stop trying to change minds

By: | Published: November 26, 2011 · 2 Comments

stubborn kid stop trying to change mindsI invite you to give up trying to change people’s minds.

People can be a lot like this child – stubborn. They don’t like being pushed around. Or told they’re wrong.

This is the core challenge of marketing I think. Or a core blunder. Or something.

Trying to convince people that we are right and they are wrong.

Trying to convince them that they need to act preventatively.

Trying to convince them that their core world view is wrong.

Trying to convince them that our diagnosis is so important before they even know they have a symptom.

Trying to convince someone to buy NOW when they might rather wait for a more fortuitous timing.

And I want to suggest that . . . that’s really hard.

And it might hurt people.

The idea that we can change people’s minds is the beginning of trouble.

It’s a much better idea to create something that resonates with where people are at. Meet them where they are.

My colleague Jessica O’Reilly shared how she came to this realization with her sex workshops in this blog interview I did with her in July, 2011.

Callan Rush has some important thoughts on this which she shared in this March 2011 blog post. Here’s the relevant excerpt.

LESSON #5: Don’t just market to the 3% who are ready to buy right now.

Think of your ideal clients. The people in your niche. Your target market. Now think of all the people in your town (or wherever you want to tour your workshops) who fit into that group. There are likely a lot of them.

But here’s the bad news.

97% of your ideal clients are NOT looking for my product, program or service right now.

Here’s a piece Callan shared that was worth the whole evening. It’s a percentage break down of your target market right now. I think these percentages are really accurate pretty much across the board:

3% are actively looking for your solution. They’re googling it at 3 am. They are super, actively looking for a solution to their problems. And everyone is fighting over this 3%. Every other workshop leader is trying to reach these same people.

And so they put their marketing out to reach these people.

  • “Hypnosis workshop!”
  • “Buy our technology”
  • “All 2010 Model Cars Must Go! 0% Financing.”
  • “Non Violent Communication Workshop”
  • “Learn Reiki”.

And it’s not that this kind of marketing doesn’t work. It totally does. It absolutely reaches and works on that 3% of your ideal clients. But it’s ignored by everyone else. Ouch. This means your marketing might be being totally ignored by 97% of your target market.

7% are open to your product, program or service. They’ve heard about the kind of thing you do. They’re genuinely curious about it.

30% are aware for future. They know they need you or someone like you – but it’s sometime down the road. They tell themselves, “I’ll need a new car when we have kids.” But that time hasn’t come yet. Or they think, “When this crunch time at work is over I’m going to get back into yoga.” Or, “When I stop traveling I’m going to buy a house.”

30% are totally unconscious. When you meet them it’s clear that they have a problem you can help them solve – but they have NO awareness they need it. They might not even know they have a problem. It’s like someone with bad breath. You knooooow they need a tick tack but they have no idea. Or someone with anger issues who’s convinced their problem is everyone else.

They may or may not have any overt symptoms but those symptoms are likely not understood. Like, they know they have stomach pains all the time – but they don’t realize that it’s because they’re celiac. Or they notice that their romantic partner has lost interest in them but they don’t see how this loss of interest was triggered by their domineering nature and inability to communicate.

In short, they lack the proper context for their symptoms. And so often they ignore them entirely.

30% are just a ‘NO!’. They’re just closed to it. Maybe it’s because they live too far away, they’ll never be able to afford it or they’ve already hired someone else. With these people you need to just bless and release.

The Bottom Line: 67% of these people are not really being marketed to. They’re being ignored by everyone else leading workshops.

But the way you market to the 67% who are open, aware or unconscious is very, very different than the way you market to people who are totally ready to buy. It’s a bit of a slower turn around. More trust building. More being a generosity based business to start.

start with why stop trying to change mindsSimon Sinek, in his book Start With Why points out how people gravitate to businesses that resonate with them (rather than being inspired to adopt a new lifestyle that company is selling).

Apple sells a “lifestyle”, marketing professionals will tell you.

Apple didn’t invent the lifestyle, nor does it sell a lifestyle. Apple is simply one of the brands that those who live a certain lifestyle are drawn to. Those people use certain products or brands in the course of living in that lifestyle. That is, in part, how we recognize their way of life in the first place. The products they choose become proof of why they do the things they do. It is only because Apple’s why is so clear that those who believe what they believe are drawn to them. As Harley Davidson fits into the lifestyle of a certain group of people and Prada shoes fit the lifestyle of a certain group, it is the lifestyle that came first. Like the products the company produces that serve as proof of the company’s WHY, so too does a brand or product serve as proof of an individual’s WHY.

That some people are viscerally drawn to a ferrari more than a Honda Odyssey says more about the person than the engineering of the product.

Loyalists for each brand will point to various features and beenfits that matter to them or don’t matter to them in an attempt to convince the other that they are right. And that’s one of the primary reasons why so many companies feel the needs to differentiate in the first place. Based on the flawed assumption that only one group can be right. But what if both parties were right? What if an Apple was right for some people and a PC was right for others? It’s not a debate about better or worse anymore, it’s a discussion about the different needs. And before the discussion can even happen, the WHYs for each must be established first.

A simple claim of better, even with the rational evidence to back it up, can create a desire and even motivate a decision to buy, but it doesn’t create loyalty. It is the cause that is represented by the company, brand, product or person that inspires loyalty.

Seth Godin deepens this conversation is his book Tribes:

tribes seth godin hotel emarketer stop trying to change mindsA Tribe has a Shared Worldview:

This leads to an interesting thought: you get to choose the tribe you will lead. Through your actions as a leader you attract a tribe that wants to follow you. That tribe has a worldview that matches the message you are sending.

Important clarification: Great marketers lead people, stretching the boundaries and bringing new messages to people who want to hear them. The core of my argument is that someone’s worldview, how they feel about risk or other factors, is beyond your ability to change in the short run. Sell people something they’re interesting in buying. If you can’t leverage the worldview they already have, you are essentially invisible. Which is a whole other sort of magic, one that’s not so profitable.

If you are leading a tribe focused on saving the world by fighting global warming, the tribe will of course have a worldview that includes the idea that global warming is a problem and that it includes the idea that global warming is a problem and that it can be addressed through its actions. They come to the tribe with that in mind and your leadership resonates with them.

If, on the other hand, you choose to work to persuade a different group, one with a very different worldview, they will likely reject you. Al Gore started leading his tribe when he didn’t know who they were.

He stated his message and people found him.

Ultimately, people are most easily led where they wanted to go all along. While that may seem as if it limits your originality or influence, it’s true. Fox News didn’t persuade millions of people to become conservatives, they just assembled a tribe and led them where they were already headed.

Tribes are increasingly voluntary. No one is forced to work for your firm or attend your services. People have a choice of which music to listen to and which movies to watch. So great leaders don’t try to please everyone. Great leaders don’t water down their message in order to make the tribe a bit bigger. Instead they realize that a motivated, connected tribe in the mist of a movement is far more powerful than a larger group could ever be.

As the ability to lead a tribe becomes open to more people, it’s interesting to note that those who take that opportunity (and those who succeed most often) are doing it because of what they can do for the tribe, not for what the tribe can do for them.

This is the heart of the matter: Every leader cares for and supports a movement. A movement like the free speech movement at Berkeley or the democracy movement in Tiananmen Square or the civil rights movement in Mississippi. Or maybe a movement like the obsession with hand roasted coffee in Brooklyn or the worldwide collection of people obsessed with tattoos.

Today, you can have a narrow movement, a tiny movement, a movement in a silo. Your movement can be known by ten or twenty or a thousand people, people in your community or people around the world. And most often, it can be the people you work with or for, or those who work for you.

The web connects people. That’s what it does. And movements take connected people and make change. What marketers and organizers and people who care are discovering is that they can ignite a micromovement and then be propelled by the people who choose to follow it.

The bottom line is this: don’t try to change people’s minds. Get so clear about your deeper why, the journey you help people on best and your point of view and find people who will resonate with that. Don’t try to get people to change their minds about things. Meet them where they are and begin to slowly educate. Find some real challenge they are aware of that they’re experiencing and offer them help with that. Earn the trust. Align and then redirect – don’t oppose.

Instead of trying to push harder and hype it up more – just make it clearer who you are and safer for people to approach you. Be the lighthouse, not the searchlight.

If you’d like get cool posts like this in your inbox every few days CLICK HERE to subscribe to my blog and you’ll also get a free copy of my fancy new ebook “Marketing for Hippies” when it’s done.

| Categories: becoming a hub, marketing philosophy, platform, Start with Why - Tags: , , , , , , ,

the roots of all business

By: | Published: November 18, 2011 · Leave a Comment
bread the roots of all businessA quote from The Necessary Revolution (shared with me by my colleague Julia) struck as right on theme for this theme of figuring out the deeper cause our business is about. It invites us to step back and consider the underlying cause of business itself:
“…the new generation of mission-based businesses builds on some very old ideas, ones that predate the Industrial Age. They seek, as an essential part of their purpose, to contribute to the health and well-being of living systems.  They reject the notion that the sole purpose of business is to make a profit and they regard the quality of relationships between members, suppliers, and customers as the true indicator of success.  In so doing, they are returning business to its origins.  The oldest Swedish word for business is narings liv, “nourishment for life.”  In ancient Chinese the concept is expressed by two symbols that translate as “life meaning.”   And the root of the English word company derives from the Latin com panis, “the sharing of bread”- the same root as that for the word companion.”  

If you’d like get cool posts like this in your inbox every few days CLICK HERE to subscribe to my blog and you’ll also get a free copy of my fancy new ebook “Marketing for Hippies” when it’s done.

| Categories: marketing philosophy, Political Context for Marketing, Start with Why - Tags:

guest blog: scarcity in marketing – why marketers use it. how it hurts us.

By: | Published: October 9, 2011 · 2 Comments

ThereIsEnough 200 guest blog: scarcity in marketing – why marketers use it. how it hurts us.by Lynn Serafinn

 

Earlier this week, I sent a note to my Facebook friends asking the question, “Where have YOU seen scarcity used in marketing, and how do you think it affects us?” Within a few hours, I received a LONG list of responses, with people citing everything from children’s toys, to oil, to computers, to supplies for anticipated emergencies or crises (if you’re my FB friend, come join us and share your view at http://tiny.ly/pDyF). Clearly, people had a lot to say about this hot topic.

The use of scarcity in marketing has long been acknowledged.

Everywhere I look, I see marketing mentors tell their mentees to use scarcity as a tool to close the deal and make the sale. And the sad thing about this is that it WORKS. But at what cost to our lives, our health, our communities, our economy and our planet does it do so?

From research I have done, I have come to see that every living being has an autonomic and unconscious response to scarcity. One example I give in my upcoming book The 7 Graces of Marketing is research I uncovered about the Great Dutch Famine of the 1940s, where thousands of people were starving to death due to a complexity of political issues. Many studies have been done on the impact of the scarcity of food upon both the people who lived through those times, as well as the babies who were conceived during those lean years.

One of the most fascinating findings is that the babies who were conceived during those times of famine were born underweight, but then went on to develop physiques that were markedly OVERWEIGHT throughout the rest of their lives, due to their bodies’ being conditioned to hold onto fat reserves in response to starvation in utero. Anyone who has be a yo-yo dieter has probably also experienced the same phenomenon.

Scarcity gets into our very genes. We humans are hard-wired to respond to scarcity, at a physical, emotional and mental level. Marketers have long known this, and they use it to their advantage.

The most obvious form of scarcity in marketing is the perception of limited supply or availability. We are exposed to this kind of scarcity marketing from a very early age. One person in our Facebook discussion cited an example of when her young daughter saw an advert for a cookie-baking set and said, “Mom, I have to buy now! They only have 12 left!” Another cited the example of cabbage patch dolls. From Playstations to Harry Potter books, we’ve all seen this kind of scarcity marketing. It makes us panic, rush and buy, fearing we’ll “lose out.”

The use of deadlines in marketing is another form of scarcity. This particular breed is rife in Internet marketing and is taught by just about every Internet marketing guru on the planet. How many times have we heard, “Buy within the next hour before the price goes up!” I’m not saying it’s “wrong” to set sort of “end” to (hence a deadline) to a campaign; we cannot operate a marketing campaign without a clear timeframe. But when deadlines are used intentionally as a means to create excessive anxiety in our clients and customers to convince them to act before they have had a chance to make an informed decision, we might make the sale, but what are we contributing to the health, wellbeing, empowerment and happiness of our customers (and ourselves)?

But scarcity operates at even more subtle levels in marketing. In order to feel we’re going to “lose out” we first have to feel the need. In order for a person to want to buy products they don’t actually need, marketers first have to create the need, and then tell you that the only way to fill that need is to buy their product. If you look deeply enough, you will see that the unconscious message is that you are inadequate or incomplete without such-and-such product.

When we are young, it’s all about needing a product to give us fun and popularity. When we are adults, it’s all about sexual and social worth “Because you’re worth it” is actually saying “If you don’t spend the extra money on this product, you’re not really worth much.” The real underlying story of “scarcity” is where marketers tell you in one way or another that you are not enough without their product. If you add into the mix the anxiety that the product that will make us feel like we are “enough” is not going to be available to us for much longer, we have a marketing recipe that influences us to “buy now”, no matter what.

Scarcity marketing is one of the cornerstones of “old school” marketing, primarily because it WORKS. There is no question that it motivates people to act fast. But with the rise of social media, a new era of conscious marketers is emerging where our influence is now felt on a global level. In response to this fundamental change in our society, we simple MUST ask ourselves:

“In the bigger picture, and at a holistic level, is scarcity REALLY working?

We might be making the sale, but what are we REALLY creating?”

It is my belief that by using scarcity as a fundamental motivator in our marketing, we are really creating:

• stress
• fear
• mistrust
• overspending
• overconsumption
• waste
• debt
• massive environmental imbalances

The irony of scarcity is that when we see the world through the eyes of scarcity we extract, create, consume, hoard or pillage more than we actually need, and we begin to create a self-fulfilling prophecy of actual scarcity on our planet.

In my view, the natural antidote is “Abundance”, which I define as “a fundamental belief that there is enough.” Enough to go around, enough of me, enough of you, enough. When we embrace a fundamental belief that the Universe has provided us with enough, abundance also becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy because we act according to the balance and natural flow of the rhythm of the Universe instead of against it.

The topic of “Scarcity versus Abundance” is a massive subject that I discuss in great detail in The 7 Graces of Marketing: how to heal humanity and the planet by changing the way we sell (coming December 2011), and will be elaborating upon in upcoming blog posts, along with the other “deadly sins” and “graces” of marketing presented in the book.

I hope this short introduction has given you some food for thought and that you’ll keep your eye out for future articles. Please share your thoughts and responses in the comments below. I look forward to reading them!

Also, do subscribe this new 7 Graces of Marketing Blog, which will be rolling out articles and videos on these topics this summer. Just enter your name and email in the form on this page to receive them.

lynn serafinn 300pix sq 150x150 guest blog: scarcity in marketing – why marketers use it. how it hurts us.Lynn Serafinn is bestselling author, marketer, coach, speaker, radio host and promotional manager for a long list of #1 selling mind-body-spirit authors. In her work, she has witnessed both the conscious and unconscious mechanics of marketing that threaten our society and our very planet. In her book The 7 Graces of Marketing: how to heal humanity and the planet by changing the way we sell (Humanity 1 Press, Dec 2011), she reveals how modern marketing has played a hand in the the rise of consumer culture, negatively impacting our health, happiness, economy and natural world in an unparalleled way, and offers us hope via a new paradigm she calls “The 7 Graces of Marketing.” Subscribe to this blog to keep on top of how you can help change the world through 7 Graces thinking. Author, marketing and radio show enquiries, please send via http://spiritauthors.com/contact.

 

If you’d like get cool posts like this in your inbox every few days CLICK HERE to subscribe to my blog and you’ll also get a free copy of my fancy new ebook “Marketing for Hippies” when it’s done.

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

guest blog: directness vs distraction – towards better relationships in marketing and in life

By: | Published: October 6, 2011 · 1 Comment

7 graces guest blog: directness vs distraction – towards better relationships in marketing and in lifeAdapted from the book The 7 Graces of Marketing: how to heal humanity and the planet by changing the way we sell by Lynn Serafinn.

As a coach, I have learned how to listen carefully to what people are really saying.

Frequently this is not so much a matter of the content of what they are saying, but the context in which they are saying it. It is within that context that you can hear the whole truth of the story, including how clients are really feeling about both the situation and themselves.

As a lot of my coaching is done over the phone or Skype (and not always with the webcam turned on), there are no ‘body language’ cues to inform me, and I’ve learned to use my ears and my intuition to hear the subtlest inflections in both the tone of voice and in the way a client uses language. One of the most consistently accurate measurements of what clients are actually feeling can be found in their grammar, especially in their choices of when to use first, second or third person in their verbal rendering of a story or situation.

For instance, when someone gone through a very painful or even shameful trauma (which could be anything from childhood abuse to getting fired from a job), it is extremely common for that person to deflect their feelings of shame and pain by saying things like, ‘When that happens you feel like you’re not worth anything,’ rather than saying, ‘When that happened, I felt like I wasn’t worth anything.’ Usually, when someone relates a personal experience in the second person ‘you’ rather than the first person ‘I’, they are distancing themselves from the experience and the emotion.

I’ve found there can be many reasons for this.

One is that the emotion is still very painful and they’re distancing themselves from the pain by putting it ‘over there’ instead of inside them. Another is that they might be judging themselves for having the emotion (or for having done something for which they are ashamed), and by saying ‘you’ it gives them a feeling of social proof, i.e., that other people also feel the same as they do. And lastly, and especially if the client rarely if ever uses the first person, it can also reflect a chronic dissociation to their feelings, usually stemming from a deep lack of self-worth that goes far beyond a specific incident or memory.

For such clients, saying ‘I’ can be one of the most uncomfortable things they’ve ever done, because they have lived for so long not being able to acknowledge their own opinions, feelings and ideas that they have lost the skill of standing in their own presence. For them, the biggest shift they often experience is simply by my pointing out every time they aren’t ‘owning’ their emotions, until they develop their own awareness and begin to step into their experiences without shame or fear.

It’s amazing how a simple change from ‘you’ to ‘I’ can do so much to heal a wounded soul.

But what is even more interesting about this shift is that when we begin to ‘own’ our experiences through our language, we also become more ‘direct’ in how we express ourselves. This doesn’t mean that we suddenly become rude or show fits of anger with our family or in public. In fact, it usually means we are much less prone to do so. What it does mean, rather, is that we cease putting up protective barriers around our feelings, making us more able to walk fearlessly in life, even around conflict, without feeling the need either to fight or flee. Directness makes our relationships with people ‘clean’ and straight-forward, enabling us to have a deeper and more intimate connection with others.

Directness plays a big part in marketing as well, and it can make or break the relationship between a business and the consumer. In my upcoming book The 7 Graces of Marketing, I dedicate an entire chapter to ‘Distraction’, which I have named as one of the ’7 Deadly Sins of Marketing’. In that chapter I describe all the subtle ways in which many marketers use Distraction to take our attention away from the truth, in order to make a sale.

Later in the book, there is another chapter on ‘Directness’, one of the ’7 Graces of Marketing’, which is the ‘antidote’ for Deception. What is interesting about Directness in marketing (or lack thereof) is that it can stem from the very same reasons we might lack Directness in our personal relations—an underlying disconnection. We might be lack connection to self or to the values being expressed by the business or product being marketed.

Here’s a little story that gives an idea of how lack of Directness can impact our relationships, both in life and in marketing. Let’s imagine a marketing message as a suitor, and the consumer as a young girl being wooed. At first, the girl is charmed by the suitor’s sense of humour, his charismatic ways and his suave and sexy words. She feels when she’s around him and finds herself desiring to spend time with him.

Other boys look at the suitor and shake their heads.

‘How come all the ladies are attracted to him?‘ they mutter amongst themselves. They don’t understand why he seems to get all the girls. But after a while, the girl tires of how much he dances around the truth, and she realises she doesn’t really know him at all. His humour, charm or sensuality only makes her irritable, because she knows there is no real connection between them.

She gets frustrated because he’s all fluff and little substance.

Eventually, the proverbial honeymoon is over and she ends the relationship. He cannot understand how it could happen, as he’s been ever so sweet, charming and entertaining. She herself cannot quite put her finger on what went wrong either, but the whole experience has left her feeling disappointed, and perhaps cynical and mistrusting of future suitors.

When a large company uses Distraction in marketing just to get the attention of the consumer, it’s very much the same scenario. It might very well work at first, but in the long term, most people are going to tire of it unless they find some substance within their relationship with the company. What’s worse, once consumers have been seduced by contests, quirky or provocative ad campaigns and other gimmicks that have little or nothing to do with the product or service involved, they are far less apt to trust a company later on when they want to get serious.

But when marketers practice Directness from the onset, they are laying the foundation for long-term relationships with the consumer. Directness is one of the most life-giving attributes of any interpersonal relationship, including marketing.

To pull it altogether into a single sentence:

‘Directness is the practice of using elements in your marketing that that provide plain, unambiguous and relevant information about the product or service being marketed AND express the genuine thoughts, opinions and values of the company or business owner.’

In other words, Directness tells it like it is.

The above article is a short adaptation from the chapter entitled ‘Directness’ from my upcoming book The 7 Graces of Marketing: how to heal humanity and the planet by changing the way we sell, which is launching on Tuesday December 13th, 2011. Please be sure to subscribe to this blog for more excerpts and articles, as well as news about the big launch celebration, including a 7-part online telesummit (free to attend, of course!) with a line up of outstanding guest speakers.

AND… if you’d like to be a partner on this book launch, and benefit from the great exposure our collaborative efforts can bring, or if you’d like to invite me to appear on your radio broadcast during the month of November or December, please drop me a line at http://spiritauthors.com/contact by Monday October 10th, 2011.

Copyright Lynn Serafinn, 2011

About Lynn Serafinn

lynn serafinn 300pix sq 150x150 guest blog: directness vs distraction – towards better relationships in marketing and in lifeLynn Serafinn is bestselling author, marketer, coach, speaker, radio host and promotional manager for a long list of #1 selling mind-body-spirit authors. In her work, she has witnessed both the conscious and unconscious mechanics of marketing that threaten our society and our very planet. In her book The 7 Graces of Marketing: how to heal humanity and the planet by changing the way we sell (Humanity 1 Press, Dec 2011), she reveals how modern marketing has played a hand in the the rise of consumer culture, negatively impacting our health, happiness, economy and natural world in an unparalleled way, and offers us hope via a new paradigm she calls “The 7 Graces of Marketing.” Subscribe to this blog to keep on top of how you can help change the world through 7 Graces thinking. Author, marketing and radio show enquiries, please send via http://spiritauthors.com/contact.

 

If you’d like get cool posts like this in your inbox every few days CLICK HERE to subscribe to my blog and you’ll also get a free copy of my fancy new ebook “Marketing for Hippies” when it’s done.

| Categories: marketing philosophy - Tags: , ,

guest blog: How to Market without Becoming the Houseguest from Hell

By: | Published: October 3, 2011 · 2 Comments

7 graces guest blog: How to Market without Becoming the Houseguest from HellHow to Market without Becoming the Houseguest from Hell
by Lynn Serafinn

Adapted from the chapter “Grace #3: Invitation” from the book The 7 Graces of Marketing

In Chapter 3 of The 7 Graces of Marketing, I talk all about the lost art of ‘Invitation’ and how we marketers and business owners could learn a lot by looking at what we all know as part of ‘common sense’ when it comes to daily life, but we seem to forget when it comes to marketing.
 
In that chapter, I tell two stories: one about what makes a great ‘host’, and one about what makes a ‘houseguest from hell’. The story of the great host was about a man named Abdulla I knew back in the 1980s, who treated me like gold when I dropped by their house unannounced, unaware he and his extended family were right in the middle of a family party. The hospitality, respect and engagement they showed me was so special, I remember it to this day as an example of people who really know what it means to be a gracious host.

The story of the ‘houseguest from hell’ (which I think is a pretty funny story when I read it back) is about a roaming ‘monk’ I call ‘Sam’ who we invited to stay at our home as his car had broke down, but instead of getting his car fixed, he ended up staying for months, eating us out of house and home and offering nothing in return. I was trying to be a gracious host, but my ‘guest’ lacked the knowledge of what it means to be a gracious guest.
 
We can learn a lot from these stories of Abdulla and Sam. When we are marketing our books or businesses (especially over the Internet!), it is important to think about whether we are playing the role of the ‘host’ or the ‘guest’. When we build this awareness, it can transform the way we communicate with our audience significantly.
 
Hospitality, Respect and Engagement
 
When someone lands our website, walks into our shop or comes into our ‘space’ in any way, it is the equivalent of them being our guests within our home. While we cannot physically offer our Internet visitors the water, food, a comfy chair and cosy conversation during their stay, we can, however, offer them the virtual equivalent. All these components of hospitality make guests within our homes feel comfortable, relaxed and satiated. When a guest feels like this, they are happy to stay in our company, and when they do leave to go home, they carry with them the memory of how you made them feel.
 
In much the same way, when someone comes to our website, our aim should be to show them our hospitality. We should make them feel comfortable, relaxed and fully satisfied. If someone has come to your website, they are hungry—for information, for a solution to a need, for advice, for assurance, for fun—for something.

Just as the best hosts will feed their guests with delicious food, the best sale pages are those that feed your visitors’ hunger for information. If the site is for a piece of software, give your visitors lots of videos showing them exactly how it works. If it’s for an event or a course, give them a taster and a concrete breakdown of what they’ll gain. What we shouldn’t do is use lofty, overblown or ambiguous language telling our customers if they buy our product we’ll tell them secrets no one else knows, or they will gain something they cannot gain any other way. Imagine coming into someone’s home and being told such things by your host.

You’d think you’d stepped right into the parlour of Mr Spider.

Nonetheless, this is the kind of marketing messages we are subjected to every day, both on the Internet and on television. When we taunt customers with hype, distractions, ambiguity or delayed promises, we make them feel anxious, confused and eventually mistrustful. What is ironic, of course, is that all this lack of hospitality makes people less likely to buy from you at all, even if your product is the very thing that would answer their needs.

If people become mistrustful of us, it is more than likely because we are not showing them the respect they deserve. There are an awful lot of Internet marketers who make a formulaic show of their trustworthiness by integrating customer testimonials and money-back guarantees into their sales pages. But neither of these strategies is effective if a sales page shows little respect for the customer. Besides, most consumers nowadays are pretty savvy. They know testimonials could be faked and promises of money back guarantees could be just words.

And if someone comes to a website and gets that impression, it’s more than likely because the marketing is not demonstrating respect for the customer’s intelligence, values, health, happiness and freedom of choice. If marketers focus solely on conversion in creating marketing pieces, this will be the result. Respect can only be present when marketers remember it is a privilege for people to give you their time and attention and to consider using your products or services.

The actual exchange of currency is the not the result of a sales page. It is the result of a relationship between customer and merchant—between guest and host. Customers are the guests who knock on our door and we business owners, as their hosts, must create the quality of that relationship.
 
And finally, no relationship can be built without engagement. Old school marketing was always a one-way street with no engagement between marketer and consumer whatsoever. The consumer simply absorbed the programming and was expected to buy. But as the world has changed, and it continuing to change, lack of engagement or interaction will probably turn out to be the fastest track to business failure in the coming generation.

Just as when we visited Abdulla’s home and his entire family engaged with us, to survive in the modern business world, marketers must be engaging. They must listen and respond to their customers demonstrating genuine (not feigned) interest in them. We must make them feel valued, and invite their input and their ideas. We must convey to them that they are a valuable part of our ‘circle’, our tribe, and that their voice is being heard in how we do business.
 
When all three of these components—hospitality, respect and engagement—are genuinely and authentically present in our marketing, we have a foundation for the Grace of Invitation to flourish.
 
When Marketers Become Takers
 
Now, on the flip side, the story of Sam has useful lessons for us when we are a GUEST in our marketers. Let’s first look at online marketing. When someone comes to our website and signs up to our mailing list, they are no longer our guests as in Abdulla’s story—we have now become their guests and are in their space. When a consumer supplies us with their email address, that person is, in effect, opening their door to us and saying, ‘Yes, you can come in and stay here,’ just as our family had opened our door to Sam. Unlike when they are coming into our space, we are now in their space.

And just as there is a moral code for hosts, there is also one for guests. However, I see few online marketers acting as if they truly understand this. While most of us would never dream of treating a host the way Sam did, when it comes to marketing, we feel justified in coming into people’s homes, either through their Inbox or the media, and bleeding them dry with relentless advertising.

When marketers operate on the assumption that it takes repeated exposure for subscribers or viewers to become customers, they find it necessary to saturate the consumers’ consciousness with their message, without giving them much of anything in return. This is not really very different from Sam taking advantage of our hospitality without offering any compensation for all he consumed at our expense.
 
Marketers simply must start realising that coming into people’s homes is a privilege, and we cannot ever allow ourselves to become the proverbial houseguests from hell.
 
The Importance of the Grace of Invitation

The art of ‘Invitation’ is a true ‘Grace’ because it expresses our ‘graciousness’. Graciousness is a quality we admire in individuals, but how often do we think of it as a criterion for our professional practice? Admittedly, this shift from Invasion to Invitation is going to be one of the most challenging for marketers to make.

We need to communicate with our customers, but because there is simply so much ‘noise’ out there, we have adopted the belief that if we are the loudest and most aggressive, people will hear us above the din. But this is simply not true. Invasion simply creates more Invasion. The more we inundate our customers with noise, the louder others will become. And the faster and less caring we are in our communications, the faster and less caring our customers will be when they click ‘delete’ on our email or flick the channel with their remote control.

We are all people, first and foremost. We want to connect. We need each other. We want to be able to knock on each other’s door and feel welcome. We want to be invited in for a nice cup of tea. We want to have the kind of relationships where we can knock on someone’s door unannounced and be welcome. We also want the kind of relationships where friends do not exploit each other’s good nature, and we treat each other with respect and gratitude.

If these are common values amongst us in our social life, surely we cannot forsake them in marketing. How incredibly could the world change if we simply reintroduced the divine responsibility between host and guest, and applied this in all our business dealings?

If Invasion creates more Invasion, surely Invitation creates more Invitation. Begin today by being aware of whether you are the host or the guest, and very soon you will start to see your marketing has become a completely different form of communication.
 
Pasted Image 1 guest blog: How to Market without Becoming the Houseguest from HellLynn Serafinn is bestselling author, marketer, coach, speaker, radio host and promotional manager for a long list of #1 selling mind-body-spirit authors. In her work, she has witnessed both the conscious and unconscious mechanics of marketing that threaten our society and our very planet. In her book The 7 Graces of Marketing: how to heal humanity and the planet by changing the way we sell (Humanity 1 Press, Dec 2011), she reveals how modern marketing has played a hand in the the rise of consumer culture, negatively impacting our health, happiness, economy and natural world in an unparalleled way, and offers us hope via a new paradigm she calls “The 7 Graces of Marketing.” Subscribe to this blog to keep on top of how you can help change the world through 7 Graces thinking. Author, marketing and radio show enquiries, please send via http://spiritauthors.com/contact.

 

If you’d like get cool posts like this in your inbox every few days CLICK HERE to subscribe to my blog and you’ll also get a free copy of my fancy new ebook “Marketing for Hippies” when it’s done.

| Categories: marketing philosophy - Tags: , , ,

the client love connection

By: | Published: September 15, 2011 · Leave a Comment

client love connection 300x210 the client love connectionI was just interviewed via video by Rebecca Cowan (pictured here) for her new program The Client Love Connection.

We had such a lovely conversation. I made some pretty impressive drawing on my white board for her. We seemed to resonate a lot on our concerns about the marketing world. So I asked her to write me a blog post about her experiences in the marketing world.

I bet you can relate to it.

I remember when I first wanted to be in business for myself, my boyfriend at the time had called me a capitalist and broke up with me over it!

He thought, like lots of people, that business is bad and the evil corporations are ruining the world. It’s actually a pretty common stigma. And with some of the business strategies I learned when I started my first business as a very “woo-woo” hypnotherapist, I don’t blame them!

For me, it wasn’t about world domination or making so much money that I could buy my own country. I wanted to heal people! I had the goal to make the world happier by making people healthier.

Noble cause, right?

But the part that was hardest was the marketing and the business strategies I was told I had to use to be successful.

I wanted to hide away most days when I thought about the kinds of things I had to do to promote my business. I thought there must be something wrong with me that I didn’t want to use them.

I had learned how to have sales conversations, how to sell from stage, and lots and lots of internet marketing strategies: creating products, writing sales letters, using Facebook and Twitter to fill my events.

Even though I had all this knowledge, I didn’t like who I had to be to use it.

Most of the marketing I had learned was based on…

    •    Competition!

    •    Pushing or bullying other people into buying your products or services by keeping up the appearance of an authority or perfection.

    •    Using a “magic” set of words or a formula for marketing that feels like you’ve just tricked them into being your client.

    •    Preying on human psychological needs for acceptance or love and extorting that need for profit.

    •    Drawing in clients with big promises, whether you can fulfill them or not or puffing up your “perceived value” to seem more attractive.

    •    Attracting lots of clients whether they are right for your business or not.

    •    Being someone you’re not…

And the strange part was that I was taught lots of my business methods from other spiritual, heart-based entrepreneurs! The old models of marketing are still thick even amongst well-meaning

When I changed my business and found an alignment with teaching entrepreneurs about making marketing videos, I discovered that I didn’t want to teach my clients the same marketing tactics that I’d learned. I wanted them nowhere near my business!

I wanted to teach my clients how to connect with potential clients through video and give them permission to express their true selves on film and actually do more business because of it! I wanted my clients to feel safe doing business and find those perfect clients that were waiting for them.

I feel that there is a lot of healing that can be done in business. So when I decided to create The Client Love Connection Online Marketing Experience I wanted to gather other entrepreneurs who were teaching marketing in a new way.

I sought out marketing experts that were teaching collaboration, honesty, freedom of expression, and client attraction in a way that would make entrepreneurs embrace marketing. I want to allow client and entrepreneur to connect on a human level and make the decision to work together because it’s the right match, not because you’ve used a marketing trick that you didn’t like using in the first place.  

Our businesses all have a light filled message and purpose for the world. Your marketing should reflect that as well. If marketing hasn’t felt very good and you’ve found yourself avoiding it, that’s fine! It’s normal. It’s time that marketing fit your business instead of changing yourself to fit marketing that you don’t like in the first place

The Client Love Connection Online Marketing Experience is an online VIDEO summit of 18 interviews with the experts in client attraction and connection. This event will change how you feel about marketing and bring you new tools for growing your business that feel like the natural fit for the good-hearted person that you are.

If this message has hit home with you, then I hope you can join us and I really look forward to connecting with you.

Love,
Rebecca Cowan
Client Love Connection Creator
And Marketing Video Master

 

If you’d like get cool posts like this in your inbox every few days CLICK HERE to subscribe to my blog and you’ll also get a free copy of my fancy new ebook “Marketing for Hippies” when it’s done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

guest post: do what comes naturally in your biz

By: | Published: September 10, 2011 · 1 Comment

cozy 300x252 guest post: do what comes naturally in your bizby Suzanne Monroe

Since you’re in the business of natural health, you totally get what it means to live naturally. Organic foods, meditation, supplements, yoga, fitness, or whatever else you do to take care of your body, mind and spirit and fill yourself up physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Living naturally literally comes naturally to you, which is why your clients see you as a model. But do you follow this same motto in your business?

Are you doing what comes naturally to you in your business, or are you listening to what everyone else is telling you that you should be doing?

Focus Your Energy on What You do Best

Doing what comes naturally in your business means focusing your time on your talent. That is, focusing your energy on what you do best. But why does it seem there are so many things you should be doing? (Don’t you just despise the word “Should” anyway?) Once you’re in the game, you realize there’s 100s of experts telling you 100 strategies you should be using to build your business.

Oops, foot in mouth, I’m one of them! I’m always sending you marketing and biz tips that you should be doing and I truly believe you need to have a mentor you resonate with and learn their success secrets so you can grow. And I love to give away my best biz secrets to my clients….

BUT…. I always say that there’s something you should focus on first.

What’s that? Start where you feel most comfortable.

I recommend taking an inner check, quieting the mind and coming back to yourself so you can remember what feels good to you and where you feel most comfortable.

Being comfortable when you get started allows you to really shine and gain confidence. Being comfortable is a sign you are doing what comes naturally to you.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about taking steps outside your comfort zone…when the time is right. But why not start where you really shine first and then grow from there?

It’s what I did to build my business.

I started with public speaking and workshops, because I feel very comfortable talking in front of groups.

So if you love speaking to groups, get out there and speak. But if you hate standing on stage, then maybe doing a webinar would be a better way of connecting with your tribe. Do you love being on camera? Then focus your energy of videos for your community. If you love writing, start with a blog for your niche. It seems simple, but it’s easy to forget.

Are you a Marketing Failure?

Wait a minute! As a holistic practitioner, what if you just love listening and coaching your clients…are you a marketing failure? Absolutely not! Why not host a live teleseminar where you provide live coaching to your listeners. So valuable!

Got Business Bliss?

If you aren’t tapped into the core of your being in your biz, then likely you’re not where you want to be in terms of clients, income or what I call, Business Bliss (lit up, on purpose, knowing what to do every day and having complete fun and joy as you follow your passion and create the lifestyle you desire.)

When you start with what you’re good at, you can build your business quickly and effectively….and most importantly, your potential clients will be drawn to you because you’re tapped into your heart center.

Tell me, what comes naturally to you in your business? Share here and tell me one action step you’ll take now to reignite your beautiful, natural talent!

Thriving Together,

Suzanne Monroe

Founder & CEO

The International Association of Wellness Professionals

Suzanne Monroe sm1 guest post: do what comes naturally in your bizAre you a wellness professional, holistic health practitioner, or other health-minded, heart-centered entrepreneur who wants to learn the business and marketing tools to create lasting success? Get your FREE Wellness Professional’s Success Starter Kit at http://www.iawp-connect.com and jumpstart your wellness practice today. Suzanne Monroe is a Holistic Business Coach and the Founder & CEO of the International Association of Wellness Professionals, where passionate practices become thriving businesses.

 

 

 

If you’d like get cool posts like this in your inbox every few days CLICK HERE to subscribe to my blog and you’ll also get a free copy of my fancy new ebook “Marketing for Hippies” when it’s done.

| Categories: holistic practitioners, Inner Work, marketing philosophy - Tags:

guest blog: Grandmother, What Big Teeth You Have – The Dark Side of New Age Prosperity Marketing

By: | Published: August 14, 2011 · 19 Comments

talking darth vader plush guest blog: Grandmother, What Big Teeth You Have The Dark Side of New Age Prosperity Marketingby Rachael Pruitt

Where was my street-wise inner child when I needed her?

Perhaps you’re a little like me: a dreamer, not particularly great with money.  A little insecure about the big-wide-world, no matter that your hair has started to turn grey. Perhaps you too are determined to live the dream of the new life that calls to you.  A life that matters, that allows you to succeed both financially & spiritually.  A life that allows you to be of service, yet to be creative, joyful, and rich—all at the same time.

Heady stuff for an old hippie, a social service type who writes novels until midnight & slurps coffee on a blurry-eyed 6 am commute.

Sound a little like you?

This year is it, I decided. No more spiritual starvation.  The stars were whispering at me to go for it, the planets were in alignment.  I knew if I didn’t at least try to “manifest” my own consulting & teaching business now–this very moment–a crucial chance would have passed me by. A chance that might never come again.

So, primed, ready-to-take-action, I plunged into the thundering waters of New Age telesummits like a deranged surfer.  I knew I needed help—I’d never run my own business before.

Where better to look than among those who shared my idealistic, change-the-world-for-the-better values?

Suddenly my surfer persona morphed into a small town girl in a 1940s musical seeing the lights of Broadway for the first time.  Pushing sign-up button after sign-up button, I encountered marques after marques. Lights flashing, glitzy and marvelous, the various telesummit promotors all but puddled neon in a romantic flashing puddle at my feet.

“You too can turn your dreams into a SIX FIGURE BUSINESS, BECOME A SEX GODDESS, AND SERVE THE WORLD AT THE SAME TIME!!!!”   they shouted.

“DON’T LET FEAR & TREMBLING BLOCK YOUR SUCCES.”  they warned.

“WHY YOUR CLIENTS WILL THANK YOU FOR  OVERCHARGING THEM:

PUT THE  NEW ABUNDANCE PARADYM TO WORK FOR YOUR SUCCESS” ,   they chortled, winking as if we shared a private joke.

Now, six months later & several hundred dollars lighter, I wince when I look back over old emails and witness what a trusting little starry-eyed duckling I was.

I am writing this blog first as a cautionary tale to others like me—and this includes anyone who has ever dreamed big and turned to someone else to help them make the fairy dust sparkle at noon as well as in the depths of a private oh-so-silent night.

Secondly, I’m also writing to acknowledge the true visionaries among us. Yes, they do exist: those rare wisdom-keepers whose calm, non-hysterical voices are currently all but drowned-out in the influx of high-ticket life coaches and frenetic so-called miracle-workers who essentially prey on our human vulnerabilities, yearnings, and fears to make lots—and lots and lots–of money delivering New Age clichés and not much else.

I do not perceive myself as a victim, but I am legitimately angry at opportunists who masquerade as healers and have pirated the terminology of idealistic thinkers and visionaries strictly for their own gain.  I also believe it is our responsibility as seekers, to be more skeptical about whom we give our money to.  Yet, for some reason–and I suspect I am not alone in this—the fact that an individual appears under the guise of a New Age telesummit/Spiritual Entrepreneur heading, makes me more likely to trust them.

Embarrassed as I am to admit it, I spent more time and energy investigating the ingredients of my groceries than I did on the qualifications and references of someone I was entrusting my life’s dreams to.  Even after I thought I had learned my lesson, and investigated a second individual more thoroughly, it still took an email foul-up and a potential coach’s short temper to expose a particularly nasty shadow lurking just beneath a polished oh-so-radiant surface.  Fortunately, no contracts had yet been signed.

If It’s Glitzy but Smells Fishy, Don’t Go There

So, here are some guidelines I’ve developed to help separate sincere and talented healers (yes, indeed, they do exist!) from the predators:

•     Everybody needs to make a living—legitimate coaches and teachers as well. This is a given.  Yet is the coach or teacher you are considering seemingly incapable of giving you a straight answer when you request a bottom line financial quote?

Do you hear statements like:

A) “Your decision to work with me shouldn’t be based on the money it will cost.  That’s your old ‘scarcity-thinking’ talking.” (I almost fell for that one.  But isn’t it just a little deceptive to be preaching abundance-consciousness on one hand and not be proudly trumpeting your fees on the other?!)  Or the classic:

B) “Think about what it’s costing you to not sign up for my program.”

These are both ancient sales techniques—reel the fish in with lots of promises before you sock it to them with the actual cost.  And—of course—the actual cost is astronomical.

•    Is there an implied “threat”? For example: “If you don’t work with me, you will continue to be a total screw-up.” or “If you can’t get past your “blocks to abundance” now, you never will.”

All these responses imply that this individual is the only one who can help you, that you, yourself are clueless—and—of course–that time is of the essence, it is ticking away as we speak.

Again, these are old sales chestnuts: 1) the indispensible item 2) limited time offers 3) appealing to someone’s sense of need or desperation.

Every one of these are also fear-based strategies, that should, by rights, have no place on a New Age telesummit.  But, of course, in reality they are more prevalent than hornets in August.

•    Piggy-backing on this category is the specific implication that you are not capable of doing any of this by yourself.  Thus, you must hire and work with this individual or you will continue to waste away in a self-imposed prison of befuddlement and poverty.

Ironic again, as healthy self-esteem is supposed to be a cornerstone of the new potential movement.  One would think—naively–that personal disempowerment is not an optimum condition.  But it does help sales.

Additional Note: A final component of this disempowering “you really need me or you will continue to be a miserable life form barely existing on the planet” approach is the patronizing sigh.  Even if you cannot hear it, it exists in the tenor of emails or the tone of a telephone voice: “Well, if you really think you can do it on your own—“
(Translation: “I’m here for you if you are willing to cough up a few more thousand dollars. Otherwise you’ll be a total failure.  What a shame….”)

•    Last, but not least: Carefully investigate websites and references. This is still no guarantee that your potential spiritual mentor is totally legitimate—but if references and website links (especially online article links and personal contact information for references) are non-existent or inaccessible, proceed with extreme care.  No matter how nice or charming an individual is, if they can’t cough up legitimate references or if their website harbors only fluff and non-existent background links, be wary.

Also, be skeptical of anyone who asks you for an immediate down payment, before you have even had time to think about their “package”—let alone process your decision based on real information.

The Good Stuff

All this said, it has been my pleasure to connect with some 1) amazing visionaries 2) coaches who truly do make your life richer 3) money and spiritual experts who really do offer unique, practical, and inspiring insights.  These women and men have enriched my life and inspired my heart.

But, as with all things, don’t just take my word for it.  Investigate for yourself.

Nor is this list exhaustive.  There are lots of good folks out there–the trick is finding them amidst the “prosperity hysteria”.

One key thing the leaders mentioned below share is that they do not charge an arm, leg, head, and/or reproductive organs to connect with them.  A few of the following coaches are expensive, however, they continually offer freebies, books, CDs, video presentations and other low-cost materials available from their websites that allow you to utilize their techniques without spending thousands of dollars.

A second common thread I’ve found true with all of the following people is that they do not believe you are a nitwit. Far from implying or insisting that you are useless without them, these leaders simply offer techniques which allow you to trust yourself & to explore Spirit in a straightforward, non-frenzied way.

Visionaries and Life Coaches:

•    Michael Beckwith and the Agape Community.  Dr. Beckwith’s online community is based in real-world California.  He not only is one of the most inspiring speakers I have ever heard, his community is actively making a lot of people’s lives better.  Check it out.

•    Mary A. Hall’s Abundance Alive website.  For a small monthly fee, Mary offers fantastic coaching & counseling opportunities.  Her goodies are too numerous to list.  See for yourself.

•    Cheryl Richardson.  A personal coach with true integrity and pizazz, Cheryl deserves all the accolades she receives as one of the best international coaches available.  She appears regularly on Hay House radio and is a prolific author with a great website & free newsletter.

•    Lisa Michaels.  Lisa’s coaching process, “Natural Rhythms”, is wonderful; a spiritually unique approach.  She combines it with Shamanic Astrology, giving the people she coaches even more bang for their buck. Her website is chockful of goodies and a wonderful newsletter.

Spiritual & Prosperity Divas

All three of the following women stand out to me as creative groundbreakers, thinkers, and writers who are not just following a sales script.  They also know how to make this spiritual growth stuff “fun” through humor, dance, mythic work, and engaging personalities.  Any time I have ever spent with them either in person or with their materials has been priceless.

•    Morgana Rae.  Morgana is very open about charging big bucks if you can afford her as a personal coach.  However, she is very gracious about deliberately offering much of what she has put together in a low-cost workbook and/or CDs.  This lady is clever, committed, sweet, and down-to-earth with a unique approach to breaking through money issues.

•    Colette Baron-Reid. Colette is an intuitive counselor and coach, a prolific author, and has designed two beautiful decks of oracle cards.  Although her individual readings are indeed pricey, many of her workshops are comparatively inexpensive and her new book The Map is brilliant.

•    Sonia Choquette. Sonia is also an intuitive counselor who describes herself as a “catalyst”.  Again, her individual readings are expensive, but she offers several low-cost workshops a year and her books and CDs—especially Your Heart’s Desire and Ask Your Guides– are wonderful resources.

Woo Woo and Proud

•    Patrica Cota Robles:  This lady makes me see angels.

•    Doreen Virtue: This lady invites me to tea parties with them—and she even knows a few fairies to invite as well.

•    Kelly Hampton: This lady channels Archangel Michael—and I am convinced that it is him indeed. (Did you know he has a sense of humor?) Readings and healings with this dynamic duo are also very reasonably priced given the quality of what they offer.

•    Jennifer McLean’s telesummits.  Even though I personally don’t “resonate” with everyone Jennifer invites, the vast majority of her interviewees are truly the cream of the New Age crop and not to be missed.

And, of course, uncategorized—free and fun—our host, Tad Hargrave!

Conclusion

Namaste, reader.  Like me, perhaps you are sometimes weary of seeking and building a life of meaning in a chaotic and seemingly superficial world. I wish you all a truly healing, abundant, generous, and transformative life. Your happiness is well-worth the effort: as is mine.  May all your dreams come true—with or without telesummits!

 

If you’d like get cool posts like this in your inbox every few days CLICK HERE to subscribe to my blog and you’ll also get a free copy of my fancy new ebook “Marketing for Hippies” when it’s done.

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

50 real life examples of point of view in action

By: | Published: August 3, 2011 · 14 Comments

fifty 50 real life examples of point of view in actionThe other day I wrote a post about why point of view mattered (and even gave a bunch of questions you can ask to hone in on yours) so much in marketing and I gave a few examples.

But I thought a few more might help really drive home how pervasive and effective a clear perspective is in life and business.

Here’s fifty of ‘em . . .

Joanna Macey, author of The Great Turning, believes that we are in a time of The Great Turning and that there are  three core types of work needed. Holding Actions (e.g. lock downs, sit ins, tree sits, direct action, letters to the editor etc), Creating Alternatives (e.g. strawbale, permaculture, solar power, wind power, non violent communication) and Shifting Consciousness (e.g. deep ecology work, yoga, shamanic work, writing books or making movies on our relationship to the planet etc). Moreover, she believes that all three of these types of work need to work together instead of criticizing the others as being ‘less real’.

Non Violent Communication comes from the belief that there are two ways to live. The first is to come from the place of ‘how do i get what i want?’ and the other is, ‘how do we all get our needs met’. They believe that if we come from the second place we’re all much more likely to get our needs met and live happier and healthier lives.

Many people follow the 10 commandments which are a point of view of how to live a good life.

Freud did not believe in the collective unconscious, but Carl Jung did. They had a difference of point of view and ultimately divided over it.

Similarly, there are many different schools of thought in yoga, branches of the church and Buddhism that all come from the same root. What divides them now? Differences in point of view.

The five elements in traditional Chinese medicine are a map and point of view on what is needed to have in balance to live a healthy and happy life.

The four directions are an indigenous perspective on what is needed to have in balance to live a healthy and happy life in harmony with nature and the seasons.

The seven chakras come from the point of view that our well being starts from an energetic basis before the physiological one and are a map and model of the seven core energetic centers.

George Lakoff wrote a book called ‘Don’t Think of An Elephant’ and he believes that the best way to understand the worldviews of liberals vs. conservatives is to look at it as a family model. His point of view is that the conservatives fundamentally have a Strict Father model and that liberals have a Nurturing Parent model. And that both models have a very different worldview underneath them.

David Deida believes that the ‘zing’ in sexual relationships comes from polarized sexual energies – when one partner steps in the masculine energy and the other partner lets themselves open to the feminine energy.

The people who work for restorative justice believe that the point of justice should be about restoring wholeness in a community – not just punishing people.

The zodiac is not only a map of the sky but a point of view about why we are the way we are and are born with the qualities we’re born with.

Derrick Jensen lays out twenty very clear premises about why we need to act now to create change starting with a premise that western civilization is not and will never be sustainable.

Feminism is rooted in the belief that men hold power, anarchism – that the state holds power, racism – that white people hold power. And they all work to confront and shift that power.

A participant in a recent Vancouver workshop was going to lead a workshop for men with anger issues. His belief was that, underneath the anger, they were really just afraid.

Thomas Leonard wrote his book The 28 Laws of Attraction to articulate a point of view that said all this striving and personal growthing was actually unnecessary – that you could set up your lifestyle to bring you what you were wanting much more easily.

My core take in marketing is summed up in the metaphor of the journey from Island A to Island B that I illustrate in this video.

The four food groups is a point of view. As are the food pyramids. The Zone. The Blood Type diets. The vegan diet, raw vegan diets, primal diets, traditional foods etc. They’re all points of view of what we should eat and why.

The famous doctor Jack Nicklaus had crippling knee pain. The doctors diagnosis was that his knee was irreparably damaged and that he needed surgery. Then he saw Pete Egoscue who thought it was his hip rotated forwarded. So he worked on the hip and the knee pain went away. In the end, Pete’s map matched the territory better than the doctors.

Jon Stewart took over The Daily Show years ago. He believed that this mock news show should be about making fun of the MEDIA and their bias towards sensationalism and conflict not about pranking people (which the show had been). This point of view became the heart of the show as he gradually replaced everyone on the staff and built a team around that understanding.

Marketing guru Jay Abraham believed that the single most potent thing you could do to increase sales was to take on the risk of the transaction rather than expecting the customer to.

The book ‘Men Are Great’ says it’s point of view right in its title.

The anti oppression movement comes from the understanding that power and privilege are not evenly divided in society – and that the lines of power tend to run along lines of race, class, gender and other forms of privilege.

Two of my favourite shows growing up, MacGyver & Doctor Who are both rooted in the idea that problems can be solved with smarts and not guns.

Debbie Ford is a recent proponent of the ancient idea of ‘the shadow’. The idea that our greatest gifts and authenticity will be found in our darkest shadows and that the things we repress end up controlling us.

8tracks.com is an online community based on the idea that mix tapes are cool and people should be able to share and listen to music freely.

Byron Katie, author of Loving What Is bases her work in the understanding that our suffering is caused by our thinking and fighting with reality.

Contrarian Australian dentist, Paddi Lund once believed that the purpose of a business was about generating money but after years of deep depression he came to understand that the purpose of business was about generating happiness.

Tiina Veer of Toronto believes that yoga should be accessible to people with round bodies.

The movie Lemonade, about people who used being fired as a chance to reinvent their lives, sums up their point of view in it’s tagline: “It’s not a pink slip. It’s a blank page.”

Patch Adams holds the belief that health care should be free and that we can care for each other.

My new friend Aumatma believes that health care can be offered on a gift economy basis. Meaning people don’t have to pay anything other than what they want.

Kris Ward of Abundant Yogi has her point of view nestled in her company name – the idea that economic abundance and yogic philosophy are not mutually exclusive.

My old pal Joey Hundert created Sustainival out of the notion that the best way to reach the unconverted with a message of sustainability is through fun – so he’s created a sustainable carnival of sorts where he powers rides (e.g. the gravitron or ferris wheels) with vegetable oil.

Winnipeg’s brilliant Beth Martens began to offer yoga classes to care givers (e.g. taking care of eldery parents, sick spouses or children etc.) because, from her own life experience, she could see that they needed extra support.

TED Talks! Every single TED Talk is based around a liberating idea. Every single TED Talk expresses a point of view.

The Orgasmic Birth movement comes from the idea that birth doesn’t always need to be painful. That sometimes it can even be pleasurable. Radical notion!

Christianity holds the idea that the only way to eternal life (which is itself a point of view) is through Jesus Christ.

Former Anglican minister Tom Harpur wrote the Pagan Christ based on this idea: there was no Jesus of Nazareth – that the bulk of the new testament were simply egyptian myths that had been redressed in the clothing of a new age and time. The website www.jesusneverexisted.com is based on the same notion.

Author Michael Tsarion believes that civilization started in the west (Ireland) and migrated East. His entire two volume set The Irish Origins of Civilization works to back that up.

The amazing project Post Secrets is based on the idea that people would like to share their secrets and read the anonymous secrets of others.

San Francisco’s restaurant Millennium is based on the idea that vegan food can be world class and taste amazing (not just tofu and salads).

The Mayor of Edmonton, Stephen Mandel is a big believer in the book, The Creative Class which talks about how important the Arts are to local economic development.

The Kinsey Scale suggests that human sexuality is not a cut and dry line of heterosexual and homosexual – but more of a scale or spectrum that we all find ourselves in.

Louis Pasteur created the germ theory to suggest that germs were the cause of disease. His colleague Antoine Bechamps believed that ‘the microbe was nothing – the terrain was everything.’ That germs were the result of a polluted and toxic blood stream not the cause of it. On his deathbed, Louis Pasteur confessed that Bechamps was right. But Louis Pasteur had sold his point of view better.

Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla both promoted different forms of power. Thomas Edison won. But many people would disagree that his form of energy was, indeed, better than Tesla’s. But the best point of view doesn’t always win. The best articulated one does.

Before his career destroying affair was exposed, John Edwards shared the belief that there wasn’t just ‘one America’ there were ‘two Americas’. There was an America where you could afford to feed your kids and an America where you couldn’t. An America where you could afford health insurance and one where you couldn’t. His analogy rang true for many.

My friend Jeff Golfman started his blog, www.thecoolvegetarian.com based on the idea that there were already enough recipes out there. There was already enough research to suggest that a plant based diet was better for people and the planet – what he saw missing was any conversation about lifestyle and how to live a rocking and fun life as a vegetarian or vegan, how to deal with the social aspects of it.

My friend and colleague Alex Baisley offered up the liberating idea for entrepreneurs that we should design our ideal lifestyle and then back our business into that – not the other ways around. The idea that you can live your dream lifestyle right now; that you don’t need to wait until you retire.

John Gray had the novel notion that it’s like men and women are from different planets – Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. A lot of people resonated with it. The idea was that if we could honour our differences we might actually come to celebrate and enjoy them rather than seeing them as sources of frustration.

The documentary The Corporation came from the point of view that if we were going to consider corporations people (as they legally are) then we should be honest about their personality profiles: psychopaths.

The documentary The Economics of Happiness explores the idea that we need to shift from global corporate economics to local economics – and that this shift would create deeper community, happiness and well being.

My colleague Carrie Klassen‘s tagline is ‘guilt free marketing for nice people.’ There’s a whole worldview in there. That marketing can be done by nice people without guilt. What an idea!

The website http://makelovenotporn.com (extremely adult content) comes from the notion that pornography has skewed people’s understanding of what sex is and could be and has created a world of assumptions (points of view) on how it’s supposed to look. And her website is about directly challenging those.

 

Do you have any more examples? Please leave them below . . .

 



 

 

| Categories: Case Studies of Inspiring Business, marketing philosophy - Tags: ,

seven ideas on finding your voice

By: | Published: July 24, 2011 · 18 Comments

155930 10150342130855195 516700194 16481943 6667645 n 300x298 seven ideas on finding your voice154799 10150342132495195 516700194 16481985 3559483 n 298x300 seven ideas on finding your voice154222 10150342130390195 516700194 16481931 3190253 n 300x298 seven ideas on finding your voice

These are all human eyes.

Each one looks so different (you can find more here)

But that’s not the extraordinary thing.

The extraordinary thing is that each one looks at different things. From different angles. Each one sees the world in a different way.

Just the other day I had a 75 minute skype video conversation with Michael Margolis of www.getstoried.com.

Amazing.

Our conversation somehow wove together the notions of niche, point of view and story telling (and me talking about a sex workshop I went to and all sorts of unintentional innuendo). I’ll be sharing it with you all in the coming months.

And then today, I read an inspiring blog post about ‘finding your voice’. So, I thought I’d jot down some of my understandings about it.

Why is some marketing inspired and inspiring and other marketing feels gross? Why do some websites (like my friend Carrie‘s) feel so wonderful and like home and others feel slick and hypey? Why do some sales letters feel so real and authentic and others feel forced and contrived? Why do some people seem so trustworthy and others . . . we’re not sure.

Probably a lot of reasons, but these days I think that so much of it has to do with finding our voice.

Finding our own style. Our own way of saying things. Our own unique point of view and take on things. Telling our own story of the world from where we stand. Speaking from our own experience without apology. Finding our own way in the midst of a broader community.

It’s not about having the loudest voice – but the truest voice. The one that can harmonize best and solo when needed.

It’s about having the courage to call a spade a spade. To point out when the emperor has no clothes.

When you meet someone who’s found their voice you just melt. They’re so trustworthy. They’re not exuding a false confidence or bravado. They’re not posturing. They’re comfortable in their own skin. They’re not leaning on anyone. They exude what Stuart Wilde spoke of as a Silent Power. They’re walking through the world giving, not taking. There’s something so simple about them. It’s not complicated. It’s clear.

And remember: the confused mind always says no.

As you find your voice (both in tone and message) the world becomes less confused with you. It becomes clear about who you are. And you become not a searchlight desperately looking for people, but a lighthouse. A beacon calling your ships to safe harbour.

You won’t draw everyone; you’ll draw the right people. They’ll self select in. They’ll hear your words and your tone and they’ll say, ‘Yes. I’d like to hear more of that.’

Is there marketing to be done to magnify your voice and make sure it’s heard? Of course. But that’s another conversation.

There are so many ways to find your voice and, in his beautiful post below, Leo Babauta shares his take on this.

Here are a few of my own.

seven ideas on finding your voice

180473 10150416750620195 516700194 17821407 6255540 n 300x231 seven ideas on finding your voiceidea #1 – Be curious. I suppose this is the thread through the rest of them. Follow your curiousities. Because you’re the only one in the universe who feels them in just the way that you do. You’re the only one with those particular eyes that see things just as you do.

You can trust your curiosities to lead you perfectly.

They’re the best part of you that guide you your whole life towards wholeness.

180696 10150416707810195 516700194 17821022 6592372 n 300x231 seven ideas on finding your voiceidea #2 – Get some space. Do you ever just look at the front door and think, “I just want to walk on out . . . and keep going?” It’s a human itch my colleague Nicole Moen writes about – the urge for pilgrimage. The need to get out of our routines, habits and everything keeping us stuck where we are. The need for a fresh start. The need to begin again. To get space from all the expectations and demands on us so that we can begin to hear ourselves again.

idea #3 – Reflect on your journey. We do a lot of living, but not a lot of reflecting. You’ve been on a journey from somewhere to where you are now. And, on that journey, you’ve learned a lot. Much more than you realize. Think about where you started and where you are now.

What do you know about the journey now you wish you’d known back when you started? Go for coffee with a friend and share your stories. Listen deeply to each other. Reflect what you hear in each others stories. There’s non stop learning to be had here. A note: sometimes we are just too close to our own lives to reflect on it. Sometimes we need a guide to help us. It could be a friend, a guru, a mentor, a counselor or therapist. Someone who loves you and is deeply skilled in listening.

idea #4 – Let yourself bitch (privately). Don’t try to be so positive, people pleasing and accommodating. Stop being so accepting and forgiving for a few hours. Let yourself be human. Let yourself complain viciously about all the bullshit you see around you: in your community, in your industry, in the world. Be ruthlessly honest about what you think and feel. Write it all down.

And realize that you’re not alone.

And realize that others feel this way too and they feel alone.

Why not speak up and let them know they’re one of many? Why not pose questions in facebook statuses and tweets asking, ‘does anyone else feel this way?’ And now that you know what you’re against take all of that and reverse it – what are you for? What do you want instead? Refine it. Clarify it.

idea #5 – Let yourself appreciate what you appreciate. Think of all the things you’re naturally drawn to in your life. Who are the colleagues you’re most drawn to and why? Who are your mentors? What fascinates you in your industry and in your life? Where are you nerdy? What do you actually spend your time on (vs. where you think you should spend your time).

idea #6 – Answer these questions. In depth. Take a friend out for coffee and give them a print out of these questions and have them ask you each questions, one at a time, until you have nothing left to say and then move onto the next. Delve deep, deep, deep. You might be surprised at how much you have to say. You might be surprised about how strong your opinions are.

185979 10150417833470195 516700194 17835314 7482520 n 300x225 seven ideas on finding your voiceidea #7 – Engage in conversation with people about it. Once you’ve bitched, clarified, delved and refined – why not express it in some way? Maybe it’s a poem, a rant, a song, a manifesto, a video, a set of principles, a diagram, a pie chart, a doodle etc. It won’t be perfect – but it will get the conversation going. And that’s what we want. And you will learn a lot from that conversation which will help you clarify for yourself what you believe.

Want some more ideas and thoughts on this? Why not read what Leo has to say below . . .

 

Finding Your Voice

by Leo Babauta.

Creators of any kind must find their voice.

We are writers, musicians, designers, programmers, parents, builders of anything. But we are not truly expressing ourselves, and speaking the truth, until we’ve found our voice: the tone, style, tenor, pitch, personality we use to express ourselves.

Our voice is our essence, writ plain for the world to see.

A reader and fellow writer asked me how I found my voice. And I have no easy answer — I’m not even sure I can say I’ve fully found my voice yet. It’s a quest that doesn’t seem to end — not a Grail quest, really, but a constant retuning as the essence of who I am neverendingly changes.

But I feel I’ve found something that has the texture of truth, even if only a tactile approximation. I’ll share some of my thoughts, but keep in mind I don’t hold the answers firmly at all.

I’m learning, and I hope my learning helps yours. This is written for writers, but the ideas are the same for anyone who creates anything.

to read the rest of this brilliant post: click here

| Categories: Inner Work, marketing philosophy, Tad's Rants - Tags: , , ,