The party?
Still going.
Still fabulous.
Still generating tons of smartness.
So we’ve covered the suck – here, here and here.
Today it’s time for solutions!
Which means reframing.
And matchmaking.
And fireworks + lurve + metaphorical sexytime.
Oh, and did I mention that there’s a big surprise at the end of the video?
Yep.
And it’s hawt.
If you’re the impatient sort, there are surprise-related deets right down there.
But don’t skip the video.
It has a nugget of awesome that you can use today – like, right now – to make marketing easier + more effective (read: make more moolah).
And, in keeping with tradition, the video has some swear-ey bits. Pull out the earbuds, cubicle pals.
(Psst. If you’re reading this in a reader and can’t see the video, click click to catch the goodness.)
No cost. No pitch. No catch. No lie.
An eight minute video rapping about solutions?
Nice.
Fine.
Good.
A totally free, no-strings-attached teleparty full of 75 minutes of non-stop smartness?
Epic.
So I asked four of my crazy smart friends who grok + rock the don’t-be-gross-and-still-make-the-monies thing if they wanted to host a shindig.
We hop on the phone.
And talk about what works for us.
And how you can use it with your Thing.
We invite you.
And we party like it’s 1999.
And by crazy smart friends I mean Chris Zydel + Susannah Conway + Alexandra Franzen + Lisa Baldwin.
I mentioned the totally free part, right?
And none of us are pitching anything.
This isn’t a teaser for a product or class or program.
Nope.
We’re doing this for one reason: To help you rock your Thing.
Here’s some of the stuff we’ll be rapping about:
- How to promote yourself like a Victorian dandy (aesthetics! wit! charm! luxury! sensual details!)
- Why you maybe shouldn’t be selling anything to begin with (or at least, not what you think you should be selling)
- How you can know absolutely nothing about marketing & selling and still sell-out your classes
- Why showing your knickers can be the best selling tactic of all (aka Just be your true messy vulnerable self)
- How generosity, integrity, treating your customers as whole human beings and operating out of the true spirit of service can generate more business than you know what to do with
- Why staying small and going for depth not breadth in your customer relationships can be way more successful (and feel much more satisfying) than continually striving for the ever elusive more
- How your thing can reach best seller status with a totally take-it-easy launch
- Why relationships matter more than selling, even – especially! – when there’s major moolah involved
See?
Told you it was hawt.
The deets:
who: Me, Chris, Susannah, Alexandra, Lisa + YOU!
what: 75 minutes of pure smartness + pragmatic how-to + your questions + our answers
when: Monday, June 6th at 2:00 pm eastern
where: A teleconference line near you
why: Because you don’t have to throw grenades to make the monies
how: By plugging your deets into the stylish box below
It’s on like Donkey Kong, baby.
p.s. Yeah, there will be a recording. But it’s no substitute for the real thing. So try to make the live call.
p.p.s. Don’t forget to drop a comment after your sign up. Thanks, you.
Flickr credit – fs999
Love this. Love the whole idea of marketing as match-making. I think I’ve been trying to frame it similarly for a while, but having trouble wrapping my head around getting the concept to work. Finding the people to connect with. Because unlike TV matchmakers, we don’t all have a database of potential candidates to cross-match by interest and income level.
Dani recently posted…Five Rules for Great Design Feedback
Very cool! Sign me up!
I’ve had a couple of big realizations around this that kind of fly in the face of standard marketing advice. Last year when I was getting ready for a gallery show, I found myself making design choices based on what I thought would sell. It kind of freaked me out, because that’s a BAD way to make art. Think Thomas Kinkade.
So for me (and it may not be true for everyone) the rule is to make what I make. Get into my process and do my thing, not try to tailor it to some “target market”. My people appreciate that there are alternatives to cheap mass produced crap – there are objects that are made with care and love and an eye to design. Those are the pieces that sell. The ones that I made because I *thought* people would like them, unsurprisingly, didn’t.
I can’t force Mary to be who I think Bob will like. I have to let her be authentic. But it will be helpful to think more about how to hook authentic Mary and authentic Bob up with each other!
Julia recently posted…Seamless
Yep – Yep – Yep!
Signed up and ready to roll with the call. I have been thinking along these line regarding marketing for a while now as I get ready to launch my first premium service on the blog.
This shit doesn’t have to be sleazy – no doubt about that.
Looking forward to it!
Frank Dickinson recently posted…What Does Football and Business Have In Common
Fabeku, I love how you always make me smile while at the same time you present solid, worthwhile material. And this time you made me laugh out loud more than once!
I’m going to revisit my currently-in-progress sales page with your matchmaking re-frame in mind. Years ago, I reframed marketing for myself as a way to help people see that there are ways they can solve their problems – which is so important even if they never buy from me! I’ll be interested to see how this new perspective affects what I write.
Thank you so much for having this conversation and for stepping up to make a difference!
Grace recently posted…Find your own way
Bring it, man!
Sarah Bray recently posted…Your website wants to take you on a hot date
Oo Oo, I’m traveling that day but would love to catch it on the flip side. Will it be recorded?
Jenny recently posted…Two Twitter Tools I Can’t Live Without
@Dani – Want to talk a little more about what’s been tricksy for you? Where the sticky comes in with getting the concept to work? Happy to help, if I can.
@Julia – Yes! YES! Yessssss. I am with you 100% on this. I have a post about this exact thing scribbled across three index cards right now. Trying to wrangle it in + get it posted here. But what you said in the second paragraph? YES! You know, in case I didn’t already say that.
And right on about Mary. Even if she did twist herself to be somebody Bob liked, how long could she do that? How long would she want to do that? It seems totally not sustainable to me.
@Frank – Thumbs up on the launching-of-the-premiumness part + the no sleaze part!
@Grace – Thanks, you. I’ll be here all week. Don’t forget to tip the wait staff. And try the sirloin. I hear it’s killer. (grin)
I also like what you said about just getting people to grok that there are solutions out there. Creating that opening seems huge + critical. Just the awareness that things can be different is a big thing to give to someone, I think.
@Sarah – Brought!
@Jenny – Yep. It will be recorded.
Okay, I told you on FB that I squealed and now I Just have to say, I loved “no shit bombs”. I will be there. Right now I am stuck at Mary meet Bob and then telling them all that they have in common and then leaving them to decide. But in sales, do I need to push them to go on taht first date ( aka buy from me?)
LOVE IT. I think I was already maybe half-way there but your bit about how you wouldn’t talk to Mary if you wanted her to date Bob flipped some kind of switch. V. cool.
Also, I am much more into positive alternatives than slamming what we don’t like. Mostly, I just avoid thinking about what I don’t like. It’s not worth the effort.
JoVE recently posted…You aren’t looking for a job for life
Playing matchmaker is a great way to look at marketing. I love the Mary & Bob story! So funny, & so true. The call sounds amazing! I probably won’t be able to call in but I’m looking forward to the recording. =)
Yay! I love this!
I think about sales pages as an invitation to a brunch, or a tea party. (My wedding was a tea party, so it’s like THAT).
I tell you all the details.
So you know, the menu + why I’m putting it on the menu (because I knew YOU were going to be there and I know you love pancakes!) and well, here you go! Come chow down!
It makes it fun + tasty
Tara recently posted…I’m so bad…
I love this whole matchmaker concept and am even more interested in seeing how I might apply it to my work as an artist. (Also glad to see another artist in this discussion – *waving to Julia*)I have such respect for both you and Chris that that would be reason enough to make the call. Better yet that I might actually learn something that I can apply to an area in my business where I feel uncomfortable (cuz I know what I don’t want but don’t have a vision of what I do want).
Sue recently posted…House of Stars Mandala
Howdy!
Know what? I skimmed the page. I didn’t watch the video. I have barely any idea what the call is going to be about, but I signed up anyhoo because Fabeku is hosting it and I don’t know any of those other folks.
New faces from trusted places. That’s the way to start summer
Crystal recently posted…Going Shopping
I will be in bed because that’s 4am my time… but maybe I will get up early. ‘Cos this sounds HAWT.
Catherine Caine recently posted…How to get face-meltingly amazing clients
Ok, like I said on Twitter… Brilliant just doesn’t cover it. And waaaaaaaaaaaay cool how you guys are putting it all together (and for free!!)
Loving the idea of the dating service. So for me right now it would be the idea of why I love my peeps so much and what I love about them, and why I love my service so much and what I think the two combined would then create? (Am I getting it? I totally got it when I watched the video and now I think I need to watch again and put into context with what I’m up to….)
Unfortunately I’ll be at work for the call itself but will be on pins and needles waiting for the download to listen in!!!
Grab the red docs for this one… I’m getting out my favorite bright blue nail polish. This is gonna ROCK!
Angel recently posted…perfect imperfection
Some say that buyers are motivated by pain. “Please make me not ugly so Bob will want to go out with me!” I think that’s true, but when I’m motivated by pain I also feel small and anxious and I want to be saved. I’d rather people buy from me feeling smart and sexy!
Hi Fabeku–
You have such an easy-going, but commanding, and non-sleazy approach to marketing.
Lovin’ the match-maker analogy. I once heard someone say something similar in vein–Think of marketing your wares as a gift for others; and if you withhold that talent/skill whatever, they won’t benefit.
Still LMAO over the dying under 100 cats comments…hehe;).
TY for the hawt marketing reframe.
Linda recently posted…‘Man Up’- Why Real Men Go To Counseling
I said on Twitter that you “had me at Victorian” because I love anything Victorian. And you said knickers, too—another vintagey reference! Woot!
And also, thank you for not making this a sales pitch. Love it.
AND as someone who is going to launch a new site soon, with plenty of plans for content but no idea yet of a product, to read “Why you maybe shouldn’t be selling anything to begin with” perked my ears right up (further than the Victorian references already had them, that is).
Eagerly looking forward to the awesomeness!
Sara recently posted…Elephant parties and mermaid dreams- When new Elephants crash the Klatch
Hell to the Yes.
Yes yes yes!
andrea recently posted…More reasons to freak out
Yes! I’m so excited. I’m definitely one of those people who until recently thought that marketing was inherently this sleazy, awful thing that I wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole. Posts like this, from various brilliant people, have made such a difference.
Where I get stuck is in the combination of getting the word out + not being sleazy or annoying or repetitive. How many times can you introduce Bob and Mary to each other on the Internet before both of them are like “okay, knock it off already!” ? I think that the concept of sharing what you love (about Mary) with others (Bob!) is going to help me a lot with that (like this post I saw today), but I’d love to hear some discussion on it.
Lindley recently posted…Swing Earrings in Sterling Silver- Agate- Vintage Celtic Knots – Stormweaver – Handmade
Love Love Love!
The matchmaker approach is so simple and honest.
What I am really digging about you is you do have the charisma to be great at sleaze marketing, but don’t want to go there!
Can’t wait to see what the call brings. YAY
Gwyn recently posted…Bringing Back Hope Or- Digging for treasure at the city dump
Solutions! I love ‘em. “Let’s get it started…”
Hi! I’m new around here (thanks to SarahJBray for pointing me here!). Can’t wait! <3
Cali recently posted…So- How Was Big Omaha
“How to promote yourself like a Victorian dandy (aesthetics! wit! charm! luxury! sensual details!)”
Hello! I want it!
Signed up for the call. I might not make it live on the line (as I might still be sleeping off WDS in my Portland hotel room
) but I’ll try my best & I’ll definitely be listening to the recording since you got a hot bunch of awesomeness here. Thank you, Fabeku, for the whole series & for the call (in advance!)!
Michelle recently posted…you know what to do
Amazing! I hope I can break away from my day job to join you guys!
I got to the party late so I’m gonna go backwards now that I’m super excited about Mary and Bob and listen/read to your posts about the sucky things.
The idea of reframing a sales page as an opportunity to hook up Mary and Bob is very helpful. Especially when I think about Mary and Bob being two people I really like even love. I like Bob (my thing I’m selling) a lot. I want him to be with someone who will really dig him and make him happy. And I think Mary (potential customer) is an absolute doll. I think she’s groovy and savvy and I want her to be with someone who really lights up her life. Awesome.
I love stories and dialogue (I’m a theatre person.) so I’m really getting into this scenario. It’s more like play and improvisation than marketing.
Thanks! I’m looking forward to the call!
Kirsten Olson Malinee recently posted…Example of Doing Truthfully in Imaginary Circumstances
Low key works. Authenticity works. It may not work in huge numbers, but I have a pretty small audience–the number of people who keep journals simply isn’t as big as the number of people who drive used cars. That was what I had to understand. And that makes marketing to a small audience work. Can’t wait for the webinar!
Love love love the Mary+Bob thing. Such a helpful way of thinking about it!
Can’t wait for this call! yay! It’s in my book. With stars.
Heidi Fischbach recently posted…Oh noes! What now!
My head *may* have just exploded from awesome. Just a bit. This is right where I am right now. I can’t wait! (and thank you!)
Ellie Di recently posted…57- Do the Taxes Right
I am loving this idea and can’t wait to listen in! I have always felt that if I write on my website as if I’m talking to friends, that my friends will show up. And they have! But what do you when you feel like you’ve hit a wall – like you’ve made a fabulous group of friends, but you know that more of your peeps are out there. They just don’t know about you yet and you don’t know about them yet. That’s when the yucky, desperate marketing kicks in. I’d love some insight into this — how to expand and grow while maintaining integrity and authenticity.
darrah parker recently posted…ready to play- a photo session with jennifer louden
@Fabeku – sure! Using the existing metaphor…I know Bob, and I know that he’s freaking awesome, and that he needs to connect with someone. That someone might be Mary, or Mark, or Steve, or Jennifer. But while I know the perfect type of person for Bob, I don’t already know Mary, Steve, Mark, and Jen.
So while in the dating world, it’s perfectly OK for Bob to wait for his perfect match, when you’re running an active business with staff and bills, it’s often impractical to sit and wait. And so Bob ends up dating folks that are less than perfect, that drain his energy, and leave him less focused on finding his perfect match. And this is where I get stuck – between the idealized “if you build it, they will come” mentality and the desire to keep my business afloat while I make the switch to working with the folks I really want to help.
Hi you Fabeku -
My Monday’s looking full, so I’ll be excited to get the recording of your call, but if I may ask a question, here it is (with apologies if I missed a treatment of this topic somewhere in a previous set of comments):
There’s another reason we’re drawn to secrets, I think, which is to do with the insanely satisfying feeling of discovery. Yes, there’s the fear/pain of being left out of the “secret” and there’s the relief from being let in on it, but there’s also just a pure Aha!-satisfaction-realization-eureka kind of feeling, too. I mean, if you get to an actual understanding that was previously secret (at least to you). You’re right, of course, to say that there are not a lot of actual secrets out there.
But I would like to give my users, presuming they come to my embryonic website at some point, a satisfied feeling of getting something that is pleasurably surprising. Like an Easter egg, I guess. So I would be very excited to hear any suggestions you may have for creating that delicious feeling.
Thank you so much for this discussion! The videos have been instructive, affirming, and wildly entertaining. xo!
@Ericka – Ooh. Yes. That. How much do you push Mary + Bob together?
I think keeping them on each their mutual radars is super important. You can casually mention Bob to Mary. And even keep mentioning Bob. But it never has to feel pushy.
“Hey, remember Bob? Still fabulous. Still looking for lurve. Interesting in having tea?”
“You’re fabulous. Bob would totally dig you. Did you two get in touch?”
@JoVE – Yeah, the not-talking-to-Mary-that-way was ah aha! for me too. For sure.
And I’m with you on positive alternatives. I think it’s fine to talk about what hasn’t worked. But making people feel like they’re the problem? Not hawt.
@Cotton Candy – Thanks! Hope you dig the recording.
@Tara – I love the idea of laying out the menu + the why behind it. Elegant! Smart! Delicious!
@Sue – I hope the call serves up some ideas that will help you fill in the what-you-do-want part + how it’ll fit with your biz.
@Crystal – You will totally love this krew. They are made of fabulousness + awesome.
@Catherine – It will be completely hawt. And if I need to bring coffee for you, I’d totally do that.
@Angel – You’re totally getting it. You’re talking about the fireworks that happen when your people + your Thing hook up. Kaboom! And blue nail polish FTW!
@Claire – This: “I’d rather people buy from me feeling smart and sexy!”
I love that. A lot.
Pain is an amazing motivator. And when we can acknowledge pain, there’s something magical that happens (that’s totally unrelated to getting someone to leap for the BUY NOW! button).
But when we press on the pain to cause someone to leap? There’s the small + anxious you talked about.
I think it’s really smart + really important to think about how we want our people to feel when they show up on our site. I’m with you. I vote for smart + sexy.
@Linda – Good point! And that’s one reason why I wanted to do this free teleshindig. Because I know a kajillion amazing people doing amazing things. Stuff that the world really needs. And they’re left feeling like they have to choose between concussion grenades + silence. I’d love to shine the spotlight on some alternatives that work.
@Sara – Mizz Franzen gets credit for the Victoria and why-you-shouldn’t-be-selling-anything goodness. And Susannah gets credit for the knickers. The call will be totally brilliant. I’m so stoked about it. Glad it’s happening at a good time for you.
@Juliana – Woot!
@Andrea – Yes!
@Lindley – That’s where I got tripped up too. And the matchmaking thing does make it easier. But I still don’t talk about my stuff as much as I probably should.
Every audience has a different tolerance level. And sometimes we just have to try it out + ask for feedback. I think that’s a totally legit thing to do. Because your people adore you + adore what you’re doing. And they want to stay in your orbit. They’ll also let you know (if you ask) when it feels like too much.
But here’s what I know for sure. Even when we think we’re being super pushy, our people usually don’t. It’s easy think they’re out there counting every tweet + making mean faces at our fourth tweet of the day. But that’s totally not true. (And, for the record, anyone who would actually do that? Totally not a good match anyway.)
@Gwyn – Simple and honest. Right on. Just how I like it. Toss in a pinch of fun + some random ninja references and I’m marketing heaven.
And thanks for the note about the charisma. I have never thought of myself as charismatic. But I’m definitely all about people using their superpowers for good.
@Mr. Pants – Let’s get it started (HA!), let’s get it started in here…
@Cali – Hey! I took a peek at your site thanks to Sarah + then BOOM! here you are. So awesome!
@Michelle – Sweetness. Hope you dig the call + have a fabulous time in PDX.
@Briana – Hope you can too. But, if not, there will be a recording. So no worries.
@Kirsten – You’re not late at all. No worries. Glad you dig the matchmaking thing. And I can see how your theater background could turn this into something completely spectacular + delicious! And yes! it’s totally more like improvisation + play that also happens to bring the monies too.
@Quinn – Yep. It definitely works. I think it’s also smart to grok the size of your audience. It can put a lot of missing places into place. Which is a big win for everybody involved. (p.s. Authenticity + low-key-ness works with huge numbers too. I’ve seen it happen. And it’s awesome.)
@Kate – Thanks you! Glad you dig it.
@Heidi – With stars! Sweet!
@Ellie – Yay! I mean, not for the head exploding part. But for the right-where-I-am-right-now part. Totally happy to hear it!
@Darrah – The expansion schtuff can be tricksy, can’t it?
The fabulous thing is that you’ve already got a gorgeous foundation. Because a) you’re amazing + b) you write to your friends and they show up! That’s juicy.
So maybe it’s about asking your friends to share the love. Some help spreading the word!
You can fill that with matchmakingness too. You do amazing stuff. Your people have experienced it. They felt better because of it. And maybe they know people who could use some more amazing. So you’d love it if they pointed them your way. Matchmaking!
And you could also show up in new places. (Guest posts? Interviews? New-to-you blogs?) And since you already get the really key part – talking to friends! – it’ll be easier to find new friends. And then they can help share the love too.
What you do is so fabulous. And so spreadable. From your photography sessions to the gorgeousness in your Etsy store. (That Datura-esque flower from Monet’s garden? Swoon!)
Anything helpful here? Just some off-the-top-of-my-head stuff. But I hope something’s useful.
@Dani – So is it more about getting Mary to meet Bob (traffic) or is it more about helping Mary grok that she + Bob could be soul mates (conversion)?
The don’t-already-know part left me thinking you’re talking about traffic. But I want to make sure I’m clear.
@Max – Discovery is awesome, isn’t it? There’s something gorgeous + transformative about the aha! I’m with you totally on that. When I see that happen to a client during a coaching call, I get ridiculously excited.
Delight + discovery + surprise feel really different to me than secrets. They feel open + unfurl-ey + synchronistic. Secrets feel closed + clinched.
Maybe, for me, that’s because secrets have been used in kind of a crap way in marketing.
But I think you can totally give people an experience of aha! without dipping into the secrets thing. And if the word secret is important to you + your people, then maybe it’s more about defining it clearly (through words + examples) so people get where you’re coming from.
Discovery + surprise feel like something somebody stumbles across. Some (maybe unexpected) goodness that they find that opens them up + turns them on.
Where secrets get twist-ey is when people are told there’s a secret up front. And that someone else knows it + they don’t.
So instead of stumbling on some sweet aha! there’s this desperate rush to figure out what the secret is.
Like I said, it could just be a semantics thing. For me, secret has become a word that’s heavy with a lot of baggage + ack. But I can totally appreciate how that might not be true for other people.
p.s. Chris over at Delightworks talks a lot about discovery + surprise + aha! in a way that I think is totally brilliant.
Another awesome video! I love “luuuuuv” and the bad hook up pitch to Mary. Put in those terms you really can’t dispute that it’s a bad way to to marketing!
So I experienced creating something and through relationships and enthusiasm, people bought it…to be honest, it felt unbelievable. Not like “great” unbelievable, I mean I really couldn’t wrap my mind around why it was so easy. This video makes me realize that I was totally wrapped up in the selling is “Now, Now, Now!) mindset. It also makes me realize how important it is to not have that mindset, not only to feel good about what you’re doing, but so you don’t sabotage your own work by thinking you’re doing something wrong. Dang, I need a couch to lay on and talk about my marketing traumas and how screwy my thoughts around marketing have been.
When will you do another call? I missed the first one!
I love the matchmaker idea! I also see where each person can frame their marketing in a way that creates the environment they would like and feel comfortable in if they were buyer’s seat.
Fabeku, these discussions are so great!
Hey there, Fabeku!!
This is WAY past getting in on the call. *laughs* In fact, I had not yet been introduced to you thru my friend, Ronna.
Is there a recording somewhere of the call? I know several who would benefit from this idea of the “matchmaker” idea and would love to be able to pass it along.
Cheers to you!
Coral recently posted…You Have Quite the Story