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You are here: Home / Authenticity / Why being YOU is the only way to market from the heart

Why being YOU is the only way to market from the heart

January 21, 2015 By Kate Bacon 10 Comments

Heart

When I mention the word “marketing” how do you feel? Maybe you have an “icky” feeling in your gut as you think about the cheesy sales pages that you find online that go on and on…and on, with red text full of exclamation points?

Or maybe you remember the time you went to a networking meeting and everyone seemed to be thrusting business cards into your hands intent on you becoming their very next customer?

If this is your only experience of marketing then I don’t blame you at all for thinking it’s impossible to ever market in a heart-centred way!

Luckily there’s another approach…

How would it feel just to be YOU when you create marketing materials for your business – whether that be website copy or business cards to share at a networking event? Are you already breathing a big sigh of relief?

Solopreneurs are you preventing your Perfect People from finding you online
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I honestly believe that the biggest asset in your business is you, and by NOT sharing yourself authentically you are preventing your Perfect People (your Tribe, or ideal clients) from finding out about you.

You are doing the world a dis-service by NOT sharing your values

Most likely you will have very similar values to your Perfect People. THAT is why when you meet (either online or face to face) you immediately feel a connection. So you can start to see why it’s important that your values shine through in your marketing, can’t you?

It was important for Marianne (one of my Bespoke Website Package clients) to feel she was working with someone who really “got” her and used language that echoed the tone she wanted for her own site. As she said herself:

“I found Kate through her website, and liked her simple, accessible approach. The language, in particular, echoed a tone that I wanted for my own website…It’s not easy to get across the nature of the work I do, and she and her colleagues were so sensitive and aligned with my values.”

If my site, and particularly my About Page, had not been written “from the heart” Marianne would probably not have felt that sense of connection from the start. (And the bonus is that it is so much easier to write in your own speaking voice, rather than feel you have to use some kind of “business marketing speak”!)

What three words describe you?

It sometimes feels a bit daunting to focus on yourself to this extent, but getting clear about your values is the first step to living life and doing business authentically.

If you are stuck you can use this downloadable list to check your values. Start by picking 8 words that just “feel right” to you. Next rate them on a scale of 1-10 to find out which are your top 3 values.

You can also ask a few trusted friends or solopreneur colleagues to come up with three words THEY would use to describe you.

I encourage you to be even more of yourself when working on your marketing. (And if the term “marketing” itself still feels uncomfortable maybe substitute it with “connecting”, or “sharing your message” with your kind of people).

Take action, right now and start with your Bio

Take your first step and write a short “professional bio” that you can use under your blog posts, or on your website. (You can see mine, right below this post).

Over to you…craft your very own bio (think of it as the starting point for your new About Page that’s going to enable us to find the “real you” online) and share in the comments below.

If you are struggling to figure out how to translate your own authentic voice into a clear marketing message, sign up for a Website Strategy Session where I will focus on helping you clarify your message in a way that works online to reach more of your Perfect People.

Photo credit: Emmanuel Huybrechts

Filed Under: Authenticity, Heart-Centred Business

About Kate Bacon

Kate helps small businesses connect with their perfect clients through her creative approach to web design. She supports solopreneurs to re-ignite the spark of passion that drew them to set up their business in the first place – and amplify it into an online home that’s in alignment with the core of who they are. Her coach training combined with a decade of experience in online business are the foundations of her work: Helping her clients dig deep into who they are, why they’re in business, and how they can express that authentically online.

Comments

  1. Janet Walker says

    January 21, 2015 at 3:25 pm

    I love your website, Kate, and am still immensely happy with the one you did for me. (I got another enquiry just last week.)

    Reply
    • Kate Bacon says

      January 21, 2015 at 4:34 pm

      Thank you for your kind words Jan. I’m pleased your site is continuing to bring in new enquiries!

      Reply
  2. kate wilson says

    January 21, 2015 at 3:55 pm

    Hello Kate

    love your site and I enjoyed this post. Right now as I am doing the B4C course I am realising I have a lot to learn in order to get my blog looking and sounding professional. If I was thinking of creating a web site I would definitely give you a call as the way you write is very calming and reassuring. I looked at Is This You and yes it certainly described me in the past when I had a web site. Really nice. All the best Kate

    Reply
    • Kate Bacon says

      January 21, 2015 at 4:39 pm

      Hi Kate!

      Thanks for your kind words, I’m glad you find my writing calming and reassuring, that’s lovely to know.

      I just found your blog about Catalunya and commented on your post about hot springs (a favourite pastime of mine is to go to spas!)

      Enjoy B4C, it’s a great course. I look forward to meeting you in the Facebook Group (though I am not re-sitting this time around, I find it a great community).

      Kate

      Reply
  3. Christine Livingston says

    January 21, 2015 at 5:27 pm

    Hi Kate

    Cool post! So great to see your clarity emerge in your revamped site and in how you’ve written this post. Love your conviction. Go you 🙂 xx

    Reply
    • Kate Bacon says

      January 21, 2015 at 7:34 pm

      Thanks Christine! xx

      Reply
  4. Miriam Linderman says

    January 29, 2015 at 6:04 am

    Kate, I love your website and your approach. Real and beautiful.

    Reply
  5. Kate Bacon says

    January 29, 2015 at 9:46 am

    Thank you @Miriam – I’m glad I’m “walking my talk” as they say in coaching circles!

    Reply
  6. Linda Anderson says

    March 4, 2015 at 5:56 pm

    Great post, Kate, and I have to say the Real You is shining through as you so expertly walk your talk.

    I agree totally that it’s so important to be authentic in all our communications, because WE are the business.

    Love your comment ‘it is so much easier to write in your own speaking voice, rather than feel you have to use some kind of “business marketing speak’ – chimes well with my own motto, ‘Be yourself, everyone else is already taken’ (with a nod to Oscar Wilde).

    Reply
    • Kate Bacon says

      March 4, 2015 at 8:00 pm

      Hi Linda

      Thank you for your kind comment. I’m glad I never felt I “had to be someone else” in my business (unlike in previous jobs where the Real Me was always a bit watered down).

      I love the Oscar Wilde quote, perfect for us heart-centred solopreneurs!

      Reply

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Hello, I’m Kate!

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It's my mission to live in a world where as a heart-centred solopreneur you don't feel stuck with a website that doesn't reflect who you truly are...

I bring clarity as the starting point when working with you. Helping you reconnect with your Big Why, the passion which leads your work with your perfect people. I take the time to really hear you, delve deep into your story so that you can re-ignite and amplify the spark at your core.

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