Branding yourself: Be Nice, or Be Nil

  It's a widely known fact that people will do business with people they like, when possible. A few years ago, my mother and I saw an artist at Marquette, Michigan's annual art extravaganza, Art on the Rocks. He was a great painter and a great photographer. He was also a great ass. I never saw anyone so rude. Needless to say his booth was empty of customers, and I never saw him at this event again.
  How many of you have gone into a store to be greeted by a not-so-friendly clerk? Would you go back to that store? Maybe if you had to, but what if you didn't have to?
   Let's look at Wal-Mart. The behemoth retailer has spent the last several years trying to out-cheap its competitors, but the customer service was lousy. I don't mean the folks working there are rude (Tim!), I mean the general policies that might make the customer feel good about being at Wal-Mart did not exist. Even though most of the clerks want to be nice, it seems they're bound by a rushed and stressful atmosphere that makes the experience unpleasant. But the economy has been so bad, Wal-Mart could get away with running a 'customer factory'. Now that economic conditions are starting to improve, more and more people are going elsewhere, leaving Wal-Mart scrambling to re-brand itself.
   I don't know about you, but I don't feel like re-branding myself. If a place like Wal-Mart is struggling, even though they sell very necessary items like food and underwear, then imagine how an artist will struggle! We only feed people's eyes, and clothe their hearts with beauty! And there are lots of us. If people don't like us, they will move on. And never come back.
   I tell my son to be nice to people, even the ones he doesn't like. I tell him not to pretend to like them, but be nice to them. Even if you don't think they deserve it, be nice. If you've ever seen the movie The Blind Side, about football player Michael Oher, you know what I mean.
   I also tell him not to take any crap from people. ( I admit, I have a hard time discerning crap from criticism!) I tell him to stand up for himself. I tell him to defend his dignity. Dignity, it so happens, is also a very important part of personal branding!