Business Starts with “Be You”
I’m not sure if I just made that up myself, or if it’s something I’ve heard before. I feel like I made it up myself. Probably because I am really, really passionate about being absolutely, 100% yourself when building your brand. I don’t believe in watering yourself down to seem more professional, or to project an image of a “business owner” that you think people want to see. Your prospects, your current clients, your team, your community…they all want the real you!
To effectively turn your personality into a brand, follow these rules ON & OFF social media:
- Talk Like You Talk
This is a big one for me. Every communication does not need to sound overly formal. I know people are falling in love with AI now, but the best way to connect is to form a real, genuine friendship with your audience. If you communicate with your clients the way you do your friends, they will feel way more connected to you. Have you ever felt your guard come down when someone kept calling “sir” or “m’am” – hell no! Don’t be shy to use your “lol’s” and emojis with clients, colleagues, whoever. This translates to social media posts and captions too. Don’t try to make your captions super formal, how boring! One of my favorite clients always says “People do business with people they like. Make sure they remember you!”
- Dress for Your Birthday Dinner
Hear me out. If your friends & family were throwing you a big birthday dinner at a nice restaurant, what would you wear? And no, you’re not going to a club after, you’ll be too tired for that. On your birthday you want to feel your best, so what makes you feel that way? Is it wearing bright pink? Is it wearing your nicest watch? Would you take extra time to do your hair in the way you know it looks great in pictures? Take little steps to feel that same way when you are in the office meeting clients, when you’re at a team bonding event, and when you’re out shaking hands in the community. Check out our girl Cyndi Santiago if you wanna see this live in action.
- Stick Up For Yourself
What I mean on this one is, make sure the ethics you hold yourself to personally remain consistent in your business. Here’s an example: I have had three scenarios in the past six years where I have fired a client because of the way they treated myself or my team. If I wouldn’t let you treat my sister that way, you’re not going to treat my employee that way. Did we lose money when we lost those clients? Of course! But guess what, they all left knowing that we will not put up with their disrespect. Respect is a big value of mine, so if it’s going to show up in my personal life, you bet it’s going to show up in my business!!!
- Don’t Fake It, You’ll Make It
I once did an hour-long presentation to a group of about 300 business owners. I practiced it so much ahead of time, really knew my stuff going into it. I was so ready! However……an hour is…a really long….time to talk…by the time I got to the end of the presentation, I completely forgot anything in my “conclusion” portion. My mind was blank. Instead of trying to fake my way through it, I just kind of sighed and said to the entire crowd, “I honestly am blanking on what I had for the end of this presentation. I have no idea what I was gonna say. If you want to talk to us more, come see us at our booth!” I got a couple laughs and then of course, applause. Afterwards, I had a guy come up to me laughing and he said, “you are kind of rough around the edges”. I burst out laughing and said “I guess I am!” He became a client, and that presentation remains to be the highest ROI I’ve ever had from speaking at an event. Go figure!
When trying to attract employees and prospects, you want to attract people that you want to work with. So why would you be anything other than your truest self? Wear what you want to wear, say what you want to say, don’t tolerate anything in business that you wouldn’t tolerate in life, and don’t try to present a fake image.
Your business starts and ends with you, and there’s no better representation for that brand than you!
PS – if you liked this advice you should read my book, The Marketing Girl
