Marketing Using the Laws of Attraction
I read an editorial last month on living with the laws of attraction I found myself asking “How does one blend metaphysical ideology and spiritual beliefs with the daily reality of trying to grow your practice and find new clients?” Although I am not a holistic practitioner I am a lifelong artist and have been a small business owner for over 25 years. During this time my spiritual beliefs and the practicality of marketing seemed to hostilely collide. Besides the fact that I was not really interested in marketing, the most common tactics made me feel like a fake or a snake oil salesman. Even when I tried, the results were disappointing, my business did not grow very quickly and the harder it got the less I attracted the clients I needed (A vicious cycle to break – for sure) It left me with the belief that there was no way to market my business that would work for me.
When I also became a personal coach, the importance of having a meaningful and effective way to communicate my non-traditional service became very apparent. It meant that I couldn’t just put out an ad like a plumber, because by and large most people had no idea what a coach was. Not only did I need to build my practice, I needed to explain it first. I practiced ways to explain my work in 30 second sound bites. The many marketing classes I took just confused me more. I did affirmations and deep healing and trans-personal work. The problem was I had no concrete actions to take that matched my spiritual beliefs.
When I was first introduced to the Laws of attraction I was ecstatic. My first thought was, “great, now I can have a thriving business without ever having to promote myself again!” Wrong. Even though I had some amazing successes with attracting new clients I found that for me and a lot of other people, changing my thoughts was not quite enough to produce the business results I desired. All the inner personal work I did, did not bring throngs of new clients to my door. Many of you who are building a business or practice might have experienced a similar spiritual and financial dilemma.
One day I stumbled across a program that completely shifted the way I looked at promoting myself. Fear of marketing melted away, ideas flooded my head, I was excited to get started and I felt like for the first time that getting all the clients I want was completely within my reach. Magically I had the tools I needed to promote my self and help people at the same time. Not only was it something that I was already good at, it was also something that I actually enjoyed. I was so blown away but this simple concept that I have spent the last 3 years sharing this information with other alternative small business owners who also struggle to fill their practices.
So what is this deceptively simple, revolutionary concept? In a sound bite: it’s called Give Gather & Grow, this is in essence “How to use the laws of attraction to build your business naturally and organically” It is based on human nature – the need to connect and the desire to work with people you know and trust. I’m sure you can relate to this because I bet it is exactly what you are attracted to as well. With the give –gather – grow approach there is absolutely no hype, no selling, no pitching, no convincing, no begging or coercion. It is amazingly natural and yet it is absolutely the most effective way to get and retain customers or clients ever, especially for service providers. This method is great because it makes people come to you. Talk about attraction!
The essence of relationship marketing starts by helping others first. By offering assistance, education or providing resources you attract a group of targeted folks. Gradually and naturally you then develop relationships with the very people who may want your services in the future. It’s just like the saying: “People don’t care how much you know until they know that you care” This is the component that made me realize that attraction and marketing could indeed be blended together in an extremely powerful way. Marketing is not just about making money it is about connecting with the people you are meant to serve. The fact is: without effective self promotion the people who desperately need and want your services may not be able to find you –ever!
Most people in the holistic community that I know already have an attitude and a mindset for helping other people, but that does not always translate into getting more clients. It is important to distinguish between having an attitude of giving and using a system that will bring you new clients. A system is something that is measurable, repeatable and works all the time. Everyone wants to do business with someone they know and trust. Having a simple system that brands you as the “go to” person will not only get you more referrals and clients, it will build a better clientele. Give-Gather-Grow marketing has 3 key components that make it work.
- Give: You give away something that your targeted group wants. This can be a sample service, information products, articles or anything your target group would really really want.
- Gather: You then collect their information in exchange for your wonderful gifts
- Grow: Next you follow up with these folks regularly over time, developing a natural and organic relationship with them.
As you can see this is an unbelievably simple system. It leaves lots of room for creativity and personal expression. You start by giving something of value therefore attracting the people who most want your gift. A simple exchange of contact information (which you MUST ask for) allows you to continue to share with the people who are the most interested. Now the system allows you to continue to educate and coach them about your talents in a natural way. It lets people get to know you first and builds your relationship over time. By interacting regularly, you can demonstrate your expertise while creating trust. They know who to refer and who to come to when the need arises. You get to maintain your dignity and have fun by helping others. Now tell me that’s not a dynamite marketing plan!
Giving – Intentions – Passion and Purpose – Personal Development – Prosperity and Abundance
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Jan Riley is an artist, personal coach and entrepreneur living in Atlanta. She has recently opened a store on eBay (ArtCantHurtU) selling her art prints and loves creating, gardening, painting murals and animal portraits. Jan is committed to helping small business owners market in spite of themselves. Discover more resources for building your business naturally at SEOServicesAtlanta.com You can reach her at 678 318 7515 (the singing message) or Jan@SEOservicesATLANTA.com
