The following is a piece of what I discussed in the Online Visibility Challenge training.
There’s a perception that people share too much of themselves online. And while this may be true in some circles, I believe the opposite is true for entrepreneurs. Generally they don’t share enough of themselves.
When you don’t share anything of your personality, your style or the way you do business, your marketing becomes bland.
You blend into the woodwork. You sound like everyone else who provides the products or services you provide.
The whole point of marketing is to stand out. To give people a chance to get to know, like and trust you.
Yes, there are parts of who you are that will drive some people away, make them not want to do business with you. But those same quirks will make other people love you.
Let me tell you a story.
I knew a business consultant who also happened to be a psychic. Her psychic abilities were a big part of how she delivered her services to her clients. But she kept it to herself. She knew some people – a lot of people – would be turned off by it.
She’d seen the look in people’s eyes with the imaginary thought bubble that said “crazy!”
So she kept quiet.
This had a twofold effect on her business.
It made marketing harder. She had to keep a big part of herself and how she did business to herself. She was constantly censoring herself. It made her marketing boring and bland.
Worse, she felt a bit like she was lying, because she wasn’t being authentic. And people sensed it. They didn’t consciously know she was holding something back, they just felt there was something “off” about her.
She began to hate marketing. Put it off, struggled to write new marketing materials, had trouble posting on social media. She had a hard time attracting new clients.
And when she did get new clients, she didn’t enjoy working with them. They didn’t know she was a psychic and most of them would run screaming if they’d known. So she had to watch herself with her clients.
Business was not fun.
One day we were talking and I suggested she own her quirk. Be the psychic business consultant.
Yes, she’d lose some clients. There would be plenty of people who would not do business with her. But others, people who believed in psychics and wanted to work with one, would love her.
She reluctantly gave it a try.
The results are amazing. Yes, she lost some clients. Yes, there are people who ran from the idea of working with a psychic consultant.
But other people’s eyes lit up when she said she’s a psychic business consultant. They’d lean in and say, “tell me more”.
She began attracting new clients who she loved working with. Marketing became fun again. Business became fun again. She quickly had a full slate of business.
So my question to you is, what crazy quirk have you been hiding? Are you reigning in your personality because you’re afraid it will turn off some people?
Maybe it’s time to let your freak flag fly.
