As far as I can tell, I’m the only one talking about this so far. Naturally, I want to go on record as the first!
This is about marketing, so if you’re an entrepreneur (or thinking of becoming one), listen up!
First of all, recognize that we are in a period of the re-emergence of the divine feminine. That link is to a video of the same name. You might want to check it out!
This means that the whole planet is coming back into balance, after many centuries of being more than a little masculine-heavy. Check out the video for examples. For our purposes here, I’m talking about what this means to marketing.
Think about it–the way goods and services are sold today comes mostly from advertising and marketing standards that were established in the ’30s and ’40s by men to sell to men. That means the techniques tell the potential customer to buy for reasons like this: It will make you seem more powerful! It will make your wife (or other women) want to have sex with you! It will make you feel like a man!
Don’t believe me? Look at car commercials. They are the boldest example of the last vestiges of cave-man advertising. (Sorry, guys–it’s probably insulting to you too!)
However, these days, about 80% of all purchasing decisions in the U.S. are made by women, including cars and men’s clothes. If you are selling (marketing, offering, whatever) now, you are mostly selling to women. And women don’t care if their husbands will sleep with them–of course they will! Women have that deal taken care of.
So what do women care about? Well, speaking as a woman myself, my favorite thing in the world is to sit around and chat. And than means… anybody? CONNECTING.
Women are all about connecting. We like to FEEL something, we like to empathize and sympathize, and we like to hear stories about people like us–or people who are different from us. And we like to help.
Why do charities that help children in foreign countries show pictures of the children and tell their stories? “Ana never knew her mother. Her father died of dysentery after serving most of Ana’s life in the defeated army. Ana would like to go to school. She dreams of someday becoming someone just like you. Help her to do that.”
Why? Because that’s what women respond to.
This is the New Marketing. And this is why social media are so important to business owners right now. Establish a personality on Facebook and Twitter. Share your story and/or the stories of your clients. You don’t have to pull on their heartstrings and manipulate them (like the charity example above–sorry for the cheese). You just have to be honest. Here’s an example:
“Here’s my client, Ana. When we started working together, Ana had been in the same dead-end job for 10 years. Her children were recently grown and had flown the coop. Ana’s husband had lost his job, and Ana was starting to wonder what the rest of her life would be like.
“After only two months in the XYZ course, Ana discovered that she was more content, felt better physically, and found herself looking forward to work every day. Another month later, and a great new job offer had landed in her lap.
“Today, Ana works in my company! She left that great job, because she loved the work we had done together so much, she wanted to help other people the way she had been helped. Now, she not only looks forward to work every day, she knows she is making a difference in other people’s lives.”
If you’re a woman, I know you can see how much better that is to you than, “Buy this! It’ll make you irresistible to men!”
And if you’re a man, you might also see its value, but if not, just trust me.
There will be MUCH more about the New Marketing, but this is a great start. Just remember to give me, your friend, the credit I deserve. ;o)
Until next time, y’all be good! (5-11-10)