Go Forth & Be Your Authentic Tuesday Self

It’s Tuesday. And, it is no accident that the Monday Morning Marketer is out a day late. There are many life lessons that relate to marketing, and in this case, the best lesson is to not make excuses when something doesn’t come together as expected. So, here’s the truth. It was the long weekend and I had too many mojitos. No, wait, that’s not it! It was the long weekend and it made no sense whatsoever to blog on a day when 70% of my readers are on vacation, or at the very least, not wanting to think about work on their day off. So, while this is not an excuse, I do feel it is a bit of a challenge sometimes in business figuring out how to handle not following through on a promise without making excuses. The blog title is not Tuesday Morning Marketer after all. So, if I have failed you by implying that you would always see this report on Mondays every week, I apologize for not managing your expectations better and now will call my blog “Monday Morning Marketer Except on Weeks When Monday is a Stat Holiday.” If you are not offended, please read on!

When we promote ourselves or our businesses, there is a fair degree of ‘laying it on the line’ and ‘putting ourselvesout there.’ Or at least there should be, in my opinion, for businesses of any size. For very small businesses in particular, the face of your business is likely you or a handful of people handpicked by you, so those faces better be wearing an authentic expression that supports the genuine attitude of the company. And the company IS you. If you want any credibility at all you must be authentic in business, and being authentic is tough. It takes a great deal of self-knowledge to even take that first step. And it exposes you to all kinds of feedback. Much of your feedback is positive. But without a doubt you also set yourself up for ridicule as well. And guess what, sometimes it is just not going to work out, you are going to make a mistake, you are going to have to chart a new course, you are going to have to be humble, you are going to have to make amends or apologies, you may have to ‘make good.’ But this is okay. In fact, this is great. Every opportunity you have to show your (great) true colours is an opportunity to make a meaningful connection with your customers or supporters.

While calling my blog a “Monday” blog and sending it out on Tuesday is not an error, it is a very small scale example of setting up a false expectation. And while I really don’t think you mind, I do want to make sure you and I both know it is actually Tuesday! Please go enjoy your short week and find those small, but significant opportunities to connect with your customers authentically.