TThe Jasmine Star Show
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21 September 2023

Honest Business Conversations, Part 1: How I Handle Industry Copycats and Deliver Compelling Keynotes

2Frameworks
5Insights

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Frameworks in this episode

Mindset6 steps

Copycat Recovery Reset

Time-box the anger, separate facts from feelings, and redirect energy into innovation.

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Communication6 steps

Three-Part Keynote Framework

Build authority, teach the how, then overcome the audience's emotional barrier.

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Insights & moments

The myth-busts, hot takes, explainers, and tools worth keeping.

Hot Take· 1

Hot Take13:28

A Copycat Is Already Behind the Business It Copies

Jasmine compares an original business with a luxury product and an imitator with a cheap sidewalk fake. Her central claim is that copying the current version leaves a competitor behind an original creator who continues innovating.

  • Imitations often underdeliver compared with the original.
  • Customers may value copied products less.
  • Copying captures a past state rather than the creator's next move.
  • Ongoing innovation preserves the original business's lead.

“Listen, if you're copying this business, you're already behind.”

Jasmine Star · 13:28

“there will always be cheap fakes and they will always under deliver and be underappreciated.”

Jasmine Star · 15:30
#copycats#innovation#competition#positioning

Story· 2

Story11:07

What Happened When Competitors Copied Social Curator

Jasmine describes Social Curator's 2017 packaging, offer, deliverables, and sales approach as unusual for its time. Similar businesses subsequently appeared with derivative names, copy, action plans, and paid communities, provoking anger over the work required to create the original.

  • The claimed innovation was the combination and packaging, not every underlying idea.
  • Some imitators used names closely resembling Social Curator.
  • Materials such as copy and action plans were repurposed.
  • The copying produced anger and disillusionment after years of work.
  • Jasmine ultimately concluded that an idea itself could not be owned wholesale.

“the way that it was packaged, the deliverables and what was promised and how it was sold that hadn't been done.”

Jasmine Star · 12:13

“I didn't own an idea.”

Jasmine Star · 13:28
#social curator#competition#copycats#entrepreneurship
Story17:38

The Promise That Shaped Jasmine Star's Podcast

Jasmine says that when she began her photography career around 2007, she promised God that she would share everything she learned if she was allowed to build a business. She frames the podcast and these distilled consulting lessons as a continuation of that commitment to generosity.

  • The promise dates to the beginning of her photography career.
  • Sharing practical knowledge became part of her business identity.
  • Consulting conversations provide material she can distill for a wider audience.
  • The episode experiments with a spontaneous content format.

“If you allow me to start a business, I'm going to share everything I know.”

Jasmine Star · 17:38

“I am creating content in a new way, just off the fly as a distillation of things that I work through”

Jasmine Star · 17:38
#generosity#podcasting#origin story#content

Q&A· 1

Q&A10:07

Should You Pay to Pursue a Business Copycat?

Jasmine rejects a universal answer about pursuing copycats through the courts. She says any prospective victory must be weighed against the time, money, energy, enforceability, and possibility that the competitor will continue operating just inside legal boundaries.

  • Legal precautions and intellectual-property protections can be valuable.
  • International knockoffs may be difficult to stop even with a patent.
  • A court victory can still impose substantial resource costs.
  • A cease-and-desist may alter behavior without eliminating it.
  • The correct choice depends on the owner's resources and priorities.

“if or when you win in court, you will have to measure that against the time, the money and the energy.”

Jasmine Star · 11:07

“There's not a right or wrong.”

Jasmine Star · 11:07
#copycats#legal strategy#intellectual property#business

Takeaway· 1

Takeaway04:52

Why Teaching the How Builds More Trust Than Explaining the Why

Jasmine argues that speakers with limited time should prioritize actionable mechanics over prolonged explanations of importance. When listeners understand how to act, they see the speaker as knowledgeable and accept responsibility for implementation.

  • Lengthy justification can make change feel laborious.
  • A practical method reduces uncertainty about taking action.
  • Useful transparency increases the audience's trust in the speaker.
  • The why can follow after action and belief begin to change.

“any time that you can explain the how because the how will get them to taking action.”

Jasmine Star · 04:52

“when they understand the how, they immediately trust you more.”

Jasmine Star · 05:52
#public speaking#trust#action#education