Marketing can be tricky. The variables are endless.
Timing. Messaging. Your offering. Your prospects are all at a picnic. Who knows?
Invisibility is often more dangerous than failure. We pour energy, money, and creativity into marketing, and sometimes?
Crickets.
Why is this? Because in most cases, we play marketing too safe.
Boring marketing is invisible marketing. It gets scrolled past, deleted, and forgotten before it has a chance to connect. In a world overwhelmed by sameness, the businesses that stand out are the ones that take risks. Small, smart, strategic risks. That’s where bold micro-experiments come in.
The case for marketing differently
No matter your industry, if you’ve been involved in marketing, you know that there is a kind of invisible template that exists. Businesses mimic each other’s social media content, websites, email language, even colors, and taglines. While this might feel professional or familiar, it’s also the fastest route to being ignored.
What drives real traction isn’t imitation. It’s differentiation.
In my book Get Different, I share a core belief: being different is better than being better. Better gets debated. Different gets noticed.
The most memorable marketing ideas tend to come from unexpected places. That might mean borrowing an idea from an unrelated industry or doing something that feels slightly uncomfortable, but that discomfort is often a sign you’re headed in the right direction.
Small bets, big returns
The beauty of a micro-experiment is that it doesn’t require a huge budget or commitment. You’re not rebranding your business. You’re simply testing one new idea, with a limited scope:
- A $100 budget or less
- A timeframe of one week
- A focus on traction and attention, not perfection
These experiments will yield direct leads or sales. More importantly, they build confidence. Confidence in your voice. Confidence in your creativity. Confidence that you don’t have to market like everyone else.
Where to begin? Look outside of your industry and comfort zone
Start by exploring what’s working in industries far from your own. A dentist might gain inspiration from a tech startup’s quirky landing page. A professional coach might borrow a retail boutique’s Instagram challenge. A bookkeeper might riff off a bar’s “free drink with awkward joke” promotion.
Then, adapt it.
Ask yourself: “What’s a marketing tactic that no one in my industry is doing but works somewhere else?”
Here are a few real-world examples:
- A personal trainer offering free “report cards” to followers, grading their current routines.
- A software developer running a lemonade stand…in front of a co-working space (yes, really).
- A financial advisor mailing handwritten thank-you notes with confetti inside—not for clients, but to cold leads who downloaded a free resource.
They’re fun. They’re unexpected. And they’re effective.
Building the bravery habit
Running a single experiment might feel small. But it’s how great marketing muscles are built.
Each test you run creates new data. You learn what grabs attention. What flops. What sparks conversation? And with every iteration, your ideas grow bolder and better.
To structure your approach, I recommend using the method outlined in Get Different, Chapter 7: Experiment. Measure. Amplify. Repeat.
Want to fine-tune where you start? Check out:
- The Pumpkin Plan (Chapter 4): How to uncover what makes you radically unique.
- Fix This Next (Chapter 2): How to pinpoint the exact area in your marketing that needs attention first.
Leverage AI to brainstorm boldly
Need a little help thinking outside the box? AI tools can be a great companion for sparking unconventional ideas. Try prompting your favorite tool with this:
Ask up to five questions, one at a time, to uncover how I can market to my prospects in ways my competitors never have. Push beyond the obvious. Slight discomfort is welcome. Afterward, suggest three one-week marketing experiments I can run for $100 or less each. Aim for unconventional, curiosity-piquing tactics.
You don’t need to follow everything it says. Just let it nudge you out of your comfort zone, and stay authentic at the same time..
You only need one
One idea. One week. One hundred bucks.
That’s all it takes to break the rhythm of invisible marketing and start doing something memorable.
You don’t need to be outrageous. You just need to be noticeably different.
To quote Henry Ford:
“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”
So don’t do what you’ve always done. Don’t market the way your competitors do. Don’t sit on your next great idea because it makes you slightly nervous.
Take the risk. Make the ask. Test the thing.
When it comes to standing out in a crowded market, being safe is costly.
Be bold!
-Mike
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For more insight, get these resources:
The Money Habit: https://bookshop.org/a/4474/9781774586433
Get Different: https://bookshop.org/a/4474/9780593330630
Fix This Next: https://bookshop.org/a/4474/9780593084410
Profit First: https://bookshop.org/a/4474/9780735214149
Pumpkin Plan: https://bookshop.org/a/4474/9781591844884
All In: https://bookshop.org/a/4474/9780593544501
Clockwork: https://bookshop.org/a/4474/9780593538173
Money Bunnies: https://bookshop.org/a/4474/9780578929989
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Mike Michalowicz is the author of Get Different, Profit First, Clockwork, All In, Surge, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, The Pumpkin Plan, and The Money Habit. He’s on a mission to eradicate entrepreneurial poverty and help business owners build wildly successful, radically fulfilling companies.