marketing for artists

By: | Published: February 5, 2012 · 6 Comments

sm 4 fish. copy 251x300 marketing for artistsMost artists are broke.

And if you’re a broke and struggling artist  (or know one) I’ve found something wonderful for you.

But, before I get to that, let me back up . . .

Over the years, I have come to fall deeper and deeper in love with art. And beauty. When I first began in marketing I dismissed aesthetics and beauty as being irrelevant. What you needed was a good offer. But I’ve warmed to beauty.

I love the idea that we can not only offer something to the world but that we can make it beautifully and wrap it beautifully. That the care we take in our craftsmanship and presentation is a part of our offers not just something we do to make more people buy. It’s a part of the way we feed the soul of the world. Commerce doesn’t just want to be transactional but also transformational.  Marketing doesn’t have to be flashing neon lights, it can be candlelight. It doesn’t have to be demanding, it can be gracious.

I’ve learned this again and again from many people in my life. First and foremost from my colleague and dear one Carrie Klassen of Pink Elephant Academy (author of ‘How to Write a Lovable Homepage‘).

So bringing more art into our marketing is wonderful. It helps us more truly expresses ourselves and see if what we’re offering is truly resonant and a fit with people. Our artistic and expressive aesthetic – our style – is just another way of saying our point of view. And a single image or a few well crafted words can do so much to express that.

It’s a considerable tragedy, given how much art can enhance the clarity of our marketing that artists classically struggle financially. Most artists are terrible marketers. Performers in show business are classical great at the show but terrible at the business.

jordanna 300x244 marketing for artistsSo, imagine my delight when I came across Aletta de Wal – a marketing coach focusing on the niche of artists.

So, I decided I’d do an interview with her for you (and perhaps your friends).

And to make it extra special, I decided that I’d add some art from one of my favourite artists in the world. Jordanna Rachinky (pictured left). All of the paintings you see below are hers. You can check out more and buy things from her at http://jordannarachinsky.com

The interview with Aletta (pictured below right) is below . . .

aleta1 300x225 marketing for artists*

What is the name of your project?

Artist Career Training: How visual artists can make a better living from making art, and still have a life

sm ships 224x300 marketing for artistsWhat’s the response been so far?

Artist Career Training has served over 4000 artists in groups and 400 individually. I do my best to inspire my clients to do the work they need to do to be successful, provide the detail to take specific action and support them through the ups and downs of life and art. They seem to like it.

What’s the story of how this came about? What was the need you saw in the community that it emerged from?

A Santa Fe gallery dealer who saw that artists needed help with the business side of art founded Artist Career Training (A.C.T.) in 1996. Since then, A.C.T. has grown from a local coaching practice into a virtual university delivering training to part-time and full-time artists at all career stages (emerging, mid-career and established). A.C.T. programs, services and learning products continue to attract a core community of American artists, qualified virtual faculty across North America and a loyal readership all over the world.

sm two moon tree 300x294 marketing for artistsCan you share a few examples of how your project works?

Artists in the A.C.T. community learn to be focused, organized and confident in art business matters. Art world insider information is given in lively group telephone classes, on-site workshops and seminars. Personal consultations allow in-depth work on specific projects. Independent study is available through recordings and workbooks at The Art Business Library. 
 
An example of a client story: I met Connie Bransilver & Nicholas Petrucci through a presentation I did with a former client at The North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA). We began work together by telephone to map out clear goals and actions to achieve them. Over the next 24 months, we continued to work by telephone and e-mail to create a new web site and promotional materials.
 
When we met again at another NANPA conference, we worked in person on a legacy project “Guardians of the Everglades” that is now gaining national attention. My web wizard Robin Sagara provides hands-on technical support for their web sites and communications.
 
Interviews with more info here:
 

sm umbra 245x300 marketing for artistsWho do you find it’s working best for?

Professional development works best for artists who are willing to look at everything they are doing and honestly assess what is working and what needs work. While they don’t have to love the business side, artists who want to make a living from their art have to become artist-entrepreneurs and do the work that entails.

What are the top three blunders you see artists making in their marketing?

#1. Ready-Fire-Aim: A random approach wastes a lot of your time, energy and money. Just because it is the latest craze, close to home or cheap doesn’t mean it’s right for you. The fix: Use an overall vision of what you want from your career as the unifying factor for your marketing and promotional activities. Select venues, social networks or online galleries that will take you closer to that vision.

#2. “I postcard, therefore I market”: Postcards are a good promotional activity but they will produce limited results if that’s all you do. I define marketing as a series of conversations designed to build a bridge between the artist, the art and the audience. A post card is one part of one conversation. The fix: Be clear about who you are and what your art is about. Then choose the best combination of print and online communications. Link a variety of promotional materials and events to an umbrella theme.

sm rooster 251x300 marketing for artists#3. “Been there, done that already, didn’t work”: The first time you send out a message or have a conversation is like putting the key in the ignition. To move, you have to turn the key, get into gear, put your foot on the gas pedal and steer to your destination. The fix: Have 7 – 20 conversations in various media at different times and places. See which messages have results and adapt your messages and frequency. Check the oil often.

What are the top three core marketing strategies you’re most excited about for artists these days?

I get excited about the results that artists can achieve through small, ordinary acts of genuine interest in others.

#1. Be genuine and personal about your brand as an artist. What you create, why you are an artist and who you are in person should come through equally in events, on your web site, in print and social media. There’s a lot of deceit and disappointment in the world of commerce. Your authenticity, honesty and art can be a restorative antidote. 

#2. Have high quality conversations with the right people. Take the time to get to know people who truly resonate with your art. With all the hype about SEO, there seems to be confusion that having a lot of people is the goal. Artists with the most followers don’t always win their hearts and minds. Artists who treat every member of their audience with respect, warmth and integrity win the right to play another day.

#3. Give to get. We’ve all been on the receiving end of generosity so pay it forward. The paradox and delight of giving of yourself to others is that you often get back more than you expected. Get involved in a community project that will help someone who is in need of your head, heart and/ or hands. You never know who will notice and goodwill is one of the most viral ways of getting known.

sm elyptile s 196x300 marketing for artistsHow does an artist go about building a relationship of trust with their clientele?

Start by trusting yourself, setting your own standards and meeting your commitments to yourself. When you can do so consistently, your confidence increases as well as your competence and results. That makes you trustworthy.

In all of your interactions with others, trust that their intentions are good, meet or exceed their standards and keep your commitments to them.

You probably noticed that trusting yourself and trusting others are mirror images of each other. That’s because mutual trust is the foundation of good relationships.

Build trust with viewers and they may become buyers or tell others about you. Build trust with galleries and they will tell their clientele about you. Build trust with other artists and they will share supplies, information and opportunities with you.

One of my mentors, Dan Sullivan, taught me that the way to be referable is to do what you say, finish what you start, be on time and say please and thank you.

sm diamonds 235x300 marketing for artistsHow does an artist get exposure? What good exposure and what’s worthless?

All fine artists perform for the public when it comes to marketing. And that goes double for all of you performance artists. Everything you do to market your art is the performance. You do not need a personality transplant as soon as you leave your studio. You do need to draw on different parts of your personality to get the word out.

Good publicity ignites the interests of everyone from browsers, buyers and collectors, to arts professionals and the media. If you are to spark further interest in your work, your art must be good, and the artistry of your promotion must be better. Sweeten your marketing efforts by thinking of them as opportunities for organized creative activity.

Marketing starts by “meeting and greeting” and goes on from there. To make a good living making art, all artists need to master the art of relationship building, which is the bedrock of sales.

If you want enough exposure for your art for a long and happy life, triple-pronged self-promotion is now the minimum standard. You need a consistent presence in person, on the Internet and in print to build your reputation, your audience and your bank account. When I ask artists what steps they have taken so far, most respond that they have had open studios, entered local shows, and put up a web site. 

What these artists have in common is that they have not given much thought to the people they are trying to attract so they can end up looking for love in all the wrong places. Selecting venues where you are most comfortable, and where you can easily transport yourself and your work is a good place to start.  But it is only the beginning.

It’s not always easy to know right away whether exposure is good or bad. An event you do today may not pay off until you do a lot of follow up. A person you meet at that event may not buy for a year or more. A better way to look at the value of exposure is to start from what you know about your audience and create a path from there to your goals. After each step along the path, take stock of what you have achieved; be grateful for what works and thank those who contributed; take a hard look at what did not work and decide how to tweak it so it works better. Rinse and repeat…
sm fish blue 251x300 marketing for artists
How did you promote this in the beginning? What were the top three most successful approaches at the start of it?
 
In the beginning A.C.T. services were offered by word-of-mouth and postings on Internet discussion boards. A web site was launched and the newsletter ArtMatters! was first published in June of 2000 to offer free advice and link to live workshops and TeleClasses.

What are the top three most effective ways you’ve found to market this?

Word-of-mouth still works well as artist clients tell others about us. Word-of-keyboard through social media has increased traffic to our web site and has led to invitations to do live events, which then draw artists to our online and telephone programs.

What are the three biggest lessons you’ve learned along the way?

1. The quantum change has been the impact of technology. It’s a double-edged sword. On the plus side, you can reach more people without leaving your studio. On the other hand, there is more competition and more complexity. Artists need to be able to navigate cyberspace as easily as the bricks and mortar world.
 
2. The more things change, the more they remain the same.” The human element is still the core of making, appreciating and marketing fine art. Even art mediated by technology starts with an idea in the artist’s mind.
  • Artists still need a solid body of signature work as the core of their business;
  • Artists are still in charge of their brand and the audience is still in charge of sales;
  • Exposure is still fundamental to success so the work is seen by the right audience;
  • Consistent marketing is still the key to a sustainable art business;
  • Relationships and trust are still the bedrock of sales.
sm pink boats 224x300 marketing for artists3. Even though the fundamental principles of marketing art have not changed, the way we communicate about it has to be packaged for the new communications channels and a much shorter attention span.

 

At its heart, what is this project/business really about for you? (beyond money, status and such).

I built a career in banking that culminated in being in charge of training for 30,00 employees worldwide. Then, just before I turned 40, I had two strokes. Instead of climbing the corporate ladder, my daily job was learning to walk and talk again. Art became part of my healing. As my creative talents returned, I resolved to make art the core of my life, instead of a sideline.
 
During the day, I coached executives to be more creative. Nights and weekends, I made art, taught art workshops and sold my own art and the work of other artists. I have no doubt that I am now doing what I was meant to do -helping artists turn their talents into a business that is sustainable and earns them a long term, healthy income.
 

What’s the next level for your project? What are you most excited about that’s coming up?

sm birch 283x300 marketing for artistsI am in the final ( I hope) stages of editing a book that is the “prequel” to art marketing, based on the work I have done for the past ten years with emerging artists or mid-career artists who took a break and are now back in a new context for getting the word out about their art.
 
I have also completed an 18-month certification program to provide visual coaching to visual artists in a new coaching program “The Dynamic Balance of Art, Marketing and Life” to be launched this year.

 

If people want to find out more about your project, support it or get involved – what should they do?

Request a f*r*e*e* 15 minute conversation about how Artist Career Training can help artist who want to have a better year making a living from making art.
 
Subscribe to the e-zine and weekly art marketing tips and receive a free art marketing guide: “Eleven Tips for Success for Fine Artists” Digital Recording and 15-page PDF Presentation by Artist Advisor Aletta de Wal

sm leaf s 300x124 marketing for artistsAnything else you’d like to add?

It’s a mistake for artists to think that the economy is the reason for any downturn in their sales. Yes, it is a fact that there is less disposable income to go around in the global economy, but that simply means that people are more selective about where they spend their money and how far they are willing to travel to see art. I recommend that artist build a personal economy in which their relationships with people who like their art and like and trust the artist become the driving force for sales.
Remember: All of the paintings you saw above are Jordanna Rachinsky’s. You can check out more and buy things from her at http://jordannarachinsky.com

| Categories: Arts Marketing, Case Studies of Inspiring Business, Niche Marketing - Tags:

marketing is like making tea

By: | Published: January 23, 2012 · 6 Comments

tea1 269x300 marketing is like making teaMarketing is a lot like making tea.

We need to ‘steep’.

I just finished a marketing weekend in Edmonton with the loveliest bunch of people. And it kept coming up for me that there are some things that just can’t (or shouldn’t) be rushed. Creating your platform or figuring out who’s a perfect fit for you doesn’t happen over night.

Tea isn’t like instant coffee. It take a little bit for the intensity of the heat to release the flavours. It would be foolish to pour a cup of hot water and then dunk the bag in for two seconds and pull it out and expect to have the perfect cup of tea.

It’s the same with business.

Sometimes the water gets hot and we get frustrated with not having everything totally clear. But if you can relax and let the heat and intensity in a bit, it might just draw out our your deepest, inner flavours that could infuse the water of your business and make everything more delicious.

If you can let yourself sit in the fire of not knowing, sit with the right questions, give your marketing some time, attention and focus (heat) and then keep sitting with it . . . it can be amazing what comes.

I’ve seen so many workshop participants who beat themselves up for not knowing their niche, not knowing what they’re doing. So much hard work and effort. And, often what’s needed is a little less yang and a bit more yin. A little less speed in the dipping the tea bags in. A bit more patience and slowness. Doing less but doing it better. And not just always doing doing doing but also time spent in reflecting and wondering. Sometimes our minds get like a know and the harder we pull on it the tighter the knots get. Sometimes it’s only in relaxing that the know can unwind.

And, when we take the time to steep we have something wonderful to offer the world. When we reflect, our actions become more effective. When we rest inside of our own skin, we become more comfortable there and then our marketing becomes more authentic. And people who are a perfect fit are drawn in.

There is a pervasive form of contemporary violence to which the idealist …most easily succumbs: activism and overwork. The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence.

To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to violence.

The frenzy of our activism neutralizes our work for peace. It destroys our own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of our own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.

– Thomas Merton
Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, Doubleday, 1966, p 73

Steep yourself until you feel done and then take yourself out for a while. Enjoy the tea. Enjoy the fruits of your labours. It will inspire you to make another cup tomorrow.

Eight Ways you can steep:

  • get out of commitments: the place to start is to notice what’s preventing you from steeping in the first place. It’s often because we’re over committed. We’re doing too many things. And we’re exhausted. Most of this either comes from collapsing or posturing. Sometimes, before we can delve into our inner work we need to create a bit more outer space in our lives and schedules. Practice saying, ‘no’ and enjoying it.
  • journal: ask yourself the right questions. Reflect through writing on what’s next for you. Make this a regular practice. You’re brilliant. You might shock yourself with your own ideas.
  • meditate: sit with your relationship to your business. What feels good? What doesn’t feel good? Make notes of what emerges. You are wise. You might shock yourself with how clear your guidance is if you really listen to it.
  • hire a coach: coaches know the right question to ask. Sessions with a coach are like little mini steeping sessions where you shut out the world and just steep and reflect inwardly.
  • attend a workshop: there’s something wonderful about finding just the right workshop for you to help you grow. Workshops allow you to carve time out of your life to steep. So valuable!
  • get an ebook: I’ve got some products. I’ve got friends who have some wonderful things too. If you’re feeling DIYish these can be perfect to get you much of the way there. Setting aside an hour or two to work through a work book or read thoughts about how to make your own journey can be so encouraging and clarifying.
  • get a marketing buddy: why not meet regularly with a colleague of friend who can ask you good questions, reflect what they’re hearing and brainstorm ideas for you. It’s easy to say, ‘I’ll go to the gym everyday.’ and then not do it. But if your buddy is coming to pick you up, you’ll do it.
  • do that thing you’ve been putting off: sometimes we just need to schedule a couple of focused hours and make things happen. Sometimes we spend so much energy in avoiding things and, if we were to just free that up we’d suddenly be filled with inspiration again. What’s the project you know you need to do, the one you’re really inspired about? Just start it. Spend 5 minutes on it. Make some progress, you’ll feel really good and it might lift up things to think about and steep with faster than abstractly thinking about your business.

| Categories: Inner Work, marketing philosophy

memory catcher

By: | Published: January 20, 2012 · 1 Comment

MC Final Card Front 300x175 memory catcherAn old friend of mine has started a business that I think is kind of wonderful and a fine example of a very niched business that’s only for particular people in a very particular point in their lives.

Basically, Memory Catcher creates video biographies of family members that can be watched by their families after their passing. And can be shared with family members that never met them.

Memory Catcher also creates professional, multi-purpose videos for personal autobiographies, and as tributes for special events such as milestone birthdays, retirement tributes, weddings, anniversary celebrations, businesses or organizations. As their tagline puts it, “Everyone has a story. It’s time to capture yours.”

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What is the name of your project?
Memory Catcher Video Biographies

What’s the response been so far?
The response has been great! Clients have been thrilled with the video biographies, as have all those who have viewed them. Feel free to view our “praise” page at www.memorycatcher.ca

People who have recorded their stories with Memory Catcher, and those who have seen these video tributes have been so excited. It’s meant a lot to them.

Cheryl Tomte from Grande Prairie, Alberta, fully appreciates the value of video biographies, now that she has one of her Grandmother.

“I love knowing that when I’m missing my Grandma I can put in the video biography Memory Catcher completed for our family, and remember her as I knew her,” says Tomte. “It’s amazing to hear my Grandma tell stories of her childhood, her adventures as a young adult and the history of our family. So many people go through life not knowing where they came from, or the stories of lost loved ones. I’m so glad my Grandma agreed to having this video biography completed.” Mark from Calgary concurs: “Seeing my grandmother on video after she was gone helped me work through my grief.”

When people see Memory Catcher’s video tributes, used in combination with eulogies at funerals of Celebrations of Life, the effect is tremendous.

When people are able to see their loved one, and hear them speak directly to them, particularly once they’re gone, it truly is a powerful thing. People really treasure being able to see a loved parent or sibling, and invariably say ‘I wish I had a video like this for…’ some other family member. The challenge is encouraging people to act today, and not realize the value of video biographies when all that is left are still photos.

These stories help to ensure that people are more than a name on your family tree. It will allow future generations to actually get to know you or your loved ones as a person.

Bill and Grace Knight of Edmonton saw how much their loved ones enjoyed hearing about their lives first hand, after they asked us to complete a “Love Story” video tribute of their lives together to be shown at their 20th anniversary vow renewal this past fall. Grace told us,

“We played the ‘Love Story’ for our 250 guests during our reception. People laughed, cried, and appreciated the intimate details of who we were when we met, and how we have grown in love and life. The praise and excitement from the guests, after viewing the story was incredible! They appreciated the intimacy of our life being shared with them in a unique way,”.

What’s the story of how this came about? What was the need you saw in the community that it emerged from?

We incorporated in November, 2010, after having begun as a sideline venture.

It began after I recorded my grandmother’s story. I was extremely close to my Grandmother, and finally convinced her to sit down with me, with a video camera running, and answer my questions about her life – where she grew up, the story of her parents, and her adventures as a young woman. Unfortunately, she passed away before we were able to cover all the territory I had hoped to, but it is such a treasure for my family and I to even have the bit of footage we have of her speaking. It was when I showed the video biography of her at her Celebration of Life, in combination with her eulogy, that the seeds of Memory Catcher were planted. After noting my family’s response to seeing the video tribute of her, I finally decided to bite the bullet and incorporate, instead of just thinking about it, which I had been doing for some time.

I had worked in the film industry previously, and later enrolled in additional training through a local technical institute and film program. I have been really fortunate to have built great relationships along the way, and have had excellent mentors. I also joined the Association of Personal Historians (www.personalhistorians.org), and recognize the importance of continual professional development and collaboration with colleagues.

Can you share a few examples of how your project works?

When you see a biography on A & E or the history channel, that’s what we do for regular people. Memory Catcher’s personal video and audio biographies combine live interviews with photo montages and music. We create professional videos for personal autobiographies, end of life celebrations, and as tributes for special events such as milestone birthdays, retirement tributes, and anniversary celebrations. Memory Catcher also produces corporate video biographies that celebrate the story of your successful business or organization.

We have done the “Love Story” video for a 20th anniversary vow renewal celebration, we helped a gentleman with terminal cancer record his own eulogy for his wake, as well as a message of love for his daughters. Other people use the videos as a way to celebrate their family, and connect to future generations.

Who do you find it’s working best for?

Our typical client is an adult son or daughter who hires us to spend time with an elderly parent or grandparent and record their story. It really is for anyone though who wants to celebrate their life, or the life of a loved one.

How did you promote this in the beginning? What were the top three most successful approaches at the start of it?

Word of mouth has been the biggest thing. Promotional postcards, and good old-fashioned networking are the other two best methods of promotion.

What are the top three most effective ways you’ve found to market this?

1. Word of mouth
2. Mail outs to target groups
3. Networking

Is there anything you do to make it easier or more compelling for people to spread the word?
 
I pay a referral fee for successful references (upon completion of a video biography project).  I also am sure to send out business cards and promotional postcards when I send anything by mail to family or friends so that they have my card, and can pass on my card if they know of anyone who may be interested. 
 
I have also included video biography packages at silent auctions where my target market will be in attendance to generate exposure.
 
Mail outs to target groups: what groups have you sent to? what’s the response been?
 
I have sent out to funeral homes, hospices, senior centres, senior activity centres, etc.  Also, when I see a story or article in the paper of someone who is featured, I sometimes will send them a short congratulatory note, along with my business card, telling them if they are ever interested in recording their story, to please contact me.  Success on mail outs has been mixed. 
 
Video biographies are a new concept for many people, and that has certainly been our biggest challenge as we try to grow Memory Catcher. As part of marketing our service, we are not only educating the public about what a video biography is, but trying to entice people to record their story now. Like many things in life, recording their family’s story is something many people put off, sometimes until it’s too late.
 
Networking: where do you network? any lessons here on what’s worked and what hasn’t for you? also – do you have a promo reel on youtube or something that i can share?
 
I am a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and also have attended several other networking groups and meet ups (such as BNI, JCI, the Advertising Club, etc. – I am not a member of these groups, but occasionally pay to attend their networking events).  I have yet to experience any sales as a direct result of the networking groups, but it is exposure in getting the word out there.  The biggest thing is telling anyone and everyone about Memory Catcher and how we can be of service to them and help them create a lasting legacy for their family.
 
I do have a few videos and demos up on You Tube.  My channel is memorycatcherinc.  One video which provides a good overview is my short “Introduction to Video Biographies” at: http://youtu.be/fp7kdKlI4cA

 

What are the three biggest lessons you’ve learned along the way?

Never having worked in anything related to marketing before that has certianly been my largest challenge. I don’t know if there really have been 3 big lessons I’ve learned, but that has been my biggest struggle.

At it’s heart, what is this project/business really about for you? (beyond money, status and such).

It’s about preserving the most important conenctions there are – those of love and family. I love being able to help others tell their story, and expereince the theraputic benefits of knowing they’ve left a mark in this world. I love helping them celebrate their lives. And most of all, I love being able to help preserve that family connection, and love, for those left behind after someone passes. I started Memory Catcher becasue I expereinced the value of that first hand, and it is so rewarding to be able to help others experience the same living legacy our family has.

What’s the next level for your project? What are you most excited about that’s coming up?

I’m excited to help more people celebrate their lives and record their storeis as Memory Catcher continues to grow! I love how recording a life story brings families closer together and strenthens their bond, gives them a chance to reflect. I feel very blessed to be welcomed into people’s lives the way I am when I record their story. I connect with them in such a way that they feel like extended family to me by the time the project is complete.

If people want to find out more about your project, support it or get involved – what should they do?

Visit www.memorycatcher.ca

Anything else you’d like to add?

What date would be best for this post to come out on (if any). Normally it takes 1-3 months for a post to appear because I’ve already got so many schedule.

| Categories: Niche Marketing

free 45 minutes audio interview on my newest stuff

By: | Published: January 18, 2012 · 1 Comment

Just a quick little, last minute blog post to let you know that there are 13 spaces left in my six week coaching program, “Marketing 101 for Holistic Practitioners”. If you’re a holistic practitioner, permaculture practitioner or life coach type person who’s not attracting enough of the kinds you’d really, really like I invite you to check this out at the link below.

When I first started traveling around North America doing my workshops for green and conscious businesses I found that half of who came were holistic practitioners. So, eventually, I came up with a weekend workshop just for them. And, over the years, I honed and developed it into something I was really, really proud of.

And I’ve finally taken it and turned it into a six week coaching program when you can get all the content spread out over a month and a half and have a bit of time to integrate it. It’s really affordable and if you don’t like it I’ll send you your money back with no hard feelings. Check it out and see if it’s a fit?

http://sixweek101.eventbrite.com/

The Interview: To help me promote it, my colleague Howie Jacobsen (google adwords guru of www.askhowie.com) interviewed me on Monday. It was supposed to be a 15 minute thing but became 45 minutes. It’s on the topics we’ll be covering in the program.

http://howieconnect.audioacrobat.com/download/tad-hargrave-askhowie-2012-01-16.mp3

And now back to our regular scheduled programming.

| Categories: Uncategorized

send yourself mail

By: | Published: January 16, 2012 · Leave a Comment

me2 send yourself mailAnd here is the third and final installment of Chris Kay Frasers‘ series on creative writing for your business.

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Hello again!

This is the final-of-three in a series of guest posts on Tad’s blog about using writing as a tool to stay balanced, boundaries and joyful in your business life.

Here’s the rationale again:

If you are reading this blog, chances are that you work for yourself, and that you love your job. It’s awesome, right? But here’s the thing: Love is crazy-ass fuel. No matter how nourishing your businesses may be to others, it only nourishes you when you can approach it with a deep sense of boundary, balance and fun.

In this final post, I want to talk about using writing to celebrate & love yourself, and your work.

I have to tell you something though – something that only Mail Man Matt and I know. It’s a bit embarrassing, but I trust you. Ready?

Here it is:

I send myself a lot of mail.

I do! I love it. I write myself letters often, from little notes to find in the morning, to long meditations about life’s big questions to read months down the road. I write myself letters to read before or after big events that I’m nervous about. I write myself letters to read when the weather gets crappy and I need a lift. I often mail these to myself, or I give them to friends to mail at their whim.

In these cases, words feel like like tiny little stones, holding big truths down on the page. Some things are easy to forget. Personally, I find it easy to forget things like this:

I am doing incredibly beautiful work in the world.

I am allowed to take a long break this afternoon.

It’s important to garden, eat well and sleep in.

I love this idea so much that last fall I ran a “Love Letters Aren’t Just For Lovers” campaign, which I later turned into a *love letter an e-class, walking people through writing seven letters from their hearts. This is a fun and affordable tool for you if you want some direction on this road. (I also ran an enormous love letter contest! *You can read the winners here.)

As a fun twist on this theme, my friend and communications expert *Carrie Klassen of Pink Elephant Communications invited some of her favorite business-owners out for brunch before Christmas and invited us each to write a love letter to our business. When we were done, we passed them to the person next to us, who would mail them in the new year. Magic!

You deserve to be celebrated.

Your work deserves to be celebrated.

The world might not always remember this, but you can.

*

Talk to me!

http://www.facebook.com/fireflycreativewriting

Does this sound ridiculously self-aggrandizing, or totally alluring? Have you done anything like this before? How did it go? Will you try it right now?

*

This brings us to the end of this little word-journey. It’s been a lovely treat to get to chat with all of you. Thanks to Tad for lending me his wonderful community! I wish you nothing but good weather and beautiful vistas on your own Self Employed Adventure — your SEA.

| Categories: Inner Work

three foundations of a thriving business

By: | Published: January 16, 2012 · 10 Comments

three fingers 225x300 three foundations of a thriving businessAt some point last year, it became clear to me that there are three main things most entrepreneurs need to have handled in order to thrive. They overlap each other like circles in a Venn Diagram.

And I realize now that I’d never written about them explicitly. So, here we are.

First, there’s a seven minute video of me sharing the overview and then I’ve written a recap and bit more about my thoughts on this.

First of all, I want you to imagine that a successful business is like a stylish bucket full of water. And then we need to ask ourselves, ‘why don’t most people have a full bucket of water?’

 

 

three foundations2 300x228 three foundations of a thriving business

 

FOUNDATION #1: Your Platform

Your platform is what you’re known for.

It’s your brand, your identity, your reputation.

It’s also the basis of every, single marketing decision you’ll ever make. It’s the core of what makes a business either authentic or not, original or a copy cat.

I want to submit that there are six things you can be known for. And that most entrepreneurs only focus on ONE of those things (which is also the one that makes them seem the most generic, boring and ‘just like everyone else.’ You can be known for what you do, but also why you do it, your point of view on it, you can be known for you and your style, you can be known for the particular journey you take people on and you can be known for the unimagined possibility you introduce into people’s lives.

Most businesses try to get known for what they do or make (e.g. I’m a massage therapist, I make widgets, I sell groceries). The challenge is that, unless you’re the only one in your area or community doing that then how are they supposed to make a decision about who to work with? How should they know if you’re a perfect fit for them?

When people don’t have a platform their marketing will always come across as generic and lack lustre.

 

4578c74f56bec1c127a28483e5f6a747 300x290 three foundations of a thriving businessFoundation #2: The Container

There’s no point in pouring more and more water into a leaky bucket. The first step is to stop the leak.

It seems obvious. But most entrepreneurs don’t so much have a leaky bucket as a sieve or strainer. It holds onto almost nothing.

And some entrepreneurs have a bucket that’s so ugly (to them) that they don’t even bring it with them to the river side. They’re afraid people might see them with it and laugh at what an old bucket they have.

It’s important not just that our bucket ‘works’ but that we’re so proud of it and so charmed with it that we want to take it everywhere. That we’d be so happy for people to see us with it.

I’ve known so many people who’ve gotten covered in the media for their work and have gotten no clients from it. Or they’re super well known and loved, but don’t have a lot of clients. So much water that pours in and then almost immediately out.

Your container is the embodiment of your platform. It’s what people see or experience about your business that immediately gives them a sense of whether or not what you’re offering is a fit for them. The clearer your platform, the stronger your container.

If you were hosting a party, the platform would be the theme of the party and the container would be all the decorations, the cleaning, the hot cup of cider offered to guests as they arrived. Your website is a container. Your landing page. The story of your business. The free workshop you do is a container. The blog is a container. The community that you cultivate and create is a held in the container of your online forums, live events, your email list etc. Your container is comprised of all the structures you create that warmly hold your community.

Your container are all the things they can see, hear and explore that give them a sense of you.

Your container are all the processes and systems you create that make it safe for people to check you out at a safe distance and slowly get closer to you and opt in to being in touch with you.

Imagine Oprah Winfrey tells everyone to check you out. Vaguely mentions what you do but not enough to give anyone a real sense of it. So, what do they do? They check you out online. But, what if you don’t have a website? Or what if your website doesn’t really clarify what you’re about? So many people would see your site, maaaaybe bookmark it . . . and then be gone forever.

But what if they found your website and the homepage immediately helped them figure out if what you were doing was a fit or not, the ‘about me’ page gave them a really good sense of who you were and what you were about. And then there was a way they could sign up for things to be in touch with you (e.g. ‘join my email list and get this free gift’ or ‘follow me on twitter or facebook’ or ‘come to my monthly free workshop’ etc). Imagine the following you’d build over time.

For a container to be effective, it needs to be clear (which means the platform should be clear). It’s good if it’s safe and welcoming, but atthe bottom line it needs to be resonant.

If they’re on Island A and trying to get to Island B, your container is, basically, your boat. And of course, a boat might have many rooms in it or different types of tours you could take people on (the different offers you could make).

Your container is the home made ready for the party. When they show up that they want to stay. They get to the door and they’re nervous, but then they smell the food, they see how beautifully decorated it is, they see the wonderful people inside, they’re greeted with a cup of hot apple cider and they hear the beautiful music etc.

One of my colleagues Bill Baren recently shared a thought about this. He had a client who was promoting a teleseminar and there was a webpage people would go to to register for the teleseminar. They were obsessed with reaching more people. But Bill asked them to pause and check out what percentage of people who were actually going to the landing page were signing up. It turned out that 10% of people who hit the page actually entered in their name and email to register for the free teleseminar. That means 90% hit the page and just left.

“Doesn’t it make more sense,” he offered. “To see if we can tweak the page to boost the percent of people that say yes? Isn’t that a better use of energy? Instead of investing so much time and effort in getting more people, let’s see if we first can’t get more results from the people who are already coming. Right now we’ve got a tub with a huge leak. Instead of pouring in more and more water, let’s plug the leak first.”

When there’s no container it can be so confusing, ‘I’m doing everything right and I’m not getting any clients!’

Think of online dating. You create a profile. And then, you get a message from someone. But do you open the message right away? Often not. Most often, people will check out, ‘who is it that sent this message?’. So you go to their profile and, within seconds, you’ve determined whether or not it’s a fit. Your profile is a container. The message is just a path that gets them to it. Make sure the container is good.

Having a strong and clear container is the basis for creating ongoing , long term relationships with your clients.

And that’s vital.

Most entrepreneurs are obsessed with getting new clients. But it’s often much, much, easier to get an existing client to come back than to find someone entirely new. A massage therapist might make $100 on their first hour long massage (to keep number simple). But if that client comes back even three times a year for three years – that’s $900. The front end ($100) always pales in comparison to the back end ($900). And with some work (less than you’d fear, but more than you’d hope) you can increase the backend. What if they came in 4 times a year for three years? Suddenly, it’s $1200. With no new clients. And what if each of those clients referred even one new client? What if you offered workshops, products or other packages to them? Without a single new client you could be making much more money. And having your clients feel so much more supported.

Your container is your sales funnel. It’s the levels of offerings you have. It goes from the free samples to the bronze, silver and then gold levels.

I was in a Gaelic short film in the summer of 2011. You’d think that I would be spreading the word to everyone I know about it. But I haven’t. Why? There’s no website. No DVD’s are available. There’s no email list people can sign up for. Where would I send them?

One of my dearest colleagues has yet to create a website that’s really worthy of his work yet. I adore him. I want to spread the word for him. But he has no email sign up form yet. His homepage feels a bit vague. And I’m only going to have one chance to launch him to my list. I want that to count. I want it to matter. If I send people now, they’ll go and leave and he’ll get very little from it. I don’t want to waste my time.

A good container creates instant and ever deepening clarity.

A bad container creates confusion.

And I hate confusion. If you ask me to spread the word about you and you’ve got a bad container, it puts the burden on me to explain it all and make it clear to the people I’m spreading the word to. It makes it hard. Don’t make my life hard. If you have a bad container you’re not ready to approach hubs yet.

I want to be able to take one look at your boat and say ‘I get it’. Just from the kinds of boat, types of sails, the paint job, clothing of the staff on board . . . I want to know what the platform is. I want to know: aha! this is an adventure boat or a luxury boat or a fun times boat or a new agey boat.

If you offer some kind of therapy, I want to know, ‘is it in person or over the phone? Am I sitting or lying down? Am I hooked up to some fancy machine? Are you touching me? Am I naked? Are all these things happening at once? (awesome).’

Remember: the confused mind says ‘no’.

Before someone even thinks about stepping onto your boat they need to know what kind of trip they’re in for. And people hate it when their expectations are broken. They got on what seemed like the ‘classy’ boat but it turns out it was the ‘raunchy’ boat. Then people are pissed.

Amway has a bad reputation for this. You meet someone. They seem nice. They invite you for ‘coffee’. You end up getting a 45 minute presentation. It’s sneaky. The beauty of a good container is that it’s immensely upfront.

Real life example: you go out an tell someone about what i do (path). they say cool and check out my website (container) and like it because of all the unique content that expresses what i’m about (platform). I run a free teleseminar (container). It’s hosted by a colleague who tells all of their friends via their email list (path). While they’re on the teleseminar I tell them about a next thing i have (path). So a container can also be a path. Once they’re in relationship with us there’s just an ongoing deepening. I tend to think of the path as ‘how do they find out about things?’

In my Six Week course I’m running right now, one of my clients shared this, “don’t forget the path to your website, it doesn’t matter how awesome your website looks, if there is no path to it, it’s as though it doesn’t exist. the main paths that a paying client would take to your website are search engine searches. so you have to know what your clients would be searching for (keywords) and you have to tell them something on your website that would show them that you have the answers.”

The platform is the gift you want to give. The container is the making of it. The platform is what you want to offer to the world. But not offering it in a foisting it upon others and being pushy kind of way. I think of the container as more like a space you create that you carefully invite people to. And you design the space so clearly that it would inherently attract people who are a perfect fit for you.

There’s a chain of hotels I heard about the models it’s boutique hotels after magazines. So, one hotel is a Rolling Stone magazine style hotel. Another is a Chatelaine style hotel. That kind of thing. You can imagine what the Rolling Stone style hotel would look like and how, even in the colours, construction, design of the rooms, food served might be different. They are not generic hotels. They’re particular. The hotel (container) perfectly expresses the platform (the magazine).

When we first start out, our container is like an old one room house. There’s really not much to it. We offer one thing. Maybe that’s individual sessions, workshops, a particular product etc. And it’s a lot to even get that together. But, as we grow our business, we have a chance to add rooms to our house. With each room, extension, addition and beautification we can hold more people and make our home more resonant with the right folks. Of course, each addition to the house is a project. And these projects often take longer than we’d think and go over budget and we’re left thinking, ‘is this worth it?’. Because while we’re working on that we’re not making money. But eventually, it’s all done and we step back and get chills. Our house is a little more beautiful and exciting to us. And we want to show everyone. And, eventually, our home is perfect. Not too big and not too small. It’s got just the right number of rooms all painted just the right colours. There are minor fixes to be made but, basically, we’re there.

And, at that point, our attentions moves mostly to creating more paths to our place. So, much of this process is about our time and attention. At first, most of it goes to the platform. Then it moves into creating the container. And then the paths.

Here’s an odd way of looking at your container. Have you ever dated someone and realized it wasn’t going anywhere? It had gone as far as it was going to go? So what did you do? Likely you left them. There was no more potential. Nothing else to get or give. Clients are like that too. If the show up and check out your website and there’s lots of free stuff but there’s no products to buy, no workshops to attend, no next steps . . . they will just drift away and find someone else who can better help them on their journey. A container is not simply a static thing. It’s a series of invitations into something more deep and wonderful.

The container has a lot to do with being ready. Preparing our home to receive guests. Making sure we’re ready for when they show up. Being craftsmen of our arts. Attention to details. Small things matter. Wrapping our gifts as beautifully as we can. This gives us a sense of pride. We’re excited (not embarrassed) to send people to our website. We can’t wait to show off our cafe. We know that the details are handled so we don’t fuss about them. We can relax. The container, we find, not only holds the potential client – it holds us too.

 

water pump 300x212 three foundations of a thriving businessFoundation #3: The Path

If the platform is the bucket design, and the container is the bucket, then the path is a faucet that water comes out of (and I suppose your clients and income would be the water). Not much point in having a beautiful bucket if it’s going to sit there empty all the time.

Another analogy: So many people set up their businesses in the middle of a forest with no paths leading to it. They are hoping that somehow, lost in the woods, the right people will stumble upon them and want to buy what they’re offering.

The more paths you have leading to your doorstep the more easily you can be found. This is the heart of marketing, making it easy for the right people who are a perfect fit to find you and say ‘yes’ to working with you.

But there are so very many ways to market what we do.

And that can feel overwhelming. Where do we start? Especially when everyone has an opinion about what the ‘best’ form of marketing is. There’s public speaking, writing, hosting events, social media, PR, advertising, online events, free samples of our work . . . So much.

Weight watchers has an interesting and very down to earth take on this. When doing their workshops, they’ll ask their audiences, ‘what do you think is the best form of exercise for weight loss?’ and people will throw out their opinions: running, walking, swimming etc. And then they’ll say, ‘Here’s the truth. There is one form of exercise that is the best. It’s proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to be the most effective form of exercise for weight loss. Do you want to know what it is? The best exercise is . . . the one you’ll do.’

And there it is.

The one you’ll do.

I think the analogy of paths is good for another reason: they’re already looking for us. People are already struggling with certain problems and symptoms and looking for relief. Let’s make it as easy as possible for them to find us by making as many clear paths through the woods as we can. The easier you are the find, the more easily you will be found.

Many people think that marketing is about searching people in the forest. But we need to remember, the people we think we need to search for are already searching for us. And they’re highly motivated. So, let’s put our energy not into chasing anyone but into getting very clear about who the perfect someone’s are that we want to work with, creating wonderful and inspiring containers to receive them into and then making it almost impossible for them not to find out about us and check us out in low risk ways.

We can’t always afford to lay down a highway to our doorstep. Start with trails of breadcrumbs. Start where you can with the types of paths that resonate most with you.

When there are no paths it’s like you’ve got this amazing thing that nobody knows about.

My suggestion to you: pick three paths. Pick three marketing tactics and strategies that feel really good for you and invest deeply into them. Do you like writing? Speaking? Hosting? Think about the ways of expressing yourself that you are naturally drawn to and delve deep into those.

When a business has all three of these, a clear platform, a strong container and easy paths they tend to have all the business they can handle.

What do you think?

| Categories: holistic practitioners, marketing strategy, platform, Start with Why - Tags: , , , , ,

love letter your business

By: | Published: January 14, 2012 · 1 Comment

me1 love letter your businessHere’s another brilliant post from Chris Kay Fraser about how to bring a bit more self love into your business.

*

Hi again!

It’s me, *Chris Kay Fraser, in the second part of my 3-part series on using writing to create balance, boundary and joy for you, on your self-employed adventure.

If you are reading this blog, chances are that you work for yourself, and that you love your job. It’s awesome, right? But here’s the thing: Love is crazy-ass fuel. No matter how nourishing your businesses may be to others, it only nourishes you when you can approach it with a deep sense of self-compassion.

Today I want to shine the light on our creative lives. As a creative coach and facilitator, I’m constantly seeing how words are funny little animals. They can communicate absolutely nothing, (“How are you?” “Oh, fine. You?” “Oh, fine.”) or they can change the shape of your whole day. They can snooze in the corner or roar off the page. It all depends on how alive your creative senses are.

If you’re in a business where you find yourself using words a lot (who isn’t?) then it’s essential to keep shaking yourself up – to get out of your word-ruts, to let them roar and twinkle. Here are some ways that I like to do this.

cut up 2 love letter your business~ Cut stuff up. There are weird and illuminating little poems everywhere. Here’s one exercose. As you may know, the popular astrologer *Rob Brezny has an amazing vocabulary. When I’m looking for a quick creative burst I’ll cut our my weekly horoscope and create a poem only using those words. In fact, when my sister was traveling in Europe last year, I made her a “Brezny poem” every week for a few months. It was a beautiful project! * Attach an image

~ Write “Right Now I” at the top of a page, turn on some music (without words works best for me, try this peaceful track by Edgar Meyer and Bela Fleck.) and write to the bottom of the page, no farther.

~ Check out my free audio mini-workshops. These are fun, free tools to help get your pen flying. There’s a new one every month, offered as a gift. Older workshops can be downloaded for a small fee. They take 25 minutes and are guaranteed to shake out some major creative juices.

~ Drop the guilt. I’ve never met anyone who has the full, flowing creative life they want to have. Don’t worry about books you haven’t read or letters you haven’t written. Just write one, today. A small one. Bite-sized.

~ Use tiny bits of time. Ten minutes will do the job. So will two. One writer I know talks about J5M: Just Five Minutes. J5M’s are great tools for busy creative types. Personally, I love writing in the time it takes the subway to get from one stop to the next, or to set myself little challenges: An entire story about that guy’s shoes before we get to Bathurst Station.  These are often far more interesting than the things I write when I carve out an entire evening.

~ Shower yourself with inspiration! We live in the age of resources and creativity is no exception. Some of the things I could not live without are books by SARK and Sabrina Ward Harrison, *The Writers Almanac and *The Sun Magazine. There are also tons of creative e-classes out there which can provide affordable, inspiring juice for your writing path. Jamie Ridler runs an especially-brilliant one called *“Sparkles” which provides participants with a prompt every day for a month for a creative activity that won’t take more than five minutes.

~ “Like” me on facebook! Ha! That one was seriously self-interested, but I do think I can help if this is a path you want to follow. I use my facebook page to send out teeny-tiny creative exercises and ideas. “What’s the word of your day so far?” “If your mood right now had a color, what would it be?” “Describe one of your great life kisses in 50 words or less.”

How about you? Do you have creative resources you love to use, that other people might not have found? How do you keep your creative lights on? What happens when they go out?

Tell me all about it below….

More from me tomorrow! The final post in this series will be about celebrating yourself and your business through love letters.

| Categories: Uncategorized

creative writing + marketing = <3

By: | Published: January 14, 2012 · 1 Comment

me creative writing + marketing = <3A long overdue blog from my Toronto colleague Chris Kay Fraser of www.fireflycreativewriting.com. She’ll be writing a few more posts coming up about how creative writing can help you with your marketing.

Words Are Funny Little Animals

Using creative writing to create balance, boundary and beauty in your business life.

(For Tad’s Awesome Blog)

Does this sound familiar? It’s late, and I’m at the computer, my forehead resting in my hand. I can’t remember the last time I got up. Somewhere beyond my consciousness, my body is registering signs of major fatigue. My eyes are blurry, no matter how much I rub them. But I want to put in another hour.

Now, I don’t want to be presumptuous, but if you’re reading Tad’s fabulous blog, you’re probably at some stage of self-employment. And, with the fall coming, I’m guessing that you have a lot of work ahead of you, and you’re wondering how you’re going to take care of it while you get it all done.

Before I was self-employed I imagined that it would  be like a gorgeous meadow of freedom and time. I learned quickly, though, that I’m not always my best boss. Any other boss would take one look at me on that late-night computer binge and say, “Holy crap, girl. Go to bed.” It would be unethical to work someone else this hard.

But it’s only me in here, and my motivation is often stronger than my self-compassion.

So, I’m here, hijacking Tad’s blog for a couple posts to talk about how I’ve managed, and not managed, to use writing to navigate the sometimes-stormy waters of my self-employed adventure, which will heretofore be referred to as my S.E.A. My business is writing* – I run workshops and retreats, cajoling out people’s stories. Slowly, I’ve realized just how much magic these tools have in store for my and my business itself.

Writing has formed a little life-raft for me, for when the self-employed seas are choppy. In the next few blog posts, I’ll give you some ideas and questions and toots to make a life raft your own. Of course, you could also make a cruise-boat with patio chairs and indoor pools. Or a dark green submarine. The metaphor is yours.

In the next three posts, I’m going to share three tools with you.

1. The work journal.

2. Keeping the creative lights on.

3. Self-loving-love letters.

 

I’d also like to hear your stories. Please don’t be shy to use the box below to chime in. We’re only as alone as we allow.

journal 1024x880 creative writing + marketing = <3Here’s the first tool I’ll offer you: The work journal.

This is a pretty simple concept. Every morning, before I sit down at my computer, before I take any calls or start reading through anyone’s stories, I take out my work journal and I write, draw or doodle one page about how I feel.

There’s no formula, the idea is just to slow down enough to connect to what’s really going on before I begin my day. Sometimes I draw a little face to show my mood, sometimes I record dreams, sometimes I rant about something that’s upsetting me.

At the end of the day, I do the same thing. This may happen at four in the afternoon or it may not happen until 2am. It’s important to me that I’m not putting limits when my workday should end, just ensuring that it does end, and that I’m not carrying my work into my sleep and dreams.

Keeping a work journal lets me:

1. Gently witness what’s happening in my work day. No matter how hard I work myself, how tired I get, I need to be willing to see it. This makes a little bit of room for the self-compassion which is often lacking when I’m not paying attention.

2. See trends arising in my emotional life. If I’ve started every morning anxious for five days, I can begin to ask important questions and address what’s really going on.

3. Consciously start and end my day. Since I work from home and there’s no actual space between myself and my business, the work journal is an important symbol for opening and closing my day. It’s a little like flicking on and off a light in the office in my brain.

4. It reminds me that I am more than my business. When I first started the work journal, I became aware of how long a day really was! After ending my day, instead of mindlessly heading back to the computer to send more emails, I began to play the guitar more, I took the time to weed my garden, or call my parents. I bought a ukelele and taught myself to play. I took a hula hoping class. I have a lot to thank that little book for.

So? What does this say to you?

Does the idea sound terrible and limiting or is it exciting and inviting? Have you tried anything similar yourself? Would you consider it?

Talk to me!

And stay tuned…. My next post on this blog will be on keeping your creative lights shining.

| Categories: Inner Work - Tags: ,

guest post: learning webs

By: | Published: January 12, 2012 · Leave a Comment

220px Zygiella web guest post: learning websI was in Thailand a month ago, chatting with my friend Shilpa Jain.

We were talking about how people learn things.

And she shared this idea of a learning web. And how there are different ways we can learn things.

As she spoke, my mind immediately raced to the relevance for business.

shilpa guest post: learning websLearning Webs – Back to the Source

by Shilpa Jain

I’ve been working in the field of ‘alternatives’ to education for a long while now – really since I was  a young’un, running around my neighborhood, inventing my own games and art, reading books of my choice, etc. 

Though by its own measures, I did “well” in traditional public school (by which I mean, I got good grades), I never really liked school – its competitions, its limits, its labels, its random subjects disconnected from real life and real issues. 

As I got older and started learning more about the historic roots of the education system and its impacts on diverse communities over the world, I realized that my personal dislike was well-founded.  This system has been wreaking havoc on individuals and communities for a couple centuries now. 

And it’s time to stop.

Mostly, people agree on the ills of schooling.  They know it’s cutting kids off from interactions with their families and neighbors; from a sacred connection with Mother Nature; from their own bodies, hands and spirits.  And, they know it’s a rat race, and a lot of people suffer from the labels and competition imposed through schooling. 

AND, they know that it’s not helping in solving the problems we are up against – but, instead, is actually feeding them by producing more capitalistic, obedient and submissive consumers… 

But when it comes to other possibilities, people are often at a loss.  There is the endless call for ‘reforming public education’ – which for many folks means a ‘better’ version of the same thing: just smaller classrooms, better trained teachers, more technology, better textbooks, etc. 

Others are experimenting with charter schools, democratic schools, free schools – or homeschooling cooperatives, unschooling, natural learning communities….   Despite their creativity and the numerous generative possibilities they are opening up, they are usually called ‘elitist’ and dismissed on the grounds of being inapplicable to the ‘majority’.  Which is unfortunate.

I want to add a little more to this conversation in my own support of self-designed and community-supported learning:  learning webs.   

A few months ago, I was invited to host a workshop for an innovative educational experiment in Puerto Rico called Nuestra Escuela (Our School).  They are built on a mission of love.  They are committed to throwing out labels of ‘juvenile delinquent’, ‘at-risk’, ‘dropout’, ‘failure’, etc. and instead embracing the brilliance, creativity and potential of the young people (ages roughly 13-18) in their communities. 

They asked me to help support them with thinking about how to nuture deep learning and collaboration in Nuestra Escuela – something that would align with their mission and vision.

I started reflecting on the answers to the question, “What is one of the most meaningful learning experiences you have had?”  I, and the community I worked with in India, Shikshantar asked this question a lot, as we were working to generate alternatives to the education system. 

Invariably, the kinds of answers people gave had to do with one (or more) of these six relationships/opportunities:

1.     mentors – someone who inspires you, who can guide you, who gives meaningful support to you in times that matter

2.     experiments – personal and collective – little challenges that you give yourself, or that you agree to do with a group, to stretch yourself, come closer to your spirit and truth, and to live in greater alignment with your values

3.     apprenticeships/internships – longer-term commitments to deeply learn something that matters to you, usually with folks who have some kind of expertise in the field

4.     travel: journeys and visits – going to interact with people and places where what you want to learn is happening; the journey itself is often part of the learning experience

5.     self-study: looking at books, films, websites, etc. that delve into the different aspects of your interest area

6.     reflection: writing, journaling, creative expression of some kind, to digest what you’re learning, capture your understandings, and reflect them to others who can give you feedback as well

I like to image these six things as spokes coming off of a center point – which is where you put your question or the subject you want to learn.  It could be anything from ‘organic farming’, to ‘indigenous history’, to ‘how can I have a healthy relationship with my partner?’, to ‘how can I become less angry and more patient?’ 

After you have a sense of what you want, and that can be a group or collective decision too, you generate the mentors, experiments, apprenticeships, travel, self-study and reflection that can help you learn it. 

As our friends at the Berkana Institute say, “Start anywhere. Follow it everywhere.”  That’s how you grow your learning web – by being as curious as you can be and committing to learning as much as you can.  If you remember that everyone is a source/resource, with lots to share in terms of experiences, ideas, stories, and questions, there is simply an endless supply of possibilities.

There is no limit to the number and diversity of personal and collective learning webs that can be generated. It only depends on what you can balance and handle.  And, as they say in Open Space, “Be prepared to be surprised!” 

Learning webs can lead you to amazing aha!’s, wonderful relationships, and many other things that you couldn’t have known when you started.  They knit you back to the real world and to the web of life. They encourage compassion, communication, complexity and commitment.  They enliven your imagination and root you with purpose.

Most importantly, they return the power of learning to the source: you and your collectivities.  And, for me, when we harvest the power of our individual and collective wisdom, well, we’ve found what we need to build a world that works for all beings.

My reflections on this:

  • are you stuck trying to teach your content to your clients using only one strand of the learning web? What might happen if instead of doing the traditional teleseminars and workshops you were to support people in learning in other ways? Is it possible that we get so stuck on ‘giving info’ that we don’t pay enough attention to their learning?
  • if you’re stuck trying to learn something, might another approach to learning work better for you?
  • are you relying only on high priced seminars and marketing gurus for your answers when the wisdom might be right there in your own community?

 What are your thoughts? Write them below in the comments.

| Categories: quality of life, The Irresistible Offer - Tags: ,

guest post: ‘just listening’ by howie jacobson

By: | Published: January 10, 2012 · 2 Comments

hj headshot 20111 guest post: just listening by howie jacobsonby Howie Jacobson

In my last article, I talked about projection: what it is, why it keeps us from seeing the world as it really is, and how marketing offers us an opportunity to recognize and free ourselves from the grip of projection.

Now I want to talk about why it’s so important to liberate ourselves from projection. Not from a spiritual perspective, but from a marketing perspective.

The Ultimate Marketing Superpower: Empathy

Can we agree that empathy is one of the key skills necessary for successful marketing? If you can really understand what another person is thinking and feeling, then you can craft products and services and offers that appeal to that person’s sensibilities. And you can talk about those products and services in a relevant, respectful and attractive way.

Think of Nick Marshall, Mel Gibson’s character in the movie What Women Want. When his accidental electrocution gives him the gift to hear women’s thoughts, he immediately becomes the star advertising executive at his agency, celebrated for his ability to market effectively to women.

If you were suddenly given that ability, to hear the innermost thoughts of your prospects – their selfish desires, their secret fears, their poignant stories – can you see how that knowledge would instantly solve 99% of your marketing problems?

Getting the Data is Easy

On the web, all the data we require is at our fingertips. We can reverse engineer Google’s organic listings to find out what the world’s smartest computer thinks people want.

We can eavesdrop on forums, on Facebook, on amazon reviews, on blog comments, and dozens of other places to hear the uncensored, passionate voices of our prospects. We can conduct inexpensive yet highly valuable surveys of our own to discover the deepest desires and hesitations of those who might buy from us.

So what’s the problem? I’m telling you to read the mind of your market, and I’m telling you exactly where to go to get the information. Why isn’t that the end of the story?

The Filter that Keeps Us Clueless

Have you ever listened to a radio or watched a television that got lousy reception? Lots of noise, static, snow, wavy lines, and fuzziness. Do you think the program sounded or looked that way coming out of the studio?

Of course not. The program signal was not the problem. The problem was the poor quality of the device; its inability to translate the incoming signal into clear and meaningful output.

Each of us operates from a filter that keeps us from true empathy. It’s called projection, and here’s how it works:

When I hear you talk about something, I search for meaning in my own past experience. If you say “toothache,” for example, I go back into the file called “Howie’s toothaches” to try to understand what you’re talking about.

When you say the assistant manager at the store was rude, I likewise superimpose my own vision of “rude” on your story. Until you elaborate, I might picture a young guy with dreadlocks and tattoos and piercings giving you the finger. Or I might imagine a snooty middle aged woman raising her eyebrows in disapproval of your request for a refund.

The word “rude” has meaning only in terms of my experience, either direct or second-hand (movies, books, friends’ stories, etc.).

Until I listen to you tell the straight-up facts of what happened from your perspective, I fill in the blanks based on my preconceptions. That’s projection.

Projection occurs much more subtly and pervasively. If I think you’re angry, or sad, or frustrated – chances are I’m interpreting a set of signals through my own distorting filter. “If I were acting that way, it would be because I was irritated,” I reason. So in my mind, you’re irritated. And with that interpretation now projected onto you, I look for confirmation and ignore all contradictory signals.

Projection vs. Empathy

As long as my mind engages in projection (which is only about 100% of the time), I can’t be truly empathetic to you. I can only be empathetic to me. So to the same extent that you and I are having different experiences or different interpretations of those experiences, I’m missing what’s meaningful for you.

In other words, while I think I’m looking at you, I’m actually just seeing myself in a mirror projected on your face.

The Sioux medicine man Fool’s Crow believed that he could be a conduit for healing only when he made himself into a “hollow bone,” a vessel for divine spirit that didn’t superimpose its own particular stories and struggles onto the person seeking healing.
When I read Tarot for clients or engage in Shamanic healing, I have to be exquisitely sensitive to the presence of my own stuff, so that I don’t end up giving someone else the medicine meant for me. When I throw the 4 of wands, for example, do I tell them to chuck the corporate gig for a walk on the wild side because that’s what the card means in this particular reading, or because my own life story concatenates with that interpretation?

Am I Marketing to Me?

If I don’t get familiar with my projections, my marketing turns into a narcissistic festival of self-love and self-loathing. The self-love part is easy to see: I think about what I would want someone to say to me, and then I say it to myself and pretend I’m saying it to you.

But self-loathing? Absolutely!

You know all those “marketing tricks” that seem to work but you really have no stomach for? Like false urgency and false scarcity? “Tomorrow only.” “19 17 12 6 spots left!”

Or manipulative pseudo-reciprocity? “Here’s a free gift. Isn’t it great. Now you owe me.”

Or appeals to the lowest self? “If you buy this your neighbors will bang their heads against the wall in jealousy. Beautiful women will leave their husbands for you. All those jerks in high school will be sorry they didn’t give you more respect.”

We fall back on these and dozens of other gambits because part of us has no respect for our own integrity. We despise and are deeply ashamed of that part, but when we project it outward, it feels better. “What a bunch of sheep they are! What a bunch of insecure losers!”

So we end up attracting the customers and clients who share our most awful traits, and then wonder why we complain about them.

And those judgments diminish our prospects in our eyes. To the extent that we cannot love them. And if you cannot love the people whose lives you are supposedly improving with your products and services, why on earth would they choose you? Because you need the money?

Getting Past Projection

If you’re a lot more spiritually advanced than me, you might have figured out a way to stop projecting. I haven’t. I project like an IMAX theater; consistently, relentlessly, and with alarming realism.

What I am getting better at is recognizing my own projections. The ones that come up every time. The ones that I now recognize as my own face, rather than the face of my prospect, my beloved.

I find that getting quiet on a regular basis helps tremendously. The art of empathy is essentially the art of listening with the head and the heart. When I sit quietly and stop trying to impose my interpretation on reality, I start to listen better. The static mutes and the authentic signal comes through.

And listening as a marketer only happens when I let go of effort, of will, of the need to sell something or convince somebody.

Marketing Minus Projection

When I come to listen with the agenda of manipulating your will, that’s not true listening. And you can sense that. And distrust it. And run from it, if you can.

But when I come with no agenda other than a thirst for truth, for your truth, then your words and thoughts and feelings come through undistorted. I can respond to you naturally in a way that you trust. The word respond comes from the French, meaning “to promise back.”

Whether we speak face to face, over the phone, via email, or whether you’re just one person in my “target market,” I can hear you only when I rest in my own integrity, when I promise back to you to dive into your fears, your pains, your desires, your stories only to serve your highest good. Not to plunder your secrets for my advantage.

In What Women Want, Nick initially uses his gift of mind-reading to climb the corporate ladder and seduce women. But almost despite himself, he begins to form friendships with his co-workers and develop respect for women. His gift of empathy is so powerful, his ego can’t maintain its manipulative stance.

Ultimately, he tells a hard truth and gets fired, and ends up losing his power in a storm as he rescues his secretary who was thinking suicidal thoughts. But he finds redemptive love, both from his estranged daughter and the women who ends up with his job.

His transformation complete, his manipulative power is no longer necessary. He has escaped from the prison of the mirror, and he can simply be, live, and respond to others from his own integrity. He has become trustworthy.
So may we all.

Howie Jacobson, PhD, is the author of Google AdWords For Dummies. He has been an online marketing strategist since 1999, helping clients use the internet to discover, understand, attract and serve their ideal customers. He writes for Fast Company and Harvard Business, and his hippie credentials include teaching at a Quaker School, delivering singing telegrams as a summer job, and playing Ultimate Frisbee every chance he gets. He currently lives with his family in South Africa, where he’s learning to drive a stick shift and be more patient. Follow him at @askhowie, like him at http://facebook.com/askhowie, or sign up for his newsletter at http://askhowie.com.

| Categories: Ethics in Advertising, marketing philosophy - Tags: , ,