I'm bringing back this decade old (non-religious) post because it seems more important than ever now. May this calm your fragmented, multi-directional, "social-everything" marketing efforts back to the core of our "prime directive" - enabling clients to obtain the brilliance you offer.
“Marketing as a spiritual practice.” It sounds contradictory – how can sales and promotion possibly be considered spiritual?
But the secret is, once you truly understand that marketing isn’t all about struggle, jargon, talking people into something or gimmicks. Rather, spiritual practice is the very root of success.
Sound completely airy-fairy? We understand the response. But in reality, marketing consists of a set of specific actions or practices. And only you can decide whether you wish to tackle them in angst, or with value and truth (i.e., as a “spiritual practice”). Once you learn how to apply this practice to your marketing, you’ll make more money, attract clients truly right for you, and feel exponentially more satisfied.
Quicken The Discovery Process
We know that it is unlikely in the first 20 years of a business to have the experience to know which strategies will work and that it’s virtually impossible to have the objectivity needed to create a clear, concise marketing message for oneself.
This is precisely why Allison Bliss Consulting utilizes the concept of “spiritual practice”: We help every company that struggles with its marketing to quicken the discovery process, and to stay on course in developing and executing its marketing strategy and messages.
Once you are on purpose (or “in spirit”) with connecting your helpful products or services with those who value them, you will attract the clients or customers who are truly right for your business. You won’t need to “trick” them with clever marketing gimmicks or spam them with emails or social media. Instead, your judgment and wisdom will guide you to follow the practice outlined below.
Of course, if you’re one epiphany short of a great concept, we’ll be there for you, too!
Clarity.
The root of spiritual marketing is clarity. If you are clear about what you want and what you offer, you will make it easier for people to do business with you: Your prospective customers will instantly know whether you offer what they need.
It doesn’t matter if you sell computer software, handbags, or coaching services. The fact is, companies often describe what they offer with far too much complexity. Our company is a perfect example: We are a multi-faceted agency with multiple services and experts to help in the many areas of marketing communications. Our core offer is business and marketing advising so clients know what steps to take and where to focus time and dollars.
With that complex business model, it becomes that much harder for people to make a decision to purchase what one sells. Achieving this clarity – this unwavering perception of how to do [self] service or product promotion – is typically the biggest challenge for companies of all sizes.
Another related business challenge: offering complex products at varying price points, through multiple distribution channels. This scatter-shot approach confuses people. As a result, they must work even harder to un-clutter or ‘clarify’ what your company is selling in order to buy. Again, our company is one of those complex cases of this. To simplify we just offer "marketing services" and discuss the strategic service with clients. Sometimes, it's easier to have a simple written message and discuss the broader or more complex options.
Another tip: If you don’t put prices on your services, and people have to ask what they cost, you will probably lose sales. Far too many of us instantly recall the axiom that states, “if you have to ask how much, you probably can’t afford it.”
You're Not Married to Your Message Forever
Remember when Coca Cola actually used to sell the taste of its product, rather than the image of the drink as a hip, cultural accoutrement? Decades ago, I contributed to the Honda campaign to build an image that appealed to the “laid back California” market. How times have changed: now the company’s messages promote safety and reliability to attract “serious” buyers across the nation.
When we define your marketing messages or write your promotional materials, this is exactly what we do: we clarify your offer to attract those who need what you sell. Your ideas will be defined and refined into clear, convincing, compelling information that will get your audience to react. No jargon, no gimmicks, no trickery. Just a deeper “wisdom” in your marketing.
Faith.
If you don’t have the faith in what you are doing, or confidence in your abilities, you’ll have a harder time selling your product or service. You won’t be able to stick with a plan or follow through on a marketing campaign long enough to generate worthy results.
Women tend to have the hardest time with this in the sense of confidence, often having feelings of being a fraud. They sometimes fear expressing their value if they don't know every single thing about their topic or industry, have a few Ph.D's in the subject or national news stories about their work. This derives from a lengthy cultural influence where men often gain the advantage because they are expected to figure out how to make things work, whether they have the training or not. These expectations are not fair to anyone, and harm the faith needed to succeed.
I see this failure most often in businesses in their first 10 years. They jump from gimmick to campaign, and don’t do the all-important follow-up (which is where most sales are generated).
More importantly, it’s simply not a “spiritual practice” to put information out there without making personal connections. That is the true reward. Deep joy is only achieved through honest, real connections; not with marketing hype that preempts the development of true, lasting relationships. (See more on this concept below)
Wisdom
All world, business, and spiritual leaders seek wisdom. We are only human; obviously, we cannot have all the answers.
It is imperative to our business and to our personal growth that we seek the knowledge needed to continually improve our business (and in turn, our lives). We must never be too proud (or too foolish) to request help from experts when needed.
By sharing the wisdom of successful business owners and marketers, you will find inspiration and enlightenment. You can choose from a full breadth of writings, classes, webinars, and consultations (or even meditation, if you’re so inclined). Hey, it worked for Buddha … why not us business owners? After all, Knowledge is Bliss.
Take Action.
Once the vision of your business has been defined, and you have the wisdom, clarity, and faith in your ability to deliver, you must be a devout marketer. You must take action to gain the clientele you have prepared to serve. Without the action, there will be no results. Using this method for marketing will allow you to pursue your action with integrity, confidence, and even joy.
WHERE CAN YOU FIND HELP?
Inspiration comes from many sources: classes, reading, or working with insightful and intuitive professionals who can offer guidance and take action with you. That is exactly what we do. With strategic business and marketing direction, our teams of writers, social media, designers, publicists, researchers, video, and website experts use specific guidance processes to help get companies on target, plan their marketing using proven methods and inspired techniques that work, and develop creative, thoughtful promotional materials and publicity campaigns.
If you wish to contact us, we can recommend any number of outstanding spiritual practice resources. If you want focussed, individualized marketing help using these principles for your business, we're standing by. 415-806-5600
PART II OF THIS ARTICLE: "UNLEASHING YOUR POTENTIAL"
ALLISON BLISS CONSULTING
We believe that deep connections with our clients and our community are what make a business really work. It’s a mystery to us . . . but we find that if you invest in the spiritual aspect of your business, you will reap many unanticipated rewards. We support several community organizations, but don't use that as part of our promotion because it feels slimy to do so. You can, too: we’ll show you a very easy way to implement this process. It’s all part of marketing as a spiritual practice.
If you’d like our help in honing your marketing to truly support the spirit of your business, give us a call. What you invest in solid marketing, will usually triple your return over the next year. Just visit our website (yes, all prices are listed!), www.allisonbliss.com, for full details. And remember: Allison Bliss Consulting is with you in spirit!