Is Authenticity in Business Best?

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Thanks to podcasting, social media and the very public world we’ve created for ourselves through similar technologies, there is a growing trend towards authenticity.

Want to succeed in romance, your career, business or anything in life? Just be yourself.

Tell it like it is.

I’m a big fan of some of the most popular blogs and podcasts in the entrepreneurial space which tell you to just be you, as the hosts demonstrate by just being themselves.

From the always informative and interesting Smart Passive Income blogs and podcasts, where host Pat Flynn shares his story of personal success – leaving the world of architecture, to start and run several successful online businesses.

To Entrepreneur on Fire, where host John Lee Dumas interviews successful entrepreneurs, sharing their stories of failure, success and tips for starting their own businesses.

I love these guys, for their bravery in being honest, true, and authentic.

There’s that word again.

Authentic.

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It’s the new buzzword of the business world. Just be authentic while providing any product or service, and watch your customers line-up ‘round the corner.

If being authentic is the best thing to be, how come the biggest money makers online still dabble in the totally unauthentic worlds of sex and drugs?

Porn still makes up over 70 percent of the commerce traded online, according to several studies. The next biggest money maker online? Discount prescription drug sales, most notably, for erectile dysfunction – you know – that purple pill called Viagra.

Neither of these businesses uses authenticity to sell – quite the opposite! The whole porn industry is based on creating entertainment based on our fantasies.

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And it is not just the realm of the online business world.

Yes, I’m a proud '100 percenter' – someone who’s listened to the Humble and Fred podcast since it first hit iTunes, and has listened to every episode then and since.

Humble and Fred two well-known Toronto radio personalities, have been together for a quarter of century, making listeners laugh with their silly – some may say offensive – fart and dick jokes.

Since embarking on their own entrepreneurial ventures, they boast about being authentic too. They talk about their lives, the lives of their guests, and share their blunt opinions about the world around them.

Their unique format has done them well -- although they began their podcast because they claim no radio station would hire them – since launching their authentic talk radio show, it has been picked up by several terrestrial radio stations, and has become the morning show on SiriusXM’s Canada Laughs channel.

Humble and Fred talk about being authentic as the key to their success – people don’t like being sold personality – they want the real deal.

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Humble and Fred, Entrepreneur on Fire and the Smart Passive Income podcasts and blogs are among my favorite guilty pleasures when I have a moment to spare.

They are all exceptionally entertaining, and informative.

Yet, they always talk about being authentic.

Tell it like it is.

Yet we still live in world where the biggest businesses don’t.

Like the joy ride automakers take us on when they show off their latest cars, speeding down a narrow mountain road -- with lots of fine print about it being a closed course, and do not ever attempt what we're seeing.

To beer commercials still selling us good times over cold brews – with more fine print reminding us to please drink responsibly.

Even burger joints like McDonald’s are trying to sell us on their “healthy choices menu” even though the number one product McDonald’s sells are their French fries.

If the truth will set you free, and being authentic in business is the new norm, why are the biggest and most recognized brands on the planet still peddling products and services the old fashioned way?

Truth is, sometimes the truth hurts.

So being authentic just isn’t in the cards for most of our guilty pleasures.

Think about it – would you buy beer if the ads showed overweight men with beer bellies, getting into bar room brawls?

Probably not.

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Clearly, authenticity isn’t always best.

Being authentic really depends on what it is you are selling.

If you’re selling entrepreneurship, being your own boss, and making it on your own – authenticity works. Authenticity works here, because it’s all in the self-improvement space.

However, if you’re selling things that are more status symbols – like high end sports cars – or ways to escape reality – like porn and beer – than being authentic could actually hurt your business.

So, does the truth set you free in business? Depends on the business.