Remember the movie, Jerry Maguire? So many people loved the line “you complete me” and consider it their all time favorite phrase in the picture show. Well, O.K., sure, whatever! My favorite line in that movie is unequivocally, “I’m incapable of bullsh__t!
No, I’m not an advocate of cussing, but I AM a big fan of being straight forward in life, and being as honest as you can be in everything that you do (except of course when hiding presents and great surprises from others).
Today, there is such a pull to be a copycat, and in business the cry is to be a copycat marketer. There is even a book (or 20) on the topic. My belief is that you must stop the poo poo-ing around, and get convinced and empowered once and for all to follow your own flight path. The world needs that of you.
Another of my absolute favorite movie lines comes from Disney’s Aladdin, where the Genie (voice of Robin Williams) disguised as a bumble bee, adorably and persuasively states to Aladdin, “BEEEEE yourself”, and THAT right there is my magical advice to you, too. Just beeeee yourself, and offer what YOU ALONE have to offer, and do it with a strategic plan. In business and in life, THAT is where the golden honey is and where your power lies, and that is what will drive the potent, paralyzing, and final sting to your failed attempts at marketplace success.
“Oh, but what about my competitors…shouldn’t I be doing just what they’re doing, the same way they’re doing it too? They might get all the customers.” At the risk of getting exterminated by some of my loyal (and much appreciated) readers, I’ll tell you that over the course of my career, I rarely if ever gave much of a flying flip about what my competitors were doing, because in my heart and mind, I believed that I really didn’t have any.
As foolish and perhaps as cocky as that may sound, I understood that my power to connect with and serve my customers was seated specifically in my uniqueness, in my one-of-a-kind “buzz” if you will, in my personal creativity, and in my own personality and ability to understand from my distinctive point of view what my customers may want and need. These are things no-one can match or copy.
Now, that doesn’t mean I totally and completely ignored my competitors over long periods of time—but almost! Sure, there was the occasional spy tactic, the now and then phone call to check pricing, the random peeping in retail windows at night –back in the day (on public property of course), and the here and there Google-ing around from a public pc in more modern times, but overall I have not obsessed or worried about what my competitors were doing. I really didn’t care, and I just didn’t (and still don’t) give it my time.
The thinking that empowers me to this day is this: I have very specific strengths that give me a competitive edge, and I can function in those strengths like nobody’s business, because no one else is ME! I am comfortable in those strengths, and I drive them hard. I also have thinking patterns that are shared by no one else, and insight and the expression of that insight that cannot be duplicated by anyone. I am therefore a tremendous asset in my industry. PLUS, I have a one-of-a kind special course to run which is MY very own, and I use my energy and efforts to run it. There is only ONE me—Just one. Throughout my business career, this has not harmed me one bit, and holding to this knowledge has always been the one constant that has gotten me back on course whenever I might have shifted.
Of course it goes without saying that you and I can read about and learn from the achievements of others, and take lessons and wisdom from the creativity and success of people who have gone before us, but to get wrapped up in another’s walk is for the birds (or bees). I know with certainty that if I become focused on my competitors, or if I get drawn into the supposed “right” way to do something, I will become distracted, lose my inventiveness, and get my focus off of what I specifically, innovatively, and brilliantly can bring to the table.
It’s NOT easy to be yourself
Being yourself in business is NOT a cop out, though. It takes tremendous WORK to keep your compass, to be true to who YOU are, and to use it to prosper and succeed. It means you must know what you are made of and what you have within you. It means you have to continuously examine yourself for your strengths, your weaknesses, your areas where potential opportunities can be found, and the areas that threaten your victory.
It means you have to know yourself, and what YOU are especially good at. It might mean you have to delegate most of the rest. It means you have to uncover and formulate your unique story, and begin to tell it with passion—the story that exclaims why you are doing what you are doing. With precise accuracy, you MUST be able to answer the question, “How can who I am help others?”
Being yourself in business is first a journey in self discovery, and secondly a bridge of true and authentic connection with others. It is then a process of amazing innovation, idea generation, and life improvement for self and others. Finally, it is a destination of celebration and a marvelous return trip that begins again and again as the many seasons of life bring change. Most importantly though, choosing to be yourself in business is incredibly freeing and enormously empowering.
“BEEEEE yourself”, and from it enjoy the sweet honey of success.
Have a Wildly Successful Week!
Margo
Margarett (Margo) DeGange, M.Ed. is a Business and Design Coach in the Home Fashions Industry. She creates and delivers custom training programs for managed businesses and their sales consultants to help them communicate better with customers and increase sales and profits. Margarett is a Writer and Professional Speaker, and the President of The DeGangi Group and The DeGangi School of Interior Decoration, with both on sight and on-line courses in Interior Decorating, Marketing, and Redesign. For almost 20 years she has helped individuals and managed business owners in the interior fashions and decorating industries to earn more while fully enjoying the process.
Two of Margo’s popular products for furniture store owners and their sales professionals are The Decorating School Crash Course Power-Ed Pack (9 design lessons on video/audio with 12 hours of content), and the matching Decorating School Crash Course Learner Files to measure learning, provide added interactivity, and motivate sales consultants to own their opportunities for growth.
Visit Margo DeGange’s website at www.DecoratingForProfits.com for more information. Send email and questions to her at Margarett@furninfo.com.