Everything's been said before

You handle it by changing your thinking.

First, it's false to assume your readers have already read everything that is on other sites. They're way too busy to do that. They subscribed to your blog or whatever because they want to hear from you.

So second, have the confidence to give people your own take on topics that they are interested in. Make things easy to understand, with your personal stories and experiences.

Here's an analogy for you. Most magazines that are not news magazines cover the same topics year after year after year. Why do people continue to subscribe? Because that's what they want to read about! No kidding. Cosmo readers want to know how to lose weight, how to lure and keep sexy men, etc. Their writers and editors keep offering the same material written differently, with different twists.

Marcia Yudkin

I agree with Marcia. The Voice is what it's all about. If you write in Corporate Speak, it's going to come out dull, bland and boring no matter how good your intentions are. I know from experience. I wrote web copy for the IT firm I was working at years ago, and was pretty happy with it...until a week later when I was surfing competitors' sites and found wording that was almost identical to mine. Same pain points. Same benefits. Crap.

Changing your thinking changes the voice you write in.

One of my favorite bloggers today? Erika Napoletano. Her stuff's very raw, very laden with F-bombs. A lot of what she's saying isn't new either. But she shares it through the lens of HER experience and HER personality.

And it's not for a lot of people. But that's alright - her followers are raving fans. The people that don't read her are someone else's raving fans.

There's plenty of readers out there. This is an opportunity to find YOURS.

Angie nailed it!!!

It's all about having your own personality.

Talk about what you're currently working on and the results. Let people know what's going on in your life. Maybe you read a great book and you want to share some of the key points about it.

Heck, maybe you want to post a video of your dog running around in circles.

The sky's the limit.

You have to be original. Find more information about what everybody else is saying. Make a better research.

Give your own solutions to your readers. Show them your tests and their results.

Tell them something different. If everybody is talking about the positive results of whatever, look for the negative ones - or the opposite.

Show to your readers that you are not narrow-minded. Relate many different factors and give them a general image of the truth.

Analyze details that most people disregard, and explain their importance.

And remember that they are always thinking about their safety and their satisfaction.

Your voice. Your story. Your character. Your personality. All make the difference.

Everything hasn't been said before. Humanity has just skimmed the surface of what's possible. We're babies in the grand scheme of things.

I also think you're forgetting...

Different people hear the same thing - expressed in different ways.

Rocky was a great story. A lot of people still think it's about boxing. It's not.

The Cinderella Man was also a great story. But it wasn't about boxing either. Not really.

Both movies talked about human struggle and overcoming the odds. Boxing was just a catalyst.

Imagine though...

What if Ron Howard decided not to make The Cinderella Man, because great boxing movies have already been done before.

My favorite movie of all time wouldn't exist.

It's the same in writing copy.

It's not what you say, but how you express it.

Marcia nailed too.

You're assuming most people study what's out there like us nerds on the CW Forum. They don't. They forget most of what they have read too.

Sometimes I'll see a VSL with a hook that blows my mind. "Why didn't I think of that?!?! Jeez!"

Don't focus on what's been done.

Do you think The Edge (from U2) is worried everything that's been done in rock & roll makes creating a new album a waste of time? Nope. Their new album should be out later this year.

Do you think someone with a great idea for a new micro brewery will decide not to take action - just because there are countless other like-minded breweries? No, he or she will think of a brand that captures the imagination of beer drinkers far and wide. Will the taste be more incredible than everything else out there? No. But it'll be good. And become a nice little tourist attraction for the town it's from.

Okay, now I'm just ranting. You get the point.

Mark

Stop focusing on others and what they are doing. When running a race, you will trip and fall on your face if you're always busy looking behind you at the others running up on you. Look inward and find that unique voice of your own and words to express what you need to say. Speak from your heart to the reader, don't let fear stand in your way.