Authenticity. This is a word being bandied around the place of late and I wanted to really clarify firstly what exactly it means, but more importantly what it means to your business if you are not authentic because it can have far reaching consequences. Especially is you are not 100% sold on your opportunity and products.
Branding is also another word bandied about and it’s all been shoved down our throats in recent years.
We’ve heard their varying catch cries haven’t we “if you don’t brand yourself properly, you’ll lose not only the attention or your audience, but you’ll lost their trust as well.” More so than ever before, the know, like, trust scenario has become so much more important. With the internet coming into play, we no longer go out and buy stuff based purely on a corny TV ad.
We have to work pretty hard these days’ to not only get people’s attention but to keep it, and then allow people to know, like and trust us. It’s no mean feat and certainly not something that happens overnight. But hey branding is a whole other conversation and training in itself, so I’m not going to go there right now. But being authentic is a critical part of your personal brand.
So what exactly is being authentic, or authenticity.
According to the dictionary, it means “undisputed origin and not a copy; genuine”.
And there are a multitude of explanations if you Google “what is being authentic”.
It’s about being you, the real you (whatever that means to you). It’s about not being fake. It’s about being original, unique, not a copy – in other words, just you. No two of us are the same and even identical twins will have their own uniqueness (believe me, I have a family full of them so I know this to be true).
Now, what is it important I hear you asking. Well extremely and here’s why.
As I said before, people will ONLY buy from you if they know, like and trust you. And how do they do that precisely? They do that from being able to relate to you. There has to be commonality. People typically will buy something from someone in network marketing if their problem is similar or the same to a problem that you solved with your product and/or service. It’s relatable and we live in a world full of people desperate for connection.
More so than ever before. You see it’s so fascinating how we live in a world that is so ‘connected’ and yet there are more disconnected people than ever before, more people on anti-depressants than ever before and more people committing suicide than ever before. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
Everyone has some sort of problem and they only way anyone will reach out to someone whom they feel will be able to solve that problem is that if they believe that person has solved that problem successfully. Pretty simple marketing formula these days’.
Even if you place an ad on FB or Google or wherever, people will do their research on you before they commit to anything. They will look at your website, watch your FB Lives, reach your blog posts, scroll through your social media. It’s just what people do now. And if your message isn’t resonating – they are moving right onto the next person whom they feel could solve their problem adequately.
What is completely beautiful about all of this, is that there is absolutely no competition in any of this. I love that!!!
Being authentic and the human experience…
We are all unique. We’ve all had different life experiences, different types of problems, different relationships and I could go on. But the common thread that binds us together is rather simply put – the human experience.
We all experience emotions and it’s typically those emotions that drive us to buy things and we want to feel better so we buy those shoes or that dress and we want to feel sexy for our partner so we buy that sexy little underwear set. More so, we want to feel important so we buy that suit. We want to feel abundant so we buy that prestige car and on we could go. We are all driven by our emotions.
The thing about emotions is that typically they are a brilliant BS detector.
Some of us find this easier than others. But usually we can tell pretty quickly if we are being lied to or if someone in front of us is fake. No doubt we have all been friended by a member of the American military who can’t quite speak English, right? I mean, it’s dodgy, clearly a scammer. We are getting better at this as time goes on. Even more so in network marketing.\
There are so many amateurs running around making all kinds of claims (which is so sad in my opinion that they clearly have no-one to show them how to do it professionally, ethically, with integrity, credibility and importantly authentically).
We’ve all been prospected by these people too haven’t we? They lack authenticity, they are out for the quick buck, they have no interest in us or what our problems are or what our interests are. Thus, they just want us to join because they have the best, most ground floor opportunity, with the best pay plan with a double matrix that will blow your mind! I know, I’m exaggerating a little there. But you get my drift.
So what is it that people want and can relate to? Being real. Posting lifestyle pictures on social media. Writing blog posts and recording videos of real stuff and not polished in a studio with perfect lighting and make-up and hair and outfits etc etc. That is not real nor genuine. Sharing if you’re having a tough day (just be careful not to get caught up in the negative).
Occasionally share pics of your kids. Your holidays’. Working out at the gym. Not mundane stuff like what you’re eating for breakfast (believe me – no-one cares), but stuff to show how much you love your life and the fact you are up to something. People want to be educated and entertained (sometimes both), so focus on that.
Start today to be the real you. Be authentic.
Who else can you be in any case? People will gravitate towards your honesty and your genuineness and the fact that you are real. People are completely fed up with fake (why do you think people love ‘reality’ TV so much). Your potential customers want to know you, like you and trust you. But you also have to be willing to give them that… be willing to be raw from time to time.
How to be authentic with yourself…
Be willing to share the no make-up face, share the gorgeous sunset, share your pet doing barrel rolls down a hill. People want to laugh, they want to learn and they want their problems solved. If you can build your brand around that, I promise you, you will be successful and achieve the results you came here to achieve. After all, authenticity is what your brand is all about so don’t stray from it.