One of the most common mistakes I've seen when helping clients try to shape their message is that they don't really have a distinct message.  They don't have a distinct voice most often because they fear using their own, personal voice will somehow make them (or their business) seem small and less attractive to consumers.  The first problem with this attitude is that, well - they are small (most of them) - and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.  In fact, in surveys we've conducted, most people prefer to deal with small, local businesses over giant corporations in just about every field.

The second problem is much greater.  The idea that they will seem less attractive to customers is a strong motivator, but perhaps you should be less attractive to the people who are not your target clients.  Any idea that is shared is going to generate responses from people who agree and from those who disagree.  If the idea is very bland indeed, you probably won't see much disagreement - but that also means you won't see much excitement surrounding it.

If you create an online presence, for example, making it attractive to a certain demographic is automatically going to make a different demographic at least somewhat repelled by it.  To give an extreme case scenario - if you make an adult entertainment site, you're probably going attract a lot of people and repel a lot of others.

If you want to learn from some of the greatest marketers in the world, look at the people and companies that generate highly polarized reactions.  Apple has a huge, almost religious, fanatical following - and a huge base of detractors who think all the chatter generated by what they would call "fanboys" and by the company itself is nothing more than hype.  Guess what - that is exactly the mark of Apple's massively succesful marketing campaign.  They spread ideas that are polarizing.

Modern marketing is all about attraction rather than broadcast.  It's an idea I tend to think of as making yourself magnetic - and magnets have two poles.  One's going to attract the right audience to you and your products and the other will repel the wrong people for your business.  Just make sure you don't get the poles mixed up!

Disagree with me? Don't just leave (even if I'm pushing you away with my message) - let me hear your opinion.  Join the discussion below.