Want to Write and Market Better? Start by turning the television off!


Authentic Marketing and Authentic Writing (aka Self-Expression) are very closely linked for me. Basic Marketing Intelligence affirms (through plenty of research) that people will buy for one of two main motivations: Pain or Pleasure.  To market via a voice and strategy that amplifies the pains in life gets my attention–long enough to turn me off.

While on a short business trip to Southern California (as in as I write this post) I am reminded of why I will not ever again have a television (large, small, flat or HD) or for that matter watch (and more importantly) why I do not watch/consume regular programming. And yes, I know I am putting a provocative stake in the ground for there are plenty of good reasons to “watch” television–selectively.

Let’s start with a look at “the perpetually available newsfeed.”

There is a lot of fear and pain and sadness and tragedy in most news that is reported. For every happy story reported there are many more shocking and upsetting stories to process.

It happens that the highly evolved Precor treadmill I am using in the fitness center has a small media screen as part of its design and it’s got CNN on. I set the timer for an hour and plan to walk four miles in place at an incline that challenges me and take in the news of the hour for a moment. Several things strike me “in blazing technicolor” as I increase my heart rate, break a sweat and engage in active watching and listening.

Lots of bad news to take in…Lots of vapid news to take in…Lots of shocking news to take in…depressing stats on the waning Super Power that the US is according to Pat Buchanan, who has recently authored “Suicide of a Super Power.” Is he still acting also as minister and man of God or is he all pomp and politician now?

And then there is the striking difference in presentation of women and men reporting the news. The women are simply overdone with eye makeup and lipstick and hair that is perfectly coiffed and wavers not. I find myself wondering what do they really look like before “the mask” is applied to accentuate lashes and cheek bones and lips and what exactly is done to control their hairstyle regardless of how they may move (but then they don’t move much.)

The men are clean cut and shaved and sharply dressed in suits and crisp shirts and smart ties and have great postures as the talking heads behind the dark shiny desks, and it is notable too that they do have flawless looking skin.

My experience of how both genders report the news is essentially the same: they are equally affected and inauthentic. They are reading the cues and teleprompter well and keeping eye contact and looking good and holding the best position they can. No unattractive side will be seen by the viewer. Ever.

And then there are the commercials. (Another blogpost entirely…) The only ones that make me smile are the two V8 commercials I see BECAUSE Jackie Chan, one of my favorite actors/director/celebrities DOES HIS OWN STUNTS and is a real person to me based on reading his biography and following his films and life since 1991. And I know that there are outtakes to those commercials too that show him slipping, falling, and brushing himself off as he laughs it off as well. His cinema “signature” of showing the outtakes has endeared me to him and his movies for years. That he shows his imperfections is symbolic to me.

I remain disenchanted with this technology called TV that is one of the great barometers of what is popular and what matters and what people want. For me, popular TV for the most part represents the lower common denominator and as one watches, their creativity and intelligence is put to sleep, not encouraged. And I do not want to “fall asleep” while I live in the world. I want to participate in it and create good stuff “from scratch.”  Most of all, I want to feel fully engaged in living and the choices I make.

So there is very little News or Comedy or Drama or Disney (my daughter’s drug of choice…LOL) or ABC Family or Reality TV that I can handle being in proximity to–let alone sit long enough to watch fully attentive. And it is less and less all the time. And I find that the less I watch, the more I think and create from a space of intelligence in myself that is Creative, Positively Provocative, Effective, High Impact, and Love-based.

So if you must address the Pain Factor, I suggest doing a really good job of digging in deep, writing up the worst scenarios and pain statements you can make yourself pen, and then with authenticity turn them on their head.

What you may create for a marketing campaign and website copy will be emotionally charged copy GROUNDED in your sincere desire to be a solution.

When it comes to writing and marketing ourselves in print or online or in person, to grow our business, it is experienced by me as a “cheap shot” when someone appeals strongly to my weak points (and who among us has but one Achilles Heel?)

So consider this fundamental philosophy for conducting any and all business activities: Champion the Nobler Goal with Compassion and Creatively So.  I propose it will make you more positively memorable and while it may take a little longer for business to develop, the positive results will be greater over time, the loyalty factor in clients naturally higher and the benefits experienced by both sides in transactions absolutely amplified and soul-satisfying.

And to think this rant was triggered by watching TV? Huh! I guess I best expose myself to popular media just enough to remind me of what NOT to do, so that I can refresh my sense of what is BEST to pursue (smile).

P.S. I dedicate this post to the marketing and writing clients (I may have or may have in the future) in search of their WHY and HOW and WHAT. You know you want to be a force of goodness in the world and I believe you can. If you are not in touch with that voice in you that would champion the positive approach to attracting ideal clients, I welcome being a guide to discovering that voice in you.


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