When most of us imagine marketing our practice, it’s accompanied by a big inner groan. But I find our groaning has a lot to do with what we think marketing is, our stereotypes about marketing.
Here three some of the main stereotypes, ones I myself have had to overcome in my own mind:
“Marketing means selling yourself and persuading people to buy your service.”
“Marketing means being always-on, talking about yourself incessantly and jumping on every opportunity, trying to use extroverted energy as a constant stream to cut through the noise of every other option out there.”
“Marketing means dumbing down what you do, trying to fit your message into a generic soundbite.”
Abiding by these stereotypical principles would indeed be groan-worthy! And it turns out, not only are the above unsavory - they don’t even work! The good news is there’s a better way.
First, here’s why the three misplaced techniques above don’t work…
Marketing as selling yourself: Trying to enumerate reasons for folks to hire you, effortfully convincing people to work with you, really does come across as inauthentic, egotistical, and contrary to the spirit of spiritual direction.
Marketing as being always-on: There truly is too much noise in the world for people heed another pushy approach, and it simply adds to the noise rather than traversing it. Nowadays, everyone’s too saturated with marketing for a message of “look-at-me” break through and compel people on a heart level.
Marketing as dumbing things down: People aren’t actually moved by generic appeals either. Yet most spiritual directors who promote themselves tend to present a bland picture of themselves that really doesn’t say much - it could be any of a hundred different spiritual directors.
So, what is the better way? Marketing guru Seth Godin says it’s found in “the purple cow.”
Say you’re driving through the countryside and see a field of cows. They’ll draw your attention for no more than a moment. In a way, if you’ve seen one cow, you’ve seen them all. But, if you should happen to see a purple cow, that’s a different story!
You are a one-of-a-kind spiritual director. This means that you will serve people in a one-of-a-kind way. This is the message people need to hear.
And this isn’t about being flashy. A purple cow isn’t trying to “get noticed.” It’s just grazing in its field like everyone else. It’s just being itself, and that self happens to be purple.
This is what it means to be marketing and promoting yourself with integrity. Here are the two practical components of that:
Be clear about your uniqueness. What’s the purple part of you that makes you special among spiritual guides? It doesn’t have to be something that only you bring to the table, just something uncommon. The more unique this quality, the more likely you are to be noticed. But the point here is to focus on this quality, not on yourself as a whole. You are marketing your purple-ness, not yourself.
Rather than marketing yourself, your message focuses on how your uniqueness helps you uniquely help people. People should recognize their own struggles and desires in what you share. Rather than thinking about how great you are, they are resonating with how working with you can make their life more of what they are looking for.
And don’t worry - none of this will pigeon-hole you. If your unique approach is guiding clients through doodling, the non-doodlers can still find you and work with you. If you demonstrate a love for and confidence in your specialty, it speaks to the passion that anyone, working with you for any reason, will feel.
When your messaging is rooted in who you are, what you love, and how you can serve people, it’s an honor and pleasure to put that word out there. Be bold and take heart - like the purple cow, you are out-standing in your field!
There is a huge spiritual hunger arising in people these days. If you believe you can help nourish them, they will find you.