Imperfect Dispatch Nº 1
April 5, 2024
What is predatory marketing, and am I using it—maybe without even knowing it?
(Thanks to Megan Kranzler of Olive Ridley Studios for this question.)
As solo/entrepreneurs we can be so vulnerable to the voices, recommendations, and workshops/courses/lead magnets/offers of others, people we consider authorities in their field.
But who’s more of an authority on your business than you? Nobody. Seriously: no one. So try listening to your gut feelings and intuition, and not marketing trends.
If you’re following the current rules—promoted broadly and assertively by the majority of marketing folk—and feeling even the slightest degree of ick when you’re promoting your services, you might well be using some coercive and/or predatory practices that go against your own values and principles. Which would, sadly, line you right up with industry norms.
Pain points, anyone?
Check out my rant blog post about pain points in predatory marketing here.
And if you want to chat about marketing that doesn’t hurt anyone, let’s! You can book a free call here.
TL; DR = too long; didn’t read:
Are you being manipulative in your marketing by focusing on pain points?
Aim to generate curiosity and trust, not fear and shame.
To generate some fun content, try setting up a transcription app (like Otter AI), and talk with a friend about your work. Encourage them to ask you questions. Talk for a while. Then go through the transcript and pop out bits you think people might find interesting, or helpful, or useful. Pop out bits that could be good in a networking situation to describe what you do and how you do it. Use phrases and ideas from the transcript as starting points for newsletters, blog posts, and LinkedIn posts and videos. And then you might ask, “How can I bring my authentic goofiness and creativity to this useful piece of advice?”
A great order of content use, from snippet, to sample, to all of it, goes like this:
Write a blog post and upload it onto your website. (Use the suggestion above to find some core ideas.)
Pop a sample of it into your newsletter and link back to the post.
Use snippets of the blog post to power your LinkedIn (or other social media) posts for a themed week, linking back to the post.
Voilà: you’re sharing your content, and people are visiting your site. Give them some fun stuff to click around on while they’re there!
Turns out I like guesting on podcasts—who knew? Not I! But when the host is as generous and patient as Iggy Perillo, and the book we’re discussing is as powerful and delightful as Emily Ladau’s Demystifying Disability, partytime, excellent. Check out this episode of Iggy’s Books Applied podcast.
Imperfect Office Hours: Book 15 mins of Zoom chat and ask me anything about ethical/non-coercive marketing, inclusive language, brand consistency, empathy maps, anti-capitalism, anti-oppression, f*ck the patiarchy, networking, respect in marketing and business, great video conferencing dynamics, how to make creating content fun, how to make marketing feel not-icky, or anything else marketing-, design-, or writing-related. Wed April 10, 3–4pm EST Booking links: #1: 3–3:15 #2: 3:15–3:30 #3: 3:30–3:45 #4: 3:45–4
Imperfect Co-working: Let’s get together to get sh*t done. Body-doubling ftw! Monday, April 8, 11am—1pm Eastern; Friday, April 12, 3–5pm Eastern; Wednesday, April 17, 10–12 Eastern; Tuesday, April 23, 3–5pm Eastern.
Resources that have me a-tremble and a-eager to share:
How much is enough? Prepare to be radicalized by Bear Hebert on Deanna Seymour’s podcast, Big Fun Content. I sure was! This marks the moment I found a lot of the language for my passion around ethical business practices and anti-capitalism.
When it’s never enough: In a similar vein, From What If to What Next is a podcast of hope and imagination (two things we can never have too much of), and this episode is epic: What if there was an alternative to capitalism, after all?
Why share your pronouns? Here’s a nice answer, thanks to Andrew Doty, whom I met through the online networking platform Lunchclub (lmk if you want an invite): Dear Cis People Who Put Your Pronouns On Your “Hello My Name Is” Nametags
Thrive Mind Collaborative: Kiki Wilkinson is a coach for leaders, and says, “I'm not just a guide; I’m a catalyst for transformation.” She means it!
Food Focused Nutrition: Jex Calvert wants you to be able to see there are ways to approach food that aren’t restrictive, or counting calories, or focused on shame—so you can actually access food joy.
Pivot With Purpose: Adrianne Reniers is a proud operational generalist who can make pretty much anything useful happen for your biz—and make you feel just fine about needing a bit of help with those things.
If you want to put that Epictitus quote into action, one way is to consider taking Julie S. Lalonde’s powerful (and empowering) bystander intervention virtual training.
Relatedly, StopGap’s Community Ramp Projects are one small way we can all make inclusion a reality.
Some of the ways we can work together to revolutionize your marketing.
Brand Filter: We’ll establish a four-word filter for all of your communication, content, and branding. This exercise also delivers hashtags, promotional opportunities, content ideas, and more. Includes a full report. $800
Empathy Map: During a 2-hour Zoom call, we’ll explore questions that help you to see and understand your ideal clients through a lens of empathy and compassion. This becomes a solid foundation for all of your marketing and communication. Includes a full report. $450
Ideal client interview: Who better to tell you about what they like about, and want and need from your business? I’ll interview 2 clients: 1 existing/former, and 1 ideal prospective. 1 hr each + report with an abbreviated Empathy Map. $600 (1 interview, $450)
Brand consistency overview: I’ll spend 20 minutes looking at your online presence (website, social profiles) with a focus on brand consistency, and will supply you with a Loom video and transcript with observations and suggestions. $50
Non-coercive, human-to-human marketing strategy & plan w Empathy Map: $1300
Spiff up your LinkedIn profile (F•ck the Patriarchy lens): 1 hour collab $150
I offer a sliding scale in case these amounts aren’t currently accessible for you; just reach out via email [lauren@theimperfect.network], and we can start a conversation about how I may be able to help you.
How are you doing? How am I doing for you? I love hearing from you, especially with any constructive feedback: want more/less of something? Other content ideas/wishes? Questions or thoughts? Let’s talk! Comment, email me [lauren@theimperfect.network], or book some time to chat.
Lauren O’Malley, the generous radical