Attract the Best, Repel the Rest: Why It’s Okay to Mix Business and Politics
Since 2020, there’s been a lot of talk online amongst entrepreneurs about making statements that could be seen as political, or standing in solidarity with something that’s viewed as political.
That might be something that’s caused you to wonder… What’s appropriate? Does it just cause further division? Should I even be saying anything? What if I say something and it causes further harm?
This is something I’m very passionate about, and I think it’s absolutely worth contemplating as an entrepreneur. You can use the platform and the influence of your business and your brand to shine a light on the things that matter to you.
Taking a stand is a real concern for a lot of people, even those who are well-meaning and want to be supportive, because many are afraid of potential backlash.
My philosophy around this is pretty simple:
It’s okay to take a stand in your business. It’s okay to “mix business and politics.” Because this allows you to “attract the best, and repel the rest,” as they say.
While Taking a Stand Can Feel Scary, Letting Your Customers Know What You’re About is a Good Thing
In most of the spaces where I hang out, the conversation around social justice has been very much like, “Hey, I want people to know where I stand. I want them to know I support the movement for Black lives and the dismantling of racial injustice in America.”
But in the farming community? I’ve noticed more hesitation.
In case you didn’t know, I used to farm! I even co-created a course for farmers’ market vendors with my friend who is a pretty big name in the farming world. And because of my passion for local food systems and food justice, I run in a few different online circles for farmers, including this friend’s very, very large farming resource group.
In the summer of 2020, there was some discussion in the group around making statements about the Black Lives Matter protests. People were saying things like:
“If we want to make a statement, how do you suggest we do that?”
“Does anyone have any examples of statements you’ve already sent out?”
“I’m struggling with what to say, but I want to make my feelings abundantly clear to our client base.”
There was some really good discussion, and a lot of it was people earnestly learning and sharing concerns, including:
“It doesn’t feel appropriate. I don’t mix business and politics.”
“Why would I create more division?”
“Why would I put out a statement that pits one of my groups of customers against the other?”
“As a business owner, I don’t know if it’s smart to put myself in this situation.”
(Yes, there was also some really gross behavior, and those people were removed from the group.)
Sure, for some of those people, those concerns might’ve been veiled language for “I don’t agree with what’s going on; I don’t agree with the protests.”
But for most, it was more along the lines of, “I’m afraid to say the wrong thing. I’m afraid to put out a statement, knowing I have customers that are vehemently against the protests and incredibly pro-police, and I don’t want any backlash. I don’t want to ruffle any feathers.”
But here’s the thing:
Taking a stand or having positions within your business or your brand is not a bad thing.
Nowadays, there’s a lot of competition in business. And while this can feel really scary, I view it as a good thing. We have a lot more access to information, and we can shop around and make informed choices about where we’re spending our money.
Your Values and Mission Help to Attract Your Ideal Customers
TOMS – the shoe company – is a great example of a brand whose values and mission (clearly stated) help attract their ideal customers.
(I also talk about TOMS in this blog post about financially accessibility)
Everyone knows TOMS; they’ve been around long enough now that you can even get knockoffs for a far lower price. The difference, though, is that until 2019, when you bought from TOMS, you were helping support their one-for-one program. And people liked to buy from TOMS knowing that the dollars they spent were being multiplied into doing good in the world.
Here’s another example: If you’ve ever lived on the West Coast, you might be familiar with a chain of clothing stores called Buffalo Exchange. Back in the 90s, if you brought your own bag, they’d give you a token that was worth a nickel. They had all of these jars for different organizations, and you could choose to put your token into whichever one you wanted.
Those are just a couple of the countless examples of businesses that people intentionally support with their dollars, because not only do they like the product or service, but because they like the company, the values, and the mission.
Your Values and Mission Also Help to Repel People Who Aren’t Your Ideal Customers
Let’s use Hobby Lobby as an example of a business whose stated missions and values repel people who aren’t their ideal customer.
I don’t agree with what causes Hobby Lobby supports, but I’m grateful that they’re transparent about it. Because that way, I don’t inadvertently spend my money with them.
I’d rather know upfront what they’re supporting with their corporate dollars and choose to not shop there, rather than shop there for years and years and then find out later I’d spent all this time and money supporting a company that doesn’t share my values.
Not every business has to talk about every single social issue, especially if you’re running a small vegetable farm, for example, and that issue isn’t integrated into what you’re selling.
But if something aligns with your values and it’s something you want to talk about, I don’t see that as being divisive or polarizing. I see it as putting out a beacon for the people who are going to resonate with your brand most.
And that goes both ways, right? Both the people who align with your values and the people who don’t align with your values will benefit.
Make Sure Your Actions Align With Your Stated Values — People Notice When They Don’t
When you have your values stated and visible, it’s super important to make sure that your actions align with those values, especially in moments of crisis.
I was really disappointed to see that a company I used to be affiliated with had not released any statements on the Black Lives Matter protests during the summer of 2020.
This company was founded on the values of empowering women and families, putting money behind causes, and being a voice for the voiceless. But on their social media? Radio silence.
Finally, they posted an image of a Black woman holding a handbag with a light, fluffy Mother Teresa quote.
Like, why?
It took them a long time to say anything, and when they did, it very much gave the appearance that they did a cost/benefit analysis, discovered a large part of their customer base was conservative and/or didn’t want to be confronted with the reality of systemic racism, and decided to post this really tepid take, like, “Racism is bad and we’re going to pray on it.”
Obviously, not everyone has to go out and make a Ben & Jerry’s-style, super-bold kind of statement, but it just felt crafted to ruffle the least amount of feathers, and it didn’t align with the values the company had previously expressed.
Because their actions weren’t aligned with their stated values, they lost support from a lot of customers, including me.
Sharing What You’re All About Makes it Easier For Your Clients to Vote with Their Dollars
Since there’s so much competition out there, it actually makes it easier for us when companies say, “Hey, this is what we’re about.” Then we get to decide and choose who and what we want to support, and I think that’s pretty cool.
And not every single decision to make a purchase goes through this enormous lens for every buyer and every circumstance.
If you live in an area that only has a Walmart, even though you might hate Walmart, that’s still where you’re going to buy your groceries.
But if you’re buying clothes? It’s easier to shop with companies that are using ethically-sourced fabrics and paying their employees fairly, because you can shop online and have those items mailed to your house.
We get to vote with our dollars constantly, so why not let people know what you’re about? That way, they can vote with their dollars, and the people who aren’t a fit can weed themselves out.
In the same way that I self-select and don’t shop at Hobby Lobby, someone who has a fundamentally different set of values from me, and doesn’t want their money to go toward the causes I support, can self-select out of working with me.
Now, I’m not saying that we have to see eye-to-eye on every detail with every client 100% of the time.
I’m just saying that if we have a fundamentally different set of values, it’s probably best to know that before committing to work closely together for six months.
I don’t want someone to get midway through working with me and be like, “Wait, you support trans rights? Let’s cancel this contract.”
In other words, I’m not out to attract clients who are clones of me, but I do want to be sure that people know who I am, what I’m about, and what my company is about upfront.
Taking a Stand Doesn’t Have to be Political
Even if we were to take politics, social justice, and human rights issues off the table, you can still take a stand in your business.
In my intro to the Sell It, Sister! podcast, I say “I’m not here for get-rich-quick schemes, hustle culture, and bro marketing.” I’m very clear on what I’m not here for, so if someone is looking to set up a big, complicated funnel that’s going to launch them into a four-hour workweek, they know they’re not in the right place.
So, no, you don’t have to verbally dump every single thing that’s important to you on your website, but I do think it’s good to be open and honest about who you are and what you’re about, so that you can attract the best people for you, while repelling the people who aren’t a good fit.
Stop Watering Down Your Brand — There’s Power in Differentiating Yourself From the Competition
All of this can feel really scary, I know!
A lot of times in business, it can be a struggle. Like, why would you want to push people away when you need their money?
But the bottom line is, when you try to be too neutral – like the farmers who were like “well, I just want to sell vegetables” – it actually waters down your brand.
Whether I’m teaching my online entrepreneur clients or the students in our farmers’ market course, one of the first things I start with is answering these questions:
Who are you?
What is your brand?
What do you stand for in your brand?
How can you be a bit polarizing? How can you attract the best and repel the rest?
There’s a really, really simple example of this in the farming world:
People have a lot of different thoughts, opinions, and feelings on the spectrum of organic vs conventional foods.
Some people only buy organic and local, and they’re really strict about it. Others buy whatever is cheapest, but if they have a little money left over in their budget, they’ll try to get organic produce. There are the people who’d love to buy organic, but they just can’t afford it. And there are the people who think organic is a scam.
When I worked for my friend Michael’s farm, we were very clear on the things that were important to us: sustainability, regenerative agriculture, not using harmful chemicals, pesticides, or fertilizers, and being as local as possible.
None of these things were immediately adjacent to human rights, but they helped people see what we stood for, which enabled our ideal people to find us more easily and self-select, because they knew they weren’t just paying $5 a pound for heirloom tomatoes – they knew they were paying for our larger mission, how we cared for the land, and how we paid our employees.
Before they could find us, though, the onus was on us to say, “This is what we value, and this is why we do it this way. It does cost a little more, and our prices are reflective of that. We won’t be the cheapest at the farmers’ market, but we’re worth it if this is what you value, too.”
Want to Say Something, But Not Sure What?
If you want to say something about a social justice issue but don’t know what to say, my friend Kia Young has a blog post with three different ways you can speak out based on your personality and the stance you want to take.
And if it’s something you feel needs to be stated, you can always say, “Hey, this is something new for us to be thinking about in our business.”
It’s ok to say where your hurt is, where your mind is, and what ideas, education, and action steps you’re looking deeper into. It’s ok to acknowledge that you’re committed to doing the work but to not be educated enough to have a larger, bolder message yet.
What you don’t want to do is make a flippant statement.
Where it can get awkward and weird is sharing a hollow message just because you’re worried that if you don’t say something, people will be mad. Like, remember when Gushers and Fruit by the Foot tweeted against racism?
I fundamentally disagree with the idea that you can’t bring politics into business or that you can't bring human rights issues or social justice issues into your business, because fundamentally, there is enough proof of businesses who lead with those things doing really well.
Really sit with it and think about what your values are.
Think about how you differentiate yourself from the competition so you can attract the best and repel the rest. Don’t worry that you won’t have enough business because you weren’t neutral enough, vanilla enough, or more broadly appealing.
Trust that with the way that marketing works, especially in 2022, people are more mindful of how they spend their money. People are specifically supporting certain brands because of their values.
There are enough people out there who will resonate with your values. When you’re super clear on what you’re all about, it serves as a megaphone for your business and makes it easier for people to find you.
And just like a lot of things in business, this is an ongoing process! You’re going to keep learning, growing, and finding ways to do better.
