While Thursday is the official day for Halloween, the weekend prior is usually when all the parties take place. Sometimes referred to as Halloweekend, it’s when adults let their inhibitions down and for one day, let the world see their inner self. In many ways, the costume one chooses to wear is more indicative of personality, then the mask some people choose to wear every day of the year.
As a start-up business, it’s fair to say this same phenomenon occurs. While we don’t have one day of the year where we get to show our inner selves, we have things like Social Media and websites to let the world see. Unfortunately what happens at times is that free market interferes and we are forced to put on masks. We might want to conduct business in a certain way or be know for a certain service or item – but the market is saturated, so we have to “put on a mask” and become something that we aren’t 100% comfortable with. We all know that one place where they have one amazing item, but instead of focusing in on that – they have multiple items they try to sell. This leads to a shotgun marketing approach , which is usually ineffective.
My advice is don’t go down that path. When I coined the tag line Intelligent, Innovative and Idiosyncratic as the Bedford Street approach, I knew that it would appeal to some and there was a good chance that it would turn others away. The fact remains is that slogan is a true embodiment of who I am and what I want my business to be. There is no Halloween mask or costume there – and that matters. As Shakespeare wrote so eloquently in Hamlet, This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man. And it follows that in our businesses, we shouldn’t be false to ourselves or our customers. Sure, we can expand our brand or even the services we offer – but at our core, we all need a slogan that always remains true.
So, enjoy the Halloween weekend, dear readers. I’ll be back next week and look forward to talking to you then!!!
Bedford Street Marketing Insights 