Ivy Sea Online: Can your marketing effort be more conscious?

Conscious-enterprise principles take "business as usual" into a higher and more deliberate realm of envisioning, planning, action, and attraction. Conscious enterprise originates inside - within the entrepreneur and her vision for the enterprise (and lifestyle) - and radiates with deliberateness outward.

The same is the case with authentic, conscious marketing.

When it comes to marketing, what does "business as usual" usually look like?

"Business as usual" marketing often starts with a statement like "This is what I do, this is how you're supposed to market, so this is what I should do," rather than a clear, mobilizing vision and unique message.

"Business as usual" small-biz marketers might eliminate from their marketing list the tactics that involve things they're uncertain about or uncomfortable with — say, writing or speaking or connecting by phone — and then shoot out mailers to as many people as possible, or attend a couple of "networking mixers", or maybe even schedule a talk to a local association group.

Or they'll mimic (because they 'should') an 'internet marketing expert' who does the typical-formula hard-sell, hitting those famed neuromarketing 'pain buttons' that their product or service can miraculously 'fix' if the customer buys it right then and there (because there's a limited supply, the price will soon go up, and other 'scarcity approach' elements).

Often, heart & purpose-centered small-biz owners and change artists will not feel good about this process. It doesn't feel authentic to them, and they're right about that.

Just as often, "business as usual" marketers feel like there's something missing — something missing from their approach, and from the results they get from their marketing efforts.

They're just not hitting the mark they want to hit, co-creating the experience they'd like to experience, and may even dread the whole marketing 'thing'.

And that can feel pretty frustrating!

Conscious marketing, like conscious enterprise in general, gets a lot more customized and a lot more deliberate to really focus on and give voice to what's most unique, communicating to a specific audience that will be most aligned with the message and the services or products.

With authentic, conscious marketing, all emanates from a clear, energizing vision, and includes a clear idea of who your ideal clients are and what, specifically, you uniquely offer (and how).

With that articulated, you can choose from a carefully selected menu of marketing tactics and avenues in order to reach particular groups or types of people who can benefit — immensely — from your products and services.

Conscious marketing — and conscious enterprise — are ideally suited to big-vision solopreneurs and small-enterprise owners, because working consciously makes that all-important connection to the entrepreneur's vision and motivation, aligns it with his or her gifts and skills and desired lifestyle (and work style/pace), and radiates outward with the intention of meeting ideal clients (and others) half-way.

Marketing thus becomes much more than just "rote selling" or pain-button-pushing — it becomes a way to actively and authentically help your clients find you, by skillfully communicating how your uniqueness helps them to achieve the success they'd like to experience.

Because of this connection to vision and inherent gifts and "distinguishers", conscious marketing can also be a whole lot more fun — and much more effective in both cost and results.

Return to the index page for this Ivy Sea Online edition on marketing