Sometimes one little letter makes all the difference.
And a typo can show you what you’ve been trying to say all along. I am so grateful for that typo – I have tears in my eyes from the relief it’s brought.
Let me explain… it’s all about the difference between inciting and inviting.
I’ve been trying to be “A Marketer” for years. Instead of being a design innovator, a creative thinker, a break-the-mold genius like I’d set out to be when I started in on this business extravaganza; I thought I had to market and convince people to do business with me.
And, somewhow, I thought I had to do marketing in the standard way.
Because I thought that was the way that things had to be if I was going to be “in business”. Especially in “this economy”.
And it’s always felt icky.
Because being “A Marketer” asks you to incite your ideal clients: To goad an individual
or a group to take some action or to express some feeling.
Ew!
Seriously, that just feels kind of slimy.
Yet, I want to be heard. I want to be seen. I want to be understood. So that my thinking and my message can get out into the world.
And I don’t want to get what I want by inciting. It doesn’t work for me.
I want to invite.
To ask my wonderful, perfect clients and future-clients to come over and play with me.
Just look at the gorgeous things that “invite” means:
Feels better than “to goad”, right?
I suspect that I’m not alone. Not by a long shot.
If you want to leave the icky energy of inciting behind, and start inviting your ideal clients to work and play with you, then please join me!
This is so brilliant, Erin — yes, those two words truly describe the “ick” side of marketing vs. the truly inclusive, collaborative, connecting way that great marketing can be. AMEN!
@marthacarnahan Thanks, Martha! I was looking up “goad” in the dictionary today out of curiosity, and the definition that caught my eye was literally:
“To prod or urge with or as if with a long pointed stick.”
Double-ick. Thanks for your AMEN! 🙂
Yes! I’m in. When you take a moment each day to revisit why you are really doing the genius work you offer the world, *to help others do their genius work*, it becomes easier to engage in pull marketing rather than push marketing. It’s not what’s in it for me but how can I help them. Looking forward to seeing your invitations and saying yes to all of them! You rock!Creative Blessings,
Tonya
http://www.artfulsuccess.com
http://www.wholelottawhimsy.com
Well here is another one for you: I have been curious about so many people’s obsession with Klout scores. To me, the real social influence is if people are responding, etc., and not some number. But I digress. I was looking up the word “clout” in the dictionary and the 2nd definition is about social influence. But the first definition is this: “A heavy blow with the hand or a hard object.”
Ouch!! (More ick!)
@marthacarnahan Ick, indeed, Martha. So much violence in marketing that’s really not needed!
I love this! Part of my hesitation around marketing is the icky factor. I know what I have is valuable and I know my clients will be transformed by the experience, but there’s something about “marketing” or the way you’re “supposed to do it” that makes me want to hide in a corner and hope the people who need me will find me. I just adore the idea of re-imagining marketing as a way to “attract, allure, entice, or tempt” my ideal clients. That has a completely different energy to it.Say more!
I love seeing the definition for invite. It helps us know that we are using the right word and that it is in alignment with what we are trying to do. I think so often we try to make something fit the way we think it should be done, when instead we need to focus on doing it the way that feels right to us. When we do it the way that feels right, we attract the right people to join us on the journey. Thanks for the great reminder!