What is soulful content?
Where did “soulful” come from? Well, it came out of me and is still coming out of me (that sounds funny…). I was doing an exercise with Jessica Zweig on personal branding and one of her prompts was to identify what about your industry/niche that you really don’t like or is a problem in your eyes. I immediately thought, “Websites have no soul,” and BAM—it was like I was struck by lightning. Finally, something that really resonated with me.
Why it resonated was because it’s what I believe to be true. I’m tired of marketing manipulations. I’m tired of going to a website and having a crappy experience. I want to get to know people and their mission and how they help and it seems that so few websites and marketing content do that well, let alone at all. Every site seems like an ad. Every site brings more questions than answers. Every post on social media is oriented toward “Look at me! See what I did!” and to get you to transact, click, like and share.
Yes, I understand I’m being a little bit of a hypocrite, being in the marketing field and all. But I want to change that. But how? How can I still run a business, leverage what I’m doing online for myself and my clients so that they can grow their businesses and be more 1000% themselves? How can I be more 1000% me and infuse my communications with more soul? There is a way to strike a balance of attracting clients by being more real. And it’s done through publishing soulful content.
What I believe
In all cases, it starts with what I (and what you) believe. I believe we’re in an era of visual communications (my major in college, btw) where people want more of a connection. Instead of sound bites, teasers, sales pages and funnels, why don’t we share our vulnerabilities? Our joy? Our desires? Our experiences? Our ideas?
I believe the way we communicate doesn’t need to use manipulative or “bait and switch” tactics. With over 80% of consumers having done research online before making a purchase, I believe it’s possible for us to create content that attracts and connects and that we reduce the amount of time the consumer (aka future client) takes to make a choice. We’ve been trained like monkeys to accept current marketing tactics (especially the online ones ugh) because it’s what everybody’s doing. Well, I want to offer something different.
I believe people are looking for a more intimate connection with who they hire and what they buy. They want to experience a feeling, a sense of belonging and that they are seen. This requires a shift in how people do business and market their services. I believe there are people who want what I want: an experience of aligned connection.
Being soulful
I believe being soulful is when you are expressing 1000% you (you, raw, honest, vulnerable, really bringing your heart to the surface without fear of blowback) and sharing what you believe, taking a stand for it and expressing your empathy and commitment to who and how you want to serve. I also believe that when you come from a more soulful expression of these things you create an energy that attracts the best-fit people who believe what you believe. Just ask Simon Sinek.
Being soulful is being 1000% you. Sharing who you are, being you, talking about what you care about and doing it unabashedly. Expressing why you are passionate about what you do in the world, what you want to make better and who you want to serve.
What I want to now be about is helping you identify your soulful expression, how to shift how you’re showing up in the world and in your business, and how you can free your voice, strengthen your business and have more confidence in what you offer to those you want to work with and who you are best equipped to serve with your gifts and talents.
For you:
Take a look at your website. Read through the content and look at your images with fresh eyes. Look at how you have the content organized. How easy is it for people to get what you do? How easy is it for them to buy from you? What sort of feeling do you get when you look at your site’s content objectively? Is it dated? Are there images of you or a bunch of stock photos with forced diversity? Does it really reflect who you are today? Or does it reflect how you’ve always shown up or what you’ve always done? You’re a different person now. Doing this simple exercise will help you see if your website still fits who you are today. It will be a bit challenging because we are never objective about our own stuff, but try to be. Try to look at your website with objectivity and ask yourself, “What kind of person or business would trust me? Would want to do business with me?” Write about what comes up.
