The Honest Truth They Never Tell You About Marketing

Core Article: The Honest Truth They Never Tell You About Marketing

Paragraph I’m Pondering: “You can’t learn to swim on dry land…”

Powerful Affirmations to Inspire: “Success flows naturally to me because…”

Book Review: All Marketers Are Liars by Seth Godin

Cool Stuff: Ever wonder where the term “widow’s peak” came from???

AI Info & Resources: AI, it seems, might have a “bubble” problem.

The Honest Truth They Never Tell You About Marketing

Last week, I sat with a doctor who had poured her heart into opening her own health and wellness clinic.

Smart and purpose-driven. The kind of woman you know is here to change lives.

When we started talking about marketing, she winced. Then gave this half-laugh, half-sigh.

“Marketing my clinic? It felt like PTSD.”

She hated using that word. Yet, her body told the truth. She’d been burned. Overwhelmed by advice that never fit her, exhausted from trying to follow systems built for someone else’s business.

And the terrible follow-up by the marketing agency, as well as not following through on all the promises they made to her.

Her inbox was full of “proven” funnels and content plans from people who never once asked her the deeper questions of who she was, or why she even started this work in the first place.

So she walked away from that agency. Marketing was a word that meant pain and struggle. It slid to the bottom of her list.

The sad part is, I see this A LOT. In fact, most of the clients I’ve worked with have had similar stories, which totally guts me, the number of sheisters out there.

If you’ve felt this too, you’re not alone.

There’s a quiet kind of trauma or pain that occurs when mindful, purpose-driven entrepreneurs, people like us, are given strategies that pull us away from our values, our vision, and our voice.

And who break promises and don’t deliver, much less overdeliver, which is one of my core values.

That kind of marketing doesn’t just fail. It totally drains you and may even leave a scar, like the doctor I mentioned above.

Here’s the honest truth:
Marketing isn’t supposed to feel like betrayal. It’s not meant to be manipulative or pushy. You shouldn’t have to twist yourself into someone you’re not just to be seen.

When it’s done right, marketing ought to feel like sharing a story with your best friend. Or a new friend that you want to connect with and start to build trust, by being honest, and showing up as yourself. That’s how you will find your dream clients, the people you’re meant to help.

It’s not about creating complicated “funnels. ” (Honestly, I really don’t like that word. I call them “Online Dream Client Experiences.” Or we can shorten it to “Online Experiences.”) It’s also not about using tactics, and the worst is trying to “game” the system.

I think that’s “bro-marketing” at its finest. Entrepreneurs who prioritize selling and making money at all costs, often with bravado, fear, and manipulation. It’s not all about the money, sure, you need it to live. Yet the way to run a values and purpose-driven business is by helping others first, and then about money.

What I see so often is that so many of us get stuck: we skip the foundational side of marketing and go straight to tactics.

“Should I start a podcast? Do I need to post every day? Should I run ads? Is that AI course gonna be what will turn my business around?”

Any of those sound familiar?

The real truth is, they’re not the place to start.

If you’ve been feeling stuck in your marketing or like you’re following someone else’s marketing funnel playbook, I see you.

I want to bring you back to your core. Ask yourself:

Why am I really doing this?
What matters most to me right now?
Who am I here to truly help?

That’s your compass and foundation. Your filter for every decision you make in marketing your business.

Once you’re grounded in that, everything changes, not from pressure, but from possibility.

And sometimes, the shift isn’t big. It’s usually the small things, the ones that already feel natural, that create the most movement.

Start here: What’s already working? Where are people already paying attention? And try one small thing that feels right. See what happens.

That little momentum? It rebuilds trust, with yourself first. And then with the people you’re here for.

When you come back to your mission and values, marketing starts to feel different.

It will feel less about effort and more about connection. You will then realize it’s not about shouting or selling at all. It’s all about connecting to your truth and sharing it with your dream clients out there who are waiting for you.

And honestly? When you do that, marketing becomes something you want to do. Because it finally feels more comfortable, more like you.

If you’ve been feeling stuck in your marketing or like you’re following someone else’s playbook, I see you.

And if you want someone to walk beside you while you find your way back to that? I’m here. You know how to get a hold of me. 🙂 Hands at your back. Always.

Paragraph I’m Pondering

“There is no perfect moment to begin. Perfect information is fiction. Perfect timing is procrastination with a calendar. Perfect Readiness is fear wearing a business plan. You can’t steer a parked car. You can’t learn to swim on dry land. You can’t build relationships with customers you don’t have yet. The perfect moment to begin was 20 years ago. The second-best moment is now. The third-best moment doesn’t exist.
~ Seth Godin & Claude, Notes to Myself July 2025”

Powerful Affirmations to Inspire

“I am worthy of extraordinary success, and I achieve every goal I set with confidence and grace.”
“My mindset is positive, calm, and focused, enabling me to navigate life with confidence and ease.”
“Success flows naturally to me because I am aligned with my highest purpose and potential.”

Book Review

All Marketers Are Liars: The Power Of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World

by Seth Godin

Cool Stuff

Getting into the Social Psychology weeds of “Scarcity.” Interesting stuff on Wikipedia. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to major in psychology. It’s more fun studying and learning from it now from a marketer’s point of view.
Here’s a head scratcher, no pun intended, truly. 😉 Ever wonder where the term “widow’s peak” came from? You know that V-shaped peak in your hairline… You know what to do. (I know you want to click this and find out, right?! Curiosity is key to learning. 🙂
Here are some interesting basics/core principles of Sales Psychology. I was taught these from Robert Cialdini’s Influence, along with many other mentors. Interesting stuff, and it’s right up my alley of why people buy.

AI Info and Resources

Are you making these costly tech mistakes in your business?
Here’s what the Lovable CEO has to say about the state of computer science degrees moving forward. (If you don’t know, lovable.dev, it’s the hottest thing now on creating sites and tech without code. “Create apps and websites just by chatting with it. Hmm, can it really be that easy? It is kind of cool, though.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, says, “Yes, AI is in a bubble.” The big question on big business is when will that bubble burst…

Weekly Photos

Been spending a good bit of my early morning time walking on the Sacramento River Trail cuz it’s been so hot lately, and it’s 10 degrees cooler by the river. And it was one of the last places we had taken Emma for a walk and a swim. She loves swimming in the river. So many beautiful things to see, deer, cats, sitting on benches, heart-shaped leaves, and more…

Got this animal memorial from Amazon, since I’m a reviewer, I thought it was a unique way to keep her collar and put a photo in there. It’s on my desk, another way to keep healing…
One of my favorite benches by the river. Good to sit in the quiet and just be in nature. Ahhhhhhh.
Yeah, this heart-shaped leaf feels like my heart. It’s a bit ragged, and it’s still beating and healing.
I always try to find unique angles or views for pics. Like this Canadian goose, framed between the trees and the bridge.
This black cat came out to visit me while I was on the Sacramento River Trail… Not sure why I keep getting visits from cats. I had another come up to me the week before.
One of my favorite profile pics of Emma. That’s her staring out the living room window, “Emma TV,” looking for people and dogs to bark at.
This pic was pure luck. Big fluffy clouds right after the storm we had. Made a cool backdrop for our “Sundial Bridge.” It’s an actual sundial that works. It’s huge. Check out the bench at the bottom of the pic, and you can see the difference. You can’t see the bridge part, that’s to the left of the photo, where the tree is hiding it. The sundial is cooler than the bridge, in my opinion. 🙂

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.

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. 🙂

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I appreciate your sharing. Thank you!

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