Fascinating question. I hope people pick up on the marketing philosophy behind it

Most marketers never consider the TYPES of customers they’re attracting into their business, nor what it will be like to service them day after day, month after month, and year after year.

The truth is by appealing to people’s higher, self-actualizing, socially conscious, positive striving selves rather than their more base motives, … you’ll probably make fewer sales but have more content and satisfied customers to inspire you, intrigue you, and make YOU happier with your work.

One of the benefits of having been a clinical psychologist before I was an online marketer is there’s perhaps no job where one feels the impact of the sales process AFTER the sale more than in a therapist’s office. If you sell too hard, or appeal to people’s natural desire for immediate gratification, you wind up with clients you can’t really help, who constantly complain, and who, in the long run, aren’t nearly as financially valuable.

On the other hand if you more carefully screen patients and work hard to attract those who mirror your values, who you can REALLY help, everything runs more smoothly, every day is a wonderful adventure, and the finances take care of themselves (after some time).

It actually took me a little while to get this online when I started marketing information products. Initially I didn’t think about how what these people saw on my website would impact what they would be like as customers after the sale. The illusion of anonymity (hiding behind my computer screen) made me think these people were just electrons flowing into my bank account, and I should get as many of them as I could to do so as long as I didn’t do anything unethical, illegal, or immoral.

But I soon realized it wasn’t about getting the MOST clients, it was about getting the RIGHT clients.

While I do REALLY LIKE money, I’ll take 10 solid clients who are in tune with my business and my values over 100 pains in the tush any day!

Wishing you good health,

Pete
Editor
http://www.TheHealthyMinuteVIP.com

We make a list of these organizations and sometimes at a later date we make donations in the name of the client who shares our interest in a particular organization or issue. In some cases the donation we make will end up being larger than the amount of work the client actually paid for (which can be a pleasant surprise).

This makes us happy. It makes them happy. It appeals to both of our higher natures. And it always reflects who I am at any particular time since I make the decision about where to donate. It’s not something that’s advertised, but it definitely exceeds expectations, and it leads to a lot of referrals! So we donate to a good cause and generate more business that allows us to do more of that.

AdWords is great but it helps me relax a bit to know that, if we can generate lots of referrals, ROI through AdWords might actually be a lot higher than it looks at first glance.

It was a little risky advertising ourselves as “a digital transcription service that shares your values,” but wow, being genuine really works! I don’t actually know our conversion ratio but when I look at analytics I can very accurately guess that for every 20-30 site views (and that’s page views, not unique visitors!) we’ll have one person contact us looking for work. And when I ask people why they went with us rather than any number of other options, they usually say something like, “Your company just felt right.”

Very interesting insights about fear and greed, too. What a valuable post!

Thanks folks,

Alex

For myself, I don’t always mind someone appealing to my greed – after all, greed is based in something beautiful and true – the desire for expansion. When it stops at the material level it often transmutes into something twisted, but very few people can pass straight to enlightenment until they’ve tried the other stuff – money, power, status, sex – and eventually asked, “Is this all there is?”

Same with fear. In my case, fear has been a motivator to do things I’m very glad I’ve done. And I wouldn’t have responded to a “spiritual” approach at that point in my life.

The key for me is, “will this marketing prevent the emergence of higher consciousness?” Or something like that.

I’m not entirely clear yet – as I reread what I’ve written, I can’t find a line in the sand that separates OK from not OK.

It is such a relief to see reference to moral and spiritual matters in marketing.

Thank You!

I’ve been told that my website copy sounds like me talking. And, that’s exactly what I try to achieve. Website copy should sound like a conversation between you and the visitor.