Will They Recognize You When They Find You?

The world is filled with hypey marketing messages that have nothing to do with the truth. in fact, most marketing mentors will tell you to market in ways that are 'traditional', 'professional' and frankly, boring! So it's no wonder that when Conscious Entrepreneurs head out to market their businesses, they often make the mistake of following tradition and including hype in their marketing because they were told that's the way to attract customers. And the problem with this approach is that their perfect customers will never recognize them this way.

The Law of Attraction says, "Like Attracts Like." So your perfect customers are like you, and they want the real you to shine through.  When you shine your true authentic beauty to the world, you give your perfect customers the permission to do the same, and they will invite you to help them.  But when you use traditional marketing methods, you appear like a robot, blending in to the crowd, never standing out.

What exactly is hype? 

• Hype is what we say when we're trying to put a smiley face over the truth.
• Hype is what we do when we're afraid our authentic selves are not good enough.
• Hype is what we write when we are copying someone else's sales letters.
• Hype is what we wear when we think we have to fit in with the crowd.
• Hype is salesy, smarmy and fake!

How can your perfect customers ever recognize you as the one they're seeking if you are faking it in any way? 

Imagine your most perfect customer right now.  Get a good picture of them in your mind.  These are folks who really get you, your uniqueness, your inner beauty and magic.  These people want only you because you are the only one with your special gift, your own approach to solving the problems your customer has.

Now imagine if you are copying someone else's sales letter, or using a design scheme that doesn't reflect your personality at all.  Can you see your perfect customers getting confused and passing you by?  Can you see how exactly the wrong people will be attracted to you?


So how to avoid hype and market authentically?

First, when you are writing your sales copy, blog posts, newsletters and other marketing pieces, write from the heart about what is most important to you and your business.  Share authentically about your true purpose in life and direct your sharing to your perfect customers.  Don't try to attract everyone, only those who will really get you and appreciate your special approach.

Secondly, use imagery that feels resonant to you, that reflects your personality.  Pictures can be the most powerful magnet that draws the perfect people to you.  When you choose imagery that opens your heart and gives you happy shivers, you know you have found the right ones. When your perfect customers see that, they will be intuitively drawn to you.

Third, be yourself.  Don't try to 'act professionally' if that means holding in who you really are.  Speak frankly, say what's on your mind, distinguish yourself from the crowd.  Blending in is not helping your brand.  A good brand stands out.

I'll Guide You Through The Steps to Creating Your Authentic Marketing Plan

Need help creating your authentic marketing plan? Check out my upcoming webinar series "Magical Marketing Mastery."  I will guide you through the steps to creating your attraction plan, your heart-felt brand, and an online marketing plan that is fun, fulfilling and wildly attractive.  Visit http://www.MagicalMarketingMastery.com

Book Review: Peace from Broken Pieces by Iyanla Vanzant

The first thing I said after finishing "Peace from Broken Pieces" was, "I will never complain about my life again!" Iyanla Vanzant survived poverty, the death of her mother and abandonment by her father, beatings, denigration, rape and denial by her 'care-givers', and pregnancy all by the time she was 16, and still become a powerful adult able to inspire the lives of millions. In her latest book Peace from Broken Pieces: How to Get Through What You're Going Through, Ms. Vanzant spares no detail in taking us through the experiences of her life which reveal the pathologies of our culture.

Though Ms. Vanzant refers specifically to her culture as an Black woman, the experiences she endures and rises up from are not limited to African-Americans. Women of all cultures will recognize the alienated man/woman relationships described by Ms. Vanzant, and will benefit from her brilliant insights into how to rise above cultural pathologies.

Imagine having this kind of childhood and struggling through being a single mother in the projects, to come out a best-selling author and part of Oprah's TV faculty, only to lose it all and more. Iyanla invested 3/4 of a million dollars in health-care services when her daughter became ill with cancer. Her daughter died, her husband left her, her bank took back her home, and she was left penniless.  And yet she rises again, and brings all of us who face difficult times up with her!

I have been a fan of Iyanla Vanzant since I read "In the Meantime" in 1998 which helped me heal my broken heart after the end of an important relationship. Peace from Broken Pieces comes to me at a perfect time.

At times my own struggles seem insurmountable and overwhelming. Reading Ms. Vanzant's book helps me to see that no matter what difficulties I face (or imagine I'm facing) and no matter how many generations old my challenges are, I can rise above and shine my authentic light to the world, and achieve peace and fulfillment.

I recommend this book for anyone who is facing challenges in these changing times and who is seeking a renewed relationship to peace, faith, and hope.

I invite you to attend a live interactive webinar with Iyanla Vanzant on Friday, December 3rd, 2010 at noon Pacific Time.  The webinar is called "How to Get Through What You're Going Through: Healing the Barriers to Personal and Business Success." Visit http://www.graphicgirlz.com/teleconference.html to learn more and register.

The Cost of Serving Not-So-Perfect Customers

by Julia D. Stege, MFA

The other day I had a melt down.

In hind-sight what happened was that my mind convinced me I had to do something for a client that didn't feel right in the moment with the hopes it would help me build my business.

Do you ever do that, overspend your time and energy trying to help someone who ultimately is not a match for you and your business?

If I dissect what happened into small pieces, I can easily see where my intuition was giving me warnings that I ignored in favor of what my mind was telling me about the potential boost for my business.  This client was full of promises that I heard time and again over a period of several weeks. But they never materialized because the client ultimately refused to take any of my advice.

That's a good sign this person is not a perfect customer right? But I didn't see it. (Or I chose not to see what was staring me in the face)

My business coach, Cynthia Riggs The Biz Diva, has pointed out to me on a number of occasions that I tend to go for the "Shiny Bright Object" which is usually an illusion.  So after giving me a bear hug and helping me wipe away a few tears , she asked me, "In what way is this person a match for your Ideal Client?"

Deer in headlights. The only thing I could think of was, "He has money." 

Now as someone who teaches the Attraction Plan and advises my customers to specify who is perfect for them, it's ironic that I didn't see it.  Unfortunately the cost of ignoring my intuition was rather dear.  I wasted about 10 hours that I could have used on other marketing and/or product development activities and the emotional cost was pretty high.  It feels bad to be disrespected that way.  Perfect customers just don't do that!

I cannot get back that 10 hours of my life, that's for sure. But I can move forward with new conviction to recognize and serve my perfect customers, and to refer the others to service providers who might be a better match for them.  I have taken the time to clarify the qualities, characteristics and attributese of my perfect customers again, and one of the qualities I'm emphasizing now is that my perfect customers really get me, they value my time and advice, and they make decisions quickly.

If you have noticed yourself serving some not-so-perfect customers or prospects lately, I suggest you get out your attraction plan or create a new one.

Make sure to enter the opposite qualities to the person who is not a fit.  It may take some effort, but after focusing on what you want for even a little while, you'll start feeling better, moving back toward your center, and attracting the customers who are a perfect match for you!

Ready to Build Your Online Stage? Here's How

by Julia D. Stege, MFA

Have you been feeling the urge to get your message out to a larger audience, yet feeling resistence to using computers and the Internet to create your online stage?  Last week when I was travelling home from Santa Fe, I met a woman on the plane who is in this same predicament.  She has a successful healing practice in Europe and when I asked her what her big dream is, she said to teach to a wider audience and to be able to travel the world and not be chained to her office.

When I told her that I'm an internet marketing specialist who trains leaders how to do webinars she smiled, looked up at the sky and said, "I didn't ask for this!"

But of course she had!  And so have you! That's why you were drawn to read this article in the first place. You have an important message to get out to the world.  You were born to provide your own unique perspective on the issues facing us and our planet today. And the Internet provides the perfect stage for you, if you would only use it!

I know, it's alienating to most sensitive folks who haven't yet found a way to happily integrate computers into their lives. I'm here to make the transition easier.  It's part of the reason that synchronicity led me to become one of the first designers to use desktop publishing and then the Internet. I've been doing it a long time and I have learned how to use these tools to create a public stage for my creativity and my life purpose, and I've helped my clients to do the same.

So how do you do build your online stage?

One thing I've learned is that trying to do to many things at once doesn't really work.  You have to start with just a couple of new activities, get that rolling, and then add another and another, building your online stage one step at a time.  Move at the pace that feels good to you and you will start to see results.  Here are a few of my favorite ways to build an online stage.

FREE WEBINARS provide a global stage for you to share your message, your gifts, your tips and strategies designed to help your perfect peeps get rolling (or proceed further) on their path.  You have a specific offering, a particular way to share that will attract those people who are a perfect match to you.  Offering webinars allows you to present your work in an international interactive container with multi-media capabilities.  You can share all kinds of pictures, slides, imagery, charts, photos, even live video if you want.  Any kind of visual and/or auditory presentation can be displayed to your live audience, and recorded for download or replay later.

THE FACEBOOK PROFILE is still the most powerful tool you have for attracting a large audience of simpatico peeps.  You can connect with up to 5,000 people and businesses and message every single one directly or collectively through lists.  You can share any kind of media (pictures, videos, audios, links, blogs, websites...) with your people.  Take it from someone who has taken 12 years to build an e-list of 2,000 - and in only 3 years topped out my Facebook - Facebook can be built fast!  Now that I have topped out my facebook, I can go through my network and weed out any who are not a true match for me and my message.  Soon I will have an emensely powerful network of completely aligned souls.  And all it takes is a bit of time each day to connect with people you relate to.

LINKED IN ANSWERS is a wonderful way to share your expertise with others who are seeking answers.  I have only recently begun to use this tool and have already attracted inquiries in to my services.  What you do is go to LinkedIn and click "More" in the navigation bar, then "Answers"  You will see all sorts of questions in a variety of categories.  Select the categories appropriate for you and see how many questions you can answer there.  I immediately attracted some "Best Answer" accolades which helps me build my leadership within LinkedIn.  The more I answer, the more likely I am to attract people seeking answers.  It's a wonderful way to help others, too.