Saturday, May 08, 2010

On Being Yourself

Your business is you.

More than ever, people will buy from you because of who you are, not necessarily what you are selling. Don't mistake me--you must have a product that folks want. You must provide your niche with something fantastic.

But telling your own story, and being true to yourself--that's where you will make the sales. Social media can help you to tell your story, and people want to hear it.

Ironically, the Internet can facilitate connections with people and help you to create a community. This is your community--the people who want to hear from you. The vast expanse of the Internet lends itself perfectly to niche-ing.

So, who are you? Are you a witty writer? A science guy? A fantastic public speaker? Are you the crazy public school teacher who also makes soap and sells it at the farmer's market? Are you the woman whose husband died, and who is making a living by publishing ebooks and selling candles? Are you the crazy cat lady down the street who sells aprons on Etsy?

Who are you?

This morning I made a video of myself, and I'm going to post it on You Tube. I'll share it here, of course. In the video I am wearing no makeup, my hair is up in a ponytail, and the counter behind me is an absolute mess.

And I don't give a shit. It's my house. It's often a mess, because I make messy stuff, and we use our kitchen for actual cooking and eating. It's who I am, and the folks in my community won't care, because they want to know more about me. Julia Child was not a perfect, skinny, stylish, "television-ready" person, but she was the perfect person for the job.

So am I.

So are you.

1 comment:

  1. Great post! I totally love what you are saying and I get it. I am not perfect, neither is life or anything about it. Being real is more important to me than anything else. I love that you made a video and I can't wait to see it!

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