There are some people whose marketing is a force of nature.

Their personalities are so strong and clear in everything they do that they sweep all before them. There’s no doubt who their audience is.  Everyone either loves them or hates them.  And both the love and the hate create a buzz around them.  They arrive on the scene as if out of nowhere and appear to achieve instant, overnight success.

For those of us who don’t have that type of personality, it can feel a tad frustrating.  You might be naturally more introverted – or you might just feel that you don’t want to be quite as brazen and in-your-face as some people are.  Whatever it is, you watch these people as they enjoy a level of success you’d kill for, and wish you had some of that secret sauce.

If it sounds like I’m speaking from a certain amount of experience, well, yeah.  Envy has come to roost in my office on more than a few occasions.  “Why can’t I do that? Why can’t I have dozens and hundreds of comments on my blog?  Why can’t I…”  And so on.

Have you ever been there? 

Of course, the reality is, those people worked very hard to get where they are.  They didn’t actually just appear out of nowhere; they climbed up to that place just like anyone else.  They had their own moments of struggle and doubt and fear.  And they suffer the consequences of being hated – look at some of those dozens and hundreds of comments on their blogs, and you’ll see plenty of angry disagreement and nastiness.

If you’re thinking you’d love to have problems like that, well, yeah.  I understand that, too.

The thing is, though, it’s got to be real. 

It’s obvious, of course, when I say you can’t decide to be “just like so-and-so,” but you’d be surprised how many people try it.  For instance, a terrific web designer I know (Allie Rice at alliecreative.com) reports that she often has clients who say, “I want my site to look just like …” 

Oscar Wilde said, “Be yourself.  Everyone else is already taken.”   It’s annoyingly obvious.  And it’s vulnerable and scary.

However, the further I go along my own path of being in business, becoming vitally connected to what I do and why I do it, the more I discover that it’s essential.  When I show up as me, I may not feel as if I’m anywhere near the force of nature some people are.  But I have a lot more fun and a lot more success.

And I’m very grateful for my clients and my fans – because the reality is, I do have people who love me and my work. 

You do too.