Marketing from the Heart
Our recent podcast episode with Mark Silver contains a number of magical marketing nuggets, which I’d like to share with you — they so neatly encapsulate so much of what Simon Batchelar and I care about…
The fact that Mark was fasting for Ramadan at the time that these mic drops landed with us is testament to his strength, spiritual commitment and dedication.
As a Sufi, Mark relates his spiritual values to his approach to business.
… It helps him — and others — create change in the world, make a living, get clients without feeling gross and price things without feeling like you are betraying people.
You will enjoy this conversation if you are:
- put off by toxic marketing bullshit
- considering designing a coaching course
- intimidated by “super shiny, successful” coaches on social media
- feel uncomfortable about pricing or selling your services
- keen to integrate your coaching approach and philosophies into your business and marketing ethos
- wanting to enjoy your coaching business and marketing as opposed to feeling beholden to it, desperate to succeed and burnt out
- wanting life not to be all about your business — you’d rather it exists alongside your wider spiritual existence
- interested in a ‘Pay From The Heart’ model. It’s not for everyone but it’s worth considering…
Things can come together organically — this is a useful alternative to obsessing about goals, visions and needing to be super clear all the time.
Marketing Takes Time
Don’t try to get things perfect. It comes out in the “doing-ness of it”. I also like to talk about Karmic Marketing. Desperation is not very fun and not very effective. However, ‘Needing’ can be a really healthy thing if we see it as a sign — a director — a motivator. It is essential to who we are as human beings.
Our Reason for Being Here is Not Our Business
“You do not need the burden of the calling.” Be a “rain barrel that is feeding people” around you rather than “clawing at the dregs” for survival.
Marketing is a (compassionate) numbers game
It is a lot easier to be unattached to whether someone says yes or no if you’ve taken the effort to reach out to a lot of people. It’s going to be hard (you’d have to be a saint!) to be unattached to a “no”. It takes time to gather enough people that you have that flow…
The other side of being unattached is desire. Not needing someone to buy but having some attachment — some passion — to want to, to love to, work with someone. And having the confidence to say, “I want to be, and would look forward to, working with you.” People feel shy and vulnerable and haven’t always felt wanted or welcomed. Selling, Marketing… the key job in all of this is in creating safety for people and making them feel seen, heart and understood.
Ask yourself where you are supposed to be now.
Our sense of guidance and intuition is not based on externals. Sometimes the easy path is the wrong path. Sometimes it’s about going where you are not “supposed” to go.
There’s a saying in Sufism,
“Beware of loving what is not good for you and beware of hating what is good for you.”
Listen.
Sometimes we can only tell after we’ve tried doing something….
Pricing is about the heart and “somatics” of it
Figure out the pricing last.
Pick a price that’s so low that it feels terrible in your body. Then pick a price that is so high that it freaks you out and there’s no way you’d ever charge it. Then go through between those two prices and feel how your body and heart react to it.
It could be that the price you reach feels like it’s going to be ok, but a bit later on…
The price could arguably be higher, but it you cannot charge it then what’s the point.
Be resourced when you show up for clients
Practice relating your values, limits, boundaries and business model to your pricing.
We help each of our community members consider what their own personal values and limits are so that they can better articulate what value they deliver to others. Becoming clear on this, and your boundaries, will help you create a sustainable and nourishing marketing practice, business and — dare I say — approach to spiritual existence.
You might like to watch a related discussion about Pricing between us and Carlos Saba and Ben Johnson here:
Don’t Compare
Stay awake and lean in to what works for you. Design a business based on your strengths and not a “cookie cutter” or what other coaches look like they are achieving. Chances are, it is not all what it seems…
You can watch / listen the whole conversation on…
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To find out more about Mark’s “learning community”, the Heart of Business.
