So you want to be a human helping other humans, but traditional “sales” and marketing feels gross, sleazy, or “unaligned”
But you still need to make sales to have a business. And pay your bills. And live your life. And have the freedom to go shopping on a random Tuesday afternoon when the mood strikes.
So, what is a spiritual entrepreneur to do?
The short answer: solve people’s problems, and tell them about how you can help them.
The longer answer:
Selling is simply letting the right people know that you can help them overcome a problem that they have.
But “selling” and “marketing” have become complicated in our corporation-dominated culture where the majority of the marketing we are faced with daily has no interest in actually solving our problems.
You’re inundated with dozens of campaigns daily trying to convince you that you are less than, and only buying their shit could possibly make you feel good enough, special enough, pretty enough, thin enough, healthy enough, etc!
(And spoiler alert: nothing outside of yourself will ever actually make you feel this way 🤪)
And yet we take most of our selling and marketing cues from this system.
We are told to reduce people to their “problems” and their “pain points”, to make them feel urgency (often falsely) and hijack their reasonable decision-making processes with emotions.
With all of this, your genuine desire to help other humans expand, grow, learn, and become healthier can turn into something that still contributes to making a lot of us feel less than, and like we’re still not doing enough, being enough, or having “enough”.
If you’re like me? You’re probably sick of this paradigm 🔥 (and you can probably smell the bullshit a mile away, even in so-called “conscious” marketing.)
That said, let’s unpack how you can still market, sell, help hundreds (or thousands or millions) of people while growing your income and not feeling like you sold your soul in the process
Selling is helping
I learned this from one of my first business and sales mentors almost a decade ago, and it stille chos in my mind any time I create an offer, write copy, content, or give advice to a client.
If there’s one thing the world needs right now, it’s for those of us who have no agenda other than helping each other to be happier, healthier, more regulated, and more awake to do just that — and to grow wealth that will be used for good in the process.
We need to help each other, empower each other, lead each other towards healing and knowing that there is nothing outside of ourselves that can “save” or “fix” us.
What I really want you to know and internalize is this: no one or thing outside of you can “save” you, nor can you do this for anyone else.
What can happen, is someone with some knowledge, guidance, energy, story, or offering that speaks to you, can lead you to a more fully expressed version of yourself.
A “better” version of you, for lack of another word.
And you can do this for others.
How to sell from the paradigm of helping
“Selling” your service, product, art, or offering is simply the clear communication of how you can help someone to be a “better” version of themselves.
Think about the coaches you’ve hired, concerts or events you’ve gone to, classes you’ve joined, even the food you buy: you choose it because it will help you, nourish you, elp you feel some joy, or fill some need in your life.
Selling your own work to others is exactly the same: it fulfills a need for your client or customer, and enriches their life in some way.
On the flip side, you can think of how not making your offering to someone will keep these things from them.
The broader impact of “spiritual sales”
I can’t help but think it’s a spiritual, political, and revolutionary act to say NO to selling and marketing yourself in ways that feel “sleazy” or pushy.
To say “no” to talking to people as if they’re broken, disempowered, or somehow lacking without what you are selling.
Truthfully, their life may be dramatically improved by what you have to offer them. When you see it like this, you can see your own value as well as the value you will bring to your client or customer, and the transaction becomes empowering for both of you.
Consider this: if you’re a coach, healer, teacher, artist or service provider of ANY kind, someone needs your work.
Someone needs YOU to enrich their lives and heal themselves in some way.
If you’re not selling or “marketing” yourself because it feels sleazy, gross, or awkward, you’re holding back that healing, teaching, or helping from someone who needs it.
Your prompts for reflection + how to “sell” more
I’d love for you to reflect on how you can do things differently.
How can you reach (help) more people in a way that feels good, fun, easy, and like you’re helping vs “selling”?
What have you been doing with your “marketing” or “sales” that feels awkward, gross, or just kinda…not right?
What haven’t you been doing to share your work because it didn’t feel good?
Can you reframe it/do it differently so it does feel good?
I’d love to help you work through anywhere you’re struggling with this, so hit me up in the comments and let’s chat through it!
Or if you wanna go deeper with a personal solution, I have a few spots open for 1:1 coaching where we can get you clear and comfortable with how to “sell” (aka help your people) with what YOU have to offer in a way that feels perfectly you, easy, and fun. Send me a message to chat about it!
really great way to clarify what we’re doing and WHY we’re doing it. love the question to ponder, how can I connect with people who might want to buy my art in a way that feels good and fun! going to ponder that one. I’ll let you know what I come up with. But all good answers, start with a good question! thanks for that and all your other wisdom