The 8020 Blog

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A couple of days ago I visited the web site of one of my client’s competitors.

I was delighted to see that they were making  a big mistake which many, many other solopreneur and small business owners make, time and time again.

The big mistake is to take “you” out of your brand.

On the afore-mentioned web site under the all-too-predictable “About Us” tab there was something to the effect that “we are a husband and wife team”. Not even a name. Nothing about what they love/hate/admire/fear/loathe/believe/dream about/like/opine/read/listen to/respect/value etc.

The surgical removal of your personality costs you clients … end of story.

Why?

Because of two facts:

1. People are bored and are more interested in something unique and non-mainstream i.e. your personality.

2. People want to have a relationship with you BEFORE they buy your product/service.

Big mistake. There are few advantages that small business has over big business but one of them is that it is VERY easy for us to inject personality into our marketing message and into our products and services.

Steve Irwin (a.k.a. The Crocodile Hunter), Richard Branson, Walt Disney and Dick Smith all knew this when they started out and they kept it going. Personalize your brand, message, marketing … find the authentic you and strut your stuff …

Frankly, failure to express the essence of you in your business and with staff and clients etc is not only a bad marketing mistake but more importantly it robs the world of a unique and very special gift … you. And as Coco Chanel said “In order to be indispensable one must be different”.

Sameness = boring. Different = interesting.

Which one do you think might be the easier path to the sale?