Virtual Interview with Lynn Serafinn

Today I have the great pleasure of being the host on Day 14 of the Virtual Blog Tour of author Lynn Serafinn whose book The 7 Graces of Marketing: how to heal humanity and the planet by changing the way we sell launches on Amazon on Tuesday December 13, 2011.

Lynn Serafinn, MAED, CPCC is a certified, award-winning coach and teacher, marketer, social media expert, radio host, speaker and bestselling author. Her eclectic approach to marketing incorporates her vast professional experience in the music industry and the educational sector along with more than two decades of study and practice of the spirituality of India. In her work as a promotional manager she has produced a long list of bestselling mind-body-spirit authors. Passionate about re-establishing our connection with the Earth, she supports the work of the Transition Town network in her hometown of Bedford, England.

Yesterday, Lynn visited Kimberly Ann Coots at http://kimberlyanncoots.com/marketing/the-7-graces-of-marketing-interview, where she interviewed Lynn about how does the 7 Graces of Marketing support Abundance in marketing?

Today, I’d like to share with you a recent interview I had with Lynn when I got to ask her some questions on the subject of how can society benefit from wisdom of 7 Graces of Marketing?

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E.Dee Conrad: What did you feel, hear, or see that drove you to write “7 Graces of Marketing” and why is this the perfect time for the publication of such a work?

Lynn Serafinn: Wow, big question, E.Dee, and it’s actually what I talk about in the first couple of chapters in the book, as the process that drove me to write it is just as revealing as the content itself.

There were several things I felt, heard and saw that initially drove me to write this book:

1. My coaching clients, most of whom were people in healing and creative industries, were all complaining that they hated to do marketing, which made them feel like business failures
2. I noticed that whenever I came home from business network meetings, I felt drained and full of anxiety
3. My television blew up
4. I overheard a conversation between two young men at a restaurant

I figured if I could find out the real reasons why my clients hated marketing, I could possibly help them stay in business, while remaining authentic and true to their values. My investigation started with myself. I started looking at why I was so drained after business network meetings, and noticed an awful lot of the “successful” networkers were using fear-based messages in their marketing. I realised that this was probably a big reason why people in healing professions didn’t like marketing, although they didn’t consciously know it. Then, one day in February 2008, during the beginning of our current “recession”, my television blew up. Six months after deciding not to replace it, I realised I was no longer in anxiety about the economy, and that my business had improved radically while many others were struggling. This helped me see a connection between our exposure to the media, and our emotional AND economic wellbeing.

Then, in January 2010, when I was already in the early stages of planning to write this book, by some divine stroke of destiny, I happened to be sitting next to two young men at Nando’s Restaurant here in Bedford, England, who were talking about a marketing conference they had just attending. As I eavesdropped on their conversation, the proverbial “penny dropped” and I suddenly saw that this book was a much, much bigger and more important project than I had ever anticipated. We don’t have space in this short interview to discuss what these boys said that literally changed the direction of my life, but I do invite your readers to check it out in the book, as I think they will be quite surprised to find out what I discovered.

E.Dee Conrad: What are the “7 Graces of Marketing” and how can society as a whole benefit from the wisdom contained in this work?

Lynn Serafinn: Firstly, here’s a list of the “7 Graces” alongside each of their corresponding “Deadly Sins” from the book:

1. Connection (as opposed to Disconnection)
2. Inspiration (as opposed to Persuasion)
3. Invitation (as opposed to Invasion)
4. Directness (as opposed to Distraction)
5. Transparency (as opposed to Deception)
6. Abundance (as opposed to Scarcity) and
7. Collaboration (as opposed to Competition)

I’m so glad you asked how “society as a whole” can benefit from these, as I wish to stress that this book is NOT a “how to” manual for marketers, but an eye-opener that is intended just as much for the conscious consumer as it is for the business owner.

Grace number 1 is Connection. We humans crave Connection—with Self, Source and others. Connection is our natural state of being, but our modern society has caused us to lose touch with so much of that Connection.

Grace number 2 is Inspiration. The word Inspiration literally means “to breathe life into”. When we genuinely inspire others (and I don’t mean using fluffy words to create the illusion of inspiration), we are “breathing life into them”. Basically we have a choice as business owners to breathe life into people, or to suck them dry.

Grace number 3, Invitation, has to do with our interactions with our audience. Are we gracious, empowering and generous, or are we only focused on conversions, statistics and sales? Do we see people as people, or do we see them solely as a prize to be won?

Grace number 4, Directness, has to do with saying this like it is. The majority of marketers today hype up their marketing with gimmicks, humour and random brand associations that have nothing to do with the product on offer. If we cannot say it like it is with regards to our product or service, we really do have to ask ourselves why. Why are we not able to attract the attention of the public without such Distractions?

Grace number 5 is Transparency. The literal meaning of the word is “to shine light through”. When we are transparent as people and as business owners, we are not only allowing the light of our true Selves to be seen, but we are also allowing it to shine through the work we do in our business.

Grace number 6 is Abundance. Abundance is the fundamental belief that there is enough in this world for all. I truly believe this, but there is one condition: for there to be enough for all, we must return to living in accordance to the harmony and rhythm of Planet Earth. When we utilise Her resources in such a way that they step in tune to Her natural pace, there is no such thing as Scarcity. Currently, marketing and business is operating out of rhythm AND utilising Scarcity as one of its key strategies for business growth. When we operate from that perspective, we can never see or relish the Abundance that is our natural state of being.

And finally, Grace number 7 is Collaboration. Most of us we have been taught from a very early age that Competition is the means to ensuring strong economic markets. We have been taught that without Competition, no one will work, and the “weak” will become dominant. But many studies have shown that this is false—a myth. Competition has been shown to limit creativity and innovation and evolution in general. The natural world is actually a Collaborative system—a permaculture of interdependent entities. Collaboration is actually our natural state of being, and the result of true Collaboration is always more than the sum of its parts.

E.Dee Conrad: How does marketing relate to our relationship with Source and Self?

Lynn Serafinn: Wow, E.Dee, that’s another huge question. In the book, I have a whole section on what I call “The 7 Key Relationships”. Our relationship with Self and Source are the first two of these seven.

To be in good relationship with Self, we need to feel Connection to that Self. When we are truly connected to Self, our marketing will be direct, transparent and contain all the 7 Graces within it. This is because Disconnection is the fundamental cause of all the other “Deadly Sins”. Disconnection from Self will always compel us to create way to find external validation for our fragile sense of worth. Try to imagine what kind of marketing comes from a person in that kind of relationship with Self.

Similarly, to be in good relationship with Source, we need to feel Connection to Source. When we feel truly connected to Source, we would never dream of exploiting, damaging or upsetting the balance of resources in our Natural world. We would never exploit other creatures, plants or human beings. It is the reckless exploitation of the gifts Source provides that causes all the environmental imbalances we see in the world. That exploitation would never occur if we all felt a deeply passionate connection to Source. Unfortunately, so many of our businesses today, and their respective marketing campaigns, are examples of Disconnection from Source. Tearing down rainforests to create grazing land for cattle for the fast-food industry is a clear example. And if you study the history of the fast-food industry, you will see that its presence in our lives is 100% due to marketing. I give many examples in the book of how this came about, as well as many other industries. Our relationship with Source is so vital, I cannot stress it enough.

Thanks for asking these questions, E.Dee. I know you are a visionary, and you can see many changes shifting in our society today. Like you, everywhere I look, I know now is the time for these changes to begin in the world of business and marketing. I hope your readers will check out The 7 Graces of Marketing on Dec 13th, and start to set this wave of change in motion in their lives, their businesses and their communities.

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I hope you enjoyed this interview with Lynn Serafinn and that you’ll check out her book The 7 Graces of Marketing: how to heal humanity and the planet by changing the way we sell at http://the7gracesofmarketing.com/book-launch/pages/pre-launch.html

Here’s why:

The 7 Graces of Marketing Telesummit

A FREE 7-Part Online Happening!

December 6th-9th, 2011

Register at http://the7gracesofmarketing.com/free-telesummit

When you visit the page at the link above and request a “launch reminder”, you will automatically receive a FREE pass to Lynn’s 7-Part online happening “The 7 Graces of Marketing Telesummit” with an illustrious panel of 24 bestselling authors and world-renowned speakers and media experts on society, business and marketing coming together to discuss how we can bring ethics and values back our business and marketing practices, and restore balance to our health, our economy and our natural environment.

Here’s the spectacular list of guests speakers for the event:

Dr. Joe Vitale * Greg S. Reid * Dr. Eric Pearl * Dan Hollings * Pamela Slim * Liz Goodgold * Allison Maslan * Suzanne Falter*Barnes * Tad Hargrave * Misa Hopkins * Richard S. Gallagher * Ward Vandorpe * Barbara Altemus * Andrea Conway * Renee Baribeau * Renee Duran * Michael Drew * Chris Arnold * Jeffrey Van Dyk * Tanya Paluso * Kate Osborne * Shelagh Jones * Paula Tarrant * Lynn Serafinn

You can listen to the telesummit online in the comfort of your own home, and even ask questions during the broadcast.

If you are reading this after Dec 9th, 2011 you can still access the playback for a limited time when you register at http://the7gracesofmarketing.com/free-telesummit

This telesummit is a completely free
“no purchase necessary” gift from Lynn

FREE GIFTS

When you buy Lynn’s book on Tuesday December 13, 2011, you can ALSO receive the MP3 download of all 10 hours of this historic telesummit, plus a complete library of beautiful personal development gifts from authors, speakers, coaches and other enlightened professionals from around the globe including one from me;

3-Part Audio: The Shift. The Message. The Transformation

To claim your FREE pass to the 7 Graces of Marketing Telesummit

and read about the free gifts, go to:

http://the7gracesofmarketing.com/book-launch/pages/pre-launch.html

Thanks for reading! As usual, please feel free to share your comments and thoughts below. I love reading your feedback.

AND… be sure to follow Lynn tomorrow when the next stop on the Virtual Blog Tour is Andrea Conway, who will be sharing her recent interview with Lynn about our relationships with source, 3 furies and vision in marketing. To visit that “stop” on the tour, go to http://www.andreaconway.com/spiritual-marketing/7-graces-of-marketing-interview-with-lynn-serafinn