Here's a quick (but useful) mental exercise for you. Should just take a minute or so.

Make a mental list of the people you pay attention to in business. People whose emails you read regularly or whose social media posts you follow or whose books you buy or perhaps someone you would go to see present.

Now try to find some common attributes between them.

I'm going to assume that one common attribute is that you find what they have to say useful and interesting. That's a given.

But there are thousands of people who say useful and interesting things that you don't pay attention to. So what's different about the people you do follow?

I'm going to hazard a guess and say that most of them will be a bit like you in some way. 

They'll have a similar personality or beliefs or values.

Or they'll reflect attributes you'd like to have.

We like people who are like us or who are like the people we want to be.

Not always, of course. We like variety too. But 80:20.

I tend to follow people who are a bit modest and don't show off about their success. People who value new ideas rather than “hustle”. People who think there's more to life than money. People who are kind of relaxed about things.

As I get older I value being low key more and more.

There are some brilliant experts out there who I know have great ideas and material, but I just can't click with them. Their life and their emails are full of drama. Huge highs and lows. Quitting everything and starting again. Crying themselves to sleep.

All great drama, but I just think “for heaven's sake, grow up”.

That's just me of course. But that's the point. These folks, brilliant though they are, are too different from me for us to click. We're attracted to people like us and we find it easier to work with people like us.

Now when it comes to your marketing there's a hugely important point here.

Your clients will be attracted to people who are like them. 

How do they know if you are like them?

A crucial part of your marketing is to get “you” across to your audience.

They can't “click” with you if you never show enough of your personality, beliefs and values for them to know what they are. 

If you hide behind a “business only” façade, you'll click with “business only” people and not the ones who really are a good match (unless, of course, you really are a “business only” person!).

If you want to build a relationship with someone you have to open up enough for them to sense that you're the sort of person they'd want to build a relationship with.

It doesn't mean you have to “bare all” and spend all your time talking about you and your life. Your first priority is to do things that are useful to your ideal clients.

But it's always possible to be valuable and personable. To get across your ideas while getting across your personality.

What are you doing in your marketing to make that happen?