Imagine a bowl of vanilla ice cream. It’s nice. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s fine. It’s OK.

Now take that same vanilla ice cream, put it in a chilled glass bowl and add toasted walnuts, hot fudge, rainbow sprinkles, a sparkler and a cherry on top, and it’s something special. A presentation like that makes any normal Tuesday night feel like a celebration!

Which way are you presenting your business? Fine, OK and nice, or something special?

If you are at the point where you really want to stand out, lead your industry and differentiate yourself from them competition, you are ready to take an active role in determining the exact space you want to hold in your ideal clients’ and partners’ minds. To do that, start by answering these three key questions:

1. What is the mental picture you want people to see when they think of you and your business?

You don’t have to be Lady Gaga to stand out in a crowd, but you do need to embrace what makes you, you and shine a light on it. Being a colorful accountant who always has a joke ready or a steady reliable accountant with horn rimmed glasses and a pocket protector are both great mental images and will help you to attract the kind of business you desire. Just put time and effort into stepping into your fullest self. Other examples of mental images are:

“She wears bright colors and seems happy all the time.”

“She’s very formal and is always in a business suit.”

“He’s hilarious – who else can get away with wearing Birkenstocks to Chamber meetings?”

Any one of those examples is fine as long it is exactly what you want. If you want to change or modify this mental image, start by determining your values. Take your values and marry them with your personality and the qualities that make you unique. Embrace all of these things in a bold way. That is how you attract your ideal clients. No plain vanilla. Just being more of who you are so you hold that space in their minds.

2. What emotions do you want others to feel when then think of you?

Maya Angelou said, “At the end of the day people won’t remember what you say or did, they will remember how you make them feel.”

Everything you do stimulates an emotional response whether you want it to or not. Even if you don’t know it, you leave every encounter with someone feeling a certain way, whether you meet in person, via social media, or simply by them viewing your business card, flyer or web site. So knowing that, why not be proactive about this and work to stimulate the emotion you want others to feel instead of leaving it to chance?

To take an active role in the emotions you make people feel, start by being aware of what you want to portray and sprinkle it in here and there. For example, say you want people to feel motivated, you may want to use quotes on your web site or use them as a jumping off point for your videos, articles or programs. Or if you want people to feel excited and alive, you may want to use colors and music that conjure energy, excitement and liveliness.

You can also ask yourself this question every time to you make a strategic decision such as creating a program, write copy for a web site, make a speech, create your logo, etc.:

If I do/say/write this, will it make people feel _________________? (Insert your desired emotion here.)

3. What is your promise to your clients and partners?

Think of it this way: What can people expect when they work with you? What outcomes can they expect each and every time? These are very powerful strategic questions to consider because the answer is the heart and soul of what makes you different from your competition. The answer to this question determines which one (yes one… singular) of the things that really matters the most to your clients to focus on.

Fed Ex is a great example of this. When they came on the scene, their promise was “overnight delivery guaranteed.” And their slogan epitomized it: “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.” Here’s the thing: They weren’t the only carrier who offered overnight delivery, but they are the first to put it out there in a big bold way. Even though their promise has changed somewhat, it’s still what many people think of because they were so bold and followed through on their promise.

Questions for you to consider are:

• Is my promise obvious when someone visits my web site or looks at my marketing materials?
• Do I consider my promise when making business decisions or is this just an empty slogan?
• Does this promise really matter to my ideal clients?
• Am I following through on my promise?

Come back to these three foundational questions regularly because your answers will help guide your business decisions throughout the entire year. Your answers and how you apply them will help you to be that “party” in an ice cream bowl instead of vanilla.

Because let’s face it: plain vanilla is … plain. And you’re more special than that.

© 2011 Meredith Liepelt, Rich Life Marketing

Meredith Liepelt, President of Rich Life Marketing, offers a free report called “101 Ways to Attract Ideal Clients, Build Your List and Raise Your Profile,” which can be downloaded immediately at www.RisingStarPublicity.com.

This article may be reprinted when the copyright and author bio are included.