I had a great interview with Rohit Bhargava over at the Duct Tape Marketing podcast. He is a founding member of the 360 Digital Influence team at OgilvyPR, award-winning author of The Influential Marketing Blog and author of Personality Non Included, a book that urges business owners to find and communicate a unique voice or personality – particularly in the age of social media.

I believe job #1 for any business, particularly small businesses, is to find a way to stand out, to be different. Doing so in a meaningful way (meaningful to a market segment that cares) is the secret to long term success, word or mouth buzz and ultimately more profit.

Bhargava calls this standing out a companies’ personality and, much like a person, there are styles and attributes that suit some companies and attract some customers. It’s essential that you figure out your style (he profiles a dozen or so) and wear it well.

One of the easiest ways for a company to exhibit their personality is through stories and we spend a fair amount of time during this episode discussing this topic. (A topic I write about often)

The book comes with lots of extra content and a few hidden personality surprises for those who take the time to dig a bit. I for one know that I was pleased to learn that no chickens were harmed in the writing and publishing of the book.