Stand out with Uncopyable Branding with Steve Miller
This episode of "Let's Talk Marketing" explores the power of personal branding and the importance of standing out in a crowded marketplace. Host Katya Allison interviews Steve Miller, a dynamic thought leader in personal branding and B2B marketing. Steve, the author of Uncopyable YOU: Create a Personal Brand that Gets People to Know You, Like You, Trust You, and Remember You, shares actionable strategies for building a unique personal brand. Steve dives into how understanding human behavior can help individuals and businesses differentiate themselves from competitors and create lasting impressions. This episode will empower you to discover your own unique qualities and apply them effectively to become uncopyable in the marketplace.
Key Takeaways and Insights
Takeaway 1: Stop Watching the Competition so Closely
Steve makes a clear case: too many marketers spend their energy obsessing over what their competitors are doing, only to end up copying them - sometimes subconsciously. While it might feel strategic, the result is sameness, not differentiation. When you're overly focused on the competition, you risk playing by their rules, not creating your own.
Steve shares a moment when he asked a room full of marketers how often they were looking at their competitors’ websites. Hands went up. Then he asked how many of them might be accidentally copying what they see. Most of the same hands went up again. It was a wake-up call: benchmarking often turns into duplication.
“When you are looking at your competition and benchmarking yourself against them, you’re getting in the same box as them… and now you're all just fighting over who has the lowest price.”
Copying competitors is like trying to win a race by running in someone else’s shoes—it’s uncomfortable, it’s unnatural, and it doesn’t get you ahead. True differentiation comes from tuning out the noise and building something rooted in your unique strengths and insights. Competitor awareness is useful—but only if it fuels originality, not imitation.
Takeaway 2: Innovation Means Getting Outside Your Box
Innovation doesn’t happen when you’re staring at the same problems in the same way every day. Steve’s advice? Step outside your creative box. He encourages marketers to seek inspiration in places that have nothing to do with their industry. That’s where truly original ideas are born—not from echoing what’s already being done.
Steve describes taking corporate teams into totally unrelated environments to spark new thinking. One of the most memorable stories is bringing Caterpillar executives into the American Girl store to learn about emotional customer experiences. That single visit changed how Caterpillar designed their customer training centers.
“You’ve got to get out of your box. Go into an alien world. Go into a world that is completely foreign to you.”
Creativity is like a muscle—it only grows when you challenge it in new ways. Looking outside your usual reference points is like taking your brain to a new gym. You’ll discover approaches, experiences, and systems you never knew existed. And when you bring those back into your work? That’s when the magic happens
Takeaway 3: Know Your Moose—and Hunt It
Steve uses the metaphor of “hunting moose” to drive home the importance of knowing exactly who your ideal customer is. You don’t market to everyone—you market to your moose. These are the customers who are the best fit, most likely to convert, and the ones you actually want to work with. The more focused your targeting, the better your results.
Steve explains how too many companies try to be all things to all people and end up with watered-down messaging that doesn’t stick. He stresses that knowing your moose means understanding where they hang out, what they care about, and how to speak their language.
“Who is your moose? Where do they go? What do they want? You need to become obsessed with knowing your moose and go where they are.”
Targeting your ideal customer is like fishing with a spear instead of a net. When you know exactly who you're going after—and you tailor your messaging and offers just for them—you don’t just increase conversions. You build stronger relationships, better referrals, and a more profitable business.
Key Quotes
"Branding isn't a logo. Branding is what we are promising to the marketplace."
"People do not buy from you because you are similar to the competition. They buy from you because you're different in important ways."
"Better is never the answer. The answer is different."
"Every interaction with our brand either maintains, enhances, or diminishes our perception in the marketplace."
"If you know your moose better than anybody else, the moose come looking for you."
"We don't teach people to have an avatar. We teach people you are hunting moose in the forest."
"Innovation comes from leaving your own industry's box and exploring completely unrelated experiences."
"Being different means delivering something the competition either can't or won't copy."
"Your brand is a promise - and every interaction either keeps or breaks that promise."
"Steal genius from foreign, alien experiences - that's where true innovation happens."
