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Key Takeaways

Differentiation matters more than trying to appeal to everyone. Successful businesses, like the strongest college applicants, stand out by excelling in a specific area rather than trying to do everything well.

Build a narrative that runs through every aspect of your business. Communicate what makes you unique, and reinforce that message through your website, thought leadership and customer interactions.

Demonstrate your value rather than simply claiming it. The goal isn’t merely to give someone a reason to say yes. Instead, it’s to make them afraid to say no.

Every December, while many of Ivy Coach ‘s students celebrate acceptances to their first-choice colleges, our inbox buzzes with emails from families whose children weren’t so fortunate. These students didn’t work with us. They received deferrals or denials and want to know what went wrong.

We call these sessions PostMortems. And, boy, do we find mistakes.…