Marketing to inspire joy, not fear
In winter, I see more artificial light — strung up in trees and on houses — as if trying to make up for the sun, setting early and rising late.
Sale signs become posted in windows and arrive in my inbox, as if trying to convince me that now is the time to buy things, like some purchase will also help supply the light that winter lacks.
But as a consumer, I personally tend to resent the implication that I need anything someone is selling.
I do not need those five new trends in my wardrobe, thank you very much.
The truth is that most of what is bought and sold today is not a function of need but of want.
Beyond the most basic food and water and the most stable of roofs, we don’t need much. Everything else is luxury. And what a gift! To live a life where luxury abounds. Where it’s so prevalent that we mistake it for need.
Today, and every day, I am grateful that I am safe, I am healthy, and my basic needs are satisfied. I am grateful that I get to enjoy a life of luxury where I am on this computer, creating beautiful things, and writing to you about it.
Unfortunately, a lot of the marketing and design that I see tends to deny this fact.
It spins a story to make you think that you really do need the thing you want. It creates sales with deadlines to create a sense of urgency and compel action where truthfully, no action is needed.
But the best marketing isn’t about manipulating human behavior. It’s about seeing people and loving them.
It’s about inspiring genuine connection through acknowledging the parts of people that have maybe gone ignored or been dismissed and denied. In doing this, you ensure that people reach for your service or your product not because they’re afraid that if they don’t, they’re going to lose, but rather, they sense that if they do, they are going to win.
Great marketing helps people feel this way, and this is as true for accountants as it is for therapists. This same principle can be applied to just about every (if not every) business.
At least, that’s what I try to do. I don’t want people to feel like they need to fix or contort themselves to fit whatever is being sold. Rather, with everything I create, I want people to feel joy. I want them to sense that because of what’s being offered, they are able to relax into who they are because they are being supported as they are.
This is the world I want to live in, so this is the world I want to help create.
If this speaks to you, I hope you take some time to review your own work and how you’re sharing it with the world. And if you want any help with this process, I am here — fostering love and genuine human connection, one website at a time.
Hi! I’m Virginia.
I am a writer, illustrator, and designer with over 20 years of experience. I help artists and entrepreneurs break free from expectations, stop playing it small, and build worlds that support ALL that they do and who they truly are.
