Supply and Demand? Demand and Supply!
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A fundamental principle of capitalism says — “Find a need and fill it.”
That’s the way entrepreneurs, product creators, and corporations operate. But this implies a passive consumer who waits for his/her need to be fulfilled.
Often the “need” that is “found” and “filled” is one that has been created by the supplier — truly a created demand filled by a created supply.
For example, have you ever seen the commercial for Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS). That “syndrome” occurs when someone’s leg bounces up and down at the knee.
Have you ever been at a meeting or on a date that was completely uninteresting but you stayed — perhaps out of a desire to be polite or perhaps you were compelled to stay for business reasons – and your leg bounced out of boredom or frustration?
Well, that’s Restless Leg Syndrome and the pharmaceutical industry has a medication invented just for you and your “malady.”
BUT . . . what would happen if you, the customer/consumer, were to become proactive — that is, what if you and those like you got together, literally or energetically, and proactively demanded particular kinds of products:
- more free range chicken and wild salmon
- hybrid cars
- homeopathic supplements
and the producers were morally and financially compelled to provide them.
That would turn supply and demand into demand and supply. You, the buying public, would not be merely a group of passive consumers but actual leaders in what is brought to the marketplace. You would be conscious consumers at the creation end of the process rather than just passive consumers at the consumption end.
So rather than “Find a need and fill it” the maxim would change to “We have a need and expect it to be fulfilled.”
Then the buyer and seller would become partners in the co-creation of the
economy.
Because It’s All in the Connection.
Judith & Jim
Brain Entrainment — Proof of Buyer/Seller Identification
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Entrainment
Entrainment is a term being used in brain science, as well as in physics, biology, and psychology. Technically, it means that when two systems become synchronized and operate at the same frequency they are locked-in together to create a positive condition in which they are mutually supportive. Brainwave entrainment has been noted or used in one form or another for centuries, from Shamanistic societies’ use of drum beats to Ptolemy noting in 200 A.D. the effects of flickering sunlight generated by a spinning wheel (the modern day strobe light). One of the most vivid examples of entrainment between two people happens when they fall in love. They feel as though and everybody says “They have become as one.” On the other hand negative conditions producing negative emotions such as anger, coercion, manipulation, disrespect and domination create incoherence and disharmony resulting in the wide range of conflicts we humans witness and experience every day. Deadly Embrace There is a condition in the mainframe computer world called a “deadly embrace.”
This is a condition that arises when two (or more) separately active processes, like two software programs, interfere with each other in such a way that the network as a whole eventually cannot proceed. It becomes deadlocked. Outside the computer world, deadly embraces range from irreconcilable differences all the way to war — conditions of incoherence and disharmony to be sure. So what does all of this have to do with Soft Sell entrainment, hard sell, and buyer/seller identification? Read More→
Have Good Heart – Do No Harm
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There is a Buddhist teaching that reads: Have Good Heart.
Following it opens the the way to real and abiding healing.
We ask Soft Sell marketers to: Do No Harm. 
Following this recommendation opens the way for healing in the marketplace.
Because It REALLY IS All in the Connection,
And that’s The Heart of Marketing.
Judith & Jim
Your Online Business As Spiritual Therapy
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No business runs without challenges.
And certainly an online business offers even more than its share – both internal and external. But an emotionally and financially rewarding shift takes place when you change your mindset to see your business online as a form of spiritual therapy.
The internal challenges — everything that rattles and challenges who you’ve been and how you experience and understand yourself.
Even if you’re fairly savvy in the world of business, due to the volatile nature of doing business online there can be even more radical
- wake-up calls
- major melt-downs
- leaps to success
just to name a few of the “adventures” that can leave you dazed and sleepless.
The external challenges — everything that comes at you from the outside world like all that Internet technology to manage and master.
There are those affiliates and joint venture partners who
- let you down
- don’t send out for you,
- may even refuse to pay you the affiliate commissions due to you for your good efforts on their behalf.
As a Heart-based, Soft Sell Marketer, have you tried to avoid developing the thick skin that allows Hard Sell marketers to disregard their conscience as you watch them make huge deposits generated from their online business accounts?
Instead, if anything, you may think you’re too thin skinned, and maybe you’ve even been told that “You’re kind of sensitivity wont’ work in business.” We have.
Well, you’re NOT too sensitive.
You are a wonderfully feeling-filled human who knows you are connected to all of life, and you ARE sensitive to what happens to your customers and to yourself.
That’s why it’s extremely powerful to understand your online business as a kind of spiritual therapy. Because that helps you respect and learn from every disorienting and disheartening experience you have — and this is not always easy.
We have, and more and more we feel those dark times as blessings for our spiritual growth and awakening. It takes practice, but you can too.
That way you build your business while you grow your Self, because your business and your Self are reflections of each other.
Because It’s All in the Connections,
Judith & Jim
So in the middle of those maddening moments, listen for Your Soul’s Calling. That’s the voice to rely on.
Soft Sell Marketing Misconceptions – A Dime a Dozen
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Recently I read a blog post comparing soft sell with hard sell and the writer listed several of the many soft sell marketing misconceptions.
The Writer Wrote: “But in the race to present one’s personality to the client, it’s important to keep in mind that these soft factors are likely to result in new work only if the proposed soft sell involves something that the prospect or referral source actually believes will address a personal need. Much of the friendly, hey-I’m-really-nice marketing plans miss that mark entirely.”
This was my comment:
Misconceptions regarding soft sell have become a dime a dozen and it’s arguable they’re worth even that.
The idea that soft sell is — friendly, hey-I’m-really-nice marketing plans — would of course miss the mark. This notion arises from traditional hard sell marketers whose focus on Get The Check precludes them from really understanding the process of relationship marketing that serves the customer, serves the seller, and makes a profit.
To focus on presenting one’s personality, and under the pressure of being in a competitive race while doing it, can only be crippling, because it takes all of the real connection, the real emotion out of the process.
Presenting one’s personality is mechanical. To believe you have to present is a sure sign of insecurity and a lack of confidence that leads to thinking – “Oh I better present a good face if I’m going to make this work.” Used-car-salesman anyone?
First and foremost, clients are looking to have their problems solved – WIIFM – what’s in it for me. And yes, the best client relationships are built on a personal relationship but not at the expense of getting the job done.
Because It’s All in the Connection,
Jim
The Heart of Marketing, our #1 bestseller, will give you practical insights into how Soft Sell marketing can work for you — for your profits and your soul.
Soft Sell = Compassion: A Commercial Paradigm Shift
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Compassion and commerce may seem self-contradictory like an oxymoron: for example, 
“deafening silence” or “poor little rich girl.” Compassionate commerce seems to be a self-nullifying idea, at least in the way compassion and commerce have been understood and experienced.
So how can marketing and selling and compassion be a perfect self-supporting way to do business?
The definition of compassion that most people would agree with is:
A deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it.
And that understanding suggests feelings like pity, charity, condolence, mercy, or sorrow.
From this point of view putting compassion and commerce in the same sentence subverts if not destroys the intention of each.
However, is there a way that compassion and commerce can be mutually supportive so that the marketplace can evolve in a more humane and loving direction? Read More→
Hard Sell Swerve: Dead End
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Recently I read a blog post comparing soft sell with hard sell and I thought the writer’s conclusion, although well intentioned, swerved off into a dead end.
The writer wrote: “Initially along with foremost, [sic] attempt to attract readers with a soft sell approach that offers useful, fascinating [sic] coupled with timely details. Eventually, it could lead them towards a buy decision.”
This was my response:
Your conclusion that “soft sell” leads to “eventually” takes you into a dead end.
Soft sell doesn’t mean wait forever. It means connecting emotionally with your customer, even through online marketing, and working to achieve the customer’s well-being as well as yours.
Otherwise you become the customer’s lackey which is not good for either of you.
Soft sell is a different mindset not a different strategy.
The idea that soft sell is a strategy or tactic comes from traditional hard sell marketers whose sole intention is the bottom line. A sincere desire to create a relationship as part of the sales process is incidental if not an irritation to someone whose focus is wallet-based.
But connecting with your customer or prospect in a way they can feel allows for trust and emotional safety to be created. So your focus must expand from the bottom line as your primary measure of success to include leading the customer to see the truth — which is whether or not your product or service is truly right for him/her.
This is not an “eventually” proposition. It is right here and right now. It is neither desperate nor is it surrendering the process entirely to the customer.
Your customer came to you because they needed something they could not provide for themselves alone. So you are the authority. Lead them to see what’s right for them. Sometimes it’s what you have to offer. Sometimes it’s not. But the connection you create will pay off because of your credibility and trustworthiness.
For more on Soft Sell, heart-based marketing and selling check out our #1 bestseller — The Heart of Marketing.
Because It’s all in the Connection,
Jim Sniechowski
Prince Charming Hidden Behind Every Hard Sell
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Prince Charming is a well known and longed for character. He swoops into a girl’s life, rescues her from the drudgery and burden of her existence, whisks her away in a magical carriage, and they live happily ever after. A dream come true.
Just like hitting the Lotto, right?
Well, actually not. In a very real way, not even close.
The truth is we all secretly long for that Prince Charming moment, especially when it comes to buying things.
Buying things? That’s right, buying things —
And that’s exactly what many marketers aim at — your longing — so they dress their offers in a Prince Charming costume and swear that what they’re telling you is real.
Okay, so what’s the big deal? Read More→
A True Friend — Cathy Perkins
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Cathy Perkins has been our blog pro since we’ve had a blog.
And she instelled this new beautiful blog theme!
We are truly grateful because we couldn’t have, at least not at this point, installed it ourselves.
And one principle we hold true to is to give credit where it is rightly due.
So Cathy, you are a Wordpress Wizard, and we thank you.
Because It’s All in the Connection,
Judith & Jim
Relationship Marketing – A Politician’s Missed Moment
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Last night Judith and I went to a gathering of the Las Vegas Social Register – a typical networking event where relationship marketing is the whole point.
As I was roaming around looking for the next person to speak with, I approached a woman who was wearing an American flag scarf. It turns out she was a politician running for a seat in the Nevada State Senate.
I’d never spoken to an elected politician nor anyone who was running for office so I was intrigued. I spent about twenty minutes talking with her — or rather with her talking to me.
You would think that relationship marketing would be a staple in her running-for-office tool box, but as it turned out, not so.
She told me about her 88 year-old mother, and her daughter, and that she’d lived in Las Vegas her whole life, and community was very important to her.
I told her about my father who’d worked in the Detroit factories.
After I walked away, Judith asked about my conversation and I said, “She never asked me one question. Not one.”
“What don’t you tell her that,” Judith suggested. So I did.
I returned to the senatorial hopeful and reached out with my card, which she hadn’t asked for during our 20 minute chat, and I gently said:
“Are you aware that, when we were together, you never asked me one question?”
“What?” She was clearly surprised.
“You never asked me one question.”
“I was impressed by what you told me about your father in Chicago.”
“My father never lived in Chicago. He was in Detroit.”
“Well, you know, the factories, Detroit, Chicago. I was impressed . . .”
Relationship marketing? No. Monologue marketing was more like it.
“Just remember,” I cautioned, “if you want my vote, it’d be best if you try to find out about what I need and what I think. I’m the constituent.”
She smiled awkwardly and I bid her good night.
As I walked away, her last appeal to me, albeit rather weakly, was “I hope I can still get your vote.” 
No, I don’t think so. Why?
Because It’s All in the Connection,
Jim
