“Authenticity” is the degree to which one is true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character, despite the demands of society or one’s early conditioning.

Being Authentic Is Intimidating

In my experience, being your authentic self can feel pretty damn intimidating. Bringing that authenticity to your business and online presence(s) feels damn near suicidal, in many ways. We don’t want to feel alone, sticking out like a sore thumb, even if the reason we stick out is that we’re truly great and gifted at something. What if people laugh? What if no one buys? What if we’re just weird, too ‘out there’, too much for most folks? We’re conditioned to conform, fit in, go with the flow.

Authenticity is Extremely Attractive

On the other hand, what attracts you? Isn’t it authenticity? Isn’t it the person or business that stands out from the rest in some authentic way? Doesn’t authenticity inspire, at the very least, some small sense of automatic trust in you? It does me, if only because I can sense that this person is being ‘real’ with me.

This is the paradox of authenticity in marketing online, for me: we find authenticity the most attractive in others, yet we’re scared shitless to be authentic and stick out from the crowd ourselves.

To Thine Own Self Be True

I firmly believe that each of us has a reason for being here, something to offer that no one else can deliver quite as well. “To thine own self be true” is not a statement of selfishness, but of authenticity – the best strategy for success. I am not here to be just like you or just like anyone else. Neither are you. You are here to be you and to be true to that is something only you can really pull off.

Marketing to Everyone Means You’re Marketing to No One

If you commit to being authentic in your business, you are also committing, whether you know it or not, to finding your niche and marketing exclusively to it. Boldly being your real self, letting the world know who you really are is sure to turn off some people. That’s ok, and as it should be. None of us is everyone’s cup of tea. But for the people who are in need of what we offer, exactly the way we offer it, we are a dream come true. And they’ll never find us if we don’t put our real selves out there. They’ll have to settle for something else, something less than what they want.

When we attempt to appeal to everyone who might possibly benefit from what we offer, we think we are increasing our chances of finding new customers, but what we are really doing is generalizing our marketing to the point of speaking to no one at all. And then we wonder why we have no new clients.

Be Authentic – Market to Your Niche

A crazy thing happens when we get specific: we create curiosity in those whose name we are not calling. By marketing ourselves to the specific niche we serve, we actually attract interest from those outside that niche. If you’re a parent coach who specifically serves the niche of parents with strong-willed children (the politically correct term for hellion), parents who have a wild child whose behavior consistently drives them to distraction are going to come to you. You’re going to attract interest from parents whose kids only sometimes act out and try to drive them to drink. But if you market yourself more generically as simply a parent coach, well…from that frazzled parent’s perspective, it’s more of a crap shoot whether you could help them, or not. Niche marketing, in the long run, actually gives you a better shot at gaining new clients or customers. And the best part is they come to you.

Practicing What I Preach

This year has been about defining my niche and rearranging my business to serve it. (December 6th begins my 7th year in business, so I’m thinking I’ve resisted long enough, ya know?) But like so small business owners, I was convinced I’d be cutting off my nose to spite my face if I zeroed in on a specific niche. Quite the contrary, actually. My business has more than doubled this year, as a result. And more importantly, I’m having a whole lot more fun and I get referrals out the wazoo!

(Note: A year ago, I would never have put ‘I get referrals out the wazoo’ on my website. But that’s who I am and how I talk and I’m putting my real self out here these days.)

I’m working exclusively in WordPress now and I’m bringing more of a teaching element to my business than ever before because that’s a) something I love to do, b) something I’m really good at and c) something that lots of small business owners want. My specialty is teaching bloggers how to do the things they think are beyond their ability, proving to them that they are far more capable than they give themselves credit for. Will I still do the technical stuff for you? Heck yeah, but if you want to learn how to do it yourself, you’ve found a teacher who speaks your language and won’t make you feel dumb for what you don’t know.

So, tell me – what’s your specialty?