I have a daughter, a beautiful little girl who is the light of my life.

She’s always saying and doing the cutest things (or the “darndest things,” for anyone out there old enough to remember Art Linkletter).

But I’m always conscious that not everyone wants to hear the latest news about her cute mangling of words or her potty habits.

Case in point: I have a “friend” on Facebook (I have no idea who he is — does that happen to you? Obviously, we must have accepted each other as friends at some point, but I don’t know who this guy is. I guess I could Google him or something. Anyway, I digress…).

This guy is CONSTANTLY posting the latest cute thing his kid does. Like, I’m talking up-to-the-minute coverage usually reserved for the latest Lindsay Lohan arrest or a new war or something…

It got to the point where even I couldn’t stand it… and I’m a sucker for that kind of stuff! I should be the perfect target audience.

But he kind of overdid it (well no, actually he drove it straight into the ground), so I finally changed the settings so I wouldn’t see his updates any more.

The difference, of course, is that I have an endless tolerance for the cute antics of my own offspring. Someone who I barely know, not as much. Not that his kid isn’t cute, but just that I only want to hear so much of it before I’m on overload.

It’s kind of the same thing with marketing. You have your own opinions about what people want to hear, or about what works.

But it’s a mistake to think that your personal likes and dislikes have anything to do with your target market. Disconnect from your ego and test, test, test… and do whatever works the best (that is, brings you the most sales/money/sign-ups/whatever it is you’re trying to do).

And don’t take it personally if they don’t want to see your home videos.