A guy with a spiked backpack walked by me at the airport. Maybe this backpack is something popular with kids. (He told me he bought it at Target during the back to school rush.) But we weren’t at a school. We were at the airport, and he was the only person (kids included) with a spikey backpack.

Everyone he walked by gave the backpack a glance. A few people pointed to it. It made me strike up a conversation with him, when I otherwise would have had no reason to.

There are a lot of backpacks at airports. Practically everyone has one. When you are at the airport you will see hundreds, if not thousands. You will see them, but not notice them. You will only notice the one that is different enough to stand out. That one gets all your attention.

We can easily see all the competitors piled up in your industry, but we don’t notice them. We only notice the one that’s different. Shouldn’t that be you?