Authentic Marketing = Serving Generously at Scale

I used to say marketing is making friends at scale.

On reflection, that phrase doesn't quite capture what I meant. As an introvert, I tend to shy away from having many friends. But something I do yearn for is to serve as deeply, and as generously, as I can.

So I'd like to rephrase it now:

Marketing is serving generously at scale.

That is what heart-based marketing means to me.

What makes giving generous…

Heart-centered marketing (or authentic marketing, as I've long called it) has always meant doing actions that are effective for marketing, and yet let us be “authentically” ourselves — and I think we are most ourselves when aligned with our values. To serve generously at scale means to create and connect in ways that make a positive impact, as deeply and as widely as possible.

But generous also means being willing to listen to what our ideal clients want and need, and to stretch ourselves to deliver that value… instead of only distributing what we want to make, which is not necessarily generous, because we only have ourselves in mind.

Listen first, then look for the pattern:

To be generous means to make the effort to know others well enough to know what they would really want. Which is why market discovery is at the core of heart-centered marketing: we do need to have meetings, or connect personally, with at least a few people, so that we can better sense into what they truly want and need at this time.

"But I'm an introvert without a big network. How do I find those first conversations?"

No matter how introverted you are, you already have connections: friends, family, classmates, acquaintances, coworkers, past coworkers… people who would be open to you reaching out. Either they represent your ideal client and you can tap them for a conversation, or they know somebody who is, and who would be open to talking with you. I explain the process in my blog post about Authentic Market Discovery.

One of the biggest sticking points for us soulpreneurs, the one that blocks so many of us from having a successful business, comes when what people say they want isn't the same as what you think they need.

Remember — your income comes from their spending. So it is simply your decision: provide what people want, and get paid… or provide only what you think they need, and hope to get lucky that it also happens to be what they want.

I like to get into this gently. Most of us soulpreneurs have plenty of empathy… and yet we often forget to tap into that empathy, because we are so mesmerized by our vision, by what we want for others.

Having the conversations of market discovery is a natural process of generating empathy, without having to force yourself. You'll naturally want to ease suffering, and help others reach the goals they care about.

When is a pattern clear enough to act on? Two points of data is a loose beginning. Three points of data converging is the beginning of a pattern. And if you can get to five points of data that converge, that is a strong enough pattern for a soulpreneur to take action on.

Once we can see a clear pattern for what our ideal client wants and needs, then we get to the work of creating the content, the tool, the stories, the programs that can serve them, and many people just like them. The more we're able to create something they actually want, the more value we are delivering to them… and therefore, the more effective our marketing becomes.

What scales, and what doesn't…

When I say “generously”, I mean to make things that we might otherwise charge for, but, can be distributed at scale without costing us more — and to give it away.

I am not saying that we are making commitments to people that we cannot keep. We don’t need to individually check in on many people, or have many meetings.

For those who have a bit of budget to spend on paid ads to distribute the free valuable thing we created, that's even more generous.

So where is the limit on stretching ourselves, and how is that different from people-pleasing? We stretch ourselves because of empathy and caring. And then we notice that by giving people what they want, the win-win is that we also tend to get paid well.

People-pleasing comes in when we are no longer speaking our truth. Heart-centered marketing is caring enough for others — stretching ourselves in that care — to deliver what they want, with our truth embedded as well.

Of course, stretch only as far as you can sustain. Make as much free material as you can keep creating with joy.

Won't I give a lot and earn very little?

The strongest case against all this comes from my own history.

Several years ago I tried an experiment, giving away all of my online courses and asking for donations. The most that ever brought in was $500 a month. When I switched back to selling those same courses, the result was $5,000 a month (ten times more!). I wrote about it in Why buy — or sell — online courses?, and the lesson I drew was this:

It’s human nature to want what’s easy. If high quality information is available easily and freely, then why pay?

What's different now? AI of course.

Due to AI now making content (including “how-to” content) a near-free commodity, my position has changed: give away as much as you can now, at least to test how the reception is.

So I have continued creating free content, with more gusto than before. And, I’ve begun lowering the prices of my courses, because information is getting cheaper and cheaper… although specialized information, from someone whose audience already trusts their expertise, still has some monetary value. And notice what I'm doing now. I'm helping my audience work better with their own AIs, so they can empower themselves and depend less on me.

Then let the response guide you…

How do you know people value what you give away?

You grow an eager audience, some of whom will likely want to work with you.

When do you switch to an FTApr webinar (Free-To-Attend, Paid recording — see The FTApr Webinar Strategy)? Switch when you notice that certain free things of yours get better traction than others.

For example, let’s say that a small-audience creator’s posts get no likes usually. Yet, whenever they post on topic X, Y, or Z, they get two, five, or even ten likes… that's a clear sign those topics are more valuable to their audience.

Turn one of them, or all of them, into FTApr webinars with short courses attached. Specialized knowledge from someone your audience already trusts still earns a price. A paid version can help your income, and it can also help people take the content more seriously, apply it, and get benefit from your work.

That is what heart-based marketing means to me now. Serve generously at scale, and let the response show you what to make next.

Which of your free things has been getting more traction than the rest? I'd love to hear about that topic, and what you decide to make next. 🙏🏼🧡

Visit the comments section here (and feel free to add yours!)