MC Blog: Beyond Greed, Competition and Ego

In my blog post last week, I talked about seven marketing motivators. These are the motivators that get us out there communicating about our services. They are Fear of Survival, Riches (Greed), Competition, Ego (Selfishness), Accomplishment, Love, and Service.

All of these work to some degree or other, but the ones we tend to observe the most often - Greed, Competition and Selfishness are the most problematic. These motivations appeal to the lower parts of ourselves. And they are also very compelling. When we see others marketing their services from these motivators we are often easily seduced. We form images of money, success, and personal gratification that are very seductive.

And it's not unusual that we form beliefs that this is what marketing is, what it must be for us to succeed. But for many, this is also a big gigantic turn-off. Therefore our only recourse, if we are to maintain our integrity, is to avoid marketing altogether. We do the best job we can in our business and we pray for referrals. Sometimes we hold our noses and do some marketing activities anyway out of survival.

It's not a very happy way to attract clients and grow our businesses is it?

But there's more to marketing than the dark side of greed, competition and selfishness. The final three motivators of accomplishment, love, and service hold out some hope for marketing that has integrity and dare I say, joy.

Accomplishment, love and service are places that you come from, not what you do. But if you're coming from these places, thinking, feeling and doing naturally follows. Here are some examples.

Accomplishment
"I really want to get the word out about my services and build my business. It's a challenge in that there's a lot to do but I want to be successful at networking, public speaking, have a great web site and even do some blogging and some social networking. I'd better set some specific goals and start going into action!"

Love
"What I do is interesting and I never get bored with it. I love what I do because I get to work with interesting people and I get to use my talents for teaching, listening and coaching. I also love the intellectual challenge. I need to really think in this business and that's both stimulating and fun. I can imagine doing this for the rest of my life. Sharing and marketing my services is easy because I believe in what I do and I love it."

Service
"Ultimately the best part of my business is serving others, helping my clients and making a difference. I love it when I'm working with someone and they have an ah-ha or breakthrough. I've worked with so many people who were stuck and had no direction and focus, and by working with them they completely turned things around in their life and their business. I'd want to do what I do even if I didn't get paid, but making money at this is even better. I look forward to marketing my services and making a difference for even more people."

I recommend you try this exercise and write down your thoughts about accomplishment, love and service as it relates to your business. I predict you'll start to feel more motivated to get out there and market yourself.

All the best,

Robert Middleton

Comments

[Susan Martin]

Thanks for that Robert, you've hit the nail on the head for many professionals who often feel like the ubiquitous used car salesman (greed, selfishness) at the mere thought of marketing or selling themselves.