Satyagraha, Your Secret Marketing Weapon
Posted on 02. Jun, 2011 by Daniel Levis in Articles, Blog, Ghandi, hype, Influence, John E. Powers, John Wannamaker, Martin Luther King Jr., mindshare, Motivation, relationship, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, story, transparency, trust, truth
Satyagraha was popularized by Mohandas Ghandi in his fight for Indian independence and became synonymous with the use of civil disobedience as a political tool.
Ghandi believed that truth had great moral power to galvanize resolve against an oppressor, while also garnering support from the rest of the world. And history proved him right.
A young black minister in America studied Ghandi’s struggle and ideas and was profoundly influenced by them. He used Ghandi’s Satyagraha precepts to achieve a similar human rights triumph here in the West. His name was Martin Luther King Jr.
In both cases, people from around the world with no direct interest in the conflict sided with the freedom fighters. Unyielding non-violent revolt in the face of violent counter-reaction was shocking. It seized global attention and sympathy.
These watershed moments in history prove that human nature has a built-in recognition and appreciation for what’s right and just and true.
Ever since the motorcycle accident I’ve found my brain has a weird way of associating things. As such, it seems to me this core kernel of Satyagraha has broad application to sales and marketing as well.
In times of over-communication and intense battle for consumer mindshare…
… Brutal, uncompromising truth has enormous attention-getting power.
One of the father’s of direct response advertising built his entire career on this fact.
His name was John E. Powers, arguably history’s first hired gun copywriter. In 1880 Powers was earning $100 a day as a freelance copywriter, an enormous sum at the time. And his ads often worked like gangbusters. Why?
This was the first golden age of advertising. The industrial revolution was sweeping the developed world. All manner of time and labor saving conveniences were making their debut. And John Wannamaker had just invented the department store.
By the late 1800s, newspapers and magazines had become so stuffed with advertising that an arms race took hold with each advertiser trying to out-gun, out-claim, and out-hype the next.
Power’s approach was so novel and rare it was shocking — Tell the Truth.
One of his headlines read: “We have a lot of rotten gossamers we want to get rid of…” Another famous Power’s ad announced, “We are bankrupt. We owe $125,000 more than we can pay, and this announcement will bring our creditors down on our necks. But if you come and buy tomorrow, we shall have the money to meet them. If not, we shall go to the wall.”
The sad truth is that most marketers lie through their teeth. Somehow, this has become accepted, part of the game. It’s just what marketers do.
Clever flim-flam artists know what their customers want to believe, and they twist the truth into a mangled wreck to give it to them. The even sadder truth is that in many cases this actually works, at least in the short term. And the saddest truth of all is the toll this approach takes on the trust of the consumer. The honest eventually get tarred with the same brush as the abusers. And everyone loses.
The answer is of course: Tell the Truth. The truth the flim-flam artists are so cleverly hiding. The truth that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt you’re here to create real value for people and win/win relationships capable of withstanding the test of time.
Let there be an arms race of truth.
Here are a few practical ideas for cutting through the clutter, gaining attention, and inspiring trust in today’s cynical, over-communicated world:
Amp up the Transparency — Show your customers the inner workings of your business, the good, the bad and the ugly. If the truth is untellable, fix it. Rectify what’s wrong with your business. Trust is such a rare commodity these days. Start looking at it as a competitive weapon.
Reveal Your True Motivations — Tell people the real reasons you created this product… why you priced it the way you have… why you need them to order right now… and so on. Don’t be afraid to reveal what’s in it for you as well as what’s in it for them. A sale is a transaction where both parties should win.
Avoid Unsubstantiated Hype and Exaggeration — There is a difference between delivering honest, heart-felt enthusiasm and spouting baseless, over-the-top claims. The former, when backed up with sound reasoning, leads to conviction. The later demands even more lies and obfuscation to maintain.
And as we all know, sooner or later, a business built on lies falls down like a house of cards. If your product or service doesn’t make your heart race with breathless excitement about what it can actually do for your customers, work on it until it does.
Commerce is a relationship. When you harness Satyagraha — openly revealing your vulnerabilities, imperfections, and limitations as a seller in an interesting and dramatic way – you quickly build a bond of trust, even affection with your market.
Can you think of a better way of sweeping aside the number one obstacle to acquiring a new customer?
Until next time, Good Selling!
This article appears courtesy of
Satyagraha, Your Secret Marketing Weapon
Posted on 02. Jun, 2011 by Daniel Levis in Articles, Blog, Ghandi, hype, Influence, John E. Powers, John Wannamaker, Martin Luther King Jr., mindshare, Motivation, relationship, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, story, transparency, trust, truth
The word, Satyagraha, is a portmanteau of the Sanskrit words Satya and Agraha. Loosely translated, the word means “Truth Power”.
Satyagraha was popularized by Mohandas Ghandi in his fight for Indian independence and became synonymous with the use of civil disobedience as a political tool.
Ghandi believed that truth had great moral power to galvanize resolve against an oppressor, while also garnering support from the rest of the world. And history proved him right.
A young black minister in America studied Ghandi’s struggle and ideas and was profoundly influenced by them. He used Ghandi’s Satyagraha precepts to achieve a similar human rights triumph here in the West. His name was Martin Luther King Jr.
In both cases, people from around the world with no direct interest in the conflict sided with the freedom fighters. Unyielding non-violent revolt in the face of violent counter-reaction was shocking. It seized global attention and sympathy.
Eventually, these outsiders — bound to the protestors by nothing more than their humanity – put unbearable pressure on those they perceived to be outside of the realm of truth. And justice was served.
These watershed moments in history prove that human nature has a built-in recognition and appreciation for what’s right and just and true.
Ever since the motorcycle accident I’ve found my brain has a weird way of associating things. As such, it seems to me this core kernel of Satyagraha has broad application to sales and marketing as well.
In times of over-communication and intense battle for consumer mindshare…
… Brutal, uncompromising truth has enormous attention-getting power.
One of the father’s of direct response advertising built his entire career on this fact.
His name was John E. Powers, arguably history’s first hired gun copywriter. In 1880 Powers was earning $100 a day as a freelance copywriter, an enormous sum at the time. And his ads often worked like gangbusters. Why?
This was the first golden age of advertising. The industrial revolution was sweeping the developed world. All manner of time and labor saving conveniences were making their debut. And John Wannamaker had just invented the department store.
By the late 1800s, newspapers and magazines had become so stuffed with advertising that an arms race took hold with each advertiser trying to out-gun, out-claim, and out-hype the next.
Power’s approach was so novel and rare it was shocking — Tell the Truth.
One of his headlines read: “We have a lot of rotten gossamers we want to get rid of…” Another famous Power’s ad announced, “We are bankrupt. We owe $125,000 more than we can pay, and this announcement will bring our creditors down on our necks. But if you come and buy tomorrow, we shall have the money to meet them. If not, we shall go to the wall.”
The sad truth is that most marketers lie through their teeth. Somehow, this has become accepted, part of the game. It’s just what marketers do.
Clever flim-flam artists know what their customers want to believe, and they twist the truth into a mangled wreck to give it to them. The even sadder truth is that in many cases this actually works, at least in the short term. And the saddest truth of all is the toll this approach takes on the trust of the consumer. The honest eventually get tarred with the same brush as the abusers. And everyone loses.
The answer is of course: Tell the Truth. The truth the flim-flam artists are so cleverly hiding. The truth that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt you’re here to create real value for people and win/win relationships capable of withstanding the test of time.
Let there be an arms race of truth.
Here are a few practical ideas for cutting through the clutter, gaining attention, and inspiring trust in today’s cynical, over-communicated world:
Amp up the Transparency — Show your customers the inner workings of your business, the good, the bad and the ugly. If the truth is untellable, fix it. Rectify what’s wrong with your business. Trust is such a rare commodity these days. Start looking at it as a competitive weapon.
Reveal Your True Motivations — Tell people the real reasons you created this product… why you priced it the way you have… why you need them to order right now… and so on. Don’t be afraid to reveal what’s in it for you as well as what’s in it for them. A sale is a transaction where both parties should win.
Avoid Unsubstantiated Hype and Exaggeration — There is a difference between delivering honest, heart-felt enthusiasm and spouting baseless, over-the-top claims. The former, when backed up with sound reasoning, leads to conviction. The later demands even more lies and obfuscation to maintain.
And as we all know, sooner or later, a business built on lies falls down like a house of cards. If your product or service doesn’t make your heart race with breathless excitement about what it can actually do for your customers, work on it until it does.
Commerce is a relationship. When you harness Satyagraha — openly revealing your vulnerabilities, imperfections, and limitations as a seller in an interesting and dramatic way – you quickly build a bond of trust, even affection with your market.
Can you think of a better way of sweeping aside the number one obstacle to acquiring a new customer?
Until next time, Good Selling!
Photo: Wikipedia
This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to creating wealth and success through inspiration and practical, proven advice. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.
Satyagraha, Your Secret Marketing Weapon originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.
The Real Problem With The Flaw of Attraction
Posted on 19. Feb, 2010 by Michel Fortin in abuse, action, Blog, drug, guru, health, law-of-attraction, metaphysical, Motivation, Opinions, responsibility, secret, selling, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, wealth
Last night while watching TV, my wife and I had an interesting debate on the whole “The Secret” phenomena. And we came to the very same conclusions.
I believe in the law of attraction. I also like the premise behind the book, which is largely influenced by Wally Wattles’ 1910 book, The Science of Getting Rich.
But with all the “new-wage” gurus out there giving it a bad rap, the law of attraction is getting an undeserved reputation. Some people even call it the “flaw of attraction.” However, the real flaw isn’t with the secret in itself, as some suggested.
It’s with how some people have bastardized it for their own selfish greed.
Here’s the problem…
Your chances of getting what you want is higher when you’re focused on it. Absolutely. And it’s not just some metaphysical, woo-woo thing. Quantum physics aside, which is something else I also believe in, let’s take a more practical look at the law.
You become what you think about. It’s true. But the twist is, you already are what you thought about all your life. So how can some book magically switch your state when your mindset is still on that which made you who you are in the first place?
A mindset that took years to acquire?
Simply, if you think you’re a loser, then chances are you’re a loser. If you truly believe you deserve wealth, then you’ll get wealth if you’re not already wealthy. But it isn’t as automatic as so many of the new-wage gurus want you to believe.
And there lies the rub. And it ain’t some genie lamp, either.
When you focus on something hard enough and long enough, you will eventually change your belief system. And once your belief system has changed, then your consciousness will open itself to notice all the possibilities and opportunities related to it.
Doors that previously seemed closed will open for you. Were they really closed before? No. You were simply oblivious to them. Now, they just jump out at you. As if by miracle.
But it’s no miracle.
Has this ever happened to you? You buy a brand-new car, and you think to yourself that not a lot of people have that same car, much less in that same paint color.
So you buy it, and wouldn’t you know it? As you drive it home, you start to notice that exact same car all over the place. Everybody seems to own one, now. In the same color, too! As if it was some conspiracy to follow you around and copy you.
Funny, isn’t?
That’s the real secret behind the law of attraction.
Here’s the problem with the way this law has been abused of late. People who are vulnerable, gullible, and desperate are seeking a magic pill. A quick-fix solution.
So their mindset is now focused on getting help. They are thinking about getting rid of their financial pains. Once they see a course, program, training, or seminar that purports to teach them on how to cure their money ills, they jump on it like bees to honey.
(Or better said, like flies to excrement.)
Greedy new-wage gurus know this all too well. So they package their rehashed, embellished version of the secret, overprice it, and sell it to the unsuspecting masses.
And guess what? Most of the people who will buy it are those very people who don’t need it. These naive hopefuls will spend the remaining cash in their bank accounts just for some magic pill — and the gurus walk away with their money.
Sure, sell a book or course on how to use the secret. It’s your take on the law. Like an opinion piece of commentary. In it, you perhaps even share some of your observations on how well it’s worked in your own life and those of others around you. No problem.
But when people buy it, they are — better said, they should be — buying it for the educational or entertainment value, just like someone’s book of theories on TV’s Lost.
But don’t promise that this book is the panacea they were looking for, especially when they’re in a vulnerable state. That’s misleading, unethical, nonsensical bullshit.
The best line I’ve heard on the secret came from another movie called “What the Bleep?” I liked the movie because it explained the secret in less philosophical but more scientific terms — such as neuroscience, quantum physics, quantum mechanics, etc.
(Although, some of the people on the show were a little too “out there” for my taste.)
The line came from an interview with a University professor, who said that you can’t overcome years upon years of negativity with just a thin veneer of positive thinking shoved on top of it. You still have this huge underbelly of negativity that’s still there.
It’s the same as weight loss. You can’t lose overnight what often took years to gain. In the same way, you can’t change your thinking overnight, because it took years to build and condition, be it through experience, education, expectations, etc. Even genetics.
Focus on the positive, yes. But you must take action. And that’s the point. People expect the secret to be a magic pill. And they take no action believing the secret will magically save them. They look at the law of attraction as a cure rather than as a tool.
Those types of people are scary, if you ask me. Because the moment something good happens to them, which might have happened anyway either by pure happenstance or as the result of their hard work, they will have a tendency to blame it on the secret.
When the secret had nothing to do with it.
There’s nothing much you can do about these folk, unfortunately. But there’s a second, more sinister category of people who are “attracted” to the law of attraction.
To take action, you need to want to do it. You need motivation. Or desperation, in some cases. Sure, the secret can help you find the motivation you need to take action. It can inspire you. But it’s not and should never be a substitute for action.
Motivation can take time, too. Sometimes, years or even decades.
But the problem is that it’s not sold as a motivational tool. It’s sold as a solution.
And the people who sell the secret as such are the worse of the bunch, in my opinion. Those greedy vultures are masters in the art of repackaging material in a way that caters to a specific market in need of the package — and not the thing being packaged.
Why do you think credit repair products, particularly credit repair scams, are so rampant, especially during tough economic times? Because there’s a market for it!
The secret is just the same. The reason so many people are buying it is because there’s a market for what it promises — not for its educational or motivational value.
First, you shouldn’t be in a position where you would need credit repair if you had the right mindset to begin with and took action on it earlier. It’s about planning, taking responsibility, and most of all, taking action. Before it’s too late.
Of course, accidents happen. Stuff happens over which you have no control. So I’m not talking about people who have no control over their financial dilemmas. I’m talking about those who didn’t take control over their finances before their finances went out of it.
In short, the secret would have been best used before you decided on doing the things that had negative consequences. Consequences that would have put you in a situation where you would need any solution, much less a secret one.
The secret is not remedial. It may be palliative, at best.
Sure, it may be used as a remedial tool. It can motivate you into taking action to remedy your situation, just as you took action that put you in the bad spot you’re in now.
But it is best used as a preventative tool, particularly when you took actions with negative consequences. Or better said, when you had the wrong mindset that led you to making the wrong decisions and taking the wrong actions in the first place.
Or at the very least, the secret can help change your mindset to avoid the negative things that, if unchanged, may keep you in constant need to seek out quick-fix solutions.
Self-help is exactly what it means. The law of attraction can help you to help yourself. But too many people buy into it thinking it’s going to save them. So they fail to take action.
For example, why is it that books on how to make money are more popular than those on how to save it? Because saving money is a sacrifice. It’s work! You need to take action.
But trying to sell a preventative to vulnerable people who are desperately hurting — such as people who are suffering from terminal illnesses or facing bankruptcies — is like trying to sell them a course on how to save money when there is none to save.
Using the weightloss example, you can learn how to change the way you think about food to stop gaining weight, instead of buying a book on how to lose it when it’s too late.
The law of attraction can help steer you in the right direction, and motivate you to make the right decisions and take the right actions, that will prevent you from going to a place where you would need to lose the weight you shouldn’t have gained, anyhow.
(By the way, my apologies to those who are battling weight problems. My intent is not to denigrate people in tough situations but to focus on those who take advantage of them.)
My wife said it best on her breast cancer blog. She said that she wouldn’t focus on battling her breast cancer because it would be very difficult to “fight darkness.”
I mean, how do you conquer darkness?
Do you stab it? Do you pull out your gun and try to shoot it? Do you meditate, pray, and positively think that it will simply go away through some miracle? Of course not.
Really, the only way to fight the darkness is to turn on the light.
You must take action. Do you need a self-help book for that? Maybe, if the self-help book shows you where the lightswitch is, or how to build a lightsource, or how to make money to buy a flashlight, or cheers you up as you patiently wait for the sun to come up.
So is there really a “flaw of attraction?” Not with the law itself. The real flaw is in the way it’s unscrupulously pushed onto innocent souls who don’t know any better.
It’s like pushing drugs onto addicts.
Some of these new-wage gurus are no different than drug dealers, in my opinion.
The issue I have is with those who prey on vulnerable people by selling a preventative as a cure — and worse yet, to mislead them into thinking a preventative is the cure — and to give them false hope only to line their own pockets. Drug pushers, indeed.
Self-help is self-help. You actually need to help yourself to make any “self-help” work.
But to help yourself, you need to act. Because if you buy a book on self-help thinking it will save you miraculously, you might as well leave the book on the shelf-help.
The Real Problem With The Flaw of Attraction originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.
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