Authentic marketing has to do with being true to yourself, and who you are… that may mean being different from everybody else. Authentic marketing has to do with being genuinely interested in the people whose problems you are trying to solve. You say you’re not solving someone else’s problems? Of course you are—you have a product or a service that you offer because somebody else needs that product or service to solve a problem. You sell shoes, they need shoes. You’re a writer, somebody needs you to write for them. You’re a travel agent, somebody needs help with planning their travel.

Being authentic means not pretending to be something you are not. It means presenting yourself with your strengths, and your weaknesses. It means not needing to pretend to be perfect. When you don’t have to protect yourself or your image, you are much easier to connect with. People are actually attracted to those who are willing and courageous enough to simply be themselves.

Being authentic will help you in your business and in your marketing—any kind of business, any kind of marketing. Online marketing, offline marketing—it doesn’t matter. If you are providing people with the information they need to make an informed decision, if you are genuinely interested in helping them, not in pushing your product or service on them, if you don’t lie, distort, of pump out hype, if you listen to people, and if you are open about yourself and what matters to you and what adds richness to your live—people will connect with you. People do business with those that they know, like and trust. Being authentic, in real life, in business, in marketing, will help you succeed.

I think one of the most important skills in being authentic is LISTENING. Many think that good communication has to do with being able to clearly articulate your thoughts—but what about the other side of that? Communication is a two way street. Somebody speaks, somebody listens, and we hope that they take turns! When one or neither person is listening—guess what!? No communication really takes place—don’t you agree? Marketing may start out with you putting out information, but really effective marketing will ask for and process (listen to) feedback. When you are talking to a prospect or a customer, ask questions. Ask questions about what the problem is that your prospect/client needs to solve. Ask what their goals and aspirations are. Ask what brings them real satisfaction. Then listen. I can guarantee you that when you do that, even if you barely mention your product or service, you will establish a connection with them, and when the time is right, they will be open to listening to the information you have for them—they will actually probably ask for it.

This is why social media is such a great marketing tool. It allows you to establish real, authentic communication with people who may need what you have to offer. Think about how you can be authentic in your social media interaction, in your blogs, in your articles, and when you talk to people. Always keep in mind not what you can get, but what you can offer. Consider letting go of trying to keep up an appearance of perfection or of knowing everything and having all the answers. See what happens when you allow yourself to be you, and connect with others heart to heart. (One of the best things that can happen is that that others can be themselves!) Don’t try to separate who you are from what you do. Keeping these ideas in mind when you market will make marketing much more fun, and much more fruitful.

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If you hate marketing, it’s going to be very difficult to have a successful business! If you believe that marketing means talking to people you don’t know, trying to convince them that they need what you are selling… well, marketing will be quite a challenge.

So, do you give up marketing? Not if you want to have a successful business! What you need to do is to give up your old beliefs and mindset about marketing and adopt new beliefs and a new approach.

Start with redefining what marketing is. Marketing is providing information to allow others to make a decision on a product or service.

Your mindset and attitude are what are going to make your marketing efforts successful. Approach your marketing with the idea that you want to help people and provide value and solve problems. You have something to GIVE. So come from a place of giving, rather than a place of asking. Come from a place of genuine interest and caring about the people you are connecting with.

Your prospect has a problem that needs to be solved. You have a solution. But before you offer any solution, it’s important that you listen. What is going to make you successful in your business is to provide value and to help people solve their problems. People always want to be listened to before they want to be talked at. Learn to ask open ended questions (questions that cannot just be answered with a “yes” or a “no”). Then LISTEN. This might include a short comment or word of agreement or acknowledgement, or sometimes repeating back what you believe you heard, but it should NOT include interrupting or talking about yourself or the features of the product or service you are offering.

When people feel heard they will feel you are truly connecting with them, and they will trust you. After you have established rapport with your prospects, then you might tell them about the benefits of your product or service—NOT the features, but the benefits. How will this benefit THEM? How will it solve their problem?

Your goal should be connecting with people. This can be in person, on the phone, in printed ads, in audio or video messages—whatever. Successful business comes from successful relationships or connections. In order to connect successfully, you need to be genuine and real—you need to be yourself. People are automatically attracted to people who are comfortable with themselves. When you learn to come from a genuine place of wanting to help others, your marketing efforts will be successful.

So, your biggest challenge in marketing is going to be being comfortable with yourself and believing in yourself. The actual mechanical skills you need to learn in order to do the marketing is secondary. Successful marketing is not just mechanical or technical skills, it comes from your attitude and approach.

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