by James L. Rubart, @jameslrubart
Have you seen the movie The Family Man? It’s one of Darci’s and my Big Five at Christmas time.
In the bonus materials, there’s a deleted scene where Jack (Nicholas Cage) is introduced to a potential customer. This businessman is looking for a parts supplier. The man asks Jack, “Why should I partner with you?”
Jack cocks his head, peers at him and says, “I have no idea. We’re a Mom and Pop operation, you can undoubtedly get the parts cheaper from a major supplier. I have no idea why you would buy from us.”
The potential customer says, “Okay, you’ve got my attention.”
Jack responds by saying, “You can save a few pennies going somewhere else, but we need our customers. We’re on the edge and we can’t afford to lose any of our clients. So we will be here for you. We will take care of you like the big guys never will.”
Yes, the man became a customer.
The Law of Honesty
There is a temptation when marketing ourselves to exaggerate. To put on the best face. To make the facts about ourselves slightly shinier than they really are. Have you ever done it? I have. Have you ever seen through it when people do it to you? I have. We all have.
Resist the temptation to promote yourself as more than you are. Be true. Be honest. People will see through it anyway if you don’t. And if you are true and keep the polish off your marketing stories, three things will happen:
- Your audience—be it one person or thousands—will love you because we are attracted to the truth. In the scene above, we love Jack because he didn’t try to shuck and jive the customer. We know he’s real, and in this world of so much pretense, it is a welcome drink.
- You will shine the light of truth into that person’s life. You will give them the chance to consider the implications of telling the truth—and nothing more—the next time they are in the position of marketing themselves.
- You will execute a strong marketing strategy. I talk a lot about shocking Broca—doing the unusual, the surprising thing in every circumstance—and this will shock Broca. Why? Because so few people tell the truth about themselves and nothing more. You will stand out.
Dying to Self
Because we don’t know who we are inside, and because we don’t think we are enough, we are tempted to present ourselves as more than we are so people will say, “You’re okay. You’re worthy of being liked.”
When we die to ourselves and make this journey about following His plans for us instead of inviting Him into our plans, we are set free and it allows the Spirit to guide our appointments and create divine marketing opportunities that never could have come from ourselves.
How Do You Stand Up for Yourself When It Means Losing Everything?
Allison Moore is making it. Barely. The Seattle architecture firm she started with her best friend is struggling, but at least they’re free from the games played by the corporate world. She’s gotten over her divorce. And while her dad’s recent passing is tough, their relationship had never been easy.
Then the bomb drops. Her dad was living a secret life and left her mom in massive debt.
As Allison scrambles to help her mom find a way out, she’s given a journal, anonymously, during a visit to her favorite coffee shop. The pressure to rescue her mom mounts, and Allison pours her fears and heartache into the journal.
But then the unexplainable happens. The words in the journal, her words, begin to disappear. And new ones fill the empty spaces—words that force her to look at everything she knows about herself in a new light.
Ignoring those words could cost her everything . . . but so could embracing them.
James L. Rubart is 28 years old, but lives trapped inside an older man’s body. He thinks he’s still young enough to water ski like a madman and dirt bike with his two grown sons. He’s the best-selling, Christy BOOK of the YEAR, CAROL, INSPY, and RT Book Reviews award winning author of ten novels and loves to send readers on journeys they’ll remember months after they finish one of his stories. He’s also a branding expert, audiobook narrator, co-host of the Novel Marketing podcast, and co-founder with his son, Taylor, of the Rubart Writing Academy. He lives with his amazing wife on a small lake in Washington state.