In Your Success Zone Blog

What Barak Obama Can Teach Us about Marketing

This post is not about politics or who to vote for on November 4th. It is about identifying with your market and speaking authentically and directly to those you want to serve in your business.

As a Creative Entrepreneur I'm passionate about expressing my ideas. I want my readers to understand what I'm talking about. I want them to hop on board with my idea and come along for the ride.

But sometimes I'm take turns they can't follow. They can't find the hand-hold to get on my trolley as it's moving down the street and are left on the curb wondering where it went.

That's not my goal, so I'm learning to
- think about who I want to serve by bringing to mind specific names and faces of clients and friends I have helped
- imagine what is grabbing their attention in their business today

- start with their major concern - their big attention-getter

- take small steps in explaining my ideas about how I can help to address their concern

- be as authentic and of as much value as I can be

- realize that by identifying who I best serve and how I can best serve them, I am doing my job

- ask for feedback about whether what I'm saying is really addressing what my readers are grappling with

- acknowledge that my work is to empower my readers to find their own solutions and succeed at their life and work.

Which brings me to Barak Obama's acceptance speech last night at the Democratic National Convention. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. No matter your politics, if you saw and heard his speech, you know who Obama wants to serve and how he proposes to do that.

It's the middle- and working-class American who

- is struggling with job loss

- is concerned about educating his children

- wants affordable health care insurance

- thinks the war in Iraq was a mistake or has gone on too long and

- wants a safe and prosperous America for herself and her children.

Obama delivered his speech with passion and authenticity. He got his audience on his trolley and rolling down the street. And then he took it up a gear by acknowledging a deeper desire of his audience - to be heard and to matter. He said in essence, "It's not about me. It's about the promise of this country. And you and your vote matter." Masterful.

What can you take away from Obama's speech for your business? Here are some ideas:

- ask your best clients/customers how your product or service has helped solved a problem for them

- write down their answers and look for common themes about their concerns and your solution

- when you talk to a potential client or customer, tell her/him a story of how your product/service has already helped a client/customer with a similar concern

- allow yourself to get very clear about the kind of person who benefits the most from working or buying from you - specificity counts in effectively marketing your business today

- realize that it's not about you, it's about your client/customer. You are the conductor of your trolley (business), but ultimately it's your client/customer's perception of whether you can help her get where she wants to go that counts.

For an example of these ideas in play, go here.

From Oppression to Passion

Oppression Card VoyagerTarot.com

Change Card VoyagerTarot.com

Art Card VoyagerTarot.com

This morning I drew the Oppression card from the Voyager Tarot for a sneak peek into what is going on with my work. [Picking a Voyager card is my morning ritual. You can pick your own Voyager card for the day on-line here.] Oppression is the principle of being snagged spiritually. It tells me to finish a spiritual lesson to get free and fired up again. Frankly, I was surprised that Oppression showed up today as I have been feeling more expressive in my work lately. So I asked "What do I need to do to free myself from Oppression in my work?" I drew Change which tells me to change my daily routine in small incremental steps for more balance. Change most certainly means - not staying up until 1 am to watch Olympics, political conventions, or movies so that I get rest and feel refreshed the next day at work, - eating what I know will agree with my system so I have stamina and feel good, and - getting to the gym more than once a week so that I am strong and energized. I get it that taking care of my physical plant (body) will help me feel more energized and spiritually connected. But I thought there was more and wanted to know, "How do I do that - really?" I pulled the Art card which tells me to - take a broader perspective, - connect with my passion, - hatch a plan with strategies that I can execute, - see a promising future for my work, and - communicate, communicate, communicate! Now I know what I need to do to get free and flying again, and I'm on it. Here's a question for you Creative Entrepreneurs: How do you work out of being bogged down and reconnect with your creative energy and business drive? I would love to hear what works for you!

Running Down the Path of Fear

If you are a creative person, you may be a very good worrier - busily imagining a myriad of bad consequences and getting tangled up in them instead of experiencing what you really want.

I once read that creative people worry more than people who are not so imaginative. Makes sense to me. If you are creative, you are always coming up with ideas, trying new things, going here and there in your imagination. A by-product of being creative can be the penchant to run down the path of fear. I confess to being a very good worrier. If there were a "Dream Up Really Stunning Negative Consequences" event at the Olympics, I would have been a contendor.

In 1996 I was introduced to Abraham,  a group of non-physical beings who speak through Esther Hicks about the Law of Attraction (like attracts like). You may have seen Esther Hicks in The Secret (Original Edition) or read her excellent book Ask and It Is Given: Learning to Manifest Your Desires.

Listening to Abraham talk about the Law of Attraction, I realized that by imagining the worst case scenario, I was directing my energy in the direction of what I don't want! I then noticed that directing my attention to what I do want was tricky because the bad stuff seemed so compelling and "real" - it just demanded my attention!

With clients, I notice the same thing. It takes deliberate effort to get off the subject of "What's Wrong" and on to the subject of "What I Really Want". Part of the difficulty has to do with our wiring for survival. It's more important for species viability to realize that there is sabertooth tiger lurking in the grass and run (awareness of danger) than blissfully consider a dandelion and get eaten by said tiger (lack of awareness and severe negative consequence).

Now that sabertooth tigers pose a minimal threat, this run to the negative consequence also has to do with choice and feeling able to make a difference in how your life goes. An excellent practice to develop when you find yourself mid-sprint on the path of fear is to ask yourself, "Is this what I really want?" If yes, keep running. If not, stop and consider what you do want and begin to meander down that path instead.

A break in the pattern may not be easy (I'm still practicing!), but it opens up new opportunities for you - ones that you may like much better than what's at the end of the path of fear. Now that's a creative act!

Alicia Sacramone's Comeback

Earlier today I wondered what Alicia Sacramone of the US Women's Gymnastics Team would chose for herself after her disappointing performance in the team finals. In her interview with Chris Collinsworth on NBC, Alicia called her falls on the beam and the floor event "uncharacteristic mistakes". And that's when I knew that Alicia has decided she is a winner.

Tonight she competed in the Women's Individual Vault event, put in a good performance, and finished 4th. No medal, but Alicia is a champion.

And she is getting a lot of hits on Facebook where she is considered hot. So all in all, a good Olympics for Alicia. Brava!

Michael Phelps's Intention List

Michael Phelps and his coach, Bob Bowman, talked with Bob Costas on NBC tonight about Michael's amazing Olympic experience, winning 8 gold medals in 8 swimming events. If you have been watching the Olympic coverage, you've seen Michael everywhere.

Michael and Bob Bowman said that Michael accomplished pretty much everything on his Intention List for the Olympics. They created it together and went for it.

More than once this past week, Michael Phelps has said that the key to his success has been to "dream big and use my imagination". Tonight I heard Bob Bowman confirm that dreaming big and using his imagination brought Michael to this amazing level of success.

Of course hours in the pool, great physical gifts and skills, top-level coaching, and a myriad of other factors that have colluded on Michael Phelps's behalf.

And that's just the point. By dreaming big and using his imagination, Michael Phelps has allowed the Universe, the fates, the Olympic gods to bring him to the pinnacle of athletic success.

I am duly impressed. I am creating my "Dream Big and Use My Imagination" Intention List.

How about you?

Win or Lose - You Decide

How about those Olympics!?! I've been glued to the tube all week and am so inspired by the incredible athletes, the venues in Beijing, and the stories that have emerged.

I have seen athletes realizing their Olympic dreams:

Michael Phelps winning 8 for 8 gold medals,
Dora Torres taking 2 silver medals literally back to back at age 41, and
Usain "Lightning" Bolt cruising to a win in the 100 m to become the fastest man on earth.

I've also seen the athletes whose dreams have been dashed:

Alicia Sacramone falling off the balance beam and likely costing the US Women's Gymnastics Team the gold medal,
British champion Paula Radcliffe dragging herself over the finish line of the Women's Marathon in 23rd place,
and Aussie hopeful Eamon Sullivan failing to win gold at the Water Cube.

Win or lose, each of these amazing athletes will have to wake up tomorrow and decide his or her future.

To what will Michael Phelps devote himself now?
How will Dara Torres channel her incredible competitive spirit and body?
What else can Usain Bolt accomplish?

Will Alicia Sacramone forgive herself and move on to accomplish other goals in her life?
How will Paula Radcliffe handle not winning an Olympic medal?
Will Eamon Sullivan continue to compete or turn his attention elsewhere?

These question got me to thinking about the decisions we mere mortals (non-Olympians) must answer every day - will I win or lose today? And then I thought about what the game is.

The Game of Life is what we are playing. And each of us has our special events.

My field is the Emotions and my events are Acknowledging and Healing My Emotions and Using My Power for Good.

Your field may be Creativity and your events may be Following Your Inspiration and Allowing Money into Your Experience.

Or perhaps your field is Parenting and your events may be Learning from Your Children and Healing Your Past as You Parent.

I leave you with these questions for Olympians and the rest of us:

What is the field of your endeavor?

What is winning to you?

What are you deciding to do today about winning in your Game of LIfe?