This past week I was on a feature on BBC Look North (video embedded below). I was talking about the importance of storytelling within wrestling.
My character in wrestling is based on a few different personalities that I always enjoyed watching. One of them is a guy called Eric Bischoff, who ran WCW in the 90s.
Don’t worry if you’re not a wrestling fan and don’t know who he is – this is a lesson in business, not grappling.
Even if you’re not a wrestling fan, you will undoubtedly have heard of the WWE – known as the WWF until 2002. In the mid-to-late nineties, WCW went head-to-head on mainstream American television with the then WWF. In a turn of events that nobody – even Bischoff himself – predicted, WCW went from being the poor relation of wrestling to being the number one wrestling company in America. For 83 weeks, the WCW defeated the WWF in the Monday night ratings war.
But how did they do it? And why are you writing about this on a photography website, Guy?
Bischoff has a weekly podcast called – appropriately – 83 Weeks. It’s an insight into the business side of the wrestling business and I love learning about the wrestling industry. I’ve listened to pretty much every episode and each week there is usually a take-away that can be applied to business in general.
One lesson that comes up regularly is this: When Bischoff was given the instruction to go head-to-head with the already-established WWF, he knew that the product was seen as “less than” the WWF by most wrestling fans. Knowing that this wasn’t the place that he wanted the WCW to be, and also knowing that he didn’t have the resources or experience to immediately become “better than”, he chose the only other option available to him – to create a wrestling product that was different than the WWF.
At the time, the WWF was aimed at a family audience and the wrestlers were colourful, cartoonish, larger-than-life caricatures. Bischoff decided that he was going to turn WCW into something that was the complete antithesis of the WWF.
He introduced edgier storylines to counter the family-friendly WWF product. He went live on TV to counter the WWF’s pre-recorded shows. He brought in high-flying Mexican luchadors that were a lot faster (and shorter) than the WWF’s 6-feet-5 plus bodybuilder types.
Bischoff took every aspect of the WWF production and found an alternative method of presentation. In time, the WCW became the highest-grossing wrestling company in America, and nearly put the WWF out of business*.
Using this knowledge as a freelancer
If you’re in a competitive field you’ll know how difficult it can be to stand out.
Ask yourself this – how much are you doing to appear “better than” your competitors? Also ask yourself this – is it the best use of your time? What are the criteria for establishing who is “the best”?
To my mind, that is entirely subjective. What I am looking for in, say, a graphic designer, will be completely different to the next person. This applies to non-creative businesses too. If every financial advisor says the same things and talks about the same services – how am I going to choose between them?
In both these scenarios, I’m likely to choose the person that I feel some connection with.
So how do you create that connection?
You create content that shows that you are different than your competitors.
As a bonus, this will also help you feel confident in being your authentic self. You won’t be worrying about meeting expectations that just aren’t a true reflection of you, but most importantly – you’ll be attracting the customers that YOU want.
Hot tip: Your story will ALWAYS be different than your competitors.
I can help you tell your story with personal branding photography, and as part of my service, I can signpost you to graphic designers, copywriters and website designers that can help too.
Be authentic.
Be you.
Be different than.
Footnote: Of course, the WWF won the long-term battle, for a multitude of reasons. Namely, they continued to innovate while the WCW found itself stuck in a cycle of mediocrity. If you want to know the full reasons (seriously – there was A LOT going on behind the scenes) then I thoroughly recommend Guy Evans’ book – NITRO.
