Supercharge Your Message with these 3 Secret Powers

Robert was a guy who wanted something. You could tell.

He wanted what a lot of people want. He wanted his idea out there. He wanted to get noticed and get recognized and make a better living. As an accomplished amateur guitarist he loved music and created a service focused at musicians. But, he couldn’t seem to get much traction.

After looking at his business and his marketing efforts I noticed something.
It was just below the surface but it tainted just about every Robert did.

Stinginess.

I didn’t come right out and tell him this, “Hey, friend, you’re stingy. People hate that. It’s like client repellant.” But, I did ask him a few questions and he stumbled onto the conclusion himself.

They were these 2 transformative questions:

1. What are your doing out of pure kindness to your target group?
(What are doing to simply serve this group, without hoping for or gunning for something in return?)

2. Are you empathizing fully with your group and their needs?
( What are their biggest needs and how does that make you want to respond? What will you do about it?)

A big shift happened. A light in a dark room moment.
(That’s what I LOVE about good questions. They shift things.)

It was like a wall broke down for him. He started thinking. Really thinking. Then he starting looking through a new window (perspective & worldview). New options and possibilities came into view. Discouragement vanished.

Instead of being centered on scarcity and never having enough (money, clients, opportunities, options), Robert started remembering how much good he could do.

Doing good felt good. Soon, it actually made him a better person for it. This new spirit didn’t extend to just clients, but his friends and family benefitted as well.

The new generosity of spirit made all the difference.

His empathy supercharged his efforts.

His message got out better this way.

Here’s what happened:
He started offering some of his services for free, no strings attached. This was valuable. Several musicians caught on and passed along his information. One of those leads provided consistent income almost right away. Then he reached out to a few local non profit groups and gave them some great work for free. They gave him some positive public testimonials and a few direct referrals. (He wasn’t helping them so they could help him in return, but after he gave of himself so generously, they wanted to help him out.)

His old message came off like this: “I have something and you need it. You should want this.”

Result? Dead ends and closed spirits.

His new message consisted of actions that worked like a megaphone. They said, “I’ll come along side you. Everything will be fine. I got this. No worries.”

People started searching him out. He didn’t have to work as hard to be noticed because his actions were secret super powers.

• Empathy

• Kindness

• Generosity

It drew plenty of attention. The right kind of attention. People were happy to pay him because they saw more value in his service. The stingy people that didn’t want to fork over any money for the value he brought them faded into the background. The more he invested and gave to the 80-90% of the folks that valued him, the better things got.

CONCLUSION:

Remember your Secret Super Powers.

If you’ve hit a wall with a project there’s a simple fix: If promotion, marketing, exposure, or getting your message out has stalled in any way, revisit your levels of 1. empathy, 2. no-strings-attached-kindness, and 3. generosity.

Reinstitute a lot of that back into your efforts, let go of the wheel, and see what happens. These secret super powers only work best if you put your true heart into it and live it out fully.

They are fertile things that birth the same spirit and goodness back to you.

Now some questions for you…

What message are you trying to get out right now?

(A project, a book, an album, a class, a service, a product, etc.)

What’s a way you can be more empathic and generous?
(In that spirit, let this be your first bit of exposure. You can share that here, if you’d like.)

Now don’t forget to sign up for the next post! (Sidebar)

Or you can read the next one on RSS.

If you’d like to share the joy, please like this on FACEBOOK using the button below.

Thanks for visiting and thanks for being awesome.

-L

5 Tips for Writers & Creators in 2014 (Infographic)

Valuable Content!

I’m making it my 2014 goal to give my writer and creator friends a lot of valuable content this year to help you get your message out, potently, all year long.

This will be a big year for you. You don’t just have to waste hours on Facebook, playing your phone Apps, or punching out blog posts 47 people read. You can offer related products and services based on your strong suits and build momentum.

If you’d like to gain a bit more recognition or make money on the side, I’ll give you a bunch of ways and ideas for doing that…and no, the point isn’t to somehow get you to buy something from me. I may offer some useful, related things to purchase, but most everything will be free.

More importantly, I’ll help you with the marketing and web optimization side of things, so you don’t have to spend hours researching it for yourself. That’s like having two jobs.

I was reading Preston Yancey’s blog post the other day where he laments, perhaps even sincerely,

I #don’t hashtag because #ithinkitmakesmelooklikeanidiot and I don’t #knowhowtodoit #right.

Maybe he shouldn’t have to worry about all that. It got me thinking that some people are in the boat right with him…and Jesus, Buddha, and baked goods.

If this is you…breathe in deeply and calmly. Slowly sip your coffee and relax. It will be okay.

You might not know all the big changes. For instance, did you know that Google has changed its main algorithm again? It affect searches. . .a lot. It’s had ripples…like layoffs. Some companies died because of it.

Getting noticed is harder than ever, if you care about that.

And unless you have a hefty following already, then, it matters.

(Rest assured, Preston does have a big following or Zondervan wouldn’t hand him two book deals. They aren’t people of faith precisely. They make take some shanks, but they don’t gamble. They are people who have a business to write about faith in a way that will sell, so they can have bread on their tables…in the wilderness, or, and more likely, in the classy subdivisions of city suburb in the Midwest.) You probably aren’t in Preston’s league.

If you want to just write for fun and the few friends that you attract from Facebook when FB feels like allowing your stuff in the news feed now, that’s cool. But maybe you’re hoping that doing something you love, like writing or creating, can also help you pay the internet bill a bit more, or even get you more exciting opportunities. That’s what worked for me. I write for other people more than ever at this point; and it’s fun to get paid for it. Really. It is.

You’ll find more of that sort of help here in 2014 in addition to other more familiar things you read here when I wax of the unseen and lasting things and get to use this space to explore, in both writing and deeper thoughts.

But, this is the announcement that I’m ready to help and share the info I’ve researched and the work I do in the MARCOM world.

To get us kicked off, these are the 5 Best Tips for starting your year off right. These trends are important to consider as you work and create in a noisy world.

Considering writing a blog post about the challenges of changing technology. What might you do or not do about it this year. I’ve made this infographic easy to embed to help you get started, if you want it.

Did that help you? I hope so!

Do you have writer or creator friends, too?
You can share the knowledge. Go ahead and embed this right on your site, if you’d like.

See you soon.xo

(connect with me or sign up for updates in the sidebar)

2014 MARCOM trends

sky

For those of you that want to get off to a bang this year…

If you have a product, service, book, or something that you need to get the word out about…this post is for you. OR Maybe you need more work, or some money on the side this year,

here are some marketing trends I’m seeing clearly on the horizon. Jumping on a few of them could help you.

First of all…

• Blogging isn’t enough.

Not at all. It’s just beginning, but you’ll be smart to leverage more creative solutions like these:

1. Infographics (and other potent visuals…text is secondary.)

2. Content Marketing (Adding value instead of a hard sell)

3. Short Videos

4. Podcasting (The more you niche, the better you’ll do)

5. Relationship Building (Keep the Long Tail in mind)

6. Story is King (remember to humanize “promotion” into a simple and powerful narrative)

Do you have anything coming up in the new year and need get the word out? Start by leaving the info in the comments section, if you’d like. :)

Remember, for more good stuff bookmark this site and visit a bunch, or make it easy on your self and subscribe for direct delivery (nab that in the sidebar) or the RSS feed (icon at the top of the page.)

See you again soon!

Holiday update: My tech dieting

shotssmartphoto

I read a post….called…wait for it…

One Month with No Phone — How to Go Phoneless in a Major US City

at Tim Ferriss’ site that made me want to laugh and cry and then shake my head and then sigh…and now…confess.

So, it’s like this…

A whole generation can’t imagine what it’s like to live without a mobile phone and miraculously guest writer, Lane Wood…(sounds like a bowling alley product, right?) managed a whole month without one. He got around it with tons of technology and had to acquire a lot of patience. But, he’s still alive and everything.

But…Um. We do remember that just a few years ago most people didn’t have smart phones, right? Yes? Even you youthful Millenials?

Duh. Not even ten years ago we had stupid phones. Now the phone have a distinct intellectual edge, obviously.

I’m not a ancient relic, but I remember when “communication technology” was finding a creepy phone box thing that eat quarters and held you hostage with its strong metal cord. I would tell the operator, or the computer, my name was “Pick Me Up” so my dad would fetch me from Volleyball practice. The only people who had mobile phones were doctors, and most of them still had pagers. (If you’re clueless here, Google it up, okay.) Things have changed so much in so little time. I can barely remember a time that I wasn’t somehow attached to tech like I am now. CRAZZZZY.

Having no money makes you creative apparently, and now Lane’s an evangelist warning us that tech is cramping our lives and making us less human. No, it’s not big news, but I’m glad it’s getting more “air time” anyhow. Seriously.

I’m not posting now to pass judgement. Nope. I have changed to adopt the norms this guy has (seemingly) only ever known. Guilty. as. charged. Lane, I thank you. But, it is sort of sad, all of it.

Now to the good news:

In the last few days, because my kids have been on vacation, I have gone on a major diet…not with food…I was bad on that front. No, I haven’t used my phone, Facebook, twitter, Buffer, on been on my blog or or anyone else’s almost at all.

It’s been…NICE!

It’s like being able to breathe again. Lane, I’m with you!

Have you been on any sort of diet this season?

How long could you last without technology?

And I’m curious…what did you think of Lane’s article? Let me know.

Find Your Niche in 5 Minutes: Tutorial Video FREE

Until now, this short and potent tutorial video has been only viewable at a cost.

Merry Christmas! It’s now free to watch on YouTube.

(Here’s the companion worksheet that’s extra helpful. Click to get it and use the password: getScoop)

Enjoy: