I’ve been to a few training events lately and a networking session yesterday and the words “just be yourself” “be authentic” were mentioned and I really get it.  I’ve been experimenting with my Marketing, creating some fancy videos and posts using Canva.  But do you know what works best?  Videos of me just walking and talking through my local park and nature reserve.

I don’t look at all polished or professional.  I had just finished a run on Friday, so was very rosy cheeked.  Monday, it was blustery, so my hair was flying around.  But maybe that’s refreshing?  We all know what it’s like to meet someone who looks nothing like their polished and often outdated profile picture.  It’s disconcerting.  Fancy videos look all professional but at this stage of my business journey, it’s more important to give prospective clients a sense of who I am.  As who I am, says a lot about how I work and why I do what I do.

As someone who studied Psychology, the authentic self really interests me.  The concept of congruence is intriguing.  How can we find peace if we’re in a state of incongruence?  If how we actually are is so out of line with who we think we are, there will be an imbalance. Our self concept needs to align with our ideal self to achieve authenticity.  This extends to our actions.  Our actions need to align with our beliefs and values.  Otherwise we seem untrustworthy.

Public relations is all about presenting people in the right light.  For example, the celebrities who go into the Australian jungle each year are no doubt hoping to present themselves as likeable and genuine.  They’re in a situation where they have no control over what they wear, they’re without make-up, they’re often hungry, they’re put in situations that could make them angry and irritated.  No doubt, their ideal self is someone who can cope with all this and their authenticity comes from how we perceive them to react and behave.  

It would be hard to fake it for 3 weeks. So authenticity is strengthened by how we present ourselves and behave over a long period of time.  People can forgive the odd “out of character” action but if this behaviour then becomes more prevalent, people might start to wonder which version of us is the real one.   

Going back to Marketing ourselves/our business, our” image” needs to match who we really are, what we believe in, how comfortable we are with showing our true selves.  We all think about our business brand and that needs to look consistent and eye catching but what about our personal brand?  This needs to align with our business brand, otherwise there will be incongruence.  If we’re fun in the flesh, why not project some of that fun into our brand and Marketing? Maybe just let people glimpse the person behind the brand doing something that you enjoy.

If you need some help with promoting your personal brand.  Why not see how I can help here.