The Paradox of Authenticity in Marketing Online

Posted November 28, 2008 · Filed Under Explanations · 2,863 views · 10 Comments

“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?

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33510 Responses2008-11-28+19%3A11%3A53Suzanne to “The Paradox of Authenticity in Marketing Online”

Tom Volkar/ Delightful Work
November 29th, 2008 7:01 am

Well said Suzanne. I’ve had the same marketing experience. In September 07, I niched myself as the the coach who guides your leap to self-employment or solopreneurship. Authentically that’s who I am inspired to help the most. Yet since then I’ve also had more already self-employed, small business owners hire me as well.

Congratulations on coming all the way out with your bad ass self. Thomas Leonard declared shameless self promotion as a necessary point of attraction. That means the self your are promoting needs to be all-Suzanne and not a watered down version. The world needs more examples like yours.

Tom Volkar/ Delightful Work´s last blog post..An Authentic Approach to Making More Money
Djuanna
November 29th, 2008 7:18 am

Thanks Suzanne. You have indeed helped me develop and define my online presence. I am so excited about the possibilities!
Suzanne
November 29th, 2008 12:15 pm

Tom – that’s something I’m learning as I get to know myself better: if I don’t tell the world what I’m good at and what I love to do, who will? Who can with as much authority as me?

I spent a lot of time in this business doing pretty much anything asked of me – even the stuff that made me want to pull my hair out and cry. No more! Someone else probably loves to do that stuff and I’m happy to let them do it! I’m on a mission now to find and connect with other solopreneurs who have complementary businesses to whom I can refer people who want that stuff done.

One of the scariest and most exhilarating things I’ve done this year is say ‘no’ to projects that, while lucrative, would have sucked the life out of me. Scary because I said ‘no’ to income but exhilarating because ‘to my own self I was true’. Each time I did, a project came along that was perfect for me and I was able to say ‘yes’ because I wasn’t already committed to something else. Love how that works!
Suzanne
November 29th, 2008 12:20 pm

Djuanna – you are MORE than welcome! Nothing’s better than being trusted to help bring a dream alive and that’s what you allowed me to do for you. So thank YOU!
Grounding Your Small Business Vision | Delightful Work
December 1st, 2008 11:30 am

[...] I use an authentic business-building model that says business success is generated to the degree that the individual engages and expresses her unique capacities. In this model, the authenticity of the business owner equates to greater world service and greater value exchanged. Suzanne Bird-Harris does wonderful work marketing herself authentically. [...]
Stacey / Create a Balance
December 2nd, 2008 9:01 am

“Marketing to Everyone Means You?re Marketing to No One” – This is currently the challenge I am facing. Narrowing in on my niche is hard b/c I don’t want exclude anyone. Yet I know, it must be done!

Stacey / Create a Balance´s last blog post..Life Balance Quotes
Evan
December 5th, 2008 11:57 pm

Hi Suzanne,

Here’s a bit of a challenge for you.

My specialty I think is being a generalist.

My overall topic is health. But I don’t want to be stuck writing just about weight loss (there seem to be already about 2million times as many blogs as we need on this – this doesn’t mean that some of them aren’t excellent). I don’t want to just write on psychology either (though I think this is the reason people come to my blog). I want to write about our social and ecological environment. All these things affect our health I think.

I want to write stuff that is immediately useful (this seems to be what people want from a blog and suits who I am and how I want to write).

I’m not sure exactly what ‘niche’ means. It seems to be used in different ways. I think for me it is mostly about finding readers – but I don’t really know how to ‘find my market/readers’ other than by writing what I want to write and seeing who turns up.

So I think a specialty in being a generalist is an interesting challenge.

I’d be happy to know your thoughts on this.

Evan´s last blog post..From Demolition to Authenticity
Suzanne
December 8th, 2008 8:17 pm

Evan,

You bring up an interesting point, and a conundrum others have recognized, as well. But, in my humble opinion, it is possible for you to niche yourself and your blog, anyway.

Niches are not always about demographics or topics. I think of a niche as a subset of something. As you know, there are a million different ways to define a subset of something, so use this to your advantage! Keep asking yourself, “Is there a subset of this?” until you get to a subset that is small enough to be unique and specific, but not so small that you write one post and suddenly you’re out of stuff to write about!

The main thing is to have something to offer that visitors and readers can’t get anywhere else. That could be you and your perspective, or your specialized knowledge, or a specific perspective on a topic, or a blend or convergence of seemingly unrelated topics. The possibilities are endless!
Tom Volkar / Delightful Work
December 9th, 2008 6:10 am

Evan – Suzanne makes a very good point. You claim that your specialty is being a generalist. I can relate because for years I coached everyone under the sun but I kept coming back to my very first client who was unhappily employed. Over the years guiding those making the leap to self-employment was always were I got the most kicks. Ultimately that’s where I choose my niche and it has not limited me in any way. I still get clients across the board.

But one main difference is my ever-developing mastery. Since my blog is clearly niched, I’m increasingly becoming the expert I claim to be. A niched blog helps you to see what people want and what they are thinking. Suzanne is right the subsets are unlimited.

One you might consider is psychographics which looks at how your chosen market thinks.

Tom Volkar / Delightful Work´s last blog post..Grounding Your Small Business Vision
Evan
December 9th, 2008 6:23 am

Thanks Suzanne and Tom. I’m thinking of specialising in two ways. One starting a new blog focusing on authenticity and having my current health blog focus on wellbeing (more the emotion/relationship/self-development part of health).

I’m afraid I don’t know much about psychographics. I don’t really know who my market is: I’ve basically written stuff, linked to other bloggers and seen who turned up. I have some ideas what they’re thinking from comments I get, but these are from a minority of subscribers.

Evan´s last blog post..It?s Only Natural