Authentic and Appropriate

This week, we are going to talk about a subject that goes beyond media and marketing, it’s about being Authentic and Appropriate.

The backstory on this subject is that being Authentic and Appropriate is how I strive to live my life. However I was recently talking to a new friend who works in the radio and podcasting industry and he mentioned those words and I felt a new podcast and blog post article was in order.

I’m in my 50’s and I recall half a lifetime ago (in my mid 20’s) working in Detroit.  I went from being a t-shirt and jeans wearing radio disc jockey to wearing a sports coat and tie everyday because I was switching over to the advertising side of radio and would be meeting with business owners every week.

Two versions of the early Scott Howard aka ScLoHo

With help from my family, I spiffed up my wardrobe and became an equal to the business people I would meet with.  At least that was the impression I was trying to convey.  I probably carried it off pretty well, or is it pretty good?  See, I really don’t care which is grammatically appropriate, that’s my authentic self talking.

But back to the subject of being Authentic and Appropriate.  We want to trust people and trust the businesses run by people.  Being Authentic is key.  However, you need to temper your authenticity with being appropriate. In my personal example, if I decided I never wanted to wear a tie and sports coat when I took the job in Detroit, because I wanted to be the authentic Scott Howard radio guy who only wore jeans, I wouldn’t have lasted.  Instead, I decided to grow my wardrobe and who I was.  I didn’t toss all my jeans and t-shirts, I just wore them in my casual settings.

Now let’s see how this can apply to your business.  What are some characteristics of you and your business that are important and needed to inspire trust and confidence?

Two examples come to mind of people I’ve met with recently.  There’s the pharmacist that wears a white lab coat with his name on it.  In his off hours, he can be seen in shorts, and barefoot wearing a t-shirt.  If he dressed like that during business hours, he would lose the trust and confidence of his customers in many cases.

The other example is my favorite heating and cooling company.  All of their techs wear clothing with brand logos and their trucks are also branded so when they pull up in your driveway, you know who it is.  Imagine someone pulling up in a rusted out van wearing tattered jeans and an old sweatshirt coming over to check out the furnace.  My wife wouldn’t open the door to someone like that.  Not that she is a snob, she wants to feel secure that the person is trustworthy and appearances count.

You can apply this authentic and appropriate principle to all you do and to all your employees too.  Be yourself, let others get to know you, but don’t share questionable stuff unless you are prepared to face the consequences.

And that brings me back to the media and marketing of your business.  In all of your ads, skip the hype and keep the fine print to a minimum.  Yes, you may need to have some disclaimers for legal purposes, but please don’t be a shyster.  We as consumers want to spend money with businesses that we believe are honest and trustworthy.

I started out telling you that what prompted me to write this piece was a conversation with a new friend.  His name is Matt Cundill and for a couple of years he has been hosting a radio insider podcast from his home in Canada.  Matt is an extremely talented voice talent and his podcast is targeted to people in the programming side of radio which is his background.  Here’s a link to the podcast that I was on, or just search for the Sound Off Podcast, Matt posted his interview with me on May 1st, 2018.

Matt summed up our conversation with these words,

The more I spoke to Scott about what makes a successful sales person, the more I realized that it has more in common with being on the air. Be authentic, tell the truth, work with the long term in mind…

Good words of wisdom for all of us.