The Copycat Syndrome

I hear pole dancers whining about copycats in the weirdest ways. Not even about just moves, but also about being copied because someone else has a website or a forum.

I’ve got a problem with this. You first heard me rant about it here, but today I wanted to go a bit deeper. I wanted to find the answer to the one burning question underlying this fear:

What do you do to avoid being copied?

Learning new moves won’t help; any dancer can learn those same moves. Even learning some amazing new sequence won’t do it – someone else can still figure all of those out.

You can’t teach unique exercises to keep from being copied – you only wind up teaching them to a bunch of students who immediately go and use them. Nor can you create some extra special website for pole dancers – because anybody can slap up a new website in a matter of minutes.

No, you need something stronger to counteract copycats. You need something with staying power. What you need is …

A Personal Signature

Pole dancers need to develop their own style, their own approach to pole dancing. Because …

The best way to protect yourself from copycats, is to make yourself impossible to copy.

And that includes all aspects of the pole dance community. Many of us started out as the only pole dancer in our area. We were the only one teaching pole. We were the only photographer focused on pole dancing, or the only one with a forum for pole dancers – hell, the only blogger on pole dance.

But the world of pole dance is expanding too rapidly for that to continue. There will be competition – for your studio, for your performance, for your website.

To complain that it’s just copying is to miss the point.

You are not being copied. You are getting competition.

And what’s the best way to deal with that?

Be yourself.

Teach with a style that is uniquely your own.
Take photos with a passion that no one can touch.
Infuse your site with your own individual attitude.

Will you still have competition? Of course.

Will you still have to keep stretching yourself to keep up with the curve? Absolutely.

But will they be able to duplicate what you do?

Not a chance.

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Need some help learning to bring out your own personal style? Check out these FREE e-classes (including a new one on pole dance routines). And, if you want something more specific to your situation, check out my private coaching.

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