what can the lighthouse teach us about marketing?
i got an awesome email from a reader who is really connecting with the lighthouse revolution… she said it was exactly what she needed to hear right now! but she also asked an excellent question…
“what about marketing? how can i apply what you have said about building a lighthouse to email marketing or social media or blogging or whatever other type of marketing i do?”
good question right?
asking “what does the lighthouse have to do with marketing?” is the same as asking “what do YOU have to do with marketing?”
marketing is simply sharing YOUR purpose with the world.
you need to be a marketer if you are in business. but too often people feel icky, uncertain, ineffective, unconfident, or unmotivated about their marketing efforts.
i believe these feelings arise due to a lack of authenticity in marketing: we focus so hard on the “biz stuff” and forget about the “you stuff” that is at the core. we tap to use best practices AND our own unique spark!
how can the lighthouse help with that?
1. your brand
brand clarity begins with you. get absolutely clear about who you are – your strengths, your gifts, your passion, your values, your soul purpose. what you are doing here, how do you do it, and WHY you are doing it. figure out what it is you want to be known for.
clarity makes it much easier to share what you do with the world. once you have that clarity you can share the same message, the same signature things, over and over again with every bit of your marketing.
clarity, consistency and repetition are the keys to standing out, to amplifying your message so that it is heard loud and clear by…
2. your most awesome customer
(or ideal client or whatever you want to call it… your right people.)
after i started talking about lighthouses all the time a friend sent me this excerpt from the book Attracting Perfect Customers: The Power of Strategic Synchronicity Paperback by Stacey Hall & Jan Brogniez
“How can you tell if you and your company are strategically ready to attract only the 'most perfect' customers to serve? By using the lighthouse test. Imagine a lighthouse standing strong and tall on the rocky shore of a beautiful harbor. The water is calm, sky blue, many boats our out to sea. A storm comes and as the rain and wind pick up strength, the power of the beam from the lighthouse increases. Notice that not all of the boats need this beam of light to guide them. Some have more confident captains and crews and are fully equipped to manage through the storm safely. Now imagine the lighthouse gets upset because some of the boats are choosing to follow their own path. The lighthouse feels it is not successful because it is not guiding all of the boats. It sprouts arms and legs and runs up and down the beach acting like a searchlight doing its best to catch the attention of all the boat captains, encouraging them to depend on its light.
Most like the boats whose captains depend upon a steady stream of light to guide them safely around potential dangers would be damaged or destroyed in the confusion. Others might come dangerously close to shore to view the spectacle. Very few boats would be served well by the lighthouse.”
powerful analogy right? inspired by the same quote that sparked the lighthouse revolution.
you need clarity about who your most awesome customer is and then you need to keep her in mind with all of your marketing efforts – you need to communicate with her and not worry about all of the other “boats” in the sea.
when you know her deeply and connect with her authentically and tap in to your intention to be of absolute service to her, marketing doesn’t even really feel like marketing – you feel like you are simply talking with a friend. marketing is more fun, feels more natural, is more effective.
3. your marketing strategies
you can’t possibly do everything, be everywhere, be all things to all people all the time. when you are clear about who you are, what your purpose is, and who you serve you can actually simplify your efforts.
give yourself permission to say no to the stuff that is not in service of your brand our your customers. make the strategies you do use yours - who says you have to do what everyone else is doing the exact way they are doing it? do it your way! add your signature brand to everything you do. and when you are marketing, very simply talk directly to your most awesome customer.
it’s not always easy.
there will still be times when you worry that you will turn people off, or fear that no one will like you. when you feel like you aren’t doing it right, or compare yourself to others and feel “less than”.
that’s normal. we all feel it.
but the whole idea of the lighthouse is to have the little steps that you can take to rise above. something to ground you and guide you.
picture the lighthouse:
grounded with a clear purpose. a beacon of light to the exact people who need it. standing tall in confidence. standing out on the horizon.
and isn’t that what we all dream of achieving with our marketing efforts?
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