Little Black Business Books - Getting Your Business Message Across. Marilyn Messik

others to establish whether what you’re doing is bang on or way off course.

       Plenty of practical stuff that should make sense to you. If it doesn’t, ignore it!

       And last but certainly not least, a good dose of self-confidence. Trust yourself to know what’s best for you. So much of business is plain common sense and most of us have more than our fair share of that.

      Your Business Message

      Before you even think about your business and how you want to present it, think long and hard about who you are. Why? Because people buy into other people. Most of us have competition in what we do but the clincher – above and beyond of course, being good at what you do – is the importance of people liking and trusting you.

      Would you buy a second-hand car from this man?

      As we progress, in stately fashion, through this book, we’ll delve deeper into the ins and outs of why we take instantly to some people and run a mile from others. Naturally, what I’m talking about here is human nature and not the infallibility of its judgement, because as we all know, successful con artists are usually the most delightfully charming people.

      But as, hopefully, none of you are out to do the dirty, I’ll reiterate my point: if you don’t let your personality show, in the voice and tone of your business, it’s equivalent to putting a paper bag over your head – your business is faceless!

      And if you have a sense of humour, don’t be afraid of letting it show, although obviously this has to be tailored to your business or profession. Nobody really wants a completely off-the-wall solicitor, loads of fun to be with of course, but having everyone rolling in the aisles won’t necessarily cut it in a litigation case.

      But you get my point – if you’re a naturally warm, friendly and sunny person don’t suddenly adopt a dry, formal and pompous approach, it won’t suit you and it won’t make anyone warm to you.