How to stand out in a crowded field by creating your own lexicon

Back in 2006, the online performance artist, Ze Frank, described ‘brand’ as the “emotional aftertaste” conjured up by a set of experiences.

I’ve always loved this definition – it sure beats how academics define brand!

Eighteen years later and lo-and-behold, last week I heard Ze Frank’s brand definition referenced twice.

Coincidence, undoubtedly. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that this descriptor has endured for coming up to two decades!

SO HERE’S THE BIG IDEA: Start creating/sharing/promoting your own lexicon.

Become known for a powerful phrase, or descriptor. It’s more than a quote – more often than not it’s conceptual, an idea reduced to short-hand, and encapsulated in 2-3 words.

A perfect recent example of creating your own lexicon is Amanda Natividad’s “zero-click content” – it’s a term that has really caught on, so much so that other people are now writing about the concept, and using it in presentations etc.

Other high-profile examples include:

• “Content shock” – Mark Schaefer
• “Brand you” – Tom Peters
• “Growth hacking” – Sean Ellis
• “Slow media” – Jennifer Rauch
• “The long tail” – Chris Anderson

Sometimes, the idea/concept (and accompanying phrase, or term) is so powerful that it becomes a keynote presentation; if you’re lucky and the idea is expansive enough, it might morph into a book (that’s when you’re really hitting the high lexicon notes!) – for example, Seth Godin (“Purple Cow” and “Permission Marketing”), and “Inbound Marketing” by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, founders of HubSpot.

Sometimes, making up a new word and giving it meaning works just as well, as Jay Baer did with “Youtility”.

Granted, the above are ‘big ticket’ lexicon examples pioneered by established thought leaders with built-in audiences.

But don’t let that stop you from putting some think-time into creating your own lexicon to be used in social media, blog posts, podcast interviews, speaking gigs (HINT: If you feature the term on a slide in a speaking presentation, don’t be surprised if people in the audience pull out their phones and take photo of it to share it with others).

Maybe you already have a term or descriptor that’s uniquely yours – a digestible concept that is gathering dusk in a notepad somewhere: Dig it out, ‘dust’ it off, build upon it, and share it around!

Please note – I’m not talking about coming up with a pithy quote (as powerful as they can be), or a marketing tagline for your business (although maybe your term could become that if it catches fire), but more so a concept or idea that’s uniquely yours, that you describe in an interesting way. Again, I think ‘zero-click content’ stands out as a perfect example of this.

By way of illustrating this lexicon idea further, here are a handful of descriptors of mine I’ve used over a period of time:

• “Credibility before conversion” (#CredibilityBeforeConversion – thinking in hashtags is a great place to start!)
• “Content marketing for PR” (this started as an idea I used on social media, which over time became the became the basis for a book)
• “Spheres of conversation” (this started as an idea I shared in boardroom presentations; it resonated with people so much that over time I developed it as part of a planning framework I used in strategy workshops).
• “Respectful reminders” (basis for blog articles and social media posts)
• “Vanguard content” (this is a newie, about to be properly launched into the world!)

Thinking more broadly, it could even be a question anchored in an idea.

For example, my concept of “What’s your BBC?” is something that others have gravitated to, and shared with their audience (evolved from articles like this).

So, my message is this: It’s not about hitting it out of the park with a concept so unique and creative it becomes a best-selling book (although that would be very cool!), but rather, it’s a strategy of evolving your message and standing out by cutting through the noise with clear and interesting concepts and ideas.

Then, over time and with repetition, your concepts/unique terms might take on a life of their own and you, as the originator, will get the credit (make sure you create a lot of content around the term so it makes it easy for people to find the original source and/or associate you with it).

What do you think of the idea of creating your own lexicon? Have you (a) developed a unique term that you frequently refer to in your content, or (b) got any examples that other people use that are top of mind?

Drop me a line, I’d love to hear from you 🙂