This is the riskiest post I’ve ever written.
I am about to break my own cardinal rule of never talking about politics or religion in my newsletter. And even though I am not political, I can’t help but talk about politics to illustrate my point.
Here it goes:
In my opinion, one of the main reasons our political system is broken is because its design has been co-opted by politicians who put most of their time, energy and resources into getting re-elected and holding power rather than on serving the people they are meant to serve. Politicians make promises and then make back-room deals, placing their own interests of staying in power (or getting elected in the first place) way above what they are there for in the first place being in service to their tribe, their constituents. Because of this unfortunate evolution, government has become a joke.
Well, marketing has become a joke, too. Just like politicians, seemingly conscious business owners can also fall into the trap of placing much more of their effort on marketing rather than on truly serving their tribe. They care less about helping their clients get results than they do about getting those clients in the first place. They seem to forget that they are making empty promises and ignore the fact that so many of their clients are disappointed.
Just like politicians with government, unconscious marketers are giving marketing a bad name. They make a pact with the devil to do whatever it takes to get someone to do something (vote, buy their product, hire them, etc…) for their own benefit, forgetting their role as a humble servant of their community. And it makes me mad (and it’s not easy to get me mad).
What’s worse, these marketers are leaving a bad taste in our mouths about marketing. It’s giving marketing a bad name and creating so much resistance in all of us to market in the first place. At the same time, we know we need to market in order to create the level of success we so desire.
So how do we get this bad marketing taste out of our mouth and be able to market with no resistance?
This is how I’ve done it.
- I commit to delivering on the promise of my marketing.
- I commit to over delivering with every one of my offering.
- I commit to only enroll people who I know will benefit from my offering.
- I commit to putting the need of my clients over my own.
- I commit to creating a first rate experience for the people I am meant to serve.
And I ask you to do the same.
I can’t change our political system, but I am committed to do everything I can to inspire more heart-based business owners to embrace and fall in love with conscious marketing.
Would you be willing to help?
Let me know here.
Warmly,
Bill
Bill: There’s a book you need to read – which totally changed the course of my career. I had started volunteering with political campaigns and interning for legislators when I was still in high school, so by the time I graduated college, I was already a somewhat disillusioned political hack – trying to decide whether to continue on the track I had been as a “staffer” (and it isn’t just the elected officials whose decisions are clouded by the need to keep their jobs) or stay involved on more of a volunteer basis thru campaigns and party politics (don’t get me started on what’s happened with BOTH major parties). I read an incredible book that talked about exactly what you address in your post – written by Alan somebody, around 1992, blue cover with a picture of Congress – I am completely blanking on the name now but will let you know when it comes to me. It was the first book since college where I grabbed a highlighter and made notes in the margins – even though I wasn’t in class! Anyway, it was because of that book that I decided to leave the public sector for the business world so that I could be in the position to be a public servant and base my work on SERVICE, not financial need. Does that make sense? Really wish I could think of the name of that book! Will let you know at Unstoppable Live! I hope!
Bill,
I don’t think that is enough Bill (you are awesome though!!!) When a system is broken and doing harm it is not enough to just commit to being an individual that will do his share “right”. You must take an active step in trying to either end the broken system or commit to building a better alternative system. If strong enough and capable enough to do it right then people must use their strength to fix the structural problems. I know, I know we all hear that voice that says “I can only be responsible for my behavior”…”I cannot fix the world but I can fix me”…. This approach is only step one not the whole journey. It is not enough to be the “good guy” in a destructive system.
I commit to what you ask, I want to help more and I have invested my life savings, house and all that I own in starting a movement to change the whole broken exploitive system of marketing and advertising. And, the funny part is that by fixing this we actually can change the political system. I would love your support Bill.
FOUND IT! Alan Ehrenhalt’s 1991 book The United States of Ambition: Politicians, Power and the Pursuit of Office – if you’re into this stuff, you TOTALLY have to read this book!
Well said! So many people out there trying only to take money instead of thinking how to really help their clients.
Bill,
When I heard you say that those who work with high end clients can have time to give and help others I had hope that you might be able to help me. I am not asking for myself but for a project to help improve the disfunction of our government interaction. I know there are many ways to give and my way isn’t for all, but I risked asking after the phone call for feedback, which you asked us for. I was told that there wan’t time to talk about politics and that you did not want us having a conversation. I wouldn’t have hoped enough to try, but I filled in a time block for 30 min and the feedback questions were completed. After the phone call, I went to the bonus program and chose “the riskiest post I’ve ever written.” How do I make sense out of this experience? Who are you really.??
I can’t change the political system either. But we the people made it and we can change it. Yet we must work together. Are you or anyone else interested in hearing about this? I would like to help. I know we can make a difference when we join together. This is not about joining the fight, it is about learning to work together. Here is my email and phone.
glenn franz
glennfranz@gmail.com
541-432-4036
joseph, oregon
I would beg to differ that you can’t change the political system. Those who created it had neither an extra brain nor 3 hands.
Just people like you.
You are right. I meant to say that it is not my personal path in life to change the political system.
Simply stated and universally true. I’d love to see more honesty and consciousness in marketing. It should be about establishing long-term relationships with clients by over-delivering on promises, that way your clients will be your biggest advocates and do your marketing for you. It’s all about building a brand through a reputation of quality. (Best of all, you can sleep at night!)
Good stuff, Bill!
Hi,
So true… be the change that you want to see!
One thing I got from having a gap and the Master of Enrollment Program is that it’s not about forcing something down someone’s. It’s about sharing something that we love & excited about with those that are ready to receive it.
What if marketing was just a way to be more curious about the world?
Marketing is about inspiring curiosity. I love that.
Nathalie, love that you’ve been commenting on a few different articles of mine.
Simply, I love this!
Thank you,
Laura
I’m with you, Bill, I don’t like to talk politics. Maybe a little religion, just for fun. But I join you in making this exception. I would like any political party that actually does what it says it will do. They all offer something appealing in their pitches. In fact, I believe any form of government would work just fine if they did what they said they were going to do.
Even if someone didn’t market with integrity in the past, they can start from right here and right now. Why not? It’s more effective anyway. There is salvation in your final list of bullet points! See, I got some religion in there too. 😉
Thanks for your words of wisdom. I work with balancing both within and without. The flow of money is exchanging one thin for another. All hearth felt service requires some exchange. Otherwise, we create an imbalance and lose our sense of meaning. Everything is learning and we all have our lessons and responsibility to create greater light. I am willing to help in what ever way I can to enhance the consciousness of interconnection.
Bill,
I want to throw my 2 cents in here as well. Your vision of commitments is inspiring and feels like the way to turn the tide. I feel good about committing to do the same and will.
Thank you too for ALL these emails, I read them all (eventually) and they are packed with great things.
Brad
Thank you for having the courage to speak your truth. You are a respected distinction in our industry and your post has IMPACTED my marketing messages already reminding me to keep being myself, real, and of service. We are all getting tired of getting email messages that are hype and sounding the same. Everyone seems to be copying each other verbatim. I am tuning out and so are many others.
The authentic, coming from the heart marketing is the way of the future and you are leading this Bill. With love, Rita
YES! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve just not sent an email or marketed to my list for fear of seeming ‘smarmy’ like so many of the emails I receive.
I commit to the same.
I commit to delivering on the promise of my marketing.
I commit to over delivering with every one of my offering.
I commit to only enroll people who I know will benefit
from my offering.
I commit to putting the need of my clients over my own.
I commit to creating a first rate experience for the
people I am meant to serve.
Love and Light,
Liesel
Thank you so much Bill. I completely agree and also know that sometimes I have been so anxious to fill a programme that I forget. Thank you for reminding me what is important and I am ready to stand out, step up and commit.
The lesson has been gratefully received.
Love and blessings
Loisxx
Thanks for taking the risk to tell it like it is and thanks for reiterating your commitments and values!
Thanks Bill,
We can live by our word, be a tribe, be accountable and succeed in creating quality community, real awareness in serving each other with the highest level- or not and moving forward with integrity.
Thanks for the inspiration and reminder!
Thank you Bill for speaking out! What I have been noticing over the last year is that marketing has become the goal. Seems like many people are selling nothing but “bling” (shiny stuff). There is a lot of glitzy marketing of fantasy illusions of grandeur and in crowd phenomena without much substance. This hurts us all as it creates a house of cards image of the coach as vulture preying off of desperate folks offering nothing but a how to be like me cookie cutter template of “success”.
Nothing like the real people who are honestly offering real services that are indeed helpful.
That shows a lot of character Bill, nice.
Bill,
I appreciate your willingness to illustrate the point that we are often lulled into unconscious states by what masquerades as “Best Practice”. And I completely agree that to be successful requires humble service to an audience reached through value based messaging and over-delivery on our promises.
Our marketing efforts can no longer be about doing more, but rather they should be about simply being more — more honest, more true, more authentic.
When I looked up consciousness in freedictionary.com I found:
…A sense of one’s personal or collective identity, including the attitudes, beliefs, and sensitivities held by or considered characteristic of an individual or group. and
… Alertness to or concern for a particular issue or situation.
Thank you for raising the collective consciousness of this group and for leading the movement to encourage us all to commit to being more.
Yes, I am willing to help.
“¢ I commit to delivering on the promise of my marketing.
“¢ I commit to over delivering with every one of my offering.
“¢ I commit to only enroll people who I know will benefit
from my offering.
“¢ I commit to putting the need of my clients over my own.
“¢ I commit to creating a first rate experience for the
people I am meant to serve.
Wishing you well–
Nanette
Of course I’m willing to help! Otherwise we risk extinction! My reputation in the community has been established by helping educate my clients and by being straightforward in my recommendations for them, even to the point of occasionally refering to competitors when in the best interest of my client. That has produced public statements in meetings and networking groups about my honesty and provided credibility that you cannot purchase. It is a marathon, not a sprint, and our fearless leaders should be leading by example. Thank you for your heartfelt, astute post. Let me know how I may be of help..
Hello Bill,
I appreciate your honesty and your timing-Synchronistic to my own awareness of Who I bring into the practice, and How much time it will really really take to be of highest service to them.
I can tell you two things:
-This work I offer is not for everyone who says they are interested.
-My original idea of what a ‘full’ high service private practice looks like is a much smaller group than I had previously imagined.
And YES, I am willing to help.
Many blessings to you and your journey,
Kaeleya Rayne
Wonderful post, Bill! I’m not clear about what you think that you are risking, but I really like the sentiments and their delivery!
It reminds me of another post that I read last week. It was from someone in the Internet Marketing Space, perhaps even another “Coach.” It was about lying in (marketing) copy and whether it was ever acceptable (No).
I bring that up because I wrote a response post that (mostly) fits in well with your post, Bill, and maybe I am just a bit lazy. Here is almost all of it:
“… IMO it is about time that these issues (such as lying versus “creative word usage,” hype, manipulation, etc.) are discussed in this IM community (not that I am a “big player,” or even a “medium-sized player,” or even… no, I better keep some mystery left, as this is marketing, right?).
As is obvious by reading many of the responding comments (as well as life experience), different people place that “line in the sand,” say, in different places (between that which is ethical marketing and that which is not). This can apply to not only sales copy hype, but to upsells, downsells, false scarcity, expert status, and on and on, including even such seemingly simple things as list building disclosures.
If you think about it, I am only stating the obvious (perhaps in a “sophisticated” way). My problem is where I place that line in the sand, or at least where I kid myself in placing it (as a marketer). I mean, I am just so blanking pure and ethical in what I will do and not do in my marketing, so much so that I am not making money (excepting miniscule AdSense revenues).
Meanwhile, those collection calls continue coming in, essentially every day.
How about that NLP reframing magic?”
Warren Freedlund
You are so RIGHT! Thank you for having the courage to say it. It’s nice to know one person who isn’t hung up on political correctness!!!
Great post with reminders for all sales, service and marketing to keep uppermost if we plan to rebuild a strong economy in a new environment.
I’ve been an entrepreneur for a long time, I,even began when your “I commits” were the norm… Glad to see an influencer like yourself being so,clear,on the Importance of integrity
Absolutely! What do you have in mind beyond those commitments?
Contact me.
I have never marketed. It’s not my nature. All my clients come through word of mouth. I have learned that it is better to admit when it is not a ‘good fit’, where there is willingness, not willfulness.
I have also learned putting clients’ needs above my own is not sustainable. It is not something I offer.
I have also learned that offering more than someone can integrate can be wasteful; honoring that enough is often enough and to hold that space before eliciting the desire for ‘more’- the ‘more’ inherent in marketing.
However I do appreciate and share the values of integrity, generosity of heart, and planting the seed for the courage needed to realize one’s fullest potential.
Bill,
This commitment is a healing balm placed on painful experiences of many people and a cause for joyful realization that many coaches think and feel exactly like I do. Thank you for both.
Ranka
Bill,
I am so very proud of you for taking what you consider a “risky” email…..I laugh only because I feel that we have been drinking the same juice….I could go on but then I would only be preaching to the choir!
What I found most interesting is this….you asked, “would you be willing to help?” But then you don’t tell us what you want help with…so my question is….Yes, but how do you want help? Let us know!
Thanks!
Ellen
Bill,
When blaming others for doing bad things I grow the most when I remember that they are a mirror for something in myself. When I can love that possiblity in myself, then I can be grateful to them for my opportunity to grow. Thanks for this reminder Bill.
For me there’s a tipping point at the fulcrum of the worthiness seesaw where I get so afraid of my marketing being pushy and manipulative that I don’t make offers even when the benefits are clear. Thanks for starting this discussion though!
Bill, your words confirm why I am in your tribe! Our philosophy, values, commitments are one! Thanks for expressing it so well and continuing to be
an inspiration for all of us – as are the members of your team also.
Love and Blessings,
Jennie
Integrity is alive and well.
Thank you, Bill, for being brave and honest enough to write the way writing was intended to be. You are a noble man and I support and respect your views.
Bill you read my mind! A friend of mine and I were having this very discussion two days ago. I am so disheartened by the empty promises many people including salesmen and politicians make.
I will make the same commitments as you.
Much Love
Stephen
Bill, the timing on this was pretty amazing. I am burned out from marketing and just completed a self-assigned 5 day retreat to re-align with Spirit and do whatever course correction is required. For the moment I am going on a fast, where I’m pulling way back on my online promoting and not even trying to do online programs. Things don’t sell if you aren’t in full alignment with what you’re offering and how. So for now, I feel rested and relieved, and we’ll see what comes up in this space. Thank you for speaking to the “WHY.”
Pam
Bill, Great piece. I absolutely support the principles you laid out in your posting. I am a George Kao client and most of the people I know from that community are also committed to those principles.
Selling a product just for the $ is a hollow reward. This is why I left “live” consulting, the money was great, but seldom were the recommendations implemented fully. I felt like I had wasted my time and talent.
Now I am delivering my referral building webinar program to people who, a) need it and b) want it, and c) I am committed to seeing that they execute on it by following up.
Thanks Bill
Your statements that you “love marketing” and are “committed to benefiting more people through your marketing than you do through the services you are paid for” has been very inspiring to me. You are raising the bar for what “conscious marketing” means. Thank you!
Jeff
Absolutely spot on young fella! It is all about the customer not you. The more focus on delivering for the customer the more you will be rewarded.
“Let your life be your teaching.”
Good post. Thanks for sharing!
I believe we are all being nudged right now to be more authentic and integrated in everything we do.
Humans repeat ridiculous patterns because its all they know.
The world is starving for real-life working examples of how to make a living with Love, kindness and integrity. We are the people we’ve been waiting for. We are the people who can create new, more wholistic systems.
The one thing I would add to your post is that it is impossible for people to be real and genuine and honest with others until they first take the time to get real with themselves.
Heck yeah! Thx for
breaking your rule
and taking the risk!
Hil
Right with you, Bro!
I totally agree with you Bill. Both on the government and marketing! It’s better to inform and be there when people need you.
Thanks!
Yes! Underpromise and over-deliver.
Yes Bill,
I will help by doing my part.
great headline… but you can go way riskier as
far as i’m concerned. Of course that’s coming
from someone who teaches -Tantra, The Art
of Turning Fast Food Sex Into Gourmet Love
Making…
ahhh, now on to my point.
THANKS – i was soooo busted by your email.
There are times (more then i care to say when
i am focused on my marketing vs what’s best
for them…)
Your email was a great reminder.
YES i would like to help in several ways – the first
is by being an example of possibility and commitment
(my commitment sheet is below)
Next is by helping others get clear on what they
are committed too… I have been volunteering
in prison for 6 1/2 years teaching inmates the
power of the words they use and the commitments
they make. I also work with couples, helping them figure
out what they are committed to.
and yes – i would to help politicians do the same
and stop wasting all this time, money and energy
fighting with each and start solving the problems
instead of blaming each other.
with purpose, passion and possibility,
Paul Sterling
ps. stay risky… 😉
http://www.tantraforyou.com
http://www.magicrelationship.net
This is my LIFE! This is my STAND!
THIS IS WHAT I AM COMMITTED TO!
I am COMMITTED to having an extra-ordinary life, filled with love, adventure and contribution.
I am COMMITTED making a powerful stand for people’s possibilities so they can have the breakthroughs they need to have the life of their dreams.
I am COMMITTED to having amazing, heart-opening relationships filled with love, trust, intimacy, connection, adventure, contribution, fun, and growth.
I am COMMITTED to having breakthroughs in these areas of my life, even with all my stories, resistance, fears and doubts.
I am COMMITTED to keeping these commitments while living a life filled with passion, purpose and possibility,
Paul Sterling (Captain Compassion)
PS. if you feel like sharing with me, I would enjoy knowing what you are committed to and how I can help you have the amazing life you desire and deserve?
Very well written. And the thing I’ve found super annoying, as a coach myself, is the amount of coaches trying to help coaches…while undoubtedly helping themselves first and not giving real solutions to most coach’s problem of being super heart centered, wanting to serve their people but having no skills in marketing. In comes the ‘super-coach’ who tells you social media this, and branding that, and online courses, but not real solutions to help you find real people. I have found a few diamonds in the rough, but when did coaches turn their focus onto each other rather than to serving the people in the world who need it? It makes my head spin….
Let us be riskier, because that means we are allowing ourselves to be tender and yet penetrate to the core of the matter faster, with no frills. The idea of many businesses is that it wouldn’t say one thing or the other about things in case people “get upset” or “misunderstand”. Economy of words, energy, time IS crucial, because that is how you can more effectively affect your world.. and also because that means you practice utmost self-care and self-respect. Having passion means you care, means you blurt out your truth.
Being an infinite energy source… what can you sell? what is the motivation? Can that motivation be ultimately “liberation”? “honest-to-goodness genuine living”? What are we REALLY selling- are we not loving ourselves enough to allow us to SERVE, LOVE and GROW??
Thanks for the blog. I agree wholeheartedly.
Unfortunately, this post speaks to almost any service industry. I am appalled at some of the stories I hear about coaches, therapists, acupuncturists, you name it. So, yes, I’m in. Offering heart-centered services as best I can, as often as I can…
You always walk the talk bill and I am on board 100% with you!
love & light,
Jeni
Thank you for that! One reason I could never do conventional sales was because it seemed like deception was built into the formula. We’re here to uplift humanity, no?
When people train to be professional counselors and psychotherapists, they have a mandatory class in ethics. This covers both the law and the expected behavior for a counselor or therapist. Moreover, when the counselor or therapist is licensed, if they violate their code of ethics or break the law, their license–and with it, their ability to earn money–is revoked.
While those who go to business school learn about the law, I am not aware that they are also trained in ethics. So they know how far to go without getting fined or arrested, but outside of that, anything goes–“as long as we make a buck, we say good luck, while your fortunes we steal…”
I wonder how much of this cowboy marketing we would see if salesmen were held to the same standards as counselors and therapists.
I will red your message again, and I thank you for inspiring me and calling me to a high standard as I am beginning my cherished business.
When I was in private practice, I operated on the premise that “if you take the best care you can give for your patients they will take care of you”. It never failed.
Nicely put, Bill. I think you have called attention to the essential difference between “Internet marketing” and coaching. Coaches focus on benefit to the client. Internet marketers too often exert most of their energy on getting more clients/customers.
Jim Long
Nexus-to-Health
Agree entirely. If you don’t stand for something, you can fall for anything.
Thanks Bill. I am a sales person, and for years this has been my mantra. I was frustrated with sales people who over promised and under delivered, so I set out to prove to my clients that I am there for them and their referrals. For a service oriented small business, I learned quickly that I could not do the same marketing as the large competitors because it took too much time away from my current clients. Over the years, I had to treat each and every client like they were my only client in order to earn their loyalty and referrals. To this day, I continue to get calls from new clients that were/are referred by my clients because they tell them how wonderfully they were treated.
I am now trying to work on how to take my business to the next level and keep the level of service that my clients have come to expect.
There’s an elephant in the room, Bill. You’ve called it like it is. Thanks for taking that step and risk.
All for a commitment to serve the people I care about, first!!
here, here – spot on. Let’s put a stop to it – all the politicking is now so dull, tiresome and draining!
Amen brother Bill! I am so with you on this commitment. The irony of all this unscrupulous marketing is that the only real value you have and can offer is your integrity…so why lose your true valuable offering with this way of doing business AND living life.
I am not willing to lose or work with people which don’t flow in this intergral way of being. If they aren’t there, I think it is best to wish them well and move on.
Thanks for putting that out there for all to see (and reflect on).
Blessings,
John Weiss
BodySpeak Movement Therapy
You are so right about politicians here in the UK, Bill. I hadn’t put that much thought into some of the marketers, though I can think of some instances.
Very well said! We need a campaign for better government.
Hi Bill,
I can understand from our conversation at dinner last month how bringing up politics was a bold step for you to take, possibly as uncomfortable as bluffing against a pair of Aces, :-).
I agree with your assessment of how marketing is looking to the sale more than the fit and support you in your quest for marketing to go hand in hand with integrity.
Saying that I would like to bring in politics for a moment, which is easy for me, to also make a point, for which I am in the unknown stepping off the cliff with faith, :-).
A recent article about one of the political candidates stated that their continuous emailing for contributions has started to become counterproductive.
I find with some marketers who have me on their list or whose teleseminar I have visited bombard me with email invitations that are generic and not really to me.
How do you feel about after one campaign of emails (I have not gotten to this point in my business development yet) an email centered to asking for permission to continue inviting. Something to the affect of asking what frequency a potential tribe member would like to be contacted or what they would like to be contacted about? This permission email could be sent once a year or every 6 months as potential tribe members priorities change.
Best Wishes,
Barney
So sad, so true, on both counts. Thank you for continuing to stand for value and integrity, Bill Baren. And thank you for being different. Your quiet integrity speaks volumes.
Well said, Bill. We can all help divert the flow of our energies into much better channels. And in doing so, insure that any marketing we do will be far more effective.
Thanks for taking that risk. I think it was a good one!
Hi BIll,
I agree with you 100% and with Hugh also about sales. I’ll bet we could find others in other fields that feel the same way. How about the medical field? How much time and care do the doctors really have or are they just there to do what they can and push the people through the system? Maybe a good question would be… How do we get the world back on track to caring for people more than money? Great, thought provoking email Bill.
Linda Napier, Owner, Tension Management Institute.
Bill,
I agree wholeheartedly. The reason I continue to open your emails is that I see you modeling this stand. I’m doing my best to do that, too, though my business is new (just launching this month). Thank you and Blessings to you.
Bill, Thanks for the great reminder of super service. Point by point it is a success formula to definitely follow. You are the best and always over deliver! Again, Thank you.
Bill,
Taking risks are great, that’s where we move into the genius zone; so thank you for taking a risk and sharing your point of view with us and thus reminding us of what is important and how to uphold our values. Thank you.
Bill, I can’t tell you how timely your e-mail arrived. I just wrote about exact same issues. I am so glad I am not alone.
Each of your points is right on target. Looking at the marketing, especially in the coaching industry, the thoughts of “pyramid scheme” has come to mind. It’s like a bazaar, where each seller offers the same “Make 6-7 figures with my stuff”, “Get Clients On Demand, etc.”
What about the results? If the clients don’t get them, there is always a convenient: “They didn’t take action (i.e. are lazy)”, “Look at all my testimonials”, etc.
I actually studied testimonials (I can’t help it -it’s my science education:). There is not enough space in this comment to describe my findings, except to say -it’s not pretty.
Yes, Bill – we need greater transparency in all levels of life – from politics to religion to business to personal life. As I develop my intuitive healing practice, I am becoming aware of levels upon levels of manipulation and deception, starting when we are newborn babies.
Wouldn’t it be great to have conversations around profit that include acknowledgement of the need for profit, but also an open discussion about how much is too much or whether or not you are short-changing yourself. I’m working through the “not charging what my services are worth” bit. This is especially common (but not exclusive) to women who were raised in a family that consciously or unconsciously devalues women.
Hmmm . . . I could write a lot more on interesting new conversations in all areas of life if we were able to openly talk about our needs and wants from a position of strength and mutual cooperation.
Brilliantly stated, Bill! I applaud you for your “œrisky post” that is 100% spot on, and wish more coaches at higher levels would follow the same example.
In my opinion, that is not risky PR at all, it is Thought Leadership.
Laura
Thanks Bill for having the courage and insight to describe the situation we are all feeling. Lots of noise, no integrity. It’s impossible to be proud of that. It’s ‘helping’ that has lost it’s way!
Hey, Bill! What you have written about marketing is equally true in sales. That’s why, in my sales coaching practice, I’ve dedicated myself to teaching salespeople to build relationships and to become their prospects’ partners in finding solutions to the prospect’s problems and helping the prospects get what they want and need. In other words, the entire sales process is about the prospect, not about the sale or the salesperson. And of course, we have to be ethical and responsible enough to send our prospects to someone who can help them if we are not the solution to their challenge. Thanks for the email, Bill. All the best, Hugh Liddle, CEO, Red Cap Sales Coaching.
I am sad to have to agree on both counts. (politics and marketing)
Great Post Bill.
Thank you for taking the risk. The line you draw to connect the dots between the political games and the marketing ploys is well done. When it comes right down to it we all can benefit from a hefty dose of checking out ‘ego’ at the door before pitching, promoting or pouting.
Bill,
That’s a good list (check for a few typos, in there, my friend!).
It reflects my focus in all I do. It is difficult for me to face the challenge of helping people understand that I’m not like “all those other people you’ve met”, but I keep plugging along.
…as do you.
I market so that I can deliver great services to my clients. I am not a marketer. I’m a coach consultant who markets to reach those who can most use what they can get from me.
Best,
ssh
Bill, your words are singing a powerful song in my heart. Thank you! You echo my thoughts.
I stand for all five of your commitments; they mirror my own.
Thanks, brother.
Love and light,
Sue
Right on, Bill! I think it’s important to be clear that we can fulfill our promises, and that we don’t promise things that are actually under the client’s control, not ours. It’s tempting to overpromise and it’s sometimes difficult to overdeliver. I appreciate your reminder message to avoid the first and do the second. Sometimes I may go overboard to avoid the first and don’t promise enough tempting results. Working on that – expressing the true value for my clients as best I can.
warmly
Lucy
This has always been my position: Marketing from the Heart. I do believe there are many of us out there.
Absolutely, Bill! Thanks for saying this and I fall into that trap too. I know I have a great product, but getting it out there is sometimes a challenge. I’m currently abit overwhelmed with marketing courses (my Addiction) so if one of these doesn’t help me reach my goals, I’ll be contacting you next!
Thanks!
Carol
Well said! I share the same commitment. Thank you for putting into words.
What a wonderful email! I SO agree! Thank you for having the courage to speak out!
Thank you so much for this Bill. I am 100% with you. I myself an unselling people, since I know when they are not right for my programs, and every time I don’t follow my knowing on this, I run into trouble. Happened this week, and I asked myself what the message was—and it is that I had a feeling this woman was not up to the work and she was not. Lesson learned gratefully!