Entries Tagged 'Right Marketing' ↓

These last few posts have applied the Eightfold Path of Buddhism to marketing. This all got started because I grew sick of reading marketing information that was full of hyperbole and was not concerned with anything other than making more money for the auther… at any cost. I also realized that my own website had become the same way, influenced no doubt by all the material I was reading and absorbing. Enough was enough.

I kept the posts relatively short for a couple of reasons. One, we are all in different situations that require different patterns of thought and we need to apply this way of thinking to our own unique situations. Two, this whole process is still relatively new to me and I do not have a lot of experience to draw upon. As I learn and experience more, I will share it with you. As I go back to talking about other marketing subjects, I will keep in mind the philosophy behind right marketing, sometimes applying it directly and sometimes just experiencing its influence.

One more note. I want this to be a website where you come to get useful information, not just interesting philosophy. I will also keep that in mind as I continue to provide you with quality posts.

Chris O’Byrne
OnlineArtsMarketing.com

We now reach the eighth step on the Eightfold Marketing Path: Right Concentration. This is about learning to focus and learning to focus on the right thing. By now you know what is right and good and what you should be focusing on. Right concentration will help you focus on your marketing in such a way as to see what is effective and what is not. Make a plan and a series of steps to follow and focus on each one as you come to it. Plan ahead, but keep your focus on the task at hand. Learn to see all aspects of what you are concentrating on and how it fits into your overall plan. Sustain and intensify your concentration until you have successfully accomplished your task.

The next post will be a wrap-up and brief discussion of the whole Eightfold Marketing Path.

Chris O’Byrne
OnlineArtsMarketing.com

Right mindfulness is one of my favorites because I try to practice mindfulness every day, throughout the day. Mindfulness is about being aware of what you are doing and how you are feeling at this very moment. Mindfulness is about seeing things as they really are. It’s one of those things that affects every aspect of your life and the more you practice, the more it builds.

People often tell me that I am a very laid back person, that nothing much fazes me. It still seems strange to hear that because I used to be very uptight and volatile. I know the changes have come about because of my mindfulness practice. If you’re into meditation at all, you know that it is merely a practice in being mindful. It’s not about escaping your current reality, it’s about being even more present.

Try practicing mindfulness throughout the day and see what a difference it makes in every area of your life.

Chris O’Byrne
OnlineArtsMarketing.com

Right effort has to do with your mindset. It is a precursor to any action you might take, not the actions themselves. Right effort has two main parts to it. One is the effort to not do bad and the other is the effort to do good. Let’s put it into practical terms.

This website is about selling your art. It is not about selling your art no matter what it takes and no matter who might be hurt. It is about selling your art in a way that only helps other people and yourself. If you feel the urge to exaggerate when marketing your art, it takes right effort to supress that urge. If you don’t feel like going the extra mile to help a customer, it takes effort to overcome that. It takes effort to feel benevolence towards your customer, towards other people.

Right effort is about overcoming those bad feelings and promoting those good feelings.

Chris O’Byrne
OnlineArtsMarketing.com

I feel that “right livelihood” is similar to “right action” but more comprehensive. Right actions are taken every day throughout the day and right livelihood is the path you are following. Perhaps for artists this is not so much of an issue and not really worth talking about. I do think that it is worth taking a look at both in an easy way and in a less easy way. The easy way is to look at how you earn a living and decide if it is harmful or beneficial to others. Do you work for Remington and produce firearms? Do you work for Wal-Mart and help put small businesses out of work? Some choices are easy to see (although not for everyone). The less easy way is to look at things more subltely. Do you work for a large, institutionalized school district that is not really helping children, but rather stifles their creativity and curiosity? Do you work for a store that buys it’s products from sweatshops or sells products that can potentially hurt people (alcohol, factory-farm meat, etc.)? Get picky and take a close look at what you do and how it affects people.

Chris O’Byrne
OnlineArtsMarketing.com

Let’s begin with two “do nots”, do not harm and do not take what does not belong to you. Does the product or service you market cause harm in any way? Are you marketing a weight loss product that has harmful side-effects? Do you offer a service that really does not help your customer much? Whatever you market should offer real benefits to the customer and no harmful effects. Take the time to look deeper and make the right decision.

Not taking what does not belong to you or is not due you is another way of saying… don’t steal! This includes not overcharging for your product or service, even if you can get away with it. You do not want to give away for free what you are depending on for income, but you do not want to needlessly gouge people, either. Look at what the market is currently paying and make your decision based on your skill level, the benefits you offer, and what is fair. Do not have hidden costs and make sure your customer knows exactly what they are and are not getting. Many times I have looked at an item for sale on eBay only to find that the seller is offering a great deal on the price of the item, but their shipping costs are many times higher than the actual costs. Be up front.

In addition to the “do nots” make sure you remember the “do”. Whenever possible, go out of your way to do something helpful and beneficial for your customer. Offer a lifetime guarantee on your product. Be available to answer questions. Include useful instructions. Contact them after the sale to make sure everything went smoothly. Give bonuses that they aren’t expecting. Give them information on other products they may genuinely be interested in. (This is beneficial to you, too.) Think of how you can help them even more than they are expecting.

Chris O’Byrne
OnlineArtsMarketing.com

Right speech begins the very practical side of Eightfold Marketing. This is where most marketers fall short. My first recommendation is this: stop lying. My second recommendation is this: start telling the truth. There IS a difference.

First, let’s look at lying. Exaggerating is lying. If you claim that a certain herbal remedy is guaranteed to make you feel better or cure a specific ailment, you should make sure that it will do so every single time. If not, then simply state that it will likely make you feel better or cure a specific ailment. If you know of a certain person who took the herbal remedy and in this case this person was able to cure their ailment, then talk about this case and let people know about it. You don’t have to exaggerate and say everyone is guaranteed to feel better. People instinctively know better.

This leads me to the second recommendation: tell the truth. In a sense, you have an obligation to tell the truth to people. If you know of a situation where your product or service actually helped someone, then share that story with people. Conversely, if you know of a situation where your product or service actually hurt someone, then don’t hesitate to share that as well. Many people will actually trust you more because of your honesty.

Remember, telling the truth and not lying does not mean that you can’t wax effusive about your product or service. If you offer it because you believe in it, then let people know how wonderful you think it is. Just be careful with your words.

Chris O’Byrne
OnlineArtsMarketing.com

Why do you do what you do? What is your intention? Is your intention only to make money? I’m not sure if I know anyone who only wants money. Most people want what money can buy. So skip the money step in your mind and go directly to what it is you want. What DO you want? Only you can answer this question. Do it. Take the time today to think about what you really want. I’ll tell you what I really want in terms of what money can buy. I want to be able to work at home or wherever I happen to be traveling. I want to work on my own schedule, not somebody else’s. If I wake up at 5am and want to start working on a new website then quit at 7am to have coffee and talk with my partner for two hours… I can do that. I want a few “toys” that are fun for me. A GPS receiver, a nice laptop, or a video camera. I use these to give me more purpose on my hikes or connect with people on the internet or see the world in a new way. That is what I am really buying. The money buys the toys which provide a way to achieve these things. So money buys me freedom and time and entertainment.

So what is your intention? Why do you do what you do? If you have the wrong intentions, your life will never seem complete or happy or full. You will always be searching for that “something” to make it right. The answer doesn’t lie with somethings, it lies within your intentions. Do you seek to be free of empty desires? Do you seek to do good for others? Do you seek to do no harm? What DO you seek?

Chris O’Byrne
OnlineArtsMarketing.com

Right view is the ability to see things as they really are. It is also about making the decision to keep an open mind and continue to refine or redefine your view when necessary. There are many times when we think we see a situation clearly and then later find out that we were mistaken or only partly correct. At this point, many people, often out of pride, will not allow themselves to even see that they were wrong, let alone make changes. Recognizing your own faults and mistakes is a sign of wisdom.

What is marketing, really? What is it’s true purpose and why do we engage in it? Marketing at its most basic level is the buying and selling of goods and services. But that is not at all what we have come to think of marketing as. We more often think of marketing as telling people what we have to offer and why they might want to purchase it. It is about showing people the value of our product or service and establishing a relationship with them. It’s not the selling, but everything that leads up to the selling.

I think the best application of right view is to understand what you are really in business for and what you are really selling. I have heard this before as applied to selling drills. They really aren’t selling drills, they’re selling holes. The hole is what the buyer really wants. So ask yourself what they buyer is really buying from you. Are they buying a painting or are they buying something to fill that blank space on their wall? Or are they buying an image that they want to portray to their friends and guests? Or are they buying what they think is an investment? When I sell my marketing book, am I really just selling a book or am I selling new customers to the person who buys it? Or are they buying the security that comes from thinking they have covered all of their bases? This question has to be answered as thoroughly as possible and the answers will provide you with a much clearer view of what you are selling. Be honest with yourself about what you are really providing. If you aren’t satisfied with the answers you get, then maybe it’s time to think about why you are selling what you are selling.

Next up… Right Intention.

Chris O’Byrne
OnlineArtsMarketing.com

Online marketing has to go. How many of us are sick to death of all the shallow, mindless marketing we see online today? You know the kind, the headlines that are ripped off time after time and start with phrases like “How Many People Want to Earn $1000/day…” or “7 Proven Methods…” and so on and so on. Or the long page sales letter that keeps you scrolling and scrolling and scrolling and contains more and more outrageous claims the further down the page you read and then throws testimonial after testimonial at you and then when you finally get to the bottom… you have to click on BUY NOW to even see how much it costs! What is even more disheartening, these methods have been tested time and again and seem to be the proven way to get the most results. And who doesn‘t want to make more money?

I have tried these methods and used them over and over again. At the end of the day, I felt terrible. I knew I had wasted my time and my client’s time. I may have had results, but at what cost? I decided to tone things down. I cut back on the hype, I cut back on the promises. I tried to deliver the best product possible at a reasonable cost.

It wasn’t enough.

Over the course of my life, I have tried to live a good life. I have determined what values are important to me and I have tried to draw a line that I don’t cross. Some of these values are honesty, humility, understanding, and trying to give more than I take. I realized that I was not doing that with my approach to marketing. I was still using the same methods that everyone else was, just toning things down a bit and fooling myself into thinking I was somehow following a higher path. I have not been following a higher path, only deluding myself.

I have had enough. I am cleaning house. Everything is getting set outside while I sweep the place out and I will then approach marketing from a clean and grounded perspective, a beginner’s mind. Only those marketing principles, ideas, and techniques that fit into this perspective will be allowed back into the house. The rest will be taken to the dump and left to rot. Hopefully, several new ideas will come along to replace the old ones. At this point, I do not know for sure. I am eagerly looking forward to this blending of my spiritual and business lives. In the end, they cannot be separated anyway. Tomorrow I will start posting the outline of my ideas.

I also want to thank all of you who read my little blog and share your thoughts with me. An especially big “thank you” goes to Diane Clancy for sharing all of her conversations and insights over the past few weeks. I feel blessed to be part of this online arts marketing community and look forward to our new conversations.

Peace my friends,
Chris O’Byrne
OnlineArtsMarketing.com