A short YouTube talk by George Kao encouraging solopreneurs to reframe marketing as an opportunity to express values and serve authentically. Kao argues that when marketing’s primary agenda is authentic expression and heart-led service rather than sales, creators feel fulfilled, sustain consistent practice, improve their craft, and naturally attract better results as a byproduct.
So in order to get enough clients and to have a continual series of inquiries, you've got to do marketing, right? As a solopreneur, most of us have, there's a few exceptions of people that don't have to do marketing for whatever reason. But most of us, including myself, I would say 99% of us need to do marketing. But we don't love to do marketing. Right? Most of us, especially those who identify as heart based or spirit, want to live with more spiritual values. You know why? Here's one major reason why we don't love to do marketing. And I'll see if by the end of this video, it helps you to shift the mindset so that you can actually lean into it with more joy. The reason is that marketing actions feel so agenda laden. You see what I mean? Like when you. When I make a video, if I make this video, my hope is that this video will get you to sign up for my email list, which then will get you to sign up and pay me money for my programs. You see what I mean? Like, if you knew that was my agenda, how would you feel? It just, it doesn't feel genuine. Because creating content, we are hoping, our hope is that the content creator is what is expressing like. It's like a bubbling up of their enthusiasm to share a message with us. We hope that they are enjoying themselves. We hope that the content creator likes exploring their ideas and has fun in posting them rather than imagining that the content creator is desperate that this piece of content gets people to sign up for something or whatever. Right? So why think this through? Write for yourself. When you post content, do you have that agenda? Because what if you didn't have to have that agenda? What if you can take that agenda of making money, getting clients, building your business and put that as a, as a secondary or even tertiary agenda, if there is such a thing. And put your primary agenda, your primary focus is on expressing your values in the action you're taking right now. Yeah. So what I mean by that is when I create content, what I am aiming to do are two things. I'll tell you my two agenda items right now in this very moment of recording this thing, on the one hand, I am hoping that I can authentically explore my experience and express myself like practicing authentic expression and exploration on the one hand. And on the other hand, I'm also hoping that I can lean more into my heart for you, my audience, that I can. I can remember again my desire to serve humanity with my expression. No matter if anything comes back to me. No matter if I get any engagement or, you know, business money. No, it's just all of us have that. I know you do as well. And that's why I'm encouraging us when you do your so called marketing, to lean in to your values and the expression of them. Because here's what happens when, when you practice this, I think my experience. Let me know if you think that's true. When you practice expressing your values in your actions, especially in your marketing, you feel a deep level of fulfillment regardless of whether money comes in, regardless whether you get clients. Now, of course we all want to get more clients money or whatever, but if you can practice setting that aside and say, that would be a wonderful natural byproduct. If what I offer is of genuine value to them, if I made the right match between my expression and what they're needing at this time, then wonderful. I get some engagement or money. But regardless of whether I got that right alignment today, did I get the right alignment in here? Did I show up? Is was my energy leaned in towards exploring myself and expressing myself and leaning into my heart for them. And if I do that, then may I, may I witness that and observe the deep happiness that is there. And from that deep happiness, what happens? You're much more likely to show up again and again and again throughout the months and the years because you're showing up for the process itself, because it has deep happiness attached to it. And because you show up for the process itself. You're practicing authentic exploration and expression. You're practicing leaning into your heart of service. Guess what happens. You become more excellent over time. You start to master the craft of authentic marketing more and more over time. And guess what happens when you start mastering and becoming more excellent at it. It's a natural byproduct that there are results. You will get some results in the beginning because of beginner's luck, it's true. But it's just the results are going to happen just so naturally as you get better at it. Right now, if you're not seeing results, truthfully speaking, and I know nobody wants to hear this, but you're not that good at it yet. You think you might be, but don't look at whether you're good at it or not. Look at whether you are. You are leaning into the practice of your values and expression. If you are, then you are successful today. So whether it's creating content or you're announcing your services, you're telling your audience about your availability to be hired as a service provider or freelancer, whatever it is. Even those announcements can be expressions and explorations of let me try communicating my passion for this work today in this way. And may I also lean into May this message uplift people, whether or not they buy from me, whether or not they hire me. Because statistically speaking, every sales message, most of the people don't buy, right? Like you put a sales message, you don't expect 100% conversion rate. You expect, my God, if it's great, 20% conversion rate is already fantastic. 5% conversion rate is pretty normal. 1% conversion rate even so is not terrible, right? It's okay. At least not 0%. Like you know, like. So the people who don't buy we still need to care about them from our hearts rather than write them off or something like that. So even the expression of our offer can be one of expression of our values and of our care. And if so, you've already succeeded. And then you can be curious about what the external result is, but at least the internal result was what you were aiming for. I hope that this is helpful and I look forward to seeing if it does make a difference for you either way. Thank you so much for joining me for this.
