 There's a term that I've been playing with called light marketing. I would like to know what you think about this as I talk through this idea with you. So, are any of you fans of Star Wars? I wouldn't call myself a big fan of Star Wars, but I do appreciate and benefit from some of the concepts and characters in that series. And one of the most profound concepts that has affected so many of us is the idea of the light side of the force and the dark side of the force. And that the potentiality is within each of us. There's both a light side and a dark side. And so this is partly what I mean when I say light marketing. I don't mean that marketing is somehow ineffective or it's somehow like less good than less, you know, powerful or effective than other forms of marketing. But I do mean marketing from the light side of the force. That's one meaning and I'll give you another meaning later in this video. So what do you think about that? What might it mean for you to grow your business to get the word out about your services, your products, your message, your presence, your caring from the light side of the force instead of from the dark side of the force. This is actually really important for you to understand and decide, like make a decision between the between the two. You might say it's sort of, yeah, it's serving the dark side versus serving the light side. Now why, you might say why would anybody serve the dark side of the force? Well, I mean, just watch any, any, well, I was going to say watch any part of the Star Wars series or just watch any movie really like most movies are morality tales of people who make decisions, you know, for the good of the all and oneself. And oneself sort of like this integration or for primarily for the good of the self, especially short term good. And this is, have you ever heard of a sales funnel, marketing funnel. I'm not saying all sales funnels are evil. The sales funnel idea I think at the core is evil. At the core. It's about how do we cleverly manipulate some, I was going to say person, but they don't even think of them as person they think of them as a unit, or as a number or as a lead. How do you manipulate a lead from one side of the funnel to the other side until they convert into a buyer. Now, let me ask you this question. Do you, how do you feel if you knew that you were being led and manipulated without your consent and without your knowledge. That's the thing. If sales funnels were transparent, and that's a little bit better to say, All right, you're going to go through these series of emails, and we intend for you to become a buyer at the end. I mean, gosh, if you want to be transparent, you can call it a, you know, buyer educated potential client education series, mean something like that. It's not the best name, but you get what I mean, it's like, if, or, you know, I used to work in a graduate program used to help to sell a graduate program, work in the administration and we had open houses. We had information nights basically open houses information nights where potential students understood very well that we came here, they're coming here to be sold about the program. Like, they're here to learn about the program and they understand we probably want them to apply and you know the more applicants the better so it was pretty transparent that it was a sales call. It was a sales event. But most sales funnels are not transparent. And you think you're getting something for free. Oh wow, what a generous website. Gosh, they just do this, you know, they, right. It's really like ridiculous like, oh, they just love being generous giving me a free thing. Yeah, right. Right. Yeah, they really are they really from the light side of the force know most websites and sales funnels, unknowingly, a lot of potential bad eyes are being trained on the dark side of the force because that's most marketing training. That's why I've been talking about the stuff for years to say, now I have some more language and analogy or metaphor, which one is analogy metaphor for this, which is light side versus dark side of the force. Now, again, back to the question, why would anyone go to the dark side of the force, because it's convenient, and it makes them money with in a more trackable way sooner. This is the danger. Right. I was talking to a marketing team recently, and I was talking about this idea and I felt like it's hard to communicate this idea because the marketing team is like, well, George, how do we track your authentic marketing ideas. It sounds all virtuous and good and, but what you're saying talking about is a more long term relationship building it's hard to track, whether they become is that you have to track multi channel because they might, they might, you know, you might be trying to muscle them on on on social media but then they eventually buy here and sometimes that tracking breaks and we don't know. It's true. It's harder to track the light side of the force. And it's, it's easier and more controllable to track the dark side. I mean, the dark side is more easily control because you can kind of like, or you essentially you're manipulating people from one end to the other end because we're talking about marketing here. You know, and so the kind so so dark force marketing includes most sales funnel types of trainings, most neuro marketing. Have you heard this term. I just can't believe people transparently say, we are teaching neuro marketing. Do you know what that means. Yes, we do we what we're doing is we're using human psychology and your neuro science to manipulate our audience to be more proactive and doing what we want them to do. Do you even hear yourself I sometimes like asking, do you listen to yourself do you do you have any awareness about cult psychology cult building. Do you have anywhere, do you have any awareness about power over someone instead of power with do you have any awareness about domination and toxic, you know, well it's toxic psychology obviously like mind control. And then these marketers like exactly hypnotic marketing that's what I want to do. I mean, I, there are literally, you know, influencers and people who teach hypnotic marketing, as if it was a good thing. No, it's not. I mean, it's effective. See, this is all this is, I guess, why would why do people go to the dark side, because it's effective. It's trackable sooner than the light side of things. The problem with the light side is it takes damn patience. The problem with the light side is it's harder to track. For example, it's harder for me. I've always had a difficult time creating case studies with clients because people will come to me years later and say I'm so glad I, I'm so glad I followed your guidance or that your guidance inspired my own guidance or whatever it's almost like I have to wait until the end of this life and the next life when there's a near death or life review and then they'll see okay the ripple effects I created with the light side stuff but it's like, it's hard to track man. It's it's not easy to go. And it's it's harder for me to have hyped up testimonials from people say I joined George's course and within three days I made $250,000 or something like that. Where's the dark side stuff tends to be more likely to do so. Now you might say George why don't we just go to the dark side for a while, make some money, and then we'll do light side stuff. Why don't we do dark side marketing. But then when clients come to us and start working with us then then we will be all light force and Yoda and and Jedi good good Jedi with them right. It's not how it works. Because you're you're you're you're already thinking about means to an end. And that my friends is the beginning of wrongdoing. And that is the seed, which evil begins is means to an end. I'm just going to do this thing that feels questionable or that doesn't feel authentic to me to my higher self, because it works. It gets gets me clients it gets me traffic George I mean don't be so prude, you know prudish about it George just, we just got to get traffic, we got to get clients, because we know when we do our work, our deep work with them it's it's very healing. It's very informational. I get I understand you're very tempted by the dark side marketing stuff. neuro marketing sales funnels persuasion psychology. What else what else is there. You know, scarcity tactics sales calls that are that are scripted. Yeah, it's not authentic, but you know that you can say these things there's magic words that are kind of like casting spells on people hypnotizing them towards buying a copywriting a lot of copywriting unfortunately in my opinion is dark side stuff. Not that there aren't light side copywriters there are some of you are watching this and please comment below if you are but it's plenty of dark side copywriting and like, oh, a piece of content you're writing a piece of content but then at the end is like this is why you should hire me. I'm not saying that's always evil but it often doesn't feel right why, because we're encountering the dark side of the force. And so, let me now move from the dark side of the force talking about that to the light side of the force, the light marketing light light side marketing. Coming to the understanding that. Well, everything is made of light, or everything has the potential or the seed of light within it, which means we when we're doing light side marketing or light marketing we're calling forth the light from our audience. And we are, of course, activating the light within ourselves, which then calls forth the light from our audience. And how do we do that, what does that mean. Well, light marketing is this Venn diagram, the sweet spot of genuinely exploring yourself through public journaling. Public journaling can be through writing or through video or podcast or art or whatever but publicly sharing your explorations of yourself. Now here's the key with intention to serve humanity. No matter if someone needs somebody buys or matter, no matter if your audience buys that intersection of service to self with a capital as higher self, okay service to self capital as higher self and service to other. That intersection is light marketing. It's like marketing. Now if you don't only serve only service to your higher self that's personal development only service to humanity that's, you know, nonprofit, not, you can do not like marketing with nonprofits but that's completely volunteer and non marketing. It's just completely volunteer if it's just service to other and service to humanity it's just like, I don't have anything to sell nothing at all. No product no service I don't have any intention even of you ever buying anything. It's all volunteering right that's fine. It's not about yourself or higher self rather exploring your your your experiences your passions your values your gifts, your peak experiences, your skills, your products and services and your message that service to your higher self in in in the intersection with the service to other service to humanity. That intersection is light marketing. So it's about and so a couple principles to this is light marketing is patient. It's kind. It's loving. Look at the be attitudes look at the be attitude it's basically all that. And it's, like I said it's patient. So here's a question for you. This is this is hard. This is hard. I mean this, if light, the light side of the force were easy everyone would be the light side of the force but in this world of limitation of needing to pay the rent next month, even if needing to buy food, so that or she'll die in this play in on this stage called third dimensional earth school. Okay, where you have to play with these limitations, and these urgencies, these scarcities natural physical scarcities. We naturally gravitate towards dark side methods because like I said, it's more trackable sooner that you benefit yourself that you're able to pay the rent and buy food and bubble and George don't you want us to buy food and pay of course I do. And this is why it's hard for me to because in my own coaching and training I, I have to I have to keep, keep on noticing within myself the advice that I'm giving the, the guidance that I'm giving to my clients and students it's like, I want to help them pay the rent and, and secure their long term financial future. And yet, I also want to inspire the light side patients within them to say, Hey, if I, if I put out this content for a year. George you're telling me that you're telling me to put out content consistently for a year and not have any guarantees I'll make even a dollar from it. Are you ridiculous. What are you talking about. And I say, Yes, that's that's at the core what I'm talking about in terms of the principle of non attachment. Yes. And we're going to be diligent also about consistently making our offers. Still with non attachment, but the principle of combining non attachment with diligent service to the other means that eventually with enough practice, you come to understanding. And that's what they want. That's what they're paying for, because that's what they told me this is market research I you've probably heard me talk about the crucial practice of market research that's one of my eight practices of authentic business market research, creating aligned offers in other words, because if you're going to sell something I mean I know some of you are so passionate about your modality. You're so passionate about your fill in the blank skill or, or tool that you want to give to people. And yet they don't want it. I'm sorry they're not going to pay for it. Unless you meet them where they're at and saying why does this modality of yours this skill of yours. Fulfill a want that I currently have otherwise why should I pay you for I know you're passionate about your skill, because you have the entire context of your life that you've developed all these skills to solve your own problems and to then to reach new heights of understanding that's fine but I don't have that context of your life. I'm thinking about my own problems right now. I'm thinking about my own wants. I have I have thinking about my own goals. If you're not going to meet me where I'm at I'm not going to give you a dollar. Sorry. That's market research right so it's like the light side says yes there's patients and continuing to serve humanity through our explorations of experiences serving humanity. Yes, we keep doing that to build trust and to grow our reach. At the same time, we need to use the light side marketing to also lightly. That's the key that's part of the light side marking to lightly offer to say oh this thing better work I've spent 10 years learning this modality. And I'm going to put together this amazing program and George you're going to help me market it you're going to help me make a perfect website and just put it out there and it better work and people better feel the. No, that's not how light marketing works. I marketing understands that you were not going to pressure anybody into anything, because that's already the dark side stuff that's already mind control and manipulation. What we are doing is we are humbly and with non attachment sharing and inviting and they and knowing that they can. Most people might say no, because just like Yoda, right or the light side teachers. Again, I'm not, I haven't watched a lot of Star Wars, but not everybody goes to Yoda. Not everybody goes to the light side of the market light side of the force guides. It's almost like you have to find them. To be honest, they probably need to do better marketing. The light side needs to do a little bit better marketing a little bit more content, whatever but it's it's it's not as loud or as empire as the dark side so sometimes when people people talk about building an empire with their business I'm like the empire strikes back you mean that kind of empire. It's like this is what I don't notice I don't use the word empire. I don't build empire I never I never did because I always felt wrong to me like when you mean empire. Are you an emperor. Are you do you want to control people. But that's what they want. I mean, essentially the mainstream marketers and now your eyes are open. You can't look back anymore. Sorry. The mainstream marketing wants to control their audience to say I tell you to do this and you do it. I say jump you say how high I say buy this product you say how much should I pay you. I say, you know, I mean even consuming my course content. I say you better consume my course content you said great how long should I take and I will follow your instructions to the T. That is the opposite of encouraging free will. Of course I want my students to consume my courses but I'm not going to force them I'm just going to invite them and say alright and now I'll create I'll create healthy boundaries around it. You know, and of course I want people to buy my courses but only if they genuinely want to have their own free will and that's why you've noticed my sales pages when I sell stuff to you my web pages that sell stuff I try to be almost boring. I don't spend that much time on my sales pages because I'm spending more time on this stuff. I'm spending more time on content and creating better products and services. I think it's dangerous to spend too much time on marketing that because that ends up being the dark side. No really, especially as a solopreneur I mean if you have a marketing team that's different. Those of you who have a marketing team you're very lucky. And still even a marketing team to spend more, spend more time on the light side of marketing, too much time on the dark side stuff. Like as a solopreneur more time I spend trying to convince you to buy this or that the less time and energy I have to improve my product and service so that you'll naturally want to buy it because it meets you where you're at and it really really does an excellent job of serving you. So, I hope you get a sense now of this very important decision each of us makes, not just one time by the way, we make it every time. We put something out there. Every time we create a piece of content or make an offer we are making the decision about am I a lot of lying myself with it with the light side of the force, or am I just going for the dark side because no I can control people better this way. It's up to you. I hope this is inspiring. And I really do look forward to seeing your comments below. Thank you for joining me.