I don’t watch much television, but a few years ago, I was hooked on the Netflix miniseries Hollywood.

It was set in post-World War II Tinseltown, where actresses, directors and screenwriters will do just about anything to get noticed and get ahead.

It took place at the precise moment in Hollywood history when the super melodramatic old-school, silent-movie acting style gave way to a more natural, organic style that appeals to modern moviegoers.

And the same thing is happening in digital marketing — 75 years later.

 Is Your Marketing Going the Way of the Dodo?

We’re at the point where melodramatic, in-your-face marketing tactics just aren’t working anymore as online audiences get more and more sophisticated… and mistrust is at an all-time high. 

And the way I see it entrepreneurs like you and me have 2 choices:

Choice #1: We can risk annoying the heck out of everyone and stubbornly stick to old marketing methods that are going the way of the Dodo or…

Choice #2: We can embrace a brand, new way of marketing our products, programs and services and remain relevant, congruent and in deep service to our audience.

This new way of marketing has to do with creating experiences and it’s where you’re directly engaging your clients and customers so they’re taking action and they get to experience winning with you even before they buy a thing. 

These principles will also help you to build that all-important “know, like and trust” factor into your marketing so prospects are not just in their heads but in their hearts…

And they want to connect with you and buy from you not just because it makes sense but because it feels good.

Ready to dig in? Let’s get started!

Online Marketing Principle #1: Don’t Be Boring

I didn’t put this at the top of the list by accident.

Boring makes people’s eyes glaze over. Boring makes them click on that back button and it triggers the “keep scrolling” part of their brain.

Boring gets you ignored.

And no matter how much time, money, effort and energy you put into creating your marketing, it simply won’t give you the results you’re looking for if you’re boring.

So what’s the most effective way to avoid having your marketing campaigns become a snooze fest?

Write, speak, share and sell from the heart.

Understand your personal values and the core themes of your life and communicate these through stories and personal experiences to build the “know, like and trust” factor with your audience.

If you don’t do this, you’ll end up sounding like everyone else and people WILL mentally “opt out” of watching, listening or reading anything you put out there.

Just to be clear…

This isn’t permission to say or do something crazy or shocking just to grab attention (that’s a cheap trick and it never works for long).

The idea here is to be wholly & authentically you — or as I like to say, “It’s time to turn up the dial on your level of self-expression.”  That’s the only real way to stand out in an ever-growing crowd of online entrepreneurs and businesses.

It makes sense when you think about it…

Even if there are thousands — or millions — of people out there doing the same thing you do…

Even if there are millions of health coaches, or copywriters or energy healers who do what you do…

There’s only one person in the whole world who can do it the way you do and that’s because there’s only who can be who you are and that’s YOU. (If you’d love an in depth antidote to boring, check out this post.)

Online Marketing Principle #2 Don’t Make People Wrong

“It’s not your fault.”

You’ve probably seen that line on sales pages, emails and all kinds of marketing..

And while I happen to think that “it’s not your fault” has become an unforgivable cliché, the idea behind it is true.

It’s not your fault is about making sure that you’re not blaming your audience — your clients and customers — in your marketing messages.

It’s about making sure you’re not making people wrong for their mistakes or missteps in their journey toward the outcome they’re looking for.

When your marketing messages give off a “you should know better” vibe or anything that says people can’t get what they want because they don’t have what it takes…

You’re running the risk of coming across as super judgmental, “holier-than-thou” and just all ‘round annoying!

As you can imagine, this is going to put people off you and your business, and you’re never going to get a second chance to make it right.

So get it straight from the get-go…

Accept people’s reality wherever they happen to be in their journey — it’s the whole reason they’re coming to you for solutions in the first place — and create marketing messages that don’t contain even the slightest trace of blame. 

Online Marketing Principle #3: Choose Clear, Simple Words

Avoid superfluous words in your marketing messages… and yes, “superfluous” is a superfluous word 😉

I could just as easily have written:

You don’t want to include any unnecessary words in your marketing messages.

See how much clearer and simpler that is?

Here’s the thing…

When you choose complex, over-the-top language, it’s like you’re making your audience drink a freezing-cold glass of water on a ultra hot day — it’s a massive shock to the system which means it makes your message that much harder to process. 

Basically, you’re creating friction that activates the brain and causes it to get in the way of simply and easily digesting your message.

Plus, making room for confusion to enter the picture and let me tell you right now… confusion kills interest in seconds.

No one likes to sit through a speech, video or marketing content that makes them feel like they need a dictionary to understand what’s going on.

It’s why I like to tell my students that they need to avoid “10 dollar words” especially when a “10 cent word” will get the job done.

When you use long, unusual words or complex technical jargon, you’re getting people into their heads, and what you want to do is draw them into their hearts (see Marketing Principle #1).

Short, simple, conversational words trigger feelings. Longer, more complex words trigger thoughts.

As I said, people connect, relate and buy based on emotion… not logic.

Once you’ve written or created a marketing message ask yourself:

Is there any way I can simplify this?

Is this connecting to the head or to the heart?

(Want to dive in further to crafting a message that moves your audience into action? Read my post with 6 pro tips for writing copy that sells)

Online Marketing Principle #4 Don’t Be a Copy of Someone Else

Marketing is about standing out. It’s about being seen and heard.

And if you want to stand out and be seen and heard, you need to march to the beat of your own drum…

There are no two ways about it.

So one of the biggest mistakes I see a lot of entrepreneurs make — especially when they’re first starting out — is they mirror what someone else is doing in their marketing.

And this often happens because these newbie entrepreneurs get inspired and motivated by someone they admire or look up to — someone they think has their act together and they want to be just like this or that 7-figure expert.

But here’s the thing…

When you try to sound like someone else, you’re basically hiding your own unique voice, your values and what you stand for…

All the things that naturally help you stand out from the crowd. The things that make you, well, you.

Plus, if you’re inspired to follow in someone else’s “marketing” footsteps then chances are a whole lot of other people are doing the same thing..

And as more and more people try to copy a handful of trailblazers or market leaders, everyone starts sounding like everyone else and you’ll drown in what I like to call the “Sea of Sameness.”

You’ll end up sinking straight to the bottom where no one will find you or know that you exist.

Sad but true.

So whatever you do, don’t copy someone else’s marketing.

Your first step to being an original is to reflect on your personal communication style.

Are you super grounded and down to earth? Maybe you’re a little bit playful?

Take time to think about it and when you know your style, do yourself and the world a favor and commit to being who YOU are in your marketing.

Online Marketing Principle #5: Speak to One Person

Ever heard someone talk about their email subscribers as “Their List?”

While that’s technically correct (your subscribers are part of your email list), it’s an incredibly impersonal way to refer to human beings who have taken the time and trouble to subscribe to your list so they can hear what you have to say.

When you turn people into a collective number, when you disconnect from them, you’re digging yourself into a “marketing pit” that you’ll never get out of.

That disconnect will seep into your language and your audience will sense that you’re not speaking from the heart. 

For instance, when you send out emails with phrases like “all of you” or “everyone reading this,” you’re showing people that you’re not seeing them as individuals with real life, with real problems and real emotions.

Instead, you’re thinking about them as this nameless, faceless mass or worse… a cold, hard number.

So this Principle is about constantly sweeping through your marketing messages and making sure they’re personal to your audience and to you.

A powerful way to make things personal is to share stories, experiences and photos from your life. Let people in. Let them get to know the real you… share a peek into your world. 

Yes, it can be scary to open up and let them look behind the scenes at the mistakes, the regrets, and the bad hair days, but there’s no better way to be relatable and to be fully loved and accepted for who you truly are.

And when you have the courage to be personal and connect from the heart, you’ll be rewarded with fans for life and customers who buy from you again and again.

Online Marketing Principle #6: Don’t Overthink It

Ever seen someone struggle with “Launch Freeze Syndrome?”

Chances are you have.

Launch Freeze Syndrome is how I describe a common “condition” that afflicts a lot of entrepreneurs.

It’s when they overthink everything and believe they have to figure out every last detail in their marketing content and campaign before launching a funnel, product, service, program or whatever it happens to be.

Here’s the thing…

If you wait to figure out all the details, if you wait to get everything just right before you launch, you’ll wait forever.

The truth is everything changes so quickly online that before you get every detail ironed out, the market could have shifted, the audience could change their minds, there might be a new “must try” marketing method out there…

And so you go back to the drawing board to update and tweak and make changes in your content and messaging again and again.

It’s a vicious cycle that will never end and it will hold you back from launching anything.

In other words, you’ll freeze.

Founder of LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman said…

“If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.”

While I don’t recommend that you launch something you’re not proud of, know that if you let yourself overthink it, if you let yourself wait for “everything to be absolutely perfect”…

You won’t launch at all.

But… you can help take the guesswork out of your launch when you create the right product at the right time for the right audience. Get my guide here.

Online Marketing Principle #7: Don’t Get Stuck on Repeat

Want to know the fastest way to deplete your energy and drain every last drop of enthusiasm you have for your business?

Do the same thing again and again, month after month, year after year.

I’ve seen way too many 7 and even 8-figure entrepreneurs struggle with this one and it comes from that feeling of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

But here’s the thing…

When you stay stuck on the same sales and marketing content, the same messages, you end up boring the cr$p out of your audience and yourself…

And as I’ve said, being boring is like going bungee jumping off a 100-foot cliff… minus the bungee cord (see Principle #1).

So don’t be afraid to try something new, switch things up and go for a different approach in your marketing.

If you love writing, try getting in front of a camera. Challenge yourself to share a Livestream or Instagram Story at least a couple of times a week.

If you’ve always offered live programs, design a self-paced product and offer it to your audience.

Nobody wants to listen to a broken record so whatever you do, don’t ever let yourself get stuck on repeat.

Online Marketing Principle #8: Share What You Believe

As more and more entrepreneurs enter the online space a lot of people are worried that there’s too much competition for them to succeed. 

And they’re worried they’ll lose the battle for one the true currency at play…

Attention.

So what do you do when you’re a business coach or web designer trying to grab attention among countless other experts in your space?

Talk about the thing that sets you apart… talk about what you believe in and what you stand for.

Don’t just share what you do. Share why you do what you do.

What gets you up in the morning? What gets you motivated to coach clients day after day? What inspires you to create awesome designs or copy for your clients?

Talk about the thing that fuels you, drives you, the thing that keeps you going, and keeps you wanting to serve at the highest level.

It’s essentially why you’re in business and it has to do with how you want to make a difference. And in order to do this, you must create a Brand Voice Statement. 

So Principle #8 is basically this…

If you want to stand out, talk about what you stand for.

It’s a powerful, effective way to get all the right people to sit up, take notice and become your lifelong fans and clients.
Because — as the old adage goes, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”

Online Marketing Principle #9: Don’t Create Marketing that Sounds Like Marketing

Tips and Tricks to Get That Click

How to Go Viral and Break the Internet!

Little-Known Tactics to Launch Your Program 

I’m not gonna lie… those are some pretty catchy headlines but you know what else?

It’s also marketing that sounds like marketing.

While it’s important that you understand the rules of effective copywriting and the principles of influence (Robert Cialdini’s book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion is a must-read on the topic)…

It’s also important to understand that as audiences become more sophisticated, it’s not enough to create marketing that works, you need to inspire and motivate your audience.

You need to get them to care.

This means you need to get real and get personal (see Principle #5) and it often means switching out of “tips and tricks” mode.

It means writing and speaking like a real person and not someone who’s implementing “marketing speak” that could have come from anyone with a template.

This is often called “Conversational Copy.”

Online Marketing Principle #10: Choose Clear over Clever

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…

When it comes to marketing, clear and concise will outsell clever any day of the week….

In other words, if you had to choose between clever wordplay and clear language, choose clear language.

Every. Single. Time.

We had a student whose expertise was around helping clients heal from breakups.

She had a great idea for her marketing message and it was about closing your “ex-files”

That was one of her key marketing messages and it was a play on the TV show “X-Files,”

Yes, it was fun and clever, but did it pass the “clear” test?

Nope.

What we did was rework her message so it was crystal clear that she was helping women “receive love no matter how many heartbreaks they’d experienced.”

Was that clever? Not so much.

Was it clear? Hell, yeah!

The takeaway here is that when it comes to your marketing, you want to use words that people can instantly understand right out of the gate rather than clever wordplay or confusing language that might go over their heads.

These 10 Principles come from years of both working on my own business and helping my clients take their businesses to 6 and 7 figures!

It’s the result of thousands of hours of teaching, coaching and creating marketing messages that have brought in millions of dollars and made a real difference in people’s lives.

And having said that, there’s one more thing I’ve learned and it’s something I want you to keep in mind…

All rules (and principles!) are meant to be broken.

Think of that as Bonus Principle #11 🙂

Here’s my recommendation…

Take what you see here and use it as a guideline, not an “unbreakable rules list”.

When you restrict yourself to too many rules and regulations you’re holding yourself back from being innovative and courageous in your business.

You’re holding yourself back from being YOU.

Thanks for reading! Let me know in a comment the marketing principle that MOST resonated with you.

But before you go…

Ready to really grow your business and your impact? Then, join me for the ONLY business-building event where you’ll leave with a shorter to-do list than when you arrived! 

I’ll be sharing exactly how to hone in on what to say, do and sell next in order to grow your business — with proven strategies that I’ve spent over a decade testing.

In fact, this is the 12th annual Live Your Message LIVE, and many students come back year after year — because the strategies keep working! 

We’ll spend 3 days together virtually, working on your business and YOUR unique growth blueprint. Grab your seat here. 

You’ll ALSO receive your very own copy of my valuable Message to Money Pathway — your unique, highly customized template that will guide you by the hand to your 6 or 7-figure business (regardless of where you’re starting from).

You’ll Zoom in “overwhelmed” and Zoom out with an exact roadmap for what to say, do and sell next to grow your business in 2024. Here’s the link again to grab your ticket.

 See you virtually March 1-3, 2024 🙂