Are you Serious?

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

I don't know if this is the worst marketing mistake, but it may be close - and that's being too serious in your marketing.

But there are different kinds of seriousness.

There's "intentionally serious" and that's good. When you're intentionally serious, you are focused, committed to a result. You are serious about your intentions. You plan, prioritize, work and follow through. You are reliable, consistent, organized and dedicated to excellence.

Practice this kind of seriousness and you'll do well.

One of my ace Marketing Mastery Participants just sent an email about how she followed up with a prospect. The feedback she got from this prospect (soon to be client) was that he was very impressed with her, her qualifications etc., but also liked how she was so organized and methodical.

We can all work on this kind of seriousness and it can pay big dividends. We want to work with people who are focused and keep things on track and get things done.

But there's another kind of seriousness that's deadly.

And that's taking yourself too seriously. The problem is that we confuse the two. We think they're the same. Not at all. If we take ourselves too seriously, we start to resemble robots.

In trying to be so correct and professional it's easy to come across as stiff and formal. When this happens, a person's humanity gets suppressed, and it's no fun to work with people like that.

When I'm speaking to someone on the phone, considering buying their services, in addition to expertise, I want to deal with someone who is warm, authentic and who has a sense of humor.

In fact, if that doesn't come through, if we don't share any laughter on the call, I hesitate to work with them. After all, if they have no humor and warmth on the call, what's it going to be like when we start working together? Not so fun, right?

You have to find a balance. After all, there are also people with a great sense of humor and who are great to hang out with, but who have very little competence to get the actual work done.

When you find this balance (and it takes some serious work) it's easier to create rapport and connection and move the process of working together forward with ease.

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The More Clients Bottom Line: You might say that the best way to come across powerfully when speaking to a potential client is to take your work very seriously but not to take yourself so seriously. That's the kind of person that others love to work with. 

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Do you have any stories or examples of either kind of seriousness or the lack thereof? Please tell us on the More Clients Blog. Seriously!! Just click on the comments link below.

Comments

[Kenn]

Hi Robert,

A timely post.

I'm "too serious" about the name of a blog I'm setting up and it's causing me to be "too stressed."

Balancing "research," "gut instinct," "fun," etc is tough when it comes to marketing.

How about your take on "How to Make Tuff Marketing Decisions?"

[Jennifer Claire]

I was just this morning thinking about this topic!

Regarding my seriousness toward my work: it's amazing how interruptions pop up as soon as I set serious intentions to make some serious progress on my work.

It's tricky. The interruptions are "good" things--a phone call I've been waiting for for 6 years from a man I always wanted to date, a student who genuinely needs my help, or an invitation to spend the day on a sailboat~!

The phenomenon: When I get seriously committed to my reason for being on this planet--the moment I take serious action toward my vision--a shift occurs in the heavenlies, and I instantly attract "good."

The confession: I tell myself I can "handle" the interruptions and get right back to my intention afterward, but when I allow interruptions in those "breakthrough" moments, I don't recover the opportunity that was lost.

The lesson: I am a big proponent of flexibility, but when I make a serious commitment to make progress--when I have that rare opportunity to break through to a new level in a moment that won't come again soon--I need to protect my commitments. Even from the "good" guys! :)

[Gabrielle]

Yes, I've definitely got stories... I hardly ever got comments on Facebook and wondered why. I asked a friend to look at my comments and tell me what I was doing wrong. Of course, it was because I came across too formal.

I discovered an exercise I use now whenever I post blog comments (like I'm doing now) or Facebook posts or tweets.

I imagine I'm standing at the water cooler and just shooting the breeze. It works because I've gotten more comments and conversation started than before.