In her comments on managing customer expectations, Kelly from Maximum Customer Experience noted a trend in business cards: omitting your name. She said:
I get handed a lot of cards that have a business name but no human’s name…It is such a doh! But I still see LOTS of them. Maybe they think its a privacy thing, but hey, you’re in business! It’s not supposed to be a secret!
When you have a business, you have to tell the world about it…or at least, the corner of the world that needs what you’re offering. Making meaningful connections is critical for your business success and—by its nature—it can’t be done incognito.
So how and why are we (yup, I’m guilty!) working in secret? Read on…
Marketing in secret
I helped Erin a few weeks ago at the IdeaCafe forum. She had a handful of happy customers for her new dog treat business, but she was hesitant to expand because she didn’t have a business license. She didn’t want to get busted by her local licensing board (a wise choice) and was frustrated by her instinctive response.
She did everything for her business except make it possible to tell folks she had one. She was worried about licensing costs, but instead of tackling the mission-critical task of registration, she was making stock, choosing upsells, etc. She felt “kind of at a dead-end wall.” And she was right.
Among other things, I told her “[your] business won’t move forward if it’s kept secret” and “Secret businesses don’t succeed”. I nudged her to get legal so she could work out in the open. Imagine her relief at finding registration was only $50! She said it best: “So that’s relaxing, now I feel like things are really moving along!!” And she’s right again.
Getting help in secret
Have you ever been approached by someone guarding their business idea while asking for feedback? It’s an odd blend, like this call for help by Nichole (also from the IdeaCafe). Her question was unanswerable because she didn’t share a single detail about her idea:
I am new to this website and am in great need of some helpful advice. I have a great idea for a small business. I have the name and the overall general concept of what services will be provided. However, I do not have the first clue about how to get things started, or where to hire employees, or… <snip> . Ambitious but clueless. PLEASE, PLEASE HELP!!!
I snipped the lengthy list of things she was clueless about. ~CW
Sounds just like someone who contacted me for advice and a potential partnership. She throttled any chance of my help or buy-in by requiring a signed Nondisclosure Agreement from everyone I would ask for counsel.
I respected the legal sensibility of that, but I wasn’t going to approach my friends with the awkward combination of a request for help and a token of distrust. Years later, her idea is still only an idea; safe within it’s red tape from anyone who can make it real.
Blogging in secret
Here’s where I fess up. Last week, Naomi at IttyBiz featured Big Bright Bulb in an encouraging blog review. At the end she gently busts me on blogging incognito. She did it with humor (as ever!), but it stung a bit because I thought I had dealt with that.
When I first asked for her feedback on Big Bright Bulb, she noted that my About page had plenty about the blog but not a peep about me. I got to work on the 87% worth knowing and felt good about it. I included family, hubby-to-be, pets, shopping, school, my hair…
…but not—as Naomi pointed out—my photograph. DOH!
My blindspot was probably because I’m a crap photo subject. Either stiffly posed or caught with a wide open mouth that’s laughing, eating, or talking too loudly, I ain’t no Tyra Banks. Kelly offered the clever solution of an Open Mouth Moments collage, but I think I’m too wimpy to do it!
And maybe wimpiness is the key to this whole secret business mess.
Security in anonymity
This is how I see it: All of these—nameless business cards, undercover businesses, top secret ideas, and faceless blogging—are our last chance for invisibility. We had enough chutzpah to begin the business thing, but not enough to see it through. Ironically, our insecurity shows because we’re trying to hide it.
We’re coming at varying goals from different directions, but we’re all suffering from the same delayed lack of confidence. Check it out:
- Call me! But you can’t know my name
- Buy from me! But I can’t tell you where I am or what I’m selling.
- Help me! But I won’t share anything about my idea.
- Read me! Trust me! Even if I haven’t shown you who I am.
We may feel safe, but our businesses stall out. These cages we built for ourselves may be comfortable if made with intent…but they’re frustrating as hell when our psyches build them behind our backs and without our blessing.
If this is so, then we’re clear on what’s happening, but we’re not yet clear of it. Now what?
Get to gettin’
- Get on top of it
It’s difficult to move forward with little or no information about your next step. Don’t struggle in ignorance. Track down people who are on the same path, or have already been where you’re headed. Read. Ask. Make a list. Ask again. Take action. Repeat. - Get perspective
If the task between you and the next stage of success looms large to your eyes but appears small to other folks, then maybe you’re the problem. Extract yourself by turning it around. Ask “What useful advice would I give someone else in this situation?” - Get over yourself
Seriously? You’re not the first and only person to think of <insert great idea here>. Your idea is not special. What’s special is that you’re taking a step towards making it real, which 90% of folks won’t do. The other 10% won’t do it the way you’re going to do it. YOU are what makes your idea special. Choose someone trustworthy and share it. Work with it. Suss it out. Make it happen. - Get some grit
If you don’t feel courageous, try on the attitude of courageous folks. You don’t have to keep it on if it’s uncomfortable, just wear it long enough to get through the tough bit. Be bodacious.
So, do you have Secret Business Syndrome? Are you hiding from the one thing that will take your business to the next level? Leave a comment about it…and then get to gettin’! 
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Crystal,
SBS! Fabulous!
I am really enjoying these posts. You really make me think! I’m glad Naomi pointed your way.
Working in secret is a little like dieting in secret.
One, if you don’t tell anybody, you’re free to renege on your promise to yourself without embarrassment. (”Nobody knows I’m dieting, so these three glasses of wine and this huge chocloate dessert won’t look odd to anyone else.”)
Two, if you don’t tell anybody, nobody knows when you’ve failed. (”I gained three pounds last week, but nobody knows I was ‘trying’ to do the opposite.”)
In business, those are the ways we set ourselves up for failure. The excuses: People say they just want to “test the waters”; they’re not “ready to be overwhelmed” (whoo-hoo, you’re so fancy you’re going to be overwhelmed by business? Even Steve Jobs didn’t have that kind of rise); they don’t have this, that, and the other condition met (like your pal with the license).
Okay, this is starting to sound like another life crisis: committing to a partner.
What do all three have in common? Commitment. I think fear of failure is a funny little phrase for “fear of giving it a shot.” If you don’t give it your all, you’re gonna fail. In any of the above. If you don’t give it a shot, at least you’ll know to blame your lack of effort.
If you do give it a shot, in business you might find out your Vision isn’t fully formed, or the market’s not there, or you don’t know how to get at them… failing in business can get pretty personal.
Commit to it out loud, and get the feedback you need. If the idea’s less than stellar, fix it. Remove the pretend obstacles (like the license). Yeah, you’ve probably got to spend at least a little money to make money. “Ouch,” and then do it.
One of my favorite motivational quotes comes from a goofy little movie called The Karate Kid that almost everybody my age was subjected to at least once.
“There is no try. There is only do or not do.” I could have omitted the rest of what I wrote, because that’s it in a nutshell.
Thanks for the mention!
Regards,
Kelly
Good Layout and design. I like your blog. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. .
Jason Rakowski
Hi Crystal, I think the “Get some grit” is the most important advice.
I noticed a couple references to Idea Cafe. Have you picked up clients from their?
Um, yeah. I guess I do have a symptom or two of Secret Business Syndrome. I recently had my business cards printed in two versions, one with my name and one without. I feel a little uncomfortable handing out the cards with my name on them even though I know I should. Hmm, maybe I should redesign them so my name feels less prominent.
@Sterling — I reread this post and I agree with you about the importance of grit. I may move it to the top, because a bit of grit would make all the others easier.
Haven’t yet looked for clients in the IdeaCafe. I go to brainstorm in the Biz Name and Biz Ideas threads…it jumpstarts my noggin!
@Kerrie — S’okay, SBS is curable
My Rx: 1) Toss the nameless business cards so you can’t relapse,
2) practice handing over your named business card in front of a mirror.
You said you feel a little uncomfortable with the named cards, so the private practice will give you a safe place to develop your ease.
And watch your body language? If your discomfort shows in a slouch or hesitant smile, work up to more confident gestures…and be patient with yourself.
Don’t make your name less prominent–expand your confidence!
HA! Nameless cards are the worst! While completely unforgivable in small biz, it’s still pretty bad in big biz. When we were looking for a big screen TV, we went to a lot of places and got handed business cards for Future Shop, Best Buy, Sony Store, that kinda thing. Not a name among them. I know that’s very likely corporate policy, but it’s a dumb corporate policy.
It says to me, “My employers have so little faith in my capacity to do my job that they will not be keeping me on for long enough to justify the expense of printing my name on a card.” Um, no. Thank you, but no.
@Naomi — Thanks for dropping in
And exactly. A lack of confidence, and also a lack of investment…not just in dollars, though that likely factors in somehow.
Funny that Big Electronics doesn’t get it, but Big Fast Food does. When I was mystery shopping, getting the server’s name was critical. The shop lost points if the server’s nametag was unreadable, blank, or absent.
Keeping business in secret (so called “gray zone”) is very prevelaent in Poland, because of high cost of monthly charges for Social Security (old society). I think it will change in over 10 years…
I am seeing this so frequently in business. I get business cards like this all the time. But, in order to be good in business, you HAVE to be an effective marketer. And, part of doing that is getting your name out there to the public.
I talk with people all the time about this. You have have to get comfortable with getting your name out in public. Your name is your “marketing calling card”.
Hi Crystal, thanks for your post about Secret Business Syndrome, that’s important for my reference.
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