We’re disheartened and discouraged when there is a lack of life. My husband and I have been searching for a house lately and the ones that are run down and neglected are inherently less attractive than the shiny, polished, inhabited homes. This is because life, and signs of life, are attractive.
We see how life is attractive on social media too. When it looks like people are alive and well, it’s attractive. When they show how their life is creating more life or how they’re breathing life into things, it’s attractive. We want to be near life, we want to be a part of life, we want to bring life.
What does this mean for your business?
If you want your business to be attractive, it needs life. It needs to be evident that your business is both living and giving life. But some businesses look dead, right? They haven’t changed their marquee in years. They haven’t posted on social media in months. Their office lacks life, not just from lack of activity, but also the culture among the staff. They don’t look alive.
When my husband and I look at abandoned homes, we can’t help but wonder if something is inherently wrong with the property. Why else would it have been left to rot? Isn’t it the same in business as well? When businesses seem dead, we worry about their quality.
And so, we want to make sure our businesses are evidently alive. What are some ways we can do that?
- We can make sure our businesses show signs of life. We shouldn’t over-automate social media. We need to make sure we are interacting in real, personal ways with people, not just sending auto-replys. We need to change our marquees, update our websites and refresh our storefronts every once and awhile.
- We can make sure we are breathing life into our resources. When we creatively use resources, we demonstrate a living, creative business.
- We can make sure we are giving life. It should be evident through our interactions with employees and customers that we’re giving them life, instead of sucking it out of them. This could mean anything from literally giving customers some life back by saving them time during check-out to making sure your employees know you appreciate them.
Life is inherently attractive. Let’s make sure our businesses are irresistibly alive.
Cover image info: Original, royalty-free image from Kaboompics.
About the author: Lindsey Tolino comes alongside artisans, craftsman and people monetizing their passions to help them create healthy businesses. She shares her heart at ToBusinessOwners.com. Follow her on Twitter @LindseyTolino.