The Information Marketer's Public Persona

Dear Information Marketers:

How's your hair? Your suit? Ever tell you that people will like you better if you wear a certain cologne or perfume...? I know. It can be irritating.

Nobody can control how other people will perceive them. Imagine you are at a party and someone comes up to you and says: “Hi. You don’t know who I am but I’m a very respectable and honorable person.” That’s quite a line, and a very unlikely one. But even if you were addressed by it, it wouldn’t matter. It is you and the other guests in the room who will be the judge if this person is honorable and respectable. He can only show you that he is in fact what he is or be proven a liar.

It’s human nature to want to be liked, respected, and seen with dignity by the public at large. Some people, no matter their shape and appearance, have little interest in what others think and often go through life without so much as shaving or learning words without contractions. Others are more keen to be liked and will go out of their way to ensure that the public views them the way they want to be viewed, often resorting to such things as plastic surgery or tooth whitener to do so. But the end result is always the same in both scenarios: people will view you the way you really are. You can try to hide your true nature, but it will always materialize in other people’s eyes.

As an information marketer, a real independent professional, a public persona is necessary to maintain. Like it or not, no matter how much time to spend behind the computer, you are in the public eye and are going to be exposed either in person or through your work. Therefore it is necessary to maintain the highest level of a persona that you possible can.

So what am I saying here? Should you start inviting your clients over for afternoon tea in your garden once a week? Should you start using language with lots of five syllable words? Or should you get a second mortgage to buy that Lotus in order for people to think you’re the big man?

Hardly. Of course, the tea and the Lotus sound pretty good…

But seriously, you don’t have to do anything to alter your public persona. You just have to keep it respectable. This means that you should always:

--keep your conversing with clients and others as professional as possible.

--maintain a neat appearance.

--always complete the job(s) you have committed to.

--be calm and collected, not matter what kind of adverse situation you find yourself in.

--always look to improve your business and learn new things to better yourself as a person.

I recall driving around a city close to the one I live in with a friend. We were heading to his parents’ home and I saw a very big sign of a local realtor. In a fit of immaturity, I snickered at his looks and the ad which showcased his slogan and MBA credentials in big red letters. My friend commented: “You know, normally I’d tell you to stop being such a jerk, but…”

But?

“I laugh too. My parents did business with that guy. He’s a total phony and does bad business. He just likes those big ads just to get new clients and show off.”

By all accounts, this realtor was a manipulator of his own persona. Had he been more honest with the public and focused on doing good business, his reputation would be at a higher level than it was. Don’t fall into this. Keep your public persona as high as the professionalism of your information marketing business.

Hope this helps you in the long run. Come visit us here at the E-Wealth Daily.

Have a good week,

J.