Should You Mix Business and Belief?

I have run across a couple of business-related sites lately that each highlighted some specific political and religious points-of-view. This got me to thinking about the notion of mixing potentially polarizing topics with general business topics. Should you mix business and belief?

I can imagine arguments for and against this kind of approach. Some may say that if you really only want to cater to people of your political persuasion or religious conviction, then publicize those sentiments, even if your blog or website happens to be about something more generic, say, business productivity software.

Others say, if you don’t want to limit yourself to those types of clients, then leave discussions of a political or religious nature off your site.

I think those are both legitimate opinions.

If I’m looking to purchase a new car and the salesman decides to engage me in a political discussion, regardless of whether or not I agree with him, he’ll probably lose a little credibility with me. Why?

Well, when it comes to purchasing products that have nothing to do with politics or religion, I, personally, don’t care to mingle my purchasing events with discussions around belief systems.

Different times, different approaches

Now, I grew up in a different time when there seemed to be more civility about these topics. Yes, the good old days are generally nothing more than an illusion, but it seems to me that we’ve become a bit less tolerant and more polarized as a society when it comes to discussing our beliefs. I recall a time when reasonable people could have a discussion about politics or religion without ending the evening with hurt feelings.

And business was always considered neutral ground.

Choose focus or fervor, but not both

In my opinion, people who feel a need to espouse their beliefs while selling you something unrelated—a software product, for instance—are more interested in proselytizing than in selling product. Their fervor lowers my confidence in their focus on their product and service. However, if that’s how they want to run their business, that’s fine with me. If I want what they’re selling badly enough, it’s not going to stop me from purchasing.

But if I come across another vendor of a similar product or service and they’re focused on my needs and how their offering can satisfy them, they’re likely to get my business instead.

A slightly different side to the story

Recently, I was re-reading Eugene Schwartz’s classic book Breakthrough Advertising. Schwartz was a master copywriter, a real genius. The book was written and published decades ago. As a consequence, many of Schwartz’s examples discuss cigarette ads extensively.

I felt a little twinge when I read those ads. I realized that some readers will not only feel a bit squeamish but might even ignore the discussions out of distaste for the ad content. Cigarette smoking just doesn’t have the public acceptance today that it had 30 or 40 years ago and once again, we all seem to have strong opinions in one direction or the other on the topic.

Regardless, there’s a lot to be learned by studying those ads. When I read those sections of the book, I mentally objectify the information. I keep in mind that cigarette ads were highly successful in their day and there’s bound to be valuable information I can glean from their convincing copy.

The same thing goes for politics and religion. If you find it distasteful to deal with those subjects in a business context, then don’t. It’s perfectly acceptable to move on to another product, service, advertisement, blog post, or other information source. But, if they don’t bother you, by all means, read them and absorb any lessons you can.

Make conscious positioning choices

Still, if you feel that expressing your beliefs is integral to who you are and what your business is, then you’ve made an implicit positioning choice about your business. One that includes your belief system. That’s perfectly acceptable.

Just be aware that you are no longer selling web design services to small businesses, you’re selling web design services to small politically conservative or politically liberal businesses. Or you’re selling business consulting to self-identified Evangelical Christian businesses. Or marketing services to the Society of Alien Abductees.

Any conscious choice you make along these lines is part and parcel of what you do when you define your positioning and messaging. The more narrowly you define your position, the smaller your target market.

Random, off-the-wall communication is a mistake

Remember though, that any random or unpredictable profession of your belief systems will likely be perceived negatively by a large part of your market or readership, if you haven’t positioned those belief systems as a core element of your business strategy and messaging right from the start.