Too many small businesses go to the grave with their music still inside them. (Yes, I borrowed from Oliver Wendell Holmes here.)

The most successful small business owners I have encountered have two things in common – they are passionate about what they do and they effectively use marketing to spread this passion.

Many of the small business owners I meet do possess the first ingredient – passion. In fact passion alone can carry a business. But, voicing that passion is where the ball gets dropped. Instead of an original voice of passion, most small business owners rely on the tiny echo created by simply copying what they see others in their industry doing.

What if you simply looked at what drives you to do what you do and found a way to share that, authentically, with the world. What if you discover the exact type of client that placed a very high value on what you have to offer. What if your marketing message communicated, in a truly stunning manner, how much you love what you do and how much you love bringing what you do to other people.

What if you shared your story, good and bad, knowing that, even if it was unconventional, there would be people who connected with it and found it contagious.

Find and describe a narrow ideal client description – a client that shares your passion. Find a message that allows people to get what you do, why you are different and how they can get some of what you have to share. Start singing damn it!

That’s what marketing really is you know. Sharing your passion. Don’t hold back wondering if others in your industry will think you are odd. Don’t listen to that little voice in your head telling you to conform. Just do it, give your enthusiasm for your business a voice. Don’t let your business die with the music waiting to get out.