Worthy of Marketing Yourself as the Guru?

Posted on September 18, 2013 by Matt Schoenherr, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.

As entrepreneurs, many people run crashing into deservability issues when they attempt to add themselves into their own brands. While some folks are naturals at placing their face all over their business cards and websites, for many people, the idea of presenting themselves as a guru stirs up a case of the fidgets.

What is it that makes people stall when they think about promoting themselves? What is it about taking the limelight off their business, their product line or their services and placing it upon themselves as human beings that makes people hesitate?

Maybe we have seen too many stars and starlets fall from grace and now that pedestal seems a precarious place to perch? Is it the danger of failure we fear?

Or maybe it is the scary thought of success? What would life be like if we actually achieved the wealth or fame or success we seek? How would we have to change to meet that success? How would our daily routine change? How would our relationships change? Life would never be the same.

What about our confidence level in our own abilities? Placing your own face on your brand is a statement. It is a commitment. It is easy to change your name, or change your company’s name, but it is considerably more difficult to change your face. Are you confident about who you are and the value you offer others?

Do you believe in your product or service?

Most importantly, do you believe in you?

As you’re considering why you’ve not included your face in your marketing material up until now, it might be helpful to know marketing studies have shown we respond to faces in ads. The human creature is a social creature by nature. Marketing ads that show human faces smiling back at us tend to make us more at ease with the marketing message they accompany. People find it easier to trust the words when they can see the faces behind them.

Still wondering about donning the role of guru? Take solace. If you know your trade well, you probably know more than 98 percent of the population, so—to that 98 percent—you are a guru already.

Ultimately, it will be up to you to determine if you’re ready to begin marketing yourself. Keep this in mind, however: people do business with people they know, like and trust. Regardless of your product or service, it is likely your clients can have their needs met elsewhere. Your clients do not have to pick you. When they choose you, what your clients are buying is you, personally, and the value they perceive you are able to bring to the relationship. By mixing your face into your marketing collateral, you are helping people to “know” you—the first step in the know-like-trust continuum.