by Tara Joyce | Mar 31, 2014 | Personal Branding
It’s a table for two.
In the end, it’s just me and you.
I need to connect with you. You need to enjoy the experience of being with me.
It’s you I need to tune into, and turn on.
It doesn’t matter what we’re talking about, business or personal.
Us humans, we connect one-on-one. Me and you.
If you feel excited and passionate about what I give you, you will help broadcast my signal.
If I connect with you, if I genuinely help you to fill a need, you will share what I do, and who I am.
The experience of me stays with you.
photo credit: Benoxi
by Tara Joyce | Mar 24, 2014 | Cultural Creativity
I like to write about our Values, our Worldviews, and the Subcultures we inhabit — but I don’t think I’ve ever clearly explained why, have I?
Maybe I’ve never written about it clearly before because it hasn’t been clear to me why it really matters until now.
Having knowledge about these topics is a business owner’s secret weapon. For they determine what and why we buy.
They’re psychographics and they explore an individual’s concepts of the world they live in. Demographics don’t have a chance against these bad boys.
Can I Get a Definition?
We use a lot of words every day. And many words — words that I use and you use — mean different things to me than they do to you.
For that reason, I feel like I always liked definitions as I often find myself asking, “yes, but what does that word really mean?”
What are Values?
Values are what’s important in your life (your life priorities). Values are what you actually do, accomplish and be.
You live your values. Each of us commits our actions in pursuit of the important matters in our lives.
Your “individual character” is built around your deeply held values and the meanings and worldviews associated with them.
Values determine how and if you will vote, what products and services you will buy, how you live, and what kind of future you want for yourself and your loved ones.
What are Worldviews?
Worldviews are your set of beliefs about “how things work”, “how life is” and “what’s objectively important in life”. It’s your perspective, your point-of-view on life.
An interesting thing about your worldview is that the more you believe that your worldview defines you, the tighter you grasp onto it’s truth.
Your worldview can be your pain and it can be your peace.
What are Subcultures?
Subcultures are a cultural group (e.g., the Cultural Creatives) within a larger culture (e.g., Canadian culture), often having values and lifestyles alternative from those of the dominate culture.
Dr. Paul Ray (who wrote The Cultural Creatives) observed that there are three major subcultures in the Western World — the Moderns, the Traditionals and the Cultural Creatives.
Everyone within these subcultural groups shares similar values, worldviews and lifestyles and these things define their actions far more than any other subculture they may belong to, including their Ethnic subculture.
Psychographics – what and why we buy
A powerful thing about psychographics is that, as a business owner, the more you work on your own understanding of your values, your worldviews and what subcultures you connect with, the stronger your understanding of your customer’s psychographics will be.
A more empathetic understanding of what and why you buy can help you more authentically understand and connect with the buying motivations of your customers.
And the best part is you may just find that you know your customers far better than you think you do, and that they value, view and live in the world very similarly to you.
photo credit: illuminaut
by Tara Joyce | Mar 4, 2014 | Cultural Creativity
It is a way of being that prevents connection.
It is presenting a false story about myself and my life in order to control others perception of me.
It’s a form of marketing or more specifically advertising, and it’s neither mindful nor empowering.
While in my pretense, I’m not valuing my contributions fully nor am I fully valuing the contributions others.
I am not being honest about who I am. I am determining certain elements of me are better and more desirable.
How does it feel to hide parts of myself?
My pretense is like my own beer commercial where I see blondes in bikinis drinking delicious beer, having fun and playing volleyball with awesome dudes.
Everything looks perfect, I’m trying hard to show you that it’s perfect, and I’m displaying my finest acting and contortionism so you don’t see the sand in my bum and the dimples in my thighs.
Does the need for pretense grow with the acquisition of power?
Probably not. But the acquisition of power does make it easier to hide and pretend.
But why do I hide and pretend? Is it about my relationship with power?
What am I communicating when I do pretend?
I am expressing that I need to try and control perceptions of me. Yours and mine. It’s about my power.
I need to appear more or less perfect than I already am.
Why am I not enough?
photo credit: SalFalko
