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Heartfelt MarketingA couple weeks ago, InfoGuru Forum member Gary Jesch invited me to do a webcast with marketing author Tom Asacker on the topic of "Heartfelt Marketing - Using the Power of Emotion." Tom, the author of "Sandbox Wisdom," turned out to be a kindred soul and we spent a very fun, interactive hour together exploring what it means to market from the heart. I'd like to give you free access to this recording. You can download the Real Audio below or actually tune into the webcast which includes an integrated slide show. Doawnloadable Streaming Webcast And below are my edited notes that I created for this program. Like almost everything I do these days, I divided Heartfelt Marketing into five steps or five levels. 1. Heartfelt marketing starts with personal authenticity. People simply feel more comfortable with other people when they are being authentic, that is, being themselves and not pretending to be something they are not. People like to deal with sincere, honest, pleasant people. Professionals coming from this space realize that marketing is a natural act of sharing value and doing their best. 2. Heartfelt marketing requires passion about your services. You can only communicate a feeling of excitement and enthusiasm if you are truly into your business and your area of expertise. You need to read books and magazines, attend seminars and belong to professional organizations. You want to literally become an evangelist for your area expertise. Authenticity and passion are the price of admission. Anything below that is just being in business to survive. If you want to take things to a whole new level you need to work on the three below: 3. Heartfelt marketing is focused on the client or customer. You must be interested and care about your clients' problems, concerns, issues and challenges. And you need to gear all your marketing communications to be "client-centric." I've observed, working with hundreds of clients, that this is where most Independent Professionals need to focus the most. 4. Heartfelt marketing is a science and an art. This means studying, observing, implementing, testing, evaluating and fine tuning your marketing. This level of heartfelt marketing is rarely practiced by Independent Professionals. This is about truly loving your business. Practicing one through three will lead to success. If you add this fourth step you will most likely be rich. 5. Heartfelt marketing ultimately becomes a spiritual calling. This is when every single action you do in your marketing is literally dedicated to a higher power. This entails an extraordinarily high level of commitment, awareness and perseverance. This path is for a very few. When you practice business and marketing at this level, your every word and action becomes magnetic. People love doing business with you because it lifts them up to another level. You need to master one level of heartfelt marketing at a time. Ask yourself where you are now and then take some steps towards the next level.
* Authenticity - So many people experience marketing and selling as hype. No wonder. Most marketing IS hype. Perhaps large businesses can get away with this, I don't know. But if you're an Independent Professional your prospects will see right through you and shun you in a nanosecond. Keep it real. * Passion - If you're not excited about your business, how do you expect clients to be excited and pay good money to work with you? However, you can't manufacture excitement. It needs to come within. Find a calling that interests you endlessly and you'll know you're on track. * Client Focus - It's not that we don't want to help clients - we do. It's just that we sometimes go so overboard on number two above that we forget to listen to, to tune into the needs and concerns of our prospects. You'll actually convey your excitement more effectively by sincerely getting to know everything you can about your prospect's situation. * Art & Science - Every word, every expression, every question, every subtle nuance that you communicate to your prospect has an impact. It either draws you closer or pushes you away. When you study the art and science of marketing you realize that it's all about making friends and making people happy. * Spiritual Calling - What if absolutely nothing that happened externally could upset you? What if you took everything, including marketing, impersonally? What if you saw it as a wonderfully delightful game that you could play for your whole life and never get bored? That would be spiritual marketing.
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