A lot of what we hear about marketing these days, and social media in particular, is that you have to be authentic and genuine in your online dialogue, because people can spot fakers and posers a mile away. Well, I'm a part of a little reading group, and this little tidbit from Woodrow Wilson - who guided the US during the first World War, envisioned the forerunner to the UN, and who was the only President with a PhD - rings true in life and business today, as much as it did in 1897. 

Let us remind ourselves that to be human is, for one thing, to speak and act with a certain note of genuineness, a quality mixed of spontaneity and intelligence. This is necessary for wholesome life in any age, but particularly amidst confused affairs and shifting standards... We expect what we call genuine to have pith and strength of fiber. Genuineness is a quality which we sometimes mean to include when we speak of individuality. Individuality is lost the moment you submit to passing modes or fashions, the creations of an artificial society; and so is genuineness. No man is genuine who is forever trying to pattern his life after the lives of other people—unless, indeed, he be a genuine dolt. But individuality is by no means the same as genuineness; for individuality may be associated with the most extreme and even ridiculous eccentricity, while genuineness we conceive to be always wholesome, balanced, and touched with dignity. It is a quality that goes with good sense and self-respect.... That character is genuine which seems built by nature rather than by convention, which is stuff of independence and of good courage. 

How-To's Are Great, But They Aren't Everything

So, you are asking, what does all this mean for us, as we try to communicate and stand out in the increasingly noisy interwebz? You can follow all the "How To yada Twitter yada yada" and "5 Steps to Online blah blah" ad nauseum, but unless you mix in "spontaneity and intelligence", you won't find your voice or your story for your business. Follow what is tried and true, and then throw your own personality into it, or just throw out steps 1-4.  And just because you are genuine, it doesn't mean you have to be over-the-top, or involve all the latest novelties. In fact, while novelty is good, it wears off pretty quickly. It's good to be on the cutting edge, but the true voice and cuture of your business will carry on far longer than the latest eye-catcher. My friend Cameron calls it the "shiny object" syndrome.

A good example of this is Zappos. They don't use the latest greatest social media tools and gadgets to "fire for effect", they do it because it's an extension of who they are and what they want to do.

The 'real' social media to Zappos – and the way the company really builds relationships with customers – are the telephone call and the email conversation, as this downloadable ZDNet case study shows. Twittering and blogging are just for recreation. It’s kind of hanging out under a shingle that says, hey, we’re playful folks. Let’s waste a little time together. Let’s entertain each other. And not try to sell each other anything.        Source: Zappos.com

So, whether you are running a lemonade stand or running a huge shoe company, be you, which is to say, be genuine. And read the rest of Wilson's essay. It's that good. And while you are at it, you should follow me on Twitter here. Enjoy this post? Please consider subscribing to this blog in your RSS reader of choice.