Taking a Stand and Why You Probably Shouldn’t

There’s this idea in (primarily online) marketing that you’re supposed to find a side to take.

Polarity. It’s been a buzzword forever, and… maybe rightfully so?

You see it a lot on X. You see it a lot on Facebook.

A lot of people – especially politically – taking sides and being loud about it. Winnowing themselves into a niche.

That’s the thing, right – find your people and sell to them. Knowing your niche and being deeply invested and involved in their lives, understanding their pain points – all that buzzwordy stuff.

And – sure – it’s understandable. The more time you spend in a market, the more you understand it and the more people will recognize you within that niche.

Makes sense.

There’s also the argument that niching down can hurt the availability of a large swathe of potential customers that are adjacent to your niche or even well outside it. But the trade off is that you can wind up with alignment issues or attracting a customer you’re less compatible with, service-wise.

Makes sense, too.

With either one – if you go for a small segment, you better be really good and really loud. You’ll have to nab a larger percentage of that pool than you would if you had a larger pool.

Niching down – 10 fish in the pool, but they’re perfect fish and they’ll be delicious – but there’s a lot of space between them and they might not be biting that day. Not niching down – 100 fish in the pool, but some of them are mud-sucking bottom dwellers. They’re hungry and they’re everywhere – but… do you want to eat THAT?

It’s a dilemma.

There’s also a third option, and the one which the writer of this incredible piece of prose has employed for the past 30 years in business:

Doesn’t matter. Sell to anyone.

Now, this isn’t because I’m afraid to niche down. It’s also not for worry of not being good enough to go broad. It’s primarily due to a complete and utter lack of wanting to be associated with most people who take a stand – over just about anything. Especially on social media – your stand… does it really matter on Facebook? Are you moving the needle or just flapping your gums with your latest, greatest stand against whatever?

That almost got me side tracked, but – BACK TO MY POINT:

There are a great many passions in my life. Many things that I hold dear. Things I would go to war over. None are negotiable.

But – none of them have any bearing on what my clients need to see and unless those clients are in direct opposition to those passions and things – they just don’t matter and will never make it into my branding, marketing or online persona.

I’ve had terrific client relations with hardcore Republicans and die hard Democrats. I’ve had clients of every color, many nationalities, gay, straight, trans, short, tall – doesn’t really matter. The deliverables are the same, the work is the same, the billing is the same. I’ve had shit relations with pretty much all the above, too. Some people fit on paper, suck in real life. Look like they’re going to be a nightmare on paper, have turned out to be terrific humans with great stories and wonderful businesses.

Being an asshole isn’t bound by race, nationality, creed, sexuality or social status. It’s actually not bound by anything. It’s mathematical. A certain percentage of people are just assholes. And tapping into a group into which you apparently fit perfectly is – in absolutely no way – a guarantee that you won’t run into the same percentage of assholes you’d run into if your border were open, so to speak.

Think about your life – how many really close people do you have? Not many, when you consider how many people you know. Not saying that everyone else is an asshole – but you’re probably very selective with your inner circle, and it’s a safe bet that you’re not all clones. I’ve got friends who wear Crocs, OK? What the hell is that? We’re compatible in a lot of ways – but… Crocs? Anyway.

Your market it very much the same. You might get a few folks that you just really vibe with and it’s just effortless and it’s all sunshine and lollipops. It does happen. But – you’re also going to get a good percentage that are just… ok. You’re not going to hang out with them after the project, and they don’t want to hang out with you. Nothing personal – just not a fit.

And the thing that has been proven to me and the myriad of folks I’ve worked with, time and again – it has very little to do with labels and everything to do with the decency of the human those labels are affixed to.

If you’re going to go full-bore red statist, you must keep in mind that you’re going to turn off a really good number of really good people over that single choice. Same with gender or sexuality or any of the other big dividing lines. You choose a side, you’re going to eliminate a lot of people who that might be your singular incompatibility with.

Sure – if you ARE a red statist and a customer comes at you with some blue state shit, you may have an uncomfortable conversation – but how often is that going to happen versus the amount of money you’re leaving on the table? It’s a numbers game.

So, where is this going? Where does this leave you?

Choose your dividing lines very carefully. We all have them. We all should.

Express those dividing lines even more carefully. Unless you’re a zealot, coming off as one isn’t a good look – and it’s not going to win you any points when it comes to making sales with the people in the gray areas (or, about 95% of the available market…)

So – back to social media. I see it a lot on Twitter/X, and especially with the money bros and the bow tied gang.

Sure – you’re niching down by jumping on board with whatever the latest political shenanigans are, and you’re talking about guns and soy boys or transgender rights or Yeezy or… whatever. But you’re running off a huge swathe of potential audience, followers, fans, friends*, co-conspirators, clients and long-term assets… simply because you took a poorly timed or poorly strategized stand or stilted your marketing towards an agenda that excludes anyone not in lock step with that agenda.

*I use this term loosely. They’re not friends. But that’s a whole nother post…

Don’t do that. There’s just no need.

Please don’t take this as advocating that you water down your message – far from it. Your message should be loud and clear and bold and in your face (if that’s what your intended audience wants.) But that loudness and clarity can be VERY expensive if not done right and done with a full knowledge and acceptance of the idea that you’re cutting off a whole lot. And your gain? A smaller audience with the exact same percentage of assholes per capita.

If you’re good with that – carry on. If you’re not, consider becoming agnostic in all things that don’t directly pertain to your business, your audience and your brand.

Guess who I voted for? Guess where I stand on gender politics? Guess which baseball team I root for?

I can promise that you’ll get all three answers wrong. You also won’t find anything online giving you the answers.

Why?

Because it really just doesn’t matter. It matters a LOT to me – but it doesn’t matter to my audience, and I don’t like enough people or want enough people thinking they know me based on…

A marketing decision.

I’m a bit more complicated than that. So are you.