Sharketing Gurus

The other day I was watching a TED Talk by a marketing guru who I generally like, but something switched inside me when I was watching him. He was doing something else though. Something between a marketing guru and self-help guru and the result is what I will call “A Sharketing Guru”. The result sounds like this “Your product has gotta be remarkable, and you need to be slick in how you market because regular people don’t cut it in the modern world.” Geez, who can even survive in this world?

I’m calling BS on this and here’s why.

Stop making all your decisions based on what marketers tell us. I hold out hope that the whole darn world doesn’t turn into a big marketplace of barkers. It seems like there’s nothing safe from the influence of marketing anymore. Does every inch of space on earth need to be plastered with sponsorship? Next time you feel yourself “want” something, think about whether you wanted it before you saw an advertisement.

Stop letting motivational speakers tell you that you aren’t good enough. You’re good enough. There, done. Now send me all the money you were going to send those other gurus.

Stop ‘tricking’ people into buying from you. Oh, we don’t call it ‘tricking’! But when we use marketing techniques to get people to buy, subscriptions, promos, etc, we are tricking them. Let them know your product exists and be done with it.

Move from Scarcity-Mindset to Abundance-mindset. A Scarcity-Mindset is when you believe that there’s not enough for everyone, so you must fight for your share. As the Sharketing Guru said, “You must be remarkable because very good is not going to get those scarce customers.” What if instead, you think that there is enough for everyone, and you can relax knowing that it’s there for you and others? What if the way you make a living doesn’t need to be remarkable, maybe you just need to connect deeply to a few of your fellow humans.

Have you encountered a Sharketing Guru? Tell us about it!