What are your business values? (and why they are important)
Values such as integrity and authenticity – these are all common buzzwords online. But what does it all mean?
Don’t most businesses have the same values?
Well yes and no.
According to Google, the definition of values are:
‘principles or standards of behaviour; one's judgement of what is important in life:’
What is important in your life? These are your values
How do we know what our values are? Lots of things are important right? But what standards of behaviour do you see as a non-negotiable?
Those things that ‘irk’ you more than the next person. Those things that your friends and family say, ‘Here we go she’s on her soapbox again!’ (in the kindest possible way!)
Those are the things that you probably didn’t realise are your deeply held values. The ones that light you up before the words have even left your mouth. Your passion for them is undeniable by all those around you.
For example. If I’m in a shop and someone pushed into a queue. Yes, I’d be a bit miffed. But my husband. He would be appalled! Like really upset. He would NOT be able to compute the rudeness of it. And he would probably talk about it for some time after. Bore me to tears about it. Fairness is a BIG value of his. He’s a lawyer so that probably figures. He’s spent his life making sure that both sides of the argument are heard.
My top 5 values (and how those values translate into my business)
For me, honesty is a MASSIVE value of mine. I would rather someone was truly honest with me than tell me a white lie to try and make me feel better. I need to get to the truth of a situation. So much so that I overthink everything. If I think that there is a sniff of inauthenticity in something, I will investigate until I’m satisfied that nothing wrong is afoot. At times that can be quite tiring. So our values can be great! But also they can be our greatest downfall if we let them overtake. There has to be balance.
But why should we use our values in our business, and how do we actually translate that?
Find out what your top 5 values are
First of all, I would suggest you find out what your top 5 values are. Now you might already have an idea of one or two of them. But if you want to delve a bit deeper there is a widely used online test you can use for free, which pulls from your answers, 24 values ranked from 1st place all the way down to last. Head to VIA - it’s a well-renowned website that lots of big companies use as part of their HR screening process.
I completed it (it took about 5 minutes) and below were the results of my top 5
Gratitude
Hope
Judgement
Honesty
Kindness
I love how the results have confirmed a lot of things I’ve really discovered about myself over the past two years.
Honesty is a deeply held value. Only when faced with dishonesty did I realise just how much it means to me. When people lie, cheat and coerce others for their own selfish needs and desires it affects me deeply! This is where my passion for ethical marketing comes from. I can’t stand people being dishonest. It brings me out in a rash (it actually does - when I get stressed I start to get a prickly rash!)
But this is what I think makes me stand out from other marketers (the honesty factor that translates into ethical marketing - not the rash)
Honesty means SO much to me that I refuse to work with anyone who thinks unethical marketing practices are okay. No white lies. No tactics that are blatant attempts at getting people over the line with deceit. My messaging is mainly about ethical marketing practices. I scream about it so much that it’s very hard NOT to see it in my messaging on socials.
Gratitude is another value. I have a very hectic life. I have ups and downs like most people. It can be exhausting. Gratitude is what keeps me balanced. Noticing the little things in nature. Accepting what is, and whilst striving for more, always allowing what is to unfold, unfold. I make the best of a LOT of bad situations (thank goodness for my creative nature!) and through it all, it all comes down to gratitude.
I share a lot of this in my stories. To remind others in challenging situations that there is someone else out there cheering them on. To help give them that nudge back into a place of gratitude. It’s a great value to have, and I think it's what connects me to other business owners with similar values who are also living equally challenging lives.
There are some people that will see my gratitude posts and get annoyed by them…so they will turn off from me…so that’s good for all of us! Not my ideal client.
Can you see how your values can start to translate into your business? And start to shape your messaging and draw in your ideal client?
Talking about your values and how they translate to your business is creating a niche. YOU are your niche. Yes, we can niche audience segments and services, but when you start to niche your messaging to align with you and your core values, then the proposition that you are providing will start to magically appear.
If you want to get clearer on your messaging so that marketing your services and products feels more aligned with who you are then there are lots of ways of working with me
One-to-one - book a discovery call and we can book a one-to-one to go over anything in your business you like. Email marketing, social media, SEO, website content - you name it. I’ll give you some actionable points to shift you forward in your business.
Book a package - I’ve got lots of pre-set packages from one-off projects to monthly marketing packages. Really helpful for those who just don’t know where to start in making sure there is ‘regular’ marketing and promotions going on.
Bespoke - one-off project or something more specific? Book a call and I’ll come back to you with a quote
FREE - I’ve got a Facebook Group called Marketing Made Easy for Solopreneurs which is a great space for likeminded small business owners to get together PLUS I go live in there every week with some marketing help, and there are also a few little freebies in there so go get stuck in!
