I love crazy socks. In fact, the more outrageous they are, the more likely I am to fall head-over-heels for them — much to the embarrassment of my friends and family.

This crazy fashion fetish isn’t exactly a new one — in fact, I’ve been like this for as long as I can remember.

What tends to confound everyone is that my socks are in stark contrast to my otherwise conservative image. I guess you could say I am the result of what happens when you combine J. Crew with Rainbow Brite.

But here’s the thing — I’m perfectly happy with that. You see, it illustrates a more universal truth about me — I try not to take myself too seriously. More importantly, I try to make a concerted effort to find a bit of humor in each and every day. It may come in the form of pink and black pirate socks, or it may come from writing a post about Captain Jack Sparrow’s marketing methods for recruiting a crew.

Either way, the result is immediately recognizable as a reflection of my personality.

Okay, so socks may not be your thing. Perhaps you are an avid golfer. You can use the same principles by drawing parallels between the game and your business. Create promotions that play to the theme — “check out these sale links while our boss is hitting the links,” etc. If this is something new that you are trying, don’t overdo it. Start small, and build over time. You don’t want to come off as disingenuous.

One of my favorite retailers, The Black Dog, does this brilliantly. When you send in a photo of yourself wearing a Black Dog t-shirt (preferably in some exotic locale), you may end up in a future catalog. They’ve even added a Flickr photo gallery to their recently updated website. They involve their customers, and make them feel like part of the family.

Allowing your business to reflect your personality builds rapport and loyalty — two cornerstones of any successful business.

Firms that operate with white-glove sterility and robotic auto-reply emails are a dime a dozen — and for some market segments, that may be just fine. For my dollar, I tend to prefer those product and service providers that provide a user “experience” — they provide a welcome respite from our daily lives, and leave us feeling good about our interaction.

And THAT is certainly no small feat.