Today I have the great pleasure of being the host on Day 13 of the Virtual Blog Tour of author Lynn Serafinn whose book The 7 Graces of Marketing: how to heal humanity and the planet by changing the way we sell launches on Amazon on Tuesday December 13, 2011.
Lynn Serafinn, MAED, CPCC is a certified, award-winning coach and teacher, marketer, social media expert, radio host, speaker and bestselling author. Her eclectic approach to marketing incorporates her vast professional experience in the music industry and the educational sector along with more than two decades of study and practice of the spirituality of India. In her work as a promotional manager she has produced a long list of bestselling mind-body-spirit authors. Passionate about re-establishing our connection with the Earth, she supports the work of the Transition Town network in her hometown of Bedford, England.
Yesterday, Lynn visited Tambra Harck at http://theartofwellbeing.typepad.com/the_art_of_wellbeing/2011/12/7_graces.html , where she interviewed Lynn about how can consumers help biz owners behave with more Grace.
Today, I’d like to share with you a recent interview I had with Lynn when I got to ask her some questions on the subject of how does the 7 Graces of Marketing support Abundance in marketing? I hope you enjoy it.
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Kimberly Ann Coots: What is the purpose behind the book The 7 Graces of Marketing?
Lynn Serafinn: Well, Kimberly, the original purpose when I had first decided to write the book was for it to be a source of guidance for small business owners—especially those in holistic professions—who didn’t like to do marketing. I wanted to show them how there are many good, sound reasons why marketing rubbed them the wrong way, especially due to the fact that most modern marketing gurus teach people how to incite feeling of fear, anxiety, dissatisfaction and inadequacy in order to make a sale. The end result of such tactics is that sales are made, but trust and loyalty is not. The long term effect of this is that our society has become more anxious, more lacking in self-worth, and less trusting. Of course, people in holistic/healing professions are first and foremost interested in healing and serving, and they intuitively understand (even if not consciously) that this kind of strategy is not in alignment with their values.
But after I started developing the book, I realised that it was a much bigger project. While it certainly serves the initial purpose of being an eye-opener for business owners who “hate marketing”, it’s bigger purpose is to serve as a call to action to all business owners—all the way up to multi-national corporates—to take a good, hard look at the long-term impact of their business and marketing strategies upon people’s health, our global economy and our natural environment. The truth is, modern marketing has created a world of over-production and over-consumption, which is rapidly destroying not only the natural balance of our planet, but also the natural balance of our economic, emotional and physical wellbeing. I provide hundreds of examples in the book to show why I believe this to be so.
Ultimately, my vision for the book is to create a movement whereby business owners and consumers start a dialogue for change, so we can re-create our world where everyone is prosperous in every way—financially and in terms of health, happiness and true quality of life, and where the delicate and beautiful rhythm of Planet Earth is restored.
Kimberly Ann Coots: How does this book support abundance in marketing?
Lynn Serafinn: One of the “7 Graces” in the book is Abundance. Its nemesis is the “Deadly Sin” of “Scarcity”. The chapter on Scarcity in the book is probably the longest, because scarcity marketing is just so prolific in modern marketing. It is so ubiquitous, most of us don’t even notice it anymore, and we’ve come to accept it as a “normal” part of marketing. Scarcity is actually taught as a fundamental part of economic theory, and it is based upon the assumption that there are limited resources in the world to serve unlimited human wants and needs.
But when I dove deeply into this subject, what was amazing was the fact that most of our so-called “unlimited” wants and needs were things that have been fabricated by marketing. One of the big examples I give in the book is the cigarette industry. Prior to the turn of the 20th Century, there was not mass production of cigarettes, and people had no need or desire for them. It was marketing that invented the desire for cigarettes, and I give many examples of specific campaigns of how it did that. But really, this is only one industry of thousands that create false needs, and hence induce feelings of Scarcity and dissatisfaction, and which also can lead to actual Scarcity of natural resources.
Abundance, on the other hand, is the fundamental belief that there is enough for all, when we live in balance and rhythm to the pace of the planet. Abundance is actually our natural state of being. I give many examples in the book of how we can shift our perspective towards Abundance, both in marketing and in life in general. When consumers have an abundance perspective—and this includes thinking abundantly about who they are—they are far less susceptible to messages of lack that they hear in the media. The knock-on effect of this of not being susceptible to Scarcity in marketing is that we spend less on things that we once believed would bring us self-worth, and as a result have more money to invest in things that actually make our lives richer. And when business owners operate from the perspective of Abundance rather than Scarcity, they are, in effect, diminishing the amount of fear and anxiety in the world, and they are also diminishing their own fears and anxieties as well, allowing them the ability to think more clearly, and become more innovative to make their businesses more lucrative, in a holistic, sustainable way.
In short, the message about Abundance in the book is this: Scarcity creates more Scarcity; Abundance creates more Abundance.
Kimberly Ann Coots: What are the 7 Graces of Marketing?
Lynn Serafinn: I’ll list them here, alongside their corresponding “Deadly Sin” from the book:
- Connection (as opposed to Disconnection)
- Inspiration (as opposed to Persuasion)
- Invitation (as opposed to Invasion)
- Directness (as opposed to Distraction)
- Transparency (as opposed to Deception)
- Abundance (as opposed to Scarcity) and
- Collaboration (as opposed to Competition)
Each of these Graces/Sins is a very substantial topic, which is why the book is over 400 pages long! We don’t have time to go into detail on these in this short interview, but I have been told by many readers that simply reflecting upon these words can be a “liberating experience” (Tad Hargrave of “Marketing for Hippies” actually said that to me).
If your readers would like to know more about the 7 Graces, I invite them to check out a special 7-part telesummit I just finished yesterday, where I discussed each of these pairs in detail with a panel of 23 guest speakers (more information on that below). And then, of course, I hope they’ll check out the book The 7 Graces of Marketing when it launches on December 13th, and begin to implement these Graces in their marketing, and in their lives. I believe, if we all embrace them, we can collectively begin to change the world for the better.
Thanks so much for the interview today, Kimberly. As always, it’s always a pleasure to speak with you.
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I hope you enjoyed this interview with Lynn Serafinn and that you’ll check out her book The 7 Graces of Marketing: how to heal humanity and the planet by changing the way we sell at http://the7gracesofmarketing.com/book-launch/pages/pre-launch.html
Here’s why:
The 7 Graces of Marketing Telesummit
A FREE 7-Part Online Happening!
December 6th-9th, 2011
Register at http://the7gracesofmarketing.com/free-telesummit
When you visit the page at the link above and request a “launch reminder”, you will automatically receive a FREE pass to Lynn’s 7-Part online happening “The 7 Graces of Marketing Telesummit” with an illustrious panel of 24 bestselling authors and world-renowned speakers and media experts on society, business and marketing coming together to discuss how we can bring ethics and values back our business and marketing practices, and restore balance to our health, our economy and our natural environment.
Here’s the spectacular list of guests speakers for the event:
Dr. Joe Vitale * Greg S. Reid * Dr. Eric Pearl * Dan Hollings * Pamela Slim * Liz Goodgold * Allison Maslan * Suzanne Falter*Barnes * Tad Hargrave * Misa Hopkins * Richard S. Gallagher * Ward Vandorpe * Barbara Altemus * Andrea Conway * Renee Baribeau * Renee Duran * Michael Drew * Chris Arnold * Jeffrey Van Dyk * Tanya Paluso * Kate Osborne * Shelagh Jones * Paula Tarrant * Lynn Serafinn
You can listen to the telesummit online in the comfort of your own home, and even ask questions during the broadcast.
If you are reading this after Dec 9th, 2011 you can still access the playback for a limited time when you register at http://the7gracesofmarketing.com/free-telesummit
This telesummit is a completely free
“no purchase necessary” gift from Lynn
FREE GIFTS
When you buy Lynn’s book on Tuesday December 13, 2011, you can ALSO receive the MP3 download of all 10 hours of this historic telesummit, plus a complete library of beautiful personal development gifts from authors, speakers, coaches and other enlightened professionals from around the globe including one from me;
Free Share Your Message Workbook ($37 value)
To claim your FREE pass to the 7 Graces of Marketing Telesummit
and read about the free gifts, go to:
http://the7gracesofmarketing.com/book-launch/pages/pre-launch.html
Thanks for reading! As usual, please feel free to share your comments and thoughts below. I love reading your feedback.
AND… be sure to follow Lynn tomorrow when the next stop on the Virtual Blog Tour is E.Dee Conrad, who will be sharing her recent interview with Lynn about How can society benefit from wisdom of 7 Graces of Marketing? To visit that “stop” on the tour, go to http://edeeconrad.com/2011/11/11/virtual-interview-with-lynn-serafinn
