Now, the sun, planets and other atmospheric conditions happily encourage you to eat a Jimmy Dean breakfast. Ironically, when Jimmy took himself out of the equation his company grew exponentially. And that's the really fascinating part. We all think of ourselves as the face of our businesses. Yet, if we can take ourselves out of the moment for an instant, we see from Jimmy's example that customers respond to the one thing that never leaves them - a true sense of self. They recognized themselves in the agonized faces of those who've had no breakfast...and of course are suffering. No Jimmy? Hey, no problem.

This really shot home for me when I was driving through Atlanta recently. I saw a billboard - one of those ever-changing ones - that showed a dental office in cartoon. The hero? A caped crusader out to conquer cavities. Not a real person, but a big idea that consumers can get behind. I thought then and there - "HOW SMART!", and kept driving. If one of my clients shows up soon as a Roy Lichtenstein-type character in local marketing, don't be surprised. It looks like a pair of tights is good for business.

Can you take yourself far enough out of your marketing to create converts?