Different vs. Better: How to Compete Without Comparison
Thank you to our sponsors!
Save 50% off your first year of Honeybook using this link!
Links mentioned in today’s show:
Find Your Differentiator with The Branding Business School
If you’ve ever felt stuck in comparison—asking yourself how to compete with someone already doing what you want to do—you're not alone. Victoria shares her personal journey from a corporate web design agency to founding BrandWell, and how choosing to lean into what made her boldly, unapologetically different led to lasting brand clarity and freedom. In this short and sweet episode, you’ll learn why chasing “the best” leads to burnout, how authenticity creates stronger client connections, and what it really means to build a brand around your unique strengths. This episode is your reminder that clarity and connection—not competition—are what truly drives a thriving business.
Comparison is the Thief of Joy
It’s exhausting to constantly try and outdo someone else or to even keep up with so-and-so on social media. Yet, we all are guilty of getting stuck in the doom scroll that just leads us to feeling crappy about ourselves. Victoria even admits how she has to take breaks from marketing books or business podcasts because for her, if she hears something that someone else is doing, her first thought is, “I need to be doing this too.”, and that’s the same for so many of us. We have to be careful when we’re consuming content because it’s also a trap. When we focus on being “better”, we’re making ourselves operate by somebody else’s rule book, and that’s not branding – that’s burnout.
People Don’t Hire the “Best” Companies
They hire the ones that they connect with, the ones they feel aligned with, the ones who make them feel seen, and can solve their problems. In order to build this type of connection with your target audience, you have to have clarity, being clear about who you are, what it is that you do, and why you do it the way you do it. Being the “best” takes time, it takes experience, wisdom, money and resources. Being the “best” is also subjective. What’s best for one client may be totally wrong for another. But being “different”, that is so much more efficient because you are already different. You don’t have to earn it, you just have to uncover it and own it.
3 Questions to Ask Yourself to Embrace Your Difference
What are people saying about you when they refer you to others? Listen to what people are saying when they refer friends to you. They are not just compliments for your brand, they are clues pointing to what people experience when they interact with your brand.
What frustrates you about your industry and how do you do things differently? A lot of times, this is the reason you started your business.
What stories or parts of your background could make you uniquely qualified to do what you do for a specific group of people? Think about your past jobs, your personal life, even your struggles. These are the things that create connection and you want to highlight them.
As you ask yourself these questions, jot them down in a notebook or on the notes app on your phone. You’re “different” is already there, it just needs to be uncovered and by answering these questions, it should help you uncover it a lot faster.
Comparison Steals Brand Clarity
When you are constantly consuming other people in your industry’s content, it will steal your brand clarity. Sometimes you have to put your blinders on and just do what you know how to do. Lean into the clients that are your brand advocates. Someone will always have more experience than you, someone will always have a bigger social media presence than you, and someone will always be a few steps ahead of where you are now, but none of that matters when your brand is rooted in who you actually are. When you’re anchored in your differentiators, you’re not going to feel the constant need to perform.
Benefits of Getting Clear on Your Brand Identity
When you get clear on your brand identity, your decisions are easier and you don’t feel like you’re constantly trying new things, only for them to fail and then having to try something new. You get to operate in your strengths and keep enhancing what’s already working.
Key Quotes
“Chasing “better” leads to burnout, but chasing “different” leads to freedom and a brand that holds pricing power.”
Victoria Marcouillier
Stay connected!
Follow The Branding Business School on Instagram and Facebook.
Follow BrandWell Designs on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest
LEAVE A REVIEW + and SHARE this episode with someone who wants to build a go to brand in this online era. You can listen to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts!
