Marketing without the tricks or icks (and what to do instead)

Introduction

If you've ever been told, you've got a mindset block because you didn't want to trick someone into a free strategy call just so you could hit them with an unexpected sales pitch, or you've had “experts” pushing you to use tactics that just feel a bit…off – uncomfortable, icky, like you don’t want to do marketing at all…

This article is for you.?

(If you prefer video or audio it is also available on YouTube https://youtu.be/zgfPhpEEFGM and as a podcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2372168/15301842).

If you prefer to read - read on!

In this article I’m going to be talking about how it’s OK to feel like this, and how you can turn your marketing into something that is both effective AND feels good.

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The Current State of the Online Business World

About a year ago I realised I was starting to fall out of love with the online business world.

Sure, it was fun to begin with.

There was so much to learn, to get stuck into. So many shiny new things! So much newness. So much potential.

But the shine of that world had started to wear off. I became sick of it all. Sick of the pressure to be pushing all the time.

Sick of the constant bombardment of the “if you don’t follow my strategy or buy my course, are you even taking your business seriously?” The pressure marketing being thrown in my face all day long. The silver bullets. The lifechanging promises.

Most of all I was sick of being made to feel like I needed to quash my natural instinct to respect people, respect their autonomy, respect their time and space, and their decision-making ability - just so I could sell more of my “thing” and be a “success”.

The underlying narrative (I say underlying – it’s pretty overt in many cases) is that it’s normal to use pushy, FOMO-driven, manipulative strategies to sell your stuff and (in a wonderful demonstration of gaslighting at its finest) it’s actually doing people a favour, because they’re not smart enough to realise themselves that your solution will help them.

(It makes my blood boil when I see businesses being encourage to think about their potential clients like that. As nothing more than poor lost lambs who need shepherding along via your bank account. Ugh.)

Anyway. I was sick of being made to feel like being a nice, respectful, decent human being meant that I had “mindset blocks” and I’d never make it in business.

I couldn’t believe that was true.

I wouldn’t believe it was true.

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The Downside of High-Pressure Tactics

Don’t get me wrong, I can totally see why people use these high-pressure tactics. There is no doubt they “work” to get the quick sale.

But at what cost?

In the immediate, they can lead to refund requests, complaints, client churn.

It can lead to that awful feeling of working with a client who puts the hours in but doesn’t get the results. (Because they weren’t the right fit in the first place and only invested because they saw everyone else doing it and wanted to be part of something).

It can lead ultimately to a deep-seated discomfort with marketing itself. This discomfort might even lead you to stop marketing altogether, which means missing out on helping those who truly need your services.

And in the long term, it damages reputations. Not only of the individual business, but the whole industry.

Ultimately, this type of marketing isn't born out of a genuine desire to serve. It's driven by desperation, fear, and (occasionally) greed.

(By the way, I’m not here to judge you if you’ve found yourself using tactic that you’ve not felt aligned with before. We are all doing our best here and we all take advice from those who have trodden the path before us. I myself have done things that have really made me squirm because it was sold to me as the “way to do it”. For me back then, the drivers were desperation and a little bit of fear – a lack of confidence to find my own way. If you’ve found yourself in that position be kind to yourself, and let’s explore a more aligned way of doing things, that works for you and your potential clients and gets you falling in love with marketing again.

Even describing what these “tactics” are is hard, as the line will fall in a different place for different people, different businesses, different audiences. Ultimately the line is where you feel comfortable with what you are doing. One of my mentors says “would I be happy if someone used this on my mother?”. Another “if this whole sales process/call was uploaded to YouTube for the world to see, are there any parts I’d cringe at and not want the world to see”.)

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Ethical Marketing: A Better Way

As I was at the height of my disillusion, a meme popped up in my Facebook feed. The quote changed everything. The scales fell from my eyes and I saw this world for what it really was.

It was from Tad Hargrave (Marketing for Hippies) – a pioneer of ethical, decent, but also highly effective, marketing.

> "Maybe you don't have a limiting belief. Maybe you have a conscience." - Tad Hargrave, Marketing for Hippies

I’d accepted these people knew better than me and stopped listening to myself.

It all stopped in that moment.

You don't have to squash your natural instinct to respect others in order to be successful. You CAN market with integrity and effectiveness.

Since then I’ve been working on the concept of "Upside-Up Marketing" – an approach that puts people’s needs and wants first and focuses on ethical marketing strategies that respect people’s autonomy while effectively promoting your business.

It’s about building relationships and engaging in a two-way conversation with your audience rather than pushing them into a sale.

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Practical Steps to Ethical Marketing

To flip things around and get started with ethical marketing, there are a few key principles you can follow.

1. Build Relationships – it’s a two-way street

We don’t market at people; we market with them (to quote Seth Godin). This approach transforms your marketing efforts into a dialogue rather than a monologue. Marketing is no longer a one-way street, the marketer standing on a pedestal broadcasting their message to no comeback. By engaging with your audience, learning about their needs, and providing relevant content, you build trust and rapport.

2. Validate Your Offers so you have something people WANT to buy

To ensure your marketing efforts are effective, consider validating your offers before you launch them. This means understanding your audience deeply and ensuring your offer resonates with their needs. To help with that I’d love to share my free guide, "Three Techniques to Validate Your Offer Before You Launch It" for actionable steps you can implement today (in as little as 5 minutes – SO worth it!). You can get your copy at https://www.orangesheepresearch.co.uk/validate.

3. Create Engaging Content – not for the sake of the algorithm, but for the sake of the relationship

If you want to keep your audience engaged, ask questions and seek their input. As a start, you can do this today: Ask your audience the following question "What is taking up the most space in your brain right now?" This helps you understand the primary concerns of your audience, where the problem you solve sits in their immediate priorities and allows you to tailor your offers and content accordingly.

4. Stay Curious

Replace manipulative tactics with genuine engagement. Use conversations to understand how your service or product can genuinely solve your audience's problems, and then talk about this in an open, honest way. This builds a foundation of trust and ensures that your marketing efforts align with your values.

In Summary…

Marketing doesn't have to feel icky or uncomfortable. By focusing on building genuine relationships and engaging in ethical marketing practices, you can create a marketing strategy that feels good and works.

If that sounds like something you’re on board with, I’d love to invite you to subscribe to this newsletter, and share your experiences and strategies for marketing with integrity in the comments. And why not connect with me on LinkedIn while you’re here, I’d love to link up with you.

For more practical tips and strategies, subscribe to “the Upside Up Marketing Podcast”, available on YouTube, Spotify, and other major platforms (Apple coming soon! Sorry!).

And don’t forget to download my free guide on validating your offers to start applying these concepts in your business today (https://www.orangesheepresearch.co.uk/validate).