Marianne Williamson tells this story of when she was a cocktail waitress at an airport hotel bar in L.A. And she said at first she hated the job because all the time she spent there she couldn’t spend doing her real work in the world teaching A Course in Miracles. But you know, she needed to pay the bills, so she kept going to work. And then one day she realized – this isn’t a bar, this is a church! And this isn’t a job, it’s an assignment.
I was thinking about that story when I found myself in Austin speaking at the Which Test Won? Online Marketing conference. The folks in this room (and yes, I’m writing this email from the convention floor) are about 500 of the world’s most successful marketers. I was supposed to tell them how to make their home pages more effective marketing vehicles.
Instead, I talked about the power of being vulnerable. Ultimately, I told these left-brained, analytics-focused marketers that while stats and studies could take them a long way, the only way to have long term success with their homepage is to acknowledge there isn’t much that makes us feel more vulnerable and exposed than our homepage.
If you’ve ever had webpage shame – you are not alone.
And so I dragged out the ol’ Brené Brown and we got into it. We got real and honest about what fears and inadequacies our webpages bring up – and believe me the shame and pain is ONLY worse when you think of yourself as a marketer – especially if you think of yourself as one of the best marketers!
Whatever your area of expertise, you can use it to make a difference.
I know marketing can sound like a dirty word to many coaches and healing professionals, and for the most part, my work with authors-in-transformation is all about writing a book that will market itself. There are a few tricks to making this happen which I teach in my Free Your Inner Author program.
The best marketing comes from our deepest willingness to be vulnerable and to give our gifts without expectation. It’s a tricky balance but it’s what I taught a roomful of ivy-league educated tactical marketers and it’s the same thing I’d tell you: “You are imperfect, you are wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.” ― Brené Brown
P.S. Speaking of being vulnerable, I need to give a shout out to one of my clients who is making a big difference in the world today with the launch of her site, Tapas Living. Check it out.
