - it establishes a norm that others follow. By guiding your prospects with specific information about what others typically do, you can influence their behavior without being manipulative. Remember, more options cause confusion and paralysis. In his book The Paradox of Choice, psychologist Barry Schwartz explains that too many choices can prevent people from making any decision at all. By giving your prospects one clear, specific action to take, you dramatically increase the likelihood they'll respond.

Chapter 7: Test, Measure and Amplify Your Experiments

Most of your different marketing ideas will fail. This is a hard truth that even frustrates experienced marketers like Michelle Scribner, CEO of Sum of All Numbers, who threw an early version of this book against her hotel room wall when confronted with this reality. But in the trickle of winners among a sea of losers lies the path to marketing success. The key is to experiment quickly, measure results objectively, and amplify what works. The biggest marketing lie in the world is: "If your marketing isn't working, you simply haven't done enough yet." This falsehood leads to wasting money on ineffective strategies while hoping for different results. Instead of doing more of what doesn't work, identify what's missing using the DAD framework and test new approaches. To structure your experiments, use the Get Different Experiment Sheet. This tool helps you evaluate whether your marketing approach targets the right prospects with the right offer, leverages the DAD framework, and is worth pursuing. Start by defining your objective (who you're targeting, what you're offering, and your desired outcome), then determine your investment based on customer lifetime value and conversion odds. For the experiment itself, choose your medium and idea, then evaluate whether it differentiates, attracts, and directs effectively. Next, set clear measurement parameters: when you'll start and end the experiment, how many prospects you'll target, your expected return, and your intended investment. After completing the experiment, record the actual number of prospects reached, the actual return, and your actual investment. The verdict on your experiment will fall into one of four categories: Expand & Track (outcomes meet intentions, continue and increase investment); Retest (results are inconclusive, try again with a new sample); Improve (parts are working but need refinement); or Abandon (the idea failed completely, move on). Austin Karp demonstrated the power of quick experimentation during his first day as an intern for the Savannah Bananas. He suggested thanking customers who bought tickets with a rap. Rather than overthinking the idea, team owner Jesse Cole immediately approved it, saying, "The person who creates the idea owns it." Austin made his first thank-you rap call the very next morning. Some listeners laughed, others shared their voicemail with friends, and one fan even sent a rap back. The experiment was successful enough that the entire ticketing staff now does rap thank-yous. To track the effectiveness of your experiments, use the OMEN Method: Objective (intended outcome), Measurements (definition of success), Evaluation Frequency (how often you'll check progress), and Nurture (how you'll improve your approach). Robin Robins, a marketing expert, used this method to improve her Shock & Awe program. When a virtual desk display on customized web pages for prospects wasn't converting well, she added a nameplate with the prospect's name in big, bold letters at the top of the screen. This simple tweak improved conversions by over 200%. Also implement "key" marketing - unique and trackable actions for each campaign. Anthony Sicari set up a specific website (solaranthony.com) exclusively for his radio ad, allowing him to measure exactly how many leads it generated. You can use distinct websites, phone numbers with different extensions, unique coupon codes, or other methods to track results across various marketing initiatives. Remember, the goal isn't perfection but progress. As Mark Zuckerberg said, "In a world that's changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks." Accept that failure is part of the process, learn from it quickly, and keep experimenting until you find what works for your business.

Summary

The marketing landscape has fundamentally changed. In a world where everyone is fighting for attention, following industry "best practices" is the fastest path to invisibility. As we've discovered throughout these pages, the most powerful truth in marketing today is that better is not better — different is better. This principle isn't just about standing out; it's about honoring your responsibility to ensure that people who need your solution can find it. The journey to different marketing begins with embracing who you truly are. As Dolly Parton wisely noted, "The whole magic about me is that I look artificial, but I'm totally real." Your uniqueness — even what you might consider weaknesses or quirks — can become your greatest marketing advantage. Your different could be as simple as changing your medium, highlighting a mistake, leaning into a limitation, or simply amplifying your authentic voice. The DAD framework (Differentiate, Attract, Direct) provides the structure to transform these differences into marketing that cannot be ignored, while the Target One Hundred approach ensures you're reaching the right people with your message. Remember, as you implement these strategies: "Be bold, be italic, but never be regular." What would you create if you knew for certain you could get all the leads you needed when you needed them? Your marketing can now become the bridge to that future. Start today by completing one Get Different Experiment. Choose your most important offering and your most valuable target audience. Apply the DAD framework, conduct a small test, and measure the results objectively. Don't wait for perfect conditions or a revolutionary idea — take the first step now. Your business growth, your community, and the people you're meant to serve are all depending on your willingness to get different.

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Mike Michalowicz

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