At work or in your business, how do you share the good things you do outside of it, that benefit others, without making it sound like a cheap marketing ploy?
On a recent episode of the Business is ART podcast at the TrueChat Network, guest Joseph Lewin discussed the importance of having a business identity. He also discussed how it differs from, but relates to, brand identity.
Share Without Making It About Yourself
Early in the show, the discussion turned to telling your personal story as part of your business identity, if not your brand identity, without cheapening it or making it painfully obvious that even though you do good things for others, you might be doing them for the wrong reasons.
In other words, how do you share the fact that you help others without making it about self-promotion? Here are a few ideas:
- Create a separate web page specifically designed to tell your story- or to highlight your corporate social responsibility (CSR) program.
- Spend a minimum amount of time discussing why the cause is important to you.
- Spend more time discussing why it is important to the benefactor(s) of your good works.
- Spend even more time discussing why it is important to anyone listening, reading, watching, etc.
- Avoid or minimize use of the words “I” and “me” – use words like “we” and “you” more frequently.
- Keep the selfies to a minimum – focus on others. If you find you or your image is the star of the show, you missed the boat. An exception may be if you are making a personal appeal for others to support the same good works or cause, but even then, make it about others, not yourself.
Above all…BE SINCERE
It’s easy to smell a rat. Helping others is not about your ego. Be sincere about what you are doing. Don’t do it to showboat. You can show your customers how awesome you are by providing them with great products and services.
That said, the good works that you do are part of what makes you the person that you are, or the business that you represent.
Tell the story. Just be mindful of the focus.
