Marketing Basics – Start With “Who Am I?”
In my Prospect Profiling training, I often say, “Who you truly are is the key to your branding and your marketing.” That sounds so simple, almost like a truism. But what I’ve found is that some business owners feel resistance when I say those words. So today, I hope you’ll excuse me if my article gets a bit more personal.
Here’s my follow up: Does delving deeper into your true self feel uncomfortable for you? Melt that resistance and it will mean so much for your business.
First of all, you don’t have to broadcast your answer to the world. You don’t have to tell anyone who you are. You only have to BE yourself and that’s truly the easiest place for you to be. For years I worried that the answer to the question, “Who am I?” had a negative answer. I once saw myself as a sample of humanity with a defective background who lived under a glass ceiling. Can you relate? I’d venture to say that everyone on the planet can. We’ve all seen our share of challenges.
I worked very hard to maintain a good image both in my actions and in my thoughts but somewhere deep inside I felt like a fraud. Then suddenly, I realized, “I’ve got to stop TRYING to be a good person. I AM a good person. That’s why I want to help others be the best and most they can be. It’s who I am.”
Are you also afraid to ask that question?
There’s no reason to be. The simple answer is that you are a hero and that’s why you are in business. You are trying to help people have a better life. Whether it’s by offering them your widget or giving them a service, you are relieving a stress point and they will be much better after they do business with you. If that problem/solution equation resonates with you, you are truly a hero in the best sense of the word. This is attraction-based marketing at its quintessential best.
Who you are is so much a part of the solution you offer that separating the two is hardly possible. Who you truly are will come through. It always does. There’s no stopping that process. By partnering with who you are and bringing authentic self into your branding, your writing, and your personal contacts, you will ramp up your positive impact and draw in the clients who feel your magnetism and resonate with it. This is a soul contact that’s electric.
Remember I’m talking about selling products as well as coaching or counseling. This is a whole new way of looking at marketing. No more pasting on a professional image. No more manipulative sales pitches and closely scripted calls. This is bridging the gap between your true self and the heart needs of your prospects. A heart-to-heart talk, if you will. You can’t get more powerful than that.