I bumped into one of my clients the other day. We don’t see each other as often as we used to but she’s still on my Constant Contact e-mail list. “I love getting your e-mails”, she said, “they sound just like you!”
Now, of course a) no one sounds “like” me! and b) voice-over-email hasn’t yet been perfected but this encounter speaks to the title of this post. My small business is me and I am my small business. When I talk about my small business and my products, its me talking.
When you hear from “the big guys” about their business or products its not a person talking – its probably something that a PR person drafted, that was massaged and argued over by a committee and then approved by legal counsel before being released.
I can be me – they can’t.
In this world where we skip past ads and put e-mail into junk folders, marketing is all about building relationships. In building those relationships people are genuinely interested in YOU and the subject that YOU are an expert in. It could be anything; construction, podiatry, web design, etc. People are interested in hearing what we, the small business person, has to say to them – as long as it genuine and not forced onto them.
So – one of your biggest, if not THE biggest, advantage over “the big guys” is that you can be your authentic self and they can’t. Use it at every opportunity you can and see how it can bring its own rewards.
Do you have any examples of where being the little guy worked in your favor against the big guys?
Posted by John Tully
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