James L. Rubart is the best-selling, and award winning author of ROOMS, BOOK OF DAYS, and THE CHAIR. During the day he runs Barefoot Marketing, helping authors make more coin of the realm. In his free time he dirt bikes, hikes, water skis and take photos. No, he doesn’t sleep much. He lives with his amazing wife and teenage sons in the Pacific Northwest and still thinks he’s young enough to water ski like a madman. More at www.jameslrubart.com Or e-mail him at: jim@jimrubart.com

Have you seen the movie The Family Man? It’s a fave of mine and I watched it again the other day. In the bonus materials there’s a deleted scene where Jack (Nicholas Cage) is introduced to a potential customer. This business man is looking for a parts supplier. The man asks Jack, “Why should I partner with you?”

Jack looks at him and says, “I have no idea. We’re a Mom and Pop operation, you can undoubtedly get the parts cheaper from a major supplier. I have no idea why you would buy from us.”

The potential customer says, “Okay, you’ve got my attention.”

Jack responds by saying, “You can save a few pennies going somewhere else, but we need our customers. We’re on the edge and we can’t afford to lose any of our clients. So we will be here for you. We will take care of you like the big guys never will.”

Yes, of course the man became a customer.

The Law of Honesty

There is a temptation when marketing ourselves to exaggerate. To put on the best face. To make the facts about ourselves slightly shinier than they really are. Have you ever done it? I have. Have you ever seen through it when people do it to you? I have. We all have.

Resist the temptation to promote yourself as more than you are. Be true. Be honest. People will see through it anyway if you don’t. And if you are true and keep the polish off your stories three things will happen:

1. Your audience—be it one person or thousands—will love you because we are attracted to the truth. In the scene above, we love Jack because he didn’t try to shuck and jive the customer. We know he’s real, and in this world of so much pretense, it is a welcome drink.

2. You will shine the light of truth into that person’s life. You will give them the chance to consider the implications of telling the truth—and nothing more—the next time they are in the position of marketing themselves.

3. You will execute a strong marketing strategy. I talk a lot about shocking Broca—doing the unusual, the surprising thing in

every circumstance—and this will shock Broca. Why? Because so few people tell the truth about themselves and nothing more. You will stand out.

Dying to Self

Because we don’t know who we are inside, and because we don’t think we are enough, we are tempted to present ourselves as more than we are so people will say, “You’re okay. You’re worthy of being liked.”

When we die to ourselves and make this journey about following Him instead of inviting Him into our plans, we are set free and it allows the Holy Spirit to guide our appointments and create divine marketing opportunities that never could have come from ourselves.

As always, if you have a marketing question you’d like me to address, email me at: jim@jimrubart.com.