I am in the middle of reading Seth Godin’s Linchpin and it is rocking my world.  [As an aside I will be talking about the book and how to apply it to small businesses in my new Small Business Book Club. You may want to check it out. It's free.]

Linchpin is the “it” book now in small business and marketing circles.  It’s an easy read and Seth’s ideas are new, powerful and accessible.  He talks at length about “emotional work” in business. Essentially he is addressing the necessity of our putting ourselves into our work, being human, sharing with others. He suggests that businesses that do this emotional work will be much more successful than those that simply follow a formula or go through the motions.

Sonia Simone, over at Copyblogger, has this to say about Seth’s idea of emotional work:

“Make a stronger connection. Care more. About your readers, about your customers, and about your own business. I don’t care if you have a four-hour work week or a hundred-hour one. I care about how much love you bring to the work when you get there”.

As helping professionals we bring ourselves into our work every day. But do we use it in our marketing?  Do we let people know how much we care, love and  emotional work goes into our every day jobs?  If anyone knows about emotional work, we do!  It seems that now the business world is catching up to US!

So, keep doing what you are so good at: giving, caring, showing empathy, compassion. Don’t be afraid to show the world your emotional work. Grow a remarkable practice  by bringing that attention and care to every facet of your business, not just the treatment. Sharing the love will build your business and you don’t have to just take my word for it.

[photo by Whipped Bakeshop via Flikr]