Tip #4: Be Yourself
With thousands of startup companies being launched every day and nearly a million new blog posts being written daily, how can you possibly create something that stands out?
Being different isn’t hard, but many people struggle with it. Your winning difference is being yourself. Everyone is different, and if you just be yourself and bring that to your business, that difference will stand out.
People are desperately looking for authenticity in a world where we’re constantly bombarded with marketing messages, ulterior motives and political correctness.
People are desperately looking for authenticity in a world where we’re constantly bombarded with marketing messages, ulterior motives and political correctness. Think about the difference between how most people act at home or with friends and at work. Where does all the authenticity go? It’s lost in the bland world of mass marketing.
Businesses are so afraid of alienating potential customers that they end up saying nothing interesting. People who work in that business environment get used to silencing their own personalities in order to fit in with the “company culture.”
In the New Economy, you don’t have to worry about succeeding in the mass market. If you’re running a small business, you don’t have to appeal to millions of customers. Somewhere between 10 and 10,000 customers is probably all you need to support your business. It will be easier to find those customers if you stand out from the crowd by just being yourself.
When you really figure out how to be yourself, it will also make your life much easier. It’s exhausting trying to mimic someone else and to constantly wonder how you should be acting or behaving or what you should say. Let your conscience, passions and values shine through and your job will be easier, and your customers will appreciate it.
Be transparent. People want to see you.. feel you… know who you are before buying from or working with you. The New Economy has made people think twice about trust. Transparency will deepen trust with those that connect most with your product or service and quickly eliminate those that would be a waste of your time and energy anyway.
Adam Baker, Man vs. Debt *
