Do you forget or neglect to promote some parts of your business to clients and fans? Or do you hide away parts of your personality or capacities because you don’t think everyone wants to see ‘all’ of you?
These are some of the many ways we diminish our authenticity in business. The crazy thing is that the more we be the difference that we be, the more unique our business becomes, the less competition we have and the more possibilities we create for the customers who most desire to discover us!
Do you remember Susan Boyle from Britain’s Got Talent? Well over 50 million video views later, she has truly proven that imperfect authenticity will blast plastic perfection into oblivion every time!
Let me guess. You never search out boring businesses; you go looking for the ones that offer a spark of difference and a personalized experience. Have you noticed that your best clients are often the ones you ‘click’ with most easily? Are you aware of how much more love you give your work when you are in an environment that allows you to show up as the real you?
There’s a reason for that! People like to give their money, time and attention to brands they connect with and trust. So what are the lessons for us as business owners here?
Before you launch another program or product, ask yourself ‘who is my true tribe?’ What do they desire to see from my brand? What can we authentically share that would allow our tribe to connect more deeply with what we offer? What would allow them to experience an intimacy of service instead of impersonal service?
And most importantly of all: who are we really, that we’re not being right now (as a brand or a person!) that would allow this to show up with ease?
An easy way to play with this process is to look at your website. Does it talk to potential customers at a truly personal level or is it a nice professional brochure that creates not one iota of engagement? What does your brand DNA say about who you truly are?
We have allowed a cultural focus on productivity at any cost to disrupt our authentic connections with the people we do business with. Bringing authenticity back into business allows creative, collaborative relationships to emerge between you, your business and your customers.
When these authentic relationships emerge, we build a base of raving fans who love what we do and the products and services we offer. Raving fans love to share their discoveries with other people just like them… and that’s what leads to more profits… people who love your work!!
In case you’re still wondering… here are a few more benefits of being authentically you in business!
- Authentic brand experiences offer the possibility of premium pricing. Just look at organic food!
- Authenticity offers an experience of real connection instead of surface-level platitudes.
- Authenticity is about innovating in alignment with the ‘real’ you or brand, not about managing brand image and pretending.
- Authenticity is about joyful difference rather than trying to fit in with the crowd.
- Authenticity starts with you… we are all leaders!
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Helen T