3 Soulful Marketing Tips for Heart-centered & Intuitive Entrepreneurs

-->

by Beth Barany

 

Dolphin teaches soul-o-preneurs how to connect with his or her customers

Like many of you, I didn’t step into my work all excited about marketing my work; all I knew was I wanted to help people. I was driven to connect, serve, build a business, and bring my gifts into the world.

Over the years, I’ve absorbed some understanding on how to market my touchy-feely business of helping novelists write, publish, and market their books. I’m also a novelist, so I’ve had to learn how to market products and services. After nine years of running my business helping writers, I’ve found ways to bring in new clients, fill my programs and classes using the tips I share here.

First, marketing is about making a soulful connection.

Second, marketing needs to be done consistently and continuously.

How can you connect to your audience? Where are your customers online and off? How do you clients prefer to be contacted or communicated with?

Here are some soulful marketing tips to use as you get started in your business or to evaluate where you are in your marketing strategies.

Your Clients or Customers

We are in business to serve. Who are you serving?

Write some notes on your clients. Use their language and intuition. Identify their:

·      Needs

·      Wants

·      Hopes

·      Dreams

·      Desires

·      Frustrations

·      Dilemmas

·      Conflicts

·      Hurts

Draft an ideal (or best) client profile. Imagine you’re having tea with them. Write down your conversation. Then design your marketing elements using your clients’ or customers’ words.

Your Marketing Elements

1. Your Website

These days we all need websites to be considered a business. And these days our sites need to  “mobile friendly,” so they can be read on cell phones and tablets.

Key pages you need on your site:

·      An About page: This is where you describe who you are and what your mission or purpose is. You can check out a few examples of an About page: http://bethbarany.com/beth.html and http://author.bethbarany.com/bio-beth-barany/. Tailor your language to let the potential clients or customers know how you can best serve them.

·      A Service and/or Products page: Give your prospects an overview of your offerings. I have one of each on my coaching site: http://www.bethbarany.com/. For my author site, I have a page for each book and because I have lots of books, I also have a type of table of contents page for all my offerings: http://author.bethbarany.com/books/.

·      A freebie offering: As we build our businesses, we need a newsletter or news note of some kind. These days it’s common to offer a free report or audio or short course. I offer a short course for writer’s here: http://bethbarany.com/5daycourse.htm, and a novel prequel here: http://author.bethbarany.com/contact-me/newsletter-sign-up/. Tailor your gift to your audience’s needs.

Tip: Pick something short, small, and manageable for your clients to take one or several steps in learning something that you help them achieve or experience.

Other possible pages for your site:

·      An Events page

·      An FAQ, a Frequently Asked Questions page

·      Contact page

·      Site page

2. Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.)

There’s a good chance that the people you serve are on Facebook or Twitter. So you need to be there too, at least on one of them.

More and more people are also using Pinterest and Instagram as places to share.

A lot of people wonder how to use social media to build their businesses. Keep in mind that these platforms are about being social and helpful. The best way to build a following and connect with your tribe is to be of service, be yourself, and invite people to play in your world. A general rule of thumb is to be of service in your field 80 percent of the time, and invite or share something promotional 20 percent of the time.

"The goal of social media is to connect. In fact, the goal of all marketing is to connect."

3. Blogging & Writing Tips for Your Marketing

• Be of service consistently and continuously
• Listen to your people and answer questions
• Experiment
• Try new things
• Play (you need to have some fun with this too!)
• Lastly, start small. Take action with small steps. Get an accountability buddy. (Or join a group like the Wise Woman Society for support and accountability)

Above all, have fun helping your tribe. The world needs your gifts, talents, products, and services, making the connections is up to you. 

In the comments below, tell us which marketing strategies you use or which ones give you the most trouble.

Resources

If you’re curious to learn about copywriting – the art and craft of writing for marketing purposes, including blogging, there are many resources. Here are a few I recommend:

·      http://www.copyblogger.com/blog/

·      http://stellaorange.com/

·      http://storybistro.com/

http://www.bethbarany.com/

About Beth Barany

Award-winning novelist, Beth Barany writes in two genres: young adult adventure fantasy and sweet paranormal romance. Her first novel Henrietta The Dragon Slayer, Book 1 of the Five Kingdom Series, won Grand Prize in the 2012 California Fiction Writers Book Contest. Beth Barany also coaches and teaches novelists one-on-one and in groups to help them write, publish, and market their books. She's done so in two of her favorite places in the world (so far): the San Francisco Bay Area and Paris, France. Her latest book for writers is Twitter for Authors: Social Media Marketing Strategies for Shy Writers. She's also a speaker and has presented at conferences nationally and internationally, including the Women's Fiction Festival in Matera, Italy.