Authentic Business: Why Old Marketing Tactics Don't Work Any More

We are in a new era of business. Things are shifting very fast. A lot of the old marketing techniques simply do not work any more.

I was recently on the phone with a friend who works in the online business management world. She is one of the leaders in that industry and has been doing it for many years.

We were talking about the fact that many business and marketing techniques are just not working anymore and that a lot of marketers are still out there selling them to people. They're saying, "Yes, do this. Do this. Do this," but the climate has changed. What worked at one time doesn't work any more. This new era of business is much more hands-on.

Gary Vaynerchuk talks about this a lot. He puts it well when he says, "It is legacy over currency". In this new era, the focus is on how to work with people to get the results they need and they want, not simply advocating the tactic of the month. It is about becoming a vessel for change in the world.

The dominant approach used to be very marketing-tactic-centric, and money-centric. It was all about emails and copy. I'm not saying that particular tactics or strategies are bad. I absolutely use many of them and they do work.

However, there is a difference between using a teleclass to "fill your funnel" and because teleclasses are a hot tactic, and using a teleclass to share truly valuable information. Years ago the prevailing model would have been to give no content up front and instead focus completely on selling. Now it's the exact opposite. The focus now is being of service and providing as much value upfront. It is about being completely transparent and honest, and as generous as time allows.

Another example is the concept of a "niche"; it just doesn't serve people anymore. A better way to look at it is discovering who needs you most. It used to be all about "positioning". I now say it's about forwarding your fingerprint.

In regards to delegation, over the last seven years, the paradigm was, "How little can I work and how much I can make?" I think we are finally shifting back from being focused on delegation to being centered on service.

The tide is shifting fast. Some businesses and people don't yet understand that there is a new dominant paradigm. It's no longer enough to understand marketing. You have to be the change you want to see in the world to make the marketing actually work. The businesses who fail to take this into account are being left behind.

Unfortunately, many people would rather hide behind their marketing strategies or tactics and be able to blame them for their lack of success, than to get real about themselves and their authentic voice and stories and go out and share them with the world. It can be easier to blame the marketing strategies and systems than to embrace your vulnerability, and to go out willing to share your authentic voice and story every day.

For a while, you could market just about anything and make money relatively easily. Customers caught on and more and more business owners wanted something real behind the marketing. So people who are still marketing without a coherent message, real value, a movement, or "being the change" will ultimately not succeed.

This is a hard truth for a many people because it's difficult for them to step into their movement. It's difficult for them to realize that the only thing they really have to sell is who they are. But it can be done. And when it is, it brings a much higher level of intimacy and meaning to building and growing a business.