Want to Stand Out? Think Like An Editor.Serve a need and be memorable.

I get a lot of emails from teenagers who've started businesses. And moms who've started businesses. And companies that donate one of their product for every one sold. And, well, many other broad types of entrepreneurs. They're easy to instantly categorize in my inbox. For example, here are actual subject lines from emails I've gotten recently:

"Young Entrepreneur"
"Teen Entrepreneur's Kickstarter"
"Millennial Entrepreneur Encourages Peers to Build a Business"
"17-Year-Old Entrepreneur Wants to Go Public"

The emails from moms,one-to-one-givingcompanies and others are just as predictable. These entrepreneurs had the right idea: They were trying to highlight the detail they thought set them apart. But they picked the wrong detail. Rather than making themselves look unique, they made themselves part of a crowd. And repetition is an editor's worst nightmare. If I hear about something too often, I think,Well, that's not special. Then I don't want to run a story on it.