The Strategy that Works… Until It Wrecks Your Trust

Core Article: The Strategy that Works… Until It Wrecks Your Trust

Paragraph I’m Pondering: “People don’t believe…”

Powerful Affirmations to Inspire: “Success is natural to me…”

Cool Stuff: Meet the smallest hoofed animal in the world…

AI Info & Resources: Check out this cool tech that helps fight fires

The Strategy that Works… Until It Wrecks Your Trust

Since the election — and some personal stuff I’ve been moving through — I haven’t really been on social media or reading the news for the past few months – eek.

And the funny thing is… it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. (Okay, getting sick helped — not the method I would’ve chosen — but still. It forced me to reset.)

Now here I am, realizing I haven’t posted in forever. I need to reconnect. Not just with you, but with myself, too.

Last week, I opened an email from a colleague with the subject line “No Kings Day.”

I’d already seen something earlier about the president’s military parade and had that immediate gut “Nope, not gonna read that, got to get some work done.” I don’t want it in my nervous system.

So, of course, I opened the email and went to their web page, and it hit me square in the face, a real truth.

It reminded me of something I already know in my bones — especially when it comes to marketing:
That Fear as a strategy works… to a point.
Yet, eventually, it wrecks your trust.

Loads of folks use fear in their marketing all the time, cuz yes, it works, until it doesn’t.

That’s why I started Soulful Marketing; it’s not about emotionally manipulating or using fear to persuade your dream clients to sign up and invest in your courses, events, products, and more.

You know I’m a staunch Democrat. Yet, what I struggle with and get frustrated by is when our side uses blatant fear-mongering to inspire and motivate us to take action. I get it and it works, to a point. And I know the other side does this as well, and it’s even louder and uglier. With zero shame. Even more so, which is one of the many reasons they succeeded in getting their candidate into office.

YET— that doesn’t make it ok, or make it healthy.

What’s interesting was watching all of that unfold on the news. The scary part was how I’m not surprised anymore when I see fear being used, not just in politics, but also in life, business, and even in marketing.

Maybe you’ve even seen or felt it too?

That low buzz of anxiety that gets dressed up as urgency. The subtle pressure to act now, or else.

Then there’s the feeling of a little insincerity in their “motivational” tone that somehow leaves you feeling like you’re still behind, still not enough.

And here’s the thing I have to come clean on:
Yes, in my vast experience, I’ve used this strategy. That’s what I was trained on when I started in marketing. Shamelessly created a pretty darn good career so far. And yes, it worked.

Until that day, eight years ago, I realized… it was working against the kind of business and relationships I actually wanted to build. It just wasn’t sustainable.

Because fear gets results — AND it totally costs you trust.
It gets people moving — and leaves them shaky, unsettled, and doubtful.

It might convert. Yet the real truth is it doesn’t connect or create a long-term trusting relationship with your dream clients. Then what happens is it doesn’t create a long-term, sustainable business.

Honestly, I don’t want any part of it.

Not in my business, or in my inbox.
I don’t want it ever to be in the way I speak, write, or invite you to connect or work with me.

Cuz marketing is not about building pressure and fear to buy, that’s not why you’re here.

You’re here for truth, connection, resonance, honesty, and realness.

And we both know the fear and the manipulation game by now, right?

“Last chance…”
“Don’t miss out…”
“If you really cared, you’d click…”

Ugh. No, thank you.

It might spike the sale — yet it crashes the soul.

So let’s call a truce and make a stand that we’re done with manipulation masquerading as motivation. And definitely, we’re done with fake urgency that sometimes might make us feel unsafe in our own bodies.
And it’s definitely time to be done with “marketing” that doesn’t feel like us.

So yeah… I’m done with fear-based anything.

And I have a feeling you might be too.

Soooooooo — What do we do instead?

I know, some people shudder at the thought of “How do we market without manipulation????”
Or, how do we inspire action without poking someone’s wounds?
And my favorite is: How do we create a business that actually feels like “coming home” — to us and to the people we serve?

Here’s one place to start, and you may have noticed how I used it when I launched my Soulful Marketing Accelerator Program back in March.

Yes, I had a deadline, and yep, I had to use some “last call” type language, yet it wasn’t rooted in fear; it was rooted in honesty. I needed you to sign up by a certain date, as it was a live class, and I had to get everyone onboarded in time. Since it was a more personalized program, I had to have a hard cutoff.

Plus, the real psychological truth I know is that most of us only make decisions when we have a deadline.

Am I right?

Suppose you want to have a countdown timer on your sales page, cool. YET, if you do – put some copy above it and TELL ME WHY you have it. Be honest, don’t treat me like I’m stupid. Everyone is now exposed to this kind of marketing, and because of that, it just doesn’t work as well anymore.

So yep, there’s got to be a better way! And that’s why I’m here for you…

There’s loads more I can share with you, and I’m running out of space and time — soooo…

Next week, I’ll share what I’ve learned about how to lead with genuine connection to build trust — and what Soulful Marketing really looks like when you ditch the fear and choose building current and future dream client relationships on trust instead.

So for now, just… notice.

Notice where fear’s been sneaking into—your inbox, on your feed, maybe even in your wriitng.

No shaming allowed. Just sit with your awareness.

Cuz the real truth is, once you see it? You can start choosing something better.

And I’m thinking you’re here cuz you agree with me that we are both ready for better.

Before I leave you to check out the rest of this eNewsletter, I added a new P.S. – It’s an invitation. Especially if you’re tired of trying to fit your magic into someone else’s formula, maybe it’s time to come home to your own. That’s what the Soulful Marketing Accelerator is—a soft place to land, and a clear path forward. The waitlist is open. I’d love to walk it with you.

Paragraph I’m Pondering

“People don’t believe what you tell them.

They rarely believe what you show them.

They often believe what their friends tell them.

They always believe what they tell themselves.”

~ Seth Godin

Powerful Affirmations to Inspire

“Each day I plant seeds of prosperity, and they bloom into impactful success.”
“Success is natural to me. I breathe it in with every inhale, and I radiate it with every exhale.”
“My life is a testament to what is possible when purpose meets passion.”

Cool Stuff

This is really interesting – it’s a visual/video tour of American Architecture.
If you’ve ever been curious where the term “brownie Points” came from, well, you know what to do here.
Meet the smallest hoofed mammals on this planet – they’re kind of cute

AI Info and Resources

AI-powered fired tech is heating up. (I know, forgive me, I couldn’t resist!) This interesting company, called PAN AI, a start-up in Australia, now has cool new fire detection cameras and more. Check out how Colorado is using it to fight fires there.
Have you heard about Durable.io yet? If you need a website in a hurry —within 5 minutes or less —then you should at least check this out. Additionally, it’s not the most sophisticated and will definitely need editing. Yet I was amazed at what it created with only answering one question. So if you’re curious, you know what to do. The only thing you will have to give is your email before you can do it. Yet, I created a junk Gmail account for stuff like this. 😉
Yep, it happened, the therapy bots are now in question, and the complaints are coming in… They are aimed at Character.AI and Meta. And it’s heating up. I checked out ChatGPT and searched its GPTs to see if they have any therapy AIs, and they do. Yet, they clearly state they are non-licensed mental health advisors.

Weekly Photos

We went on a road trip, Alice, Emma, and I. One thing I know is that we do love our car rides. Drives in Northern CA do not disappoint. Of course, Emma loves looking out the window.
Emma and I are waiting for Alice to get some gas. Always a good time for a selfie. 🙂
Then there’s Emma who sits on the consol between Alice and I and watches her drive. She’s such a funny dog.
We went to see Kathleen Madigan (At the Hard Rock, Sacramento) to celebrate Alice’s birthday and our 7 yr anniversary. Needless to say, we laughed till our cheeks hurt. And our dear friends babysat Emma so we could go to the show.
Yeah, Emma LOVES hanging out the window. Most dogs do right? ears flapping in the breeze…. Ahhhhhh. Sometimes I love doing it with her! 😉
There are my people, sitting, having coffee before we all have to get to work. (I mean, Alice, she’s got to get to the hospital. Emma and I just take our coffee and mozy over to my office.) We still have the birthday decorations up for Alice; it’s a month-long celebration!
This was fun—-This is Mt. Shasta. I shared this live pic with you a few weeks ago when we went up to McCloud. You can see that picture here – Just scroll down to the bottom to see my pics. While we were at the festival, I had my eye on this photographer; he had some beautiful pics of Mt. Shasta printed on metal. And I thought, I just took this cool photo on the drive up here, I can do that! So I did. And I hung it on our wall in the den so I can see it every day.

This is my digital pic that I took with my iPhone 13 from the car window, while someone else was driving at 70 mph. I think it came out pretty good for a 20×16 print on metal that I had Shutterfly print. Hence, you can see the reflection of the blinds and me in the right-hand corner, taking the photo. So if you’re still reading, you can do this too! Celebrate you by creating something, and as Seth Godin says, “Ship it.” If I can do it, so can you!

NEW: P.S. This is me being bold and giving you an invitation. 🙂 I’m going to run the Soulful Marketing Accelerator Cohort again. If you’re longing for like-minded community and ready to move through your fears to grow a purpose-driven business rooted in authenticity and aligned with your dream clients…

Welllll. Go here to be first in line when I reopen the doors again. Would love to have you.

Want more information? I’ve created a Word doc. You can access the doc here.
Questions or Want to Connect? If you’d like to connect over Zoom to see if it’s the right fit, please leave a comment and let me know. Or schedule a call on my calendar.

P.S.S. Whenever You’re Ready: Here are 3 Ways I can make an impact on creating greater success in your business using marketing that’s aligned with your mission and values without feeling like you’re selling your soul.

1. Make Money Now Sheet – It’s one of the bonuses in my 7-Step Soulful Marketing System. I wanted to give it to you for free to help you create more success.

2. Love Books Like I Do? – I’m always reviewing the best nonfiction books – Where Buddha Meets Business.

3. Get my proven 7-Step Soulful Marketing System. It gives you the framework you need to implement authentic and connected marketing using online customer experiences and launching your products, services, or courses. It will help you create greater success.

It’s a simple system, especially if you love to read like me. There’s no video or audio. Plus, you get my proven templates, tools, and worksheets, all with tremendous value. And I’m pricing it incredibly low so it can be more accessible to more people. 🙂

Did someone forward this to you? If so, get this eNewsletter regularly with my compliments by clicking this link. And if you’re in the mood to share, simply send this URL to others: https://www.soulfulmarketingsystem.com/soulful-marketing-enewsletter.

I appreciate your sharing. Thank you!

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